Downforce32

Button 'wants to stay at Honda'

Jenson Button's manager says the 27-year-old has no plans to leave Honda, despite the team's poor start to the Formula One season.

Honda were expected to step up their challenge after an encouraging 2006, but the team is yet to pick up a point.

"Jenson is still supporting Honda," said Richard Goddard.

"Clearly, the team isn't where it should be but we're not going to jump ship. We're not shopping around and I'm not talking to anyone at the moment."

Button finished sixth in the drivers' standings last season, while the team were fourth in the table after a superb end to the season.

But Honda have struggled to build on that success so far this season, with neither Button nor his team-mate Rubens Barrichello managing a place in the top 10 in Australia, Malaysia or Bahrain.

Button finished 15th in Melbourne and 12th in Sepang, while an accident at Sakhir ended his race on the opening lap.

Honda's new RA107 car has not impressed Button, with the Briton complaining about  understeer and a lack of straight-line speed.

Nevertheless, Goddard said the problems could be addressed if Honda appointed the right people to assist the drivers.

"There is no other team that can give us a better place to be," he added.

"A number of key technical personnel left last year and we have to make sure the team rebuilds in that area.

"We can't afford to keep starting the season with a slow car."

Raikkonen should get more technical

Kimi Raikkonen could achieve more at Ferrari if he worked harder on the technical side of his job, suggests the man who gave him his Formula One break.

The Finn is "unbelievably fast, focused and powerful," Peter Sauber said.

"But it would be interesting to see how good he could be if he concerned himself with the technology side, too."

Raikkonen is tied for the championship lead after three races but was beaten in Bahrain recently by team-mate Felipe Massa, who he was expected to outclass.

Former team owner Sauber, who sold his majority shareholding to BMW, emphasised that he "would not call his lack of technical interest a weakness" and that Raikkonen had "a huge amount of natural talent".

But, talking to German magazine Auto Bild, Sauber did admit Raikkonen's "strengths are definitely not on the technical side".

Raikkonen, 27, is regarded by many as the outright fastest driver in F1, but he makes no secret of the fact that he is not interested in anything other than driving fast.

There was much speculation before this season about how the former McLaren driver would adapt to life at Ferrari as a replacement for Michael Schumacher, who was much more involved in the workings of his team.

However, Williams driver Alexander Wurz, who was test driver at McLaren when Raikkonen was at the team, believes he will achieve great success as long as Ferrari do not expect him to be something he is not.

"Kimi will do just fine at Ferrari - better than fine," Wurz told F1 Racing magazine.

"Once they've accepted that he's Kimi and not Schumi, they'll learn to love him - because he's easy to understand and therefore to love, a big talent who just enjoys what he's doing.

"And if he's good at it, which he is, and he's consistent over a number of seasons, then I believe he could follow in the footsteps of [1980s legend] Gilles Villeneuve, rather than Michael.

"And if things work out like that, then they might well be just perfect for both Ferrari and Kimi."

BMW may offer Heidfeld new deal

Nick Heidfeld's prospects of a new deal at BMW Sauber have been boosted after team boss Mario Theissen suggested they were not looking for a replacement.

Heidfeld has outperformed team-mate Robert Kubica this season, finishing fourth in all three races so far.

"Nick and the team are delivering outstanding performances," said Theissen.

"From that angle, there is no reason for either of us to be looking elsewhere for alternatives."

But Heidfeld, who is now in his second season with the team, will have to wait before his future is decided for certain.

"There's no rush to sort things out," said Theissen.

"We are speaking with Nick but we won't be giving any progress reports.

"We will make a decision before the end of the season and then announce that decision in due course."

Heidfeld has already said he would like the matter to be cleared up sooner rather than later.

"I don't want to wait too long," he said.

"The earlier the better and I think I am in a good position."

Heidfeld faces strong competition for his place from Kubica and German youngster Sebastian Vettel, who is currently BMW Sauber's test driver.

Schumacher vows to answer critics

Ralf Schumacher says he will let his driving do the talking after being criticised for attributing blame to his car for his poor start to the season.

The Toyota driver, 31, has won just one point from the first three races while his team-mate Jarno Trulli has four.

"I'll answer on the track when the car is competitive again," Schumacher said.

