Vettel outshines the rest in Melbourne

• Hamilton 11th on grid, Jenson Button fourth• Vettel alongside Mark Webber on front rowThe trials of Friday night, when he was apprehended by local police for "over-exuberant driving" on his way out of the Albert Park circuit, continued for Lewis Hamilton today when he failed to make it into the final qualifying session for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix."Where do I need to find time?" Hamilton asked his engineers over the radio as he prepared for a last desperate effort, but at the end of the Q2 session a margin of 0.062sec separated his McLaren-Mercedes from the car with the 10th fastest lap time, Robert Kubica's Renault."I struggled to get time in the last sector," he said afterwards, "and when I put new tyres on I couldn't get more out of them."Occupying pole position in today's race will be Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull-Renault was fastest in all three sessions and whose final lap, on a bumpy and slippery track, provided a demonstration of the 22-year-old's virtuosity and natural aggression. Next to him on the grid will be his team-mate Mark Webber, the local hero, with the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, the winner in Bahrain two weeks ago, and the McLaren of Jenson Button on the second row, ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Once again Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was faster than the similar car of Michael Schumacher, the two German cars starting in sixth and seventh places.Vettel started from pole in Bahrain and led the race with apparent ease until a spark-plug failure reduced his engine power and dropped him to an eventual fourth place. As Hamilton licked his wounds he could at least point to the accuracy of his suggestion earlier in the week that the Red Bulls are "insanely quick".The sessions were all held in dry conditions but rain is forecast for tomorrow and Vettel and Alonso both predicted a race in which accidents and the appearance the safety car will make life complicated for the drivers. As in Bahrain, the three new Cosworth-engined teams - Lotus, Virgin and Hispania - were eliminated in the first part of qualifying, along with the Renault of the Russian driver Vitaly Petrov. As well as Hamilton, Q2 saw the elimination of the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg, the Toro Rossos of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, the Saubers of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi and the Force India of Tonio Liuzzi. Joining seven cars from the current big four teams in the final shoot-out were the Williams of Rubens Barrichello, Kubica's Renault and the Force India of Adrian Sutil.Leading positions after qualifying:1. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 23.919secs2. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:24.0353. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:24.1114. Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:24.6755. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:24.8376. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:24.8847. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:24.9278. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:25.2179. Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:25.37210. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:26.03611. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:25.18412. Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:25.63813. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:25.74314. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:25.74715. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:25.74816. Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:25.77717. Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.08918. Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:26.47119. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 1:28.79720. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:29.11121. Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:29.59222. Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 1:30.18523. Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 1:30.52624. Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 1:30.613Lewis HamiltonFormula OneJenson ButtonSebastian VettelRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Fernando Alonso win delights Ferrari

• Spaniard leads Felipe Massa in team 1-2 on debut• Sebastian Vettel loses out to exhaust problemA sweeping one-two victory for the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the Bahrain grand prix could not obscure the overall dullness of a contest in which, for the first time since 1993, the drivers were not allowed to refuel their cars. A processional race was brought to life only when the Red Bull-Renault of Sebastian Vettel, a convincing leader for the first hour, developed an exhaust problem which reduced the power from his engine, allowing the Italian cars to pass and relegating the young German driver to an eventual fourth place behind the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.Even the new lightning-fast pit stops to change tyres failed to add to the excitement, partly because they were too brief to provoke much in the way of incident. Most of the drivers made only one mid-race stop and spent most of the time on their radios, talking to their race engineers about the best way to achieve a safe balance between tyre wear and fuel consumption.Add the unwelcome addition of fiddly new corners which turn the Sakhir circuit into a giant go-kart track and this was the recipe for an unsatisfactory start to the most eagerly anticipated season for years. Apart from the Scuderia Ferrari, overjoyed by their success after the travails of 2009, the team gaining most pleasure from their afternoon's work were probably Lotus, rewarded for their