Tyres. The political dramas aside, that word utterly dominated the Bahrain grand prix weekend.

Afterwards, Michael Schumacher admitted he was “unhappy” with the situation.

“Sometimes we are driving only 60, 70 per cent through the corners,” he is quoted by Bild newspaper.

Pirelli did not take the criticism lightly, insisting it has made Canada 2010-style, heavily degrading tyres to order, for the benefit of the ‘show’.

Motor sport director Paul Hembery on Monday ‘re-Tweeted’ a message from a follower accusing the seven time world champion of having thrown “his toys out of the pram”.

Moreover, Pirelli said Bahrain is perhaps “the most demanding” on the entire calendar when it comes to degradation.

“As a result, knowing how to manage the tyres and contain thermal degradation was a vital skill” on Sunday, the Italian marque said in a statement.

On Twitter, The Times’ correspondent Kevin Eason called Bahrain an “excellent race, although I am not sure we haven’t moved from tyre management to lottery”.

The roulette wheel didn’t spin up for McLaren – the team with arguably the best overall car so far in 2012 – on Sunday.

“Nobody has added a second to their cars in just a week after China,” lamented Jenson Button, “but here we were a second off the pace.”

His boss Martin Whitmarsh told Auto Motor und Sport: “Maybe it was the pressures, maybe the temperatures. We really don’t know.”

The German reporter said Whitmarsh’s comment indicates an “uncomfortable realisation” for such a scientifically meticulous team.

Whitmarsh agreed: “It is now more important to understand the tyres than to find a bit more downforce.”

The tyre marque’s test driver Jaime Alguersuari told Mundo Deportivo newspaper that Pirelli deserves credit, not criticism.

“Pirelli is largely responsible for making F1 the most spectacular it has been in a decade,” said the young Spaniard.

Sahara Force India looks ahead to the third round of the 2012 season in Shanghai, China. To download the full PDF preview or the media schedule for the weekend, please click on the links below.

Vijay’s Vision

After two races the 2012 season appears to have all the ingredients needed to serve up a spectacular year of racing. Already the fans have enjoyed two thrilling races and the intensity of the competition across the grid is sure to capture everybody’s attention.

I said last year that the competition in the midfield was close, but this year it seems to be even more so with the majority of the grid capable of fighting for points. It’s a good situation for Formula One, but it also means points are harder to come by. It’s encouraging that we have scored points in both races and that will be our aim once again in China.

I have to congratulate Paul and Nico on their excellent drives in Malaysia. They are only in their second full seasons of Formula One, but they both showed their maturity in the difficult conditions. At times Paul was one of the fastest cars on the circuit, excelling in the conditions, and it’s clear that we can expect another strong season from him. I was also delighted to see Nico pick up his first points with us after such a strong showing.

In terms of car development, the factory at Silverstone continues to work at full capacity to improve our performance. The first two races have given us a great deal of information to work with and we will put it to good use in the coming races.

Dr. Vijay Mallya

Paul on Shanghai
Following points finishes in the first couple of races, Paul Di Resta sets his sights on more of the same in Shanghai this weekend.

Paul, you must be pretty happy with your start to the season…
I think the whole team is pleased to have nine points on the board after two races and it was important that we picked up some good points on such an unpredictable day in Malaysia. We’ve seen how close all the teams are this year and getting points isn’t easy, so it feels good to start as we mean to continue.

Do you enjoy visiting China and experiencing the different culture?
China is a great place and Shanghai is a city I enjoy visiting. It’s such a big place, there is a lot to see and I enjoy it even more each time I go there.

Tell us about the track…
It has some unusual features. Turn one is very long and feels like it goes on forever. The key to getting it right is how much entry speed you can carry into the corner. You also have to look out for one of the biggest bumps of the year at the corner entry, which makes it difficult.

And what about the overtaking opportunities?
The best chance is turn one or into the very tight hairpin of turn 14, which widens on the entry and makes it difficult to defend. We also saw the effectiveness of DRS last year, which helped produce some good racing and it should be the same this year.

Nico on Shanghai
Nico Hulkenberg looks ahead to racing in Shanghai following his points finish in Malaysia.

Nico, after the disappointment of Melbourne, you finally got some racing miles under your belt in Sepang…
Yes, I’m happy with the race we had in Malaysia, which was basically the first proper race I have done since the end of 2010. It wasn’t an easy race and I was never in any clean air, but it was good to pick up a couple of points – my first points for the team.

