Just five days after the Malaysian Grand Prix, Formula One competition moved to the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Dawn broke on day one to clear blue skies, and as the day continued, the sun beat down relentlessly over the Bahrain International Circuit, raising ambient and track temperatures to a scorching 32 and 41 degrees C, respectively, by the time practice started.

Panasonic Toyota Racing arrived in Bahrain after unsatisfactory tests here in February due to various problems and strong winds. Following those tests, however, the team has been able to demonstrate the actual potential of the TF107 at the Jerez tests just before the season opener and again at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. Then, in the first practice too, they got off to a great start, with Jarno Trulli marking the fifth-fastest time of 1’34”896. Ralf Schumacher also completed 24 laps without hiccup.

In the second practice session Trulli spun on the notoriously slippery surface; however, his machine was not damaged in any way, leaving him able to continue his run. In the closing stages of the session, he marked a time of 1’34”366 to finish the first day in 10th.

After being an unsatisfactory morning’s session, Ralf Schumacher used the T-car for the afternoon’s practice. Despite this, he was still unable to hone down his settings as hoped and finished the first day in 18th with a time of 1’35”427.

A time of 1’33”162 in the morning’s practice saw Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) in the top position at the end of day one.

In the morning’s practice ahead of qualifying on the second day of the Bahrain Grand Prix, spots of rain began to fall on the Bahrain International Circuit. Despite the threat of worse to come, the rain clouds cleared in time to leave the track dry for the start of qualifying.

Panasonic Toyota Racing started the season well with double top-ten finishes in the first two Grands Prix. In the first period of qualifying at Bahrain, less than one second separated the 16 drivers between third and 18th positions. Under these tough conditions, both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher made it through to the following period in sixth and 15th positions, respectively.

Despite Ralf Schumacher finishing in 14th, Trulli recorded the 7th fastest time in the second period to take him through to the final qualifying period for the third successive race. This meant the team had their eye on coming in behind the top three teams; however, when the time came for his attack, problems with cornering grip and balance that had plagued Trulli from Friday saw him unable to perform as hoped with the machine fuelled at the level with which he intended to start the race. Despite the problems though, he came in just 0.1 seconds behind seventh-positioned Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) to secure ninth position on the grid and be in a good position for a points finish for the second race in a row.

Felipe Massa (Ferrari) secured pole position with his time of 1’32”652.

Race day at the Bahrain International Circuit awoke to the dust storms that are characteristic of the Middle East. Ambient and track surface temperatures had risen to a scorching 30 degrees C and 41 degrees C, respectively, by the time the race got underway.

No sooner had the race started than the first accident occurred in corner four, bringing out the safety car for the first time this season. Neither of the Panasonic Toyota Racing machines were caught up in the confusion after the start of the race; however, Jarno had dropped back one position to 10th and Ralf to 18th as they crossed the start/finish line at the end of the first lap.

The race re-started in the fourth lap, with both drivers maintaining their positions and making their move on the drivers in front. Ralf Schumacher was first, passing Rubens Barrichello (Honda) for 16th. Trulli followed suit in the 15th lap, overtaking Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) on his inside to move into ninth.

After his first pit stop in the 17th lap, Ralf Schumacher marked his fastest time to exchange places with Takuma Sato (Super Aguri). Then, after pitting for the second time in the 38th lap, he improved his position to 13th. Trulli also continued on in strong form following his first pit stop, this time overtaking Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella on the inside in the 35th lap. These two overtaking manoeuvres took him into eighth to be within the points.

Trulli continued his marvellous run until the end of the race. Fisichella, whose settings gave him more speed on the straights, was hot on his heels, but Trulli managed to keep his cool and stave off the attacks with some brilliant driving. His efforts were rewarded when he took the chequered flag in seventh to give Panasonic Toyota Racing their third consecutive points finish. The result also saw him move into seventh position in the drivers championship and Toyota into fifth in the constructors championship. Ralf also completed the race, crossing the line in 12th, thereby giving the team their third double finish in a row to finish off the Asia/Oceania round.

Result:
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) led from pole to finish to clinch his first victory for the season. This takes his career total to three.