First free practice at Bahrain

The RenaultF1 Team has started the defence of its world championships with tactical silence in a first practice session in Bahrain which saw few drivers set competitive laps. With air temperature up in the thirties and track temperature pushing the forty degree mark, the first practice session of the 2006 Formula One season took place this morning in Bahrain.

With new teams, new drivers, new engine regulations and a new weekend format for the 2006 season, the session was always going to provide a wealth of intrigue and, as proved to be the case, ask more questions than provide answers.

It was the Williams of Alex Wurz which took to the dusty track first to complete his installation lap, a trend which was followed by the Toro Rosso and Super Aguri teams who would be taking part in their first F1 weekend. 12 minutes into the session, it was Wurz who became the first driver to set a timed lap, stopping the clocks at 1:36.444. The Austrian’s time was soon pipped by another new team, and a debutant. Poland’s Robert Kubica took his BMW around in 1:34.692, with Wurz also improving to within half a second of the new lead time.

With both Honda race drivers dressed in jeans and team-shirts, it looked as though this session would be one for the third drivers and the smaller teams to explore the track in search of the vital knowledge that would help their weekend set-ups. But for some installation laps, it was very much the case that the majority of teams felt it more prudent to save their new V8 engines for the rest of the weekend. And with longer for the drivers to chose their tyre compound under 2006 regulations, the need to get as many laps under their belts as early as possible has also been negated.

But while most drivers sat watching the screens, Kubica continued to scream around the circuit, consistently improving his time to a 1:32.621. With ten minutes remaining, Wurz came back out to continue the battle with the Polish driver, and stole the fastest time with a 1:32.380.

Wurz’s team-mates joined the Honda drivers in their non-participation in the session, but with five minutes to go, what had been a very quiet practice suddenly became an insane dash. Michael Schumacher popped out in his Ferrari and immediately set a quick lap, as Kimi Raikkonen took his McLaren for a quick couple of laps at the end of the session.

But as most of the big guns came out to play, it was Kubica in the BMW who had the last laugh, toppling Wurz from the top of the times with a 1:32.170. Wurz wound up second with Raikkonen third and Michael Schumacher fourth. Christian Klien set the fifth quickest time for Red Bull Racing, with Neel Jani sixth for Toro Rosso, Montoya seventh for McLaren, Massa eighth for Ferrari, Coulthard ninth for Red Bull and Tonio Liuzzi rounding out the top ten for Toro Rosso.

Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella finished the session in 19th and 20th positions respectively after completing just two installation laps each.