Did you learn much about the car given that the conditions were so changeable in Sepang?
You always learn something and a race distance is always valuable for your knowledge of the car, even racing in the wet. The most difficult part of the race was just after the restart when I struggled for balance on the wets and intermediates, but when I switched to slicks the performance was pretty good.

Does the team have a better idea of the pecking order yet?
We’re only at the start of the season – we’ve only had two race weekends, so we still need to wait and see. Because the midfield is so compact nobody can afford to relax. We all need to push hard to improve performance and with 18 races still to go there’s plenty of time to do that.

What are your thoughts ahead of this weekend’s race in China?
It’s not my favourite race of the year, but they’ve done a good job to build a really impressive facility and it’s a fun track to drive. It’s difficult to predict how well we will do there, but given how close the grid is at the moment I think it should be a good show for everyone who is watching.

Mercedes on Tuesday gave the strongest hint yet that Michael Schumacher is set to stay with the Brackley based team beyond 2012.
The seven time world champion returned from retirement with the German team in 2010, and has been widely criticised for failing to live up to the hype of his meteoric initial career.

But 2011 was undoubtedly a better season for the 43-year-old, moving team boss Ross Brawn to hint that Schumacher could receive a new deal for 2013.

“At the moment we aren’t talking to any other drivers,” he told Sport Bild magazine.

“I am also assuming that he is not talking to other teams.

“So if Michael is still enjoying what he’s doing while bringing in the results that we expect, then why not? He definitely has not said that he is toying with the idea of stopping,” added Brawn.

Mercedes’ competition director Norbert Haug added that the great German is “still one of the best race drivers in the field”.

Haug said Schumacher is often as fast or faster than his younger teammate Nico Rosberg, which is impressive “because Nico is undoubtedly among the five best drivers in F1″, he is quoted by FAZ newspaper.

Added Brawn: “It took a little longer than planned for Michael to be where he wanted to be — and even longer than I would have thought.

“The first year was difficult,” admitted Schumacher’s former Ferrari colleague. “I think he did an excellent job in the races in the second year, while Nico was slightly better than him in qualifying.

“I think that really frustrated him (Schumacher),” added Brawn.

 Bernie Ecclestone has played down the latest reports about violence in Bahrain, insisting April’s 2012 race is still scheduled to go ahead.
On the one-year anniversary of the ‘Day of Rage’ unrest, international media agencies claimed violent clashes took place, with youths throwing rocks and petrol bombs and police hitting back with tear-gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.

“The only message I got was that there were some kids in trouble with the police,” F1 chief executive Ecclestone told the Telegraph.

“We are planning to go. People there seem confident that a race two months away will be alright.”

At the Jerez test last week, it was suggested teams were expressing concerns about Bahrain.

But Ecclestone insists: “The teams are not the slightest bit concerned. They seem happy that things will go ahead without problems.

“Last year was a more clear-cut decision not to go but things have changed a lot since then.”

In recent days, however, F1 has been the subject of a high profile row about the event, with influential figures and political parties publicly debating whether the sport is right or wrong to return to Bahrain.

“We’ve always been non-political,” said Ecclestone, 81. “Any decision will be made on grounds of safety.”

But an FIA spokesman said the “staging of a grand prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing”.

And a spokesman for the Bahrain International Circuit told CNN: “We are entirely confident that the race can be and will be an excellent event.

“The FIA has said that there is no reason why the grand prix should not go ahead.”

The unnamed spokesman also compared Bahrain’s problems of the last twelve months with London’s riots last August.

“There’s no doubt that (in Bahrain) there have been some small riots, nothing like on the scale that we saw in London,” he insisted.

“When it comes to being in and around the track, the drivers and the teams will be extremely safe. Absolutely, totally confident about that.”

Felipe Massa has confirmed that if he can help Fernando Alonso to reinforce his lead in the drivers’ world championship this weekend, he will.

“If it depends on me, then for sure (I will help),” he is quoted as saying in Brazil by the news agency EFE.

Massa, who was controversially ordered aside for his Ferrari teammate at Hockenheim in July, is a specialist of his local Interlagos circuit and a crowd favourite.

But he concedes the Italian team’s desire to put its full weight behind Alonso’s title charge.

“I’m a professional. I did it already in 2007,” added Massa, referring to his then teammate Kimi Raikkonen’s successful championship campaign alongside him three years ago.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali has confirmed this week that Alonso and Massa will return to a position of equality in 2011.