Malaysian-backed efforts to revive a famous name by having their two cars classified as finishers, albeit at the tail of the field in 15th and 17th places. The other new low-budget teams, Hispania and Virgin, saw their cars retire.For the McLarens, which finished third and seventh in the hands of Hamilton and Jenson Button, and the new Mercedes outfit, for which Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished fifth and sixth, there will be some head-scratching among the engineers after their failure to match the leaders' pace. Hamilton found encouragement in his podium place but Button was unable to get past Schumacher over the last 15 laps which he spent on the tail of the seven-times champion.Nothing, however, could dim the excitement in the Ferrari pit, where a new regime came under severe criticism after suffering disaster after disaster last season. Following the example set so successfully 12 months earlier by their former technical director Ross Brawn, they abandoned last year's hopeless car midway through the season and concentrated their efforts on preparing for 2010. Today their new F10 showed the kind of reliability that underpinned five of Schumacher's championships and enough speed to be in the right place when Vettel faltered and the Red Bull's 4sec cushion started to shrink.For Alonso, watched from the grandstand by the King of Spain, this was the best possible start to his career with his new team, making him the sixth driver – after Juan Manuel Fangio, Giancarlo Baghetti, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Kimi Raikkonen – to win his maiden race for Ferrari. Starting from the third slot on the grid, behind Vettel and Massa, he slipped past his team-mate between turns one and two on the opening lap and was in position to take advantage of the pole man's misfortune with 15 laps to go."It's even more special because of the history of the team and the expectations of those who drive for this team," he declared, articulating a sentiment guaranteed to endear him to the numberless fans of the Scuderia around the world. "The guys here at the track and back at the factory in Maranello worked day and night to make this car and we've arrived here very well prepared."There was an extra surge of emotion inside and outside the cockpit of the second Ferrari as Massa crossed the line 16sec behind his team-mate on his return to racing after the accident that almost took his life in Hungary last July. "It's fantastic to be here," the little Brazilian said. "I didn't get a good start and lost a position to Fernando but the race was great and the car was perfect."The day's biggest disappointment was endured by Vettel, whose pole position had been achieved with a lap that won praise from his rivals. "It seems something broke," he said, "but luckily we could continue and finish fourth, but we should have won today. It was positive all weekend, except for the exhaust failure."What became clear today was that Formula One is the new Premier League, with a Big Four whose cars finished in the top eight positions followed by a group of worthy midfield runners (Force India, Renault, Williams and Sauber are the equivalents of Spurs, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton) and a sweaty bunch of relegation contenders. Despite spinning his Force India on the opening lap while blinded by a cloud of oil smoke from Mark Webber's Red Bull, Adrian Sutil looked the most likely to disturb the established order.The last time Ferrari opened a series with a 1-2 win was with Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in Australia in 2004, prefacing the most crushing of the German's championship seasons. Vettel will win races this season and so will Massa and Hamilton but the intelligent and consistent Alonso, with 25 points to his name under the new scoring system against Massa's 18 and Hamilton's 15, must be feeling optimistic about the prospect of a third title.Formula OneFerrariMotor sportRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Vettel claims Bahrain pole

• Vettel beats Massa and Alonso into second and third• Lewis Hamilton fourth, Michael Schumacher seventhRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel will start the first race of the 2010 season on pole position after edging out the Ferraris in qualifying for the Bahrain grand prix. Last year's championship runner-up put in a stunning lap in the closing 10-minute qualifying session at the Sakhir circuit to beat the Ferrari pair of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso into second and third, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton fourth and the returning Michael Schumacher down in seventh place.Vettel, who finished the 2009 campaign by winning two of the final three races, was brilliant throughout all three sessions, finishing second in the opening 20 minutes, before topping the middle 15-minute stint and then coming out on top at the end. The young German ultimately finished with a lap of one minute 54.101sec, with Massa 0.141sec adrift and Alonso a further 0.4sec down.Hamilton won his first battle of the Britons with team-mate Jenson Button at McLaren as the world champion struggled during the course of the afternoon and will start eighth directly behind seven-time champion Schumacher. The 41-year-old, on his comeback after three and a half years in retirement, was again bettered by his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, as he was in all three practice sessions.Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber starts sixth, with Robert Kubica in his Renault ninth behind Button, and Force India's Adrian Sutil a fine 10th.In the dying moments of Q2, Button managed to scrape his way into the top 10, edging out his Brawn team-mate from last season in Rubens Barrichello, now with Williams, by 0.162sec. Behind the veteran Brazilian will be Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi and the second Williams of promising German rookie Nico Hulkenberg, who was only half-a-second down on Barrichello.The Saubers of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi will start 14th and 16th, with Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi splitting the Spanish and Japanese drivers. On his debut, Renault's Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov knows the task he now faces after seeing team-mate Kubica's performance as he will start 17th, finishing a yawning 1.7sec behind the Pole at the end of the session.It was no great surprise to see the three new teams occupying the bottom six positions come the conclusion to the initial 20-minute session. And it was Virgin who were best of the newcomers thanks to Timo Glock, and that after seeing a wheel roll off his car in final practice earlier today due to a loose nut. The German will start 19th, edging the Lotus Racing pair of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen into 20th and 21st places, with just 0.6sec separating the trio.Glock's team-mate Lucas di Grassi was a further 0.2sec adrift, leaving Hispania Racing's Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok bringing up the rear of the now 24-strong grid.Positions after qualifying1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 54.101secs, 2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:54.242, 3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:54.608, 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:55.217, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:55.241, 6 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:55.284, 7 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:55.524, 8 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:55.672, 9 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:55.885, 10 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:56.309, 11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:55.330, 12 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:55.653, 13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:55.875, 14 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:56.237, 15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:56.265, 16 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:56.270, 17 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:56.619, 18 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:57.071, 19 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:59.728, 20 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:59.852, 21 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 2:00.313, 22 Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 2:00.587, 23 Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 2:03.240, 24 Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 2:04.904Formula OneMotor sportSebastian VettelRed Bullguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Schumacher sets sights on eighth title

• German signs one-year contract with Ross Brawn's team• Schumacher will be 41-years-old upon return to trackMichael Schumacher believes he can win an unprecedented eighth Formula One world championship next season after confirming that he will come out of retirement to drive for Mercedes.Schumacher, who will be 41 on 3 January, has signed a one-year contract, with options for a further two seasons, to partner Nico Rosberg at the former Brawn team. Brawn GP collected the drivers' championship, through Jenson Button, and the constructors' title last season and Schumacher is targeting identical success for the rebranded squad."I have won it seven times and I'm with the team that won both titles last season, so what do you expect?" he said. "You can't expect anything else other than to go for the world championship and that's what we are aiming for."Schumacher secured the last of his championships with Ferrari in 2004 and has not raced in Formula One since 2006. The German will be the grid's oldest driver. Button, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, three likely title rivals, will be 30, 25 and 22 when the season starts.A neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February ruled out Schumacher's proposed comeback for Ferrari last season as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa. But he has no doubts about his fitness or competitiveness in joining the Mercedes team run by Ross Brawn, who managed Schumacher's seven world championships at Benetton and Ferrari."I am absolutely confident I can do what's necessary," Schumacher said. "When I returned to the go-kart [for a recent race against F1 drivers in Brazil], I straight away was on the pace. Now I have to prove it in the real car and go wheel to wheel with many of those guys."The motivation is pretty straightforward. I got a call from Ross at the beginning of November asking me to race again, telling me Mercedes were going to be involved. That seemed pretty good to me. I was tired of F1 by the end of 2006 and three years' absence gave back all the energy that I'm feeling right now. Having played around with motorbikes and go-karts, I feel ready for some serious stuff."Before I gave a final OK, I had to be sure 100% that there were no further issues with my neck. Unfortunately it was too close to the accident in the summer when I considered going to Ferrari after Felipe's accident. But the time is enough now to heal [the injury] completely. I have tested everything that I can and I have no problem whatsoever now."Brawn said the renewal of his association with Schumacher did not come at the expense of Button, who has joined Hamilton at McLaren for 2010. "We made a big effort to keep him but it wasn't possible in the end," he said. "I had a loyalty to Jenson but, when that started to look difficult, I started talking to Michael."Brawn said he had let Schumacher answer questions