Clear blue skies greeted the first day of race weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit, with air and track temperatures sitting at a warm 27 and 35 degrees C, respectively, at the start of the morning’s practice.

Panasonic Toyota Racing, who had performed testing at Bahrain in February ahead of the season opener, had a trouble-free morning as their drivers clocked up laps throughout the session. Timo Glock hit some minor problems in Practice 2; however, the team responded quickly to enable both Glock and team mate Trulli to complete their allotted programs.

In the afternoon’s session, Jarno Trulli marked a time of 1’33”822 for 14th, while Timo Glock’s 1’33”856 saw him finish in 15th. Both drivers had, however, completed long runs of more than 10 laps apiece, showing outstanding stability; stability that the team hoped would become a favourable wind for the two drivers.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa recorded a time of 1’31”420 to lead the field at the end of day one.

Stronger winds made conditions tougher on the second day of competition at the Bahrain International Circuit. At the start of qualifying, winds were at 4.3 metres and ambient and track temperatures at 32 and 42 degrees C, respectively.

Ten minutes into Q1 and the Panasonic Toyota Racing Drivers were stopped in 15th and 16th positions, when Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) crashed, bringing out the red flags and the session to a halt. The session re-started with just 4 minutes 49 seconds remaining on the clock. On a fresh set of tyres, Jarno surfaced in second. Timo Glock also made good inroads to finish in sixth, seeing both drivers moved through to the second session of qualifying for third consecutive race.

In Q2, Trulli lost none of the speed he had shown in the previous session, going on to mark a time of 1’32”159 for seventh. Unfortunately, Glock was unable to make up the 0.14 seconds separating him from the top 10, finishing in 13th.

Flying the flag solo for the Toyota in Q3, Trulli continued in flawless form to secure 7th position on the starting grid and have a good chance to finish within the points for the second Grand Prix in a row.

Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) clinched his first ever pole position with a qualifying time of 1’32”096.

The first Formula One race held in the Middle East was the 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix, making this year’s race already its fifth and giving cause to anniversary celebrations. Large numbers of fans from nearby and neighbouring countries crowded into the stands on Sunday ahead of the 2:30pm start.

With cars stalling and stopping right from the start of the race, collisions and bedlam soon followed. Luckily, however, both Trulli, who started from seventh and Glock, who started from 13th, steered clear of trouble, making it through the first lap without incident. By the second lap, both drivers were running in the top 10 – Trulli in sixth and Glock in 10th.

Throughout the early stages of the race, Trulli did well to fight off repeated attacks from Nico Rosberg (Williams) before pitting for the first time in the 20th lap. An effective pit stop enabled him to hold onto his position into the middle stages of the race. Meanwhile, team mate Glock remained hot on the tail of Fernando Alonso (Renault) from the second lap until he pitted in the 24th lap. His delaying strategy proved worked well, seeing their positions reversed with Glock moving up one to ninth in the 25th lap.

Both drivers continued in strong form well into the middle stages of the race, with Trulli and Glock both pitting smoothly for the second time in lap 43 and 44, respectively. Unfortunately, though, despite their best efforts, neither driver was able to overtake the car in front before taking the chequered flag in the same positions. Trulli finished in sixth, immediately behind the top three teams, clinching another points finish, back-to-back with the Malaysian Grand Prix. Glock also put in a fine performance that while unfortunately fell short of points, gave him his first finish in a Grand Prix since joining Panasonic Toyota Racing. It was also the first double finish for the team this season. With the Asia-Oceania round at an end, the team are looking more and more hopeful for stronger results in the upcoming European round.

Result:
Victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix went to Felipe Massa (Ferrari) from a second-position start. This was his first win of the season and sixth to date.