When asked if Spaniard Alonso is the best teammate he has had at Ferrari, he answered emphatically: “No. I’ve had three (teammates) all at the same highest level.

“I don’t need to say anything about Schumacher because his career speaks for itself. Kimi was also excellent. I see all three of them on the same level.

“Alonso has had a better season than me and has been more competitive. It has not been my best year, not only with the results but also the problems I have had in qualifying warming up the tyres.

“For me, 2011 will be better than 2010,” he insisted.

In additional comments published by the Globo newspaper, Massa said he thinks his Brazilian fans will understand his position at Interlagos this weekend.

“I think the public has always treated me very well, not only the day before what happened in Germany, but also the day after.

“The journalists, no. But the public, yes — always. I am sure the fans will be great and I will do my best to give them a good result,” added Massa.

Robert Kubica is travelling to Korea this week in podium-winning form.

At the weekend, between the Japanese and Korean grands prix, the Pole and rally enthusiast took part in the Rallye d’Antibes in the South of France.

The rally, with Kubica at the wheel of a Clio S1600, is part of the FIA European Rally Championship.

According to French language sources including Belgian television RTBF, the 25-year-old finished the rally in third place overall.  Auto Hebdo described it as “an excellent performance”.

F1 Renault driver Kubica reportedly finished ahead of many faster S2000 cars, topped the times in three separate stages, and won the A6 class outright.

A month ago in Italy, he took his first class victory in the Rally d’Alipi Orientali.

But at Suzuka just over a week ago, Kubica retired his F1 car from second place behind winner Sebastian Vettel when his R30 shed a rear wheel.

He was, however, buoyed by his pace in Japan.

“I didn’t expect to be as quick as we were,” he admitted.

Felipe Massa insists he is happy with the Ferrari team’s “100 per cent” support during his current trough.

The Brazilian has been in the headlines of late; struggling with the F10 car, relegated to a subordinate role for Fernando Alonso’s title charge, and urged to get up to speed by his bosses.

Some Italian media interpreted recent comments by Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali – including the Ferrari’s president’s claim that he has “waited with great perseverance” for an improvement – as an ‘Italian ultimatum’ for Massa.

But reporting on the team’s official website from Brazil, the 29-year-old insists Montezemolo and Ferrari are actually fully supportive.

“Even though I am going through a particularly difficult time right now with a lack of results in the last couple of races, I know I can count on the support of the team, who have always been behind me one hundred per cent, especially in the difficult times,” said Massa.

“Knowing he (Montezemolo) has faith in me is something I truly appreciate: he has an excellent understanding of the sport and he knows that you can sometimes go through tough times.

“The fact his support is always there is very important,” he added.

Massa’s latest comments also tackle speculation that he is no longer pushing as hard as possible, given that the biggest prize on offer is a third drivers’ title for his teammate Alonso.

“My desire to do as well as possible for me and for the team is the same as ever and that has been my approach to the sport ever since I started in formula one,” he insisted.

Michael Schumacher is not about to give up on his new quest to return to winning ways in formula one.

That is the opinion of the German’s 90s nemesis Damon Hill, amid suggestions the seven time world champion has lost his edge and could return to retirement before his three-year commitment to Mercedes is fulfilled.

“Just never write the guy off.  I made that mistake.  You cannot count him out.  He is never out.

“He has always somehow pulled something out of the hat somewhere,” said Briton Hill, now president of the Silverstone-owning BRDC.

Some pundits believe the 41-year-old has lost his desire to excel and allowed his famous attention to detail to lapse, and is now driving only for fun, but Hill only agrees with the latter sentiment.

“He loves driving.  Where else are you going to get the same kind of fulfilment or kick?” Hill told reporters at Silverstone prior to the British grand prix weekend.

“It is not about the money.  He is a perfectionist, very determined to achieve things and he will want to show that it is possible to win at 41.”

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told German media that recent criticisms of Schumacher have been “unfair”.

“He was on holiday for three years, what do you expect after a break like that?” said the 79-year-old.

Michael Schumacher on Thursday accused British pundits of exaggerating their criticisms in the wake of his performance in the Canadian grand prix.

His former teammate Martin Brundle had said the seven time world champion drove “appallingly badly” in Montreal, while fellow BBC commentators Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard also criticised Schumacher.

“I don’t take them seriously because there are different elements to formula one, and one part is showbusiness,” the 41-year-old is quoted by PA Sport in Valencia, a street circuit on which he has never raced.

Schumacher said he is “quite happy” with his return to F1 so far, and Mercedes team chief executive Nick Fry said he is doing “an excellent job despite what I understand has been said about Michael”.