about his motivation and speed following a long absence from such a competitive arena. "I trust him implicitly and he told me he can do it. He has always been his own best critic, the man himself knows what he is capable of. I am very comfortable and confident and put my trust in Michael, and it won't be misplaced."Schumacher's lengthy list of records includes the most world titles, most race victories (91), most pole positions (68) and highest number of wins in one season (13 in 2004). His return with Brawn severs a 14-year connection with Ferrari, Schumacher having spent the past three years as a consultant and ambassador there."The only reason I seriously thought about my return is because it is old friends that have asked me. Working with Ross and Mercedes is now possible and I'm happy to give something back that Mercedes gave me in the early days," he said, referring to its support for his career before he reached Formula One.Hamilton welcomed the chance to race Schumacher, whom he described as "a legend". He said: "I used to watch Michael race when I was in the junior categories and I always hoped that I would be in F1 while he was still around. I'm really looking forward to seeing him on the track and back at the top. It's brilliant news."Michael SchumacherMercedes GPFormula OneMotor sportMaurice Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Jenson Button visits McLaren HQ

• World champion given a guided tour round McLaren HQ• Button would share equal billing with 2008 world championMcLaren have teed up Jenson Button to partner Lewis Hamilton in their 2010 Formula One line-up and the world champion could be close to turning his back on the Brawn team for whom he won this year's title. Button and his manager, Richard Goddard, today visited the McLaren headquarters at Woking, where they were given an escorted tour of the facilities by Martin Whitmarsh, the team principal. A contract could be signed as early as next week if terms can be finalised, creating the first team with two world champions competing alongside each other since Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were team-mates at McLaren in 1989."As I've said many times before, Jenson wants to drive a car which is capable of winning the next world championship," said Goddard. "We've been talking about possible terms for 2010 with Brawn for months and we're not being difficult or unreasonably expensive in our demands for Jenson. In fact we've given up quite a lot of negotiating ground in our discussions with them."McLaren have made Kimi Raikkonen their second choice if the Button approach fails, with Nick Heidfeld third favourite.Goddard made it clear that Button was not aiming for the £10m annual fee that drivers such as Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have under the terms of their existing agreements. But it is clear he wants more than the bargain-rate, reputed £4m deal he agreed with the emergent Brawn team before the start of last season to stay on the Formula One grid in a year when he was almost left kicking his heels in the pits with nothing to drive."I think it's also important that Jenson wants to feel valued in whatever situation he finds himself next season," Goddard added. "He needs to explore all the feasible options." A McLaren spokesman said: "Having just arrived at Heathrow, Jenson made a small detour to Woking to say hello."It is understood that Button has moved to the top of McLaren's wish-list over the past couple of months, with Whitmarsh and his fellow directors impressed by his tenacity in regaining his form to round off the season with two outstanding drives in the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix.However, Niki Lauda, who won the last of his three world championships with McLaren in 1984, and was paired there with Prost for two years, believes that Button would be best served in the long run by continuing to negotiate with Brawn. "One of the problems faced by drivers today is that there is generally less money around in the business than there was," he said. "So if I was Jenson, I would try to stay with Brawn even if Ross might pay him slightly less than McLaren. Of course, if McLaren are going to pay a lot more, then he must go."But the other thing he must consider is that it is Lewis's team and he needs to be sure he has the confidence to deal with this. It is a tough decision for Jenson and he needs to think it through carefully."McLaren also played host to Raikkonen on Wednesday when the 2007 world champion visited their base with his managers, David and Steve Robertson. The Robertsons – father and son – have an impressive reputation as negotiators, having not only secured Raikkonen an income of around £27m from Ferrari in 2008 but also cleverly inserted a clause in his contract whereby Ferrari were obliged to exercise their option to keep him in 2010 if he scored a certain number of championship points by the middle of 2008.That led to the current situation whereby Ferrari have chosen to pay off Raikkonen's contract for a figure believed to be between £15 and £17m to make room for Alonso. Raikkonen previously drove for McLaren from 2002-06.If Button should eventually join McLaren he would do so on equal footing to Hamilton as the team have always given absolute parity of equipment to their drivers and both would be permitted to race unfettered for grand prix wins and the world championship.Heidfeld, who was a McLaren test driver in the late 1990s, and the incumbent Heikki Kovalainen are also under consideration as potential candidates for the seat alongside Hamilton, although very much as outsiders.Formula OneJenson ButtonMcLarenBrawnAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Schumacher Comes Out of Retirement to Challenge Formula One

Michael Schumacher, 41, returns to the track on Sunday for the Bahrain Grand Prix, his first race since 2006.