"No driver changes his style from one day to the next. It's about improving the car's set-up and reacting to the driver's needs."

Schumacher added: "The season is still long, we have only completed three out of 17 races, and there will still be plenty of surprises.

"I believe that - just like last year - we will continue to improve throughout the course of the season."

The German's contract runs out at Toyota at the end of the season.

However, manager Hans Mehr believes Schumacher has a future in F1, even if it is away from the Japanese team.

Mehr said: "Ralf is one of the best Formula One drivers in the world. There is no need to worry about his future.

"If he wants to drive, there will always be a cockpit waiting for him."

BMW - Third-strongest team on the grid!

BMW has established themselves firmly as the third-strongest team on the grid

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has made a successful start to the 2007 World Championship. Nick Heidfeld has recorded three fourth places and Robert Kubica a sixth-position finish to put the team on 18 points and leave them lying third in the constructors' standings. BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen looks back on the season so far.


How would you rate the team's progress after three races?

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "For this season we set ourselves the goal of halving our gap to the leading cars once again, having made a similar improvement last year. We have hit this target in the first three races of the season, and in Bahrain we narrowed the margin even further. We have established ourselves firmly as the third-strongest team on the grid, exceeding our expectations. I'm particularly pleased that the gap to the teams in front is smaller than our advantage over the cars behind. We've made it into Q3 with something to spare at each GP, and the 18 World Championship points we've collected in the three races is already equal to half our total for the whole of 2006. So, all in all things are looking very positive at this point."


Do you think the team will soon be celebrating its maiden victory?

Theissen: "We made an excellent start to the season, but we need to remain realistic. As things stand, there is still a gap between us and Ferrari and McLaren. Nick's overtaking move on Fernando Alonso in a straight fight during the Bahrain GP was a great moment, and it has surprised us slightly as well that we've been able to put the favourites under this kind of pressure so soon. Needless to say, we will not be resting on our laurels, but it is important to take one step at a time. Our primary aim is to secure some podium finishes, but winning our first race is next on the list."


What can you do now to further close the gap on the leaders?

Theissen: "The teams in Munich and Hinwil are doing some outstanding work in what is our second development year. The workforce in Hinwil is up from 275 previously to just over 400 at the last count. We have a three-shift system in place in the wind tunnel and our new supercomputer Albert2 is up and running. We will have reached our target of 430 employees by the end of the year. And then there is the new factory, which is scheduled for completion in time to have us operating at full power come the start of the 2008 season."


How has the team dealt with the switch to the standard Bridgestone tires?

Theissen: "The switchover has generally required less adjustment than we expected, both for the drivers and for the engineers. Nevertheless, tires continue to play a key role when it comes to delivering maximum performance at all times. We have already significantly expanded our knowledge base with the tires, but we are constantly learning more. There is not much to choose between the cars on the grid, and the smallest details can make the difference between success and failure."


How pleased are you with the two drivers?

Theissen: "Nick is right at the top of his game. He has put in top-class performances in all three races so far and has been rewarded with three fourth places. He has done everything we could ask of him. Robert had some bad luck in Melbourne when he was forced to retire from fourth place, and things didn't go too well for him in Malaysia either. And so it was all the more important that he was able to pick up his first points of the season in Bahrain. He is still struggling slightly with the handling of the car, but I'm sure that we can work together to iron out the difficulties."


Why have you not yet given Nick Heidfeld a contract extension?

Theissen: "Both Nick and the team are currently delivering outstanding performances and are working really well together. So from that angle, there is no reason for either of us to be looking elsewhere for alternatives. At the same time, though, there's no rush to sort things out. We are speaking with Nick, of course, but we won't be giving any progress reports. We will make a decision before the end of the season and then announce that decision in due course."

Have the reliability issues been fully resolved?
Theissen: "We set ourselves exacting targets in the development of the F1.07 which pushed us to the limit of what was technically possible. The complexity of the Quick Shift Gearbox presented us with a particularly tough challenge, but it is one that we have gradually mastered. Robert's retirement in Melbourne was caused by a material defect in a gearshift component. We reacted quickly and introduced a modified part for the test in Sepang, which allowed us to solve the problem. In the meantime, we have also carried out some fine-tuning to the gear-changing under race conditions."

