F1: The return of the Jedi

It was an all-new look to qualifying this afternoon at Sakhir as Formula One dumped the single car system in favour of the new shoot-out system but it was an old name that proved he has lost none of his pace as Michael Schumacher claimed Pole Position for the Bahrain Grand Prix from Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa. Schumacher’s first pole Position since Hungary last year gives him a career total of 65, equalling the long-held record set by the late Ayrton Senna. For Schumacher and Ferrari, it was the perfect way to remind his championship rivals that they are still a major force in Formula One. Felipe Massa was mighty impressive in what was his first qualifying session for Ferrari as he missed out on his first pole by just 0.047s to Schumacher. The former Sauber driver is chasing his first podium tomorrow afternoon in Bahrain. Over at Honda, who had set the practice pace for much of the weekend, Jenson Button starts third a tenth down on Schumacher while Rubens Barrichello was unable to get close to the pace of his younger team-mate and is somewhat fortunate to start just three positions further back.

Renault played the waiting game to perfection throughout the three phases of qualifying, but when it really counted in the final five minutes of the third and final phase, Fernando Alonso was only able to qualify fourth fastest while Giancarlo Fisichella starts just ninth in the second R26. Juan Pablo Montoya steered clear of trouble and put in solid performance in his MP4-21 and starts fifth, but as is so commonly the problem for McLaren, the other car driven by Kimi Raikkonen was in big trouble. Raikkonen, the runner up to Alonso in the championship last year brought out the red flags in the very first phase of qualifying following a high speed right rear suspension failure. The Finn dragged his McLaren back to the pits minus its rear wing but his session was over even before he had recorded a lap time. Raikkonen starts 22nd and last. due to suspension. The new look mclaren with title sponsor Fly Emirates fails to flatter but Massa and Schumi back was really the highlight of the qualifying in Bahrain. Hopefully it wont be a Ferrari 1 2 at the podium.

F1 New Rules

Qualifying

For 2006, the single-lap system used in recent years is replaced be a new three-part, knockout format, with multiple cars on track throughout the qualifying hour, which is split into two 15-minute sessions and a final 20-minute session, with five-minute breaks in between.

Part one: All 22 cars may run laps at any time during the first 15 minutes of the hour. At the end of the first 15 minutes, the six slowest cars drop out and fill the final six grid places.

Part two: After a five-minute break, the times will be reset and the 16 remaining cars then will then run in a second 15-minute session - again they may complete as many laps as they want at any time during that period. At the end of the 15 minutes, the six slowest cars drop out and fill places 11 to 16 on the grid.

Part three: After another five-minute break, the times are reset and the final 20-minute session will feature a shootout between the remaining 10 cars to decide pole position and the starting order for the top 10 grid places. Again, these cars may run as many laps as they wish.In the first two 15-minute sessions, cars may run any fuel load and drivers knocked out after those sessions may refuel ahead of the race. However, the top-ten drivers must begin the final 20-minute session with the fuel load on which they plan to start the race. They will be weighed before they leave the pits, and whatever fuel they use in the 20 minutes may be replaced at the end of the session.If a driver is deemed to have stopped unnecessarily on the circuit or impeded another driver during the qualifying session, then his times will be cancelled.

Engines

For 2006, engines are reduced in size from the previous 3-litre V10s to 2.4-litre V8s. The aim is to reduce costs and improve safety. With similar engine speeds, the change is expected to cut peak power by around 200bhp, which in turn is likely to add around three to five seconds to lap times at most circuits. The FIA may allow some teams to use 2005-spec V10s if they do not have access to competitive V8. The FIA will enforce a rev limit on any V10s to ensure performance is comparable with that of a V8.TyresAfter a season’s absence, tyre changes during races return to Formula One in 2006. The thinking behind this is that the reduced engine size will offset any performance gain. Drivers also have access to slightly more tyres than in 2005 - seven sets of dry-weather, four sets of wet-weather and three sets of extreme-weather. Drivers must make a final choice of dry-weather compound ahead of qualifying.