“All in all,” argued Schumacher, “I don’t think there are many guys around the world who, at 41, come back after a three year break and compete at this high a level.”
(GMM)

Sebastien Buemi drove for the first time in Canada and took a strong eighth four points. After a poor qualifying (starting 15th) are considered the Toro Rosso driver out of all the skirmishes and even led the race at the meantime. This was the 14th since July 1979 when Clay Regazzoni won on a Williams at Silverstone, the first time a Swiss at the top of a Grand Prix. With this result, outdated Toro Rosso this exact Williams team in the constructors’ standings.

“I’ve been to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, known only by the simulator,” said Buemi. “But really to go out is a different story. I like the track very much, because the atmosphere is unique. Nevertheless, our engineers prepared the runway was quite an headache, because the tire situation very critical and provided all with a challenge.”
Despite the strong performance of the 21-year-old remains on the ground of reality. “We have achieved the result with a little luck. The team has worked very well, however, and the strategy was excellent. The biggest problem lies in qualifying. We were even further behind the two Williams. It is clear that we are competitive in the race. We must continue in the top-10 or start the top-12. I think both the team and the drivers do not bring out the maximum from a fresh set of tires. With a full complement of fuel car, we bring the tires much better in the work window. ”

Now, the journey to Valencia, where Buemi had last year with a broken brake disc up early. This season, the direction is clear: “It is obviously difficult before the first practice to make a prediction. Our main aim is qualifying as close as possible to the top 10 to come. We want to take the positive momentum from Canada and Force India catch up in the standings. “

In what was a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix with great motor racing. Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa played a rather insignificant role. Kobayashi, coming from 18th on the grid, retired in an incident on lap one after he made a remarkably good start and was fighting for ninth on the back straight. De la Rosa (17th on the grid) was hit by another car on the first lap and had to pit for a new nose. But he managed to recover and raced in 13th before he retired with an engine failure which has yet to be analysed.

Weather: sunny and dry, 25-26°C air, 37-39°C track

Pedro de la Rosa: retired on lap 31, engine
C29.03 / Ferrari 056
“To be left empty handed certainly is deeply disappointing. On the first lap of the race Vitaly Petrov spun in front of me on the straight, and hit my car when he came back from the grass. The front wing was broken and I pitted for a new nose. Also the rear wing had some damage, but it wasn’t too bad. I then continued and the car was quite good. We anticipated my pit stop because suddenly the rear tyres went. After this pit stop it seemed all okay but then on lap 31 I felt a sudden loss of top speed on the straight and knew immediately it was a serious problem.”

Kamui Kobayashi: retired on lap 1, accident
C29.01 / Ferrari 056
“This should not have happened. I had made a very good start from 18th and on the first lap was fighting with Nico Hülkenberg down the back straight for ninth. In front of us was Michael Schumacher, apparently having some troubles with braking before the chicane. All three of us were braking late and then I suddenly had nowhere to go. I hit the kerb, the car jumped and I had damaged it so badly that I had to stop.“

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:
“As is often the case in Canada, it was easy to score championship points today, however, we didn’t collect them. We lost one car which was in tenth at the end of lap one through an over optimistic move, and the second one through an engine failure.”

James Key, Technical Director:
“All in all it was a really difficult weekend and a shame not to get to the end. Pedro had a collision in the mix of the first corner, which damaged his rear right tyre and front wing, so he had to come straight in. Kamui made an excellent start. He took advantage of the situation in front of him and got up to tenth. But then in the last corner he spun off – that was the end of his race. There was too much damage to the car to continue, which was a real shame because there was potential to score some points. When Pedro went out after his early pit stop his pace was extremely good, and he caught up to the people ahead of him. He then came in for a second stop because of the tyres degrading. We hoped he would make it to the end but then he had an engine problem which we need to diagnose. That was a pointless end to a difficult weekend, so we have to do better in the next race.”

source: Sauber F1 Team

With Tonio Liuzzi claiming ninth position and Adrian Sutil tenth. But it was a case of what might have been as Tonio was pushed wide at the first corner after the start and forced to pit for a new front wing, while Adrian picked up a puncture while fighting with Robert Kubica on lap 27. Both incidents relegated them to the rear of the field, however the pair refused to give up and fought to the end to give Force India a further three constructors’ points.