Massa Wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari's Felipe Massa held off the challenge of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in the Bahrain Grand Prix to win his first race of the season.

The Brazilian led throughout but was pressured early and late in the race by Hamilton, the first man to take podiums in his first three Grands Prix.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third after challenging Hamilton mid-race.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was fourth, holding off a challenge from the struggling McLaren of Fernando Alonso.

The result leaves Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton in a three-way tie on points at the top of the world standings, with Massa five behind.

Massa needed a good result in Bahrain after disappointment in the first two races and there was no repeat of his poor start from pole in Malaysia last Sunday.

The results in the first two races were not what I expected but this time we put everything together. - Felipe Massa

By the time of Hamilton's first stop for fuel and tires on lap 19, the Ferrari was still only around a second ahead, but the stops changed everything.

Under new rules that force drivers to use two different types of tires during a race, both men changed to the softer rubber at their first stops.

But Hamilton found his McLaren lacking grip on the new tires and Massa began to pull away.

From pressuring the lead Ferrari, Hamilton now came under pressure from Raikkonen.

The Finn had spent the first stint stuck behind Alonso, but after passing the Spaniard during the first pit stops he set about trying to make good the damage.

Just as in Malaysia, though, Hamilton defended like a veteran, and despite making a final stop three laps later than Raikkonen the Englishman managed to rejoin the track still in second place.

"I struggled a bit on the new tires, the balance was not very good," Hamilton said. "We got back onto the hard tire [for the last stint] and we were able to keep up the pace."

Back on his favoured hard tires, Hamilton quickly pulled away from Raikkonen and began to cut into Massa's 10-second lead.

He pegged it back to five seconds before Massa responded. Hamilton continued to attack, but the Ferrari was able to comfortably hold him back until the end.

"The results in the first two races were not what I expected," said Massa.

"Something was missing. But this time we put everything together. I'm really pleased."

The same could not be said for Alonso, who found his McLaren even less to his liking in the second stint than did Hamilton.

The world champion later complained of grip problems, saying he had "no confidence" in the car and after his first stop he quickly came under pressure from Heidfeld, who grabbed fourth place with a brave move around the outside of the McLaren at turn four on lap 31.

Like Hamilton, Alonso picked up some pace in the final stint, but although he caught Heidfeld, he could not pass him.

Sixth place went to the second BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica, who was followed home by the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault.

The other British drivers did not enjoy such good fortune as Hamilton.

Jenson Button's race ended on the first lap when he spun on turn four after being clipped by Scott Speed, who had been hit by one of the Spykers.

Red Bull's David Coulthard had a better day, battling up from 21st place to seventh before unfortunately being forced out by a driveshaft failure.

Fellow Briton Anthony Davidson lasted until lap 53, before he was forced off trailing smoke.

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Bahrain Grand Prix result:

1  Felipe Massa (Brz)           Ferrari one hour 33 minutes 27.515 seconds
2  Lewis Hamilton (GB)        McLaren-Mercedes  2.360sec behind
3  Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)        Ferrari @ 10.839sec
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger)         BMW Sauber @ 13.831sec
5 Fernando Alonso (Sp)         McLaren-Mercedes @ 14.426sec
6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber @ 45.529sec
7 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota @ 1min 21.371sec
8 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault @ 1:21.701
9 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault @ 1:29.411
10 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota @ 1:29.916
  11 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams-Toyota @ 1 Lap
12 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota @ 1 Lap
13 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda @ one lap
14 Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari @ two laps
15 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker-Ferrari @ four laps
16 R A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 53 Laps completed
R M Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 41 laps completed
R D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 36 laps
R  T Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 34 laps
R V Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 26 Laps
R J Button (GB) Honda R 0 laps
R S Speed (USA) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps

Key: R = retired

Malaysian Grand Prix - Alonso/McLaren Victory

Reigning world champion Fernando Alonso secured his first victory for McLaren as he claimed a pillar to post win in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Alonso climbed above Kimi Raikkonen in the title race, leading home Lewis Hamilton for a McLaren one-two and their first win since Japan in 2005.

Briton Hamilton, 22, held off a late charge from Ferrari's Raikkonen.

Pole-sitter Felipe Massa blew his chances when he slid off trying to pass Hamilton on lap six and finished fifth.

"It is absolutely fantastic and a wonderful surprise," said Alonso, who chalked up his first win since his victory in Japan for Renault last October.

"The team has done a lot of work on the car but we never expected to be that competitive."

Alonso had rounded Massa at the first turn and, in an audacious move, Hamilton rounded both Ferraris from fourth on the grid.

That was the most difficult race I have ever had - Lewis Hamilton

Massa, who had been fastest in practice and took pole, briefly passed Hamilton on lap three, but the British rookie came round the outside of his Ferrari to move back up to second.

Massa's challenge was ended for good when, allowing his frustration to get the better of him, he tried to move beyond Hamilton again but skidded onto the grass and slid back to fifth.

"I made a mistake," the Brazilian said. "I tried to attack Lewis but ended up in the gravel.

"It is not easy to overtake on this circuit but I knew I had to try and I cannot blame myself for trying."

Raikkonen's own early attempts to move up the field were thwarted, but the Finn delivered a thrilling finale to the race as he chased down Hamilton.

The Australian Grand Prix winner reduced the gap between his Ferrari and Hamilton to 0.8 seconds on the last lap but, despite running at a faster pace than the McLaren, he ran out of time as Hamilton nosed across the line in second.

"That was the most difficult race I have ever had," said Hamilton, 22. "I had Kimi hunting me down for most of the race. I can't explain how tough that was, it was getting hotter but I had to keep pushing and I made no mistakes."

Alonso and Hamilton's feat in Malaysia saw them complete McLaren's first one-two since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2005.

Raikkonen had to settle for third which saw him slide two points behind Alonso in the drivers' standings.

"I was happy to get some points but disappointed at the end," said the Finn.

"All weekend we've had problems so it was just one of those weekends. I got close to Lewis but didn't have the same speed as Felipe and couldn't challenge him."

Nick Heidfeld claimed fourth place for the second race in a row after also benefiting from Massa's mistakes.

The German moved up the field after Massa's excursion on to the grass and drove steadily to again press home BMW Sauber's improvement this season.

There was also some welcome progress for the Renault team as Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth with rookie Heikki Kovalainen winning his first point in eighth. Toyota's Jarno Trulli split the Renaults in seventh.

Williams had shown some impressive pace in Malaysia, and had both their drivers inside the top 10, before the team's reliability problems came back to haunt them when Nico Rosberg was forced to retire from seventh with smoke streaming from his car.

It was another dismal day for Honda as Rubens Barrichello finished 11th, one place ahead of British team-mate Jenson Button.

Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson took 16th while David Coulthard retired his Red Bull on lap 39 after informing his team that he was "not comfortable with the car".

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Results from the Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang:

1.  Fernando Alonso (Spa)      McLaren       1:32:14.930
2.  Lewis Hamilton (GB)     McLaren        +00:17.557
3.  Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)     Ferrari         00:18.339
4.  Nick Heidfeld (Ger)      BMW Sauber      00:33.777
5.  Felipe Massa (Bzl)        Ferrari         00:36.705
6.  Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault         01:05.638
7.  Jarno Trulli (Ita)         Toyota          01:10.132
8.  Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)  Renault         01:12.015
9.  Alexander Wurz (Aus)     Williams-Toyota 01:29.924
10. Mark Webber (Aus)      RedBull-Renault 01:33.500 
11. Rubens Barrichello (Bzl)  Honda              1 lap
12. Jenson Button (GB)      Honda              1 lap
13. Takuma Sato (Jap)          Super Aguri-Honda  1 lap
14.  Scott Speed (US)           Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
15.  Ralf Schumacher (Ger)    Toyota             1 lap
16.  Anthony Davidson (GB)   Super Aguri-Honda  1 lap
17.  Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita)    Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
18.  Robert Kubica (Pol)       BMW Sauber         1 lap

R.  Nico Rosberg (Ger)       Williams-Toyota   13 laps
R.  David Coulthard (GB)    RedBull-Renault   19 laps
R.  Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari 48 laps
R.  Adrian Sutil (Ger)          Spyker-Ferrari 56 laps

Key: R = retired

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:36.701, lap 22