Adrian had a good start from ninth on the grid and made an early pit stop to change to the medium tyre compound on lap six when his soft tyres grained excessively. He recovered to enjoy a tight battle with Kubica for sixth but the pair touched wheels, with Adrian picking up a rear right puncture that necessitated a further pit stop. He dropped back to 13th however was able to reclaim tenth after hard battles with Hulkenberg, Massa, and ultimately his team-mate Tonio. He finally moved into the points when he overtook Michael Schumacher on the final lap.

Tonio was desperately unfortunate not to be able to convert his fifth place starting position after he was squeezed onto the grass in the first corner. He fell to last after the stop for a new front wing, but was able to make in-roads into the field with a series of qualifying-style laps while the rest of the field pitted. By a third distance he was 13th and involved in the tight battle with Alguersuari, Massa, Adrian and Hulkenberg. Sensing points were still possible Tonio then closed to seconds from tenth, which he claimed when Massa pitted. He then put in some banzai laps to close on a slowing Schumacher and secured ninth position on the final lap.

Adrian Sutil (car 14)
Like Tonio, it was a pretty hard race. At the start I was racing Kubica and it seemed we could have got into the top five again, but then we touched and I got a puncture. Unfortunately it was at the first corner so I had to drive the whole lap back to the pits. I lost a lot of time like this and dropped out of the top ten, and then had to fight my way past Hulkenberg and then Schumacher to get back in the points. At the end of the race we knew Michael had some problems with his tyres so I really pushed to close the gap and I just got past him on the last corner to get the final point. Of course I’m disappointed as I think we could have got some serious points here today but I think I drove well, the car was good and we were fast the whole race.

Tonio Liuzzi (car 15)
It was a tough race and I drove every lap pushing so hard. The team deserved to get a good result after the hard work they have done this weekend and in the past weeks on the developments. We should ultimately have had more points than we got in the end, but it’s always OK to get another few points on board, particularly after the last race when they seemed so far away. Unfortunately we lost a big part of the race as the door was closed on me in the first corner by Felipe [Massa]. It was a race accident as Jenson was on the other side and there wasn’t anything I could do – I was on the inside and holding my line. We lost the front wing and had to change the strategy then and there, but in the end we still got some points. The team is pushing like hell and we want to confirm the progress we’ve made with more results. Today showed we’re strongly in the top 10 and – more importantly – we will never give up.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal
Another double points finish for the team is a very positive result, but given our outstanding qualifying performance yesterday I think in my heart of hearts I would have hoped for more. Both drivers got caught in unfortunate accidents and dropped back but they drove excellently to salvage three points, which, given the circumstances of the race, is very good. We also picked up significant damage on both cars in the incidents and to still show that level of performance is very encouraging. What we have learnt this weekend is that we’ve got a very strong car that’s capable of fighting with the top four teams entirely on merit and we have two top line drivers who are functioning at their best. We’re really looking forward to Valencia now.

Source: Force India

Another possible venue for a future United States grand prix has emerged.

After talks for a race in Jersey City reportedly collapsed, it is now suggested that Monticello Motor Club, about two hours from New York City, has been earmarked as a possible alternative.

Autoweek published a letter from the club’s president Ari Strauss to members revealing that the club – located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County – is in talks with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The letter also said Strauss met with Ecclestone a few months ago, and that F1 track designer Hermann Tilke has already visited the venue.

Strauss said Tilke “confirmed that our track and surrounding properties, with some expansion and minor track modifications, is an excellent location for a grand prix”.

He explained that he is working on securing the “backing and support of local, state, and federal politicians and organisations” and warned that “securing F1 is like winning the Olympics, competition is fierce, and this is not a done deal”.

(GMM)

Red Bull would like to keep Mark Webber on board for the 2011 season.

After the Australian driver commandingly won the past two grands prix from pole position and took the lead of the world championship, it is being reported that Red Bull would like to extend his expiring contract.

Already under contract for next year is 33-year-old Webber’s younger and highly rated teammate Sebastian Vettel.

“It is our desire to continue with Vettel and Webber,” team owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s motor sport adviser Dr Helmut Marko is quoted on Monday by Austria’s APA news agency.

Marko indicated that Webber’s run of top form has motivated Red Bull to keep him.

“It is important that both drivers are at a high level of performance, with each one pushing the other to excellence.

“They must be going to the limit, for themselves but subsequently for the car,” added the Austrian former grand prix driver.

Marko acknowledged that the sort of form being shown by Webber could drive up his contract price.

“Of course, the management uses it for salary negotiations.  But we know what he is worth to us.”

(GMM)