Bahrain preview: Toyota F1

Panasonic Toyota Racing returns to action swiftly after the Chinese Grand Prix with a trip to the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix on the Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir.

Toyota, Red Bull, have no plans to use KERS

Apr.28 (GMM) With the start of F1's European season now looming, two teams not yet running KERS systems have revealed they have no immediate plans to implement the new technology.

Toyota and Red Bull have no plans to use KERS

Varying approaches to the energy recovery systems With the start of F1's European season now looming, two teams not yet running Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems have revealed they have no immediate plans to implement the new technology...  

Glock shines, secures Toyota podium

Malaysian GP - Toyota - Race Toyota claimed its second consecutive podium finish during an incredible rain-affected Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit...  

Button turns up heat in the desert

• Briton overcomes high temperatures to clinch third grand prix• Button comes from fourth place on the grid to claim winJenson Button won his third race of the season after surviving trying conditions in the desert heat to claim the Bahrain grand prix.Button, who started the 57-lap race in fourth place on the grid, consolidated his lead in the drivers' championship, after steering his Brawn past the chequered flag ahead of the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli's Toyota in 1hr 31 min 48sec.There was good news at last for McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who crossed the line in fourth place, and also Kimi Raikkonen, who finally ended Ferrari's points with a sixth-place finish.But it was a disappointing day for Timo Glock, who managed to get a better start than his Toyota team-mate Jarno Trulli – who began in pole position – to take the lead at turn one. The young German was unable to capitalise on his promising start though and eventually slipped back to eighth place, one ahead of the Renault of Fernando Alonso.Hamilton, starting from fifth in his McLaren, also made good progress early on, the world champion passing Button and Vettel before the first corner. Hamilton then attacked Trulli in a bid to gain second place on the opening lap, but the 34-year-old managed to fend off the Briton.At the start of lap two, though, Button pulled off a fine manoeuvre to overtake Hamilton and reclaim third place by slipping down the inside of the McLaren at turn one. The jostling behind the leading five was considerable as drivers traded places.At the start of lap three, Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber and the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima were both forced into the pits for new front wings due to damage sustained in the early skirmishes. Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who had started from eighth, was another of the casualties due to a front wing problem, while the second BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld also made an early unscheduled stop.Their problems dropped the quartet to the back of the field, with Massa, Kubica, Nakajima and Heidfeld running in 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th, and seemingly with little hope of points.On lap eight, running third and within sight of the Toyotas, Button was told to turn down his engine to prevent overheating, with the heat of the day not helping as temperatures hit 36 degrees centigrade.Running with a light fuel load compared to those behind him, it was no surprise when Glock was the first of the leaders to pit at the end of 11. Surprisingly, despite carrying another three laps' worth of fuel more than Glock, Trulli pitted a lap later, resulting in a call to Button from the pit wall "to give it everything you've got".When he made his first call into the pits, he emerged ahead of Trulli, keeping faith with the supersoft tyres that had served him well to that point. In contrast, Trulli had switched from the soft tyres to the primes which were running close to a second per lap slower, as was proved during the middle stint of the race.By the time of the second stop at the end of lap 37, with both men in, Button had opened up a cushion of almost 18 seconds. Trulli switched back to the soft tyres, whilst Button was forced to take on the prime, and the duel appeared to be on between those two drivers.However, Vettel was to prove a major player following an unusually poor start from his perspective, although he was the heaviest with fuel of the top five. Starting from third on the grid he was passed by both Button and Hamilton, who used the KERS boost button to pass the German and his fellow Briton on the run down to the first corner.It was a position Hamilton was soon to relinquish, though, due to the superiority of the Brawn over the McLaren, with Button making his move on the 24-year-old at turn one of lap two. As for Vettel, he was forced to hang onto the exhaust of the duo and hope two rounds of pit stops would work in his favour. And they did as Vettel edged out Hamilton at the first and then Trulli at the second. The latter will have been especially gratifying as he found himself held up by Trulli for 18 laps in the middle stint, even though he was on the marginally quicker softer tyres.Over the closing stages the tables were turned as Trulli was unable to make any kind of move on Vettel, despite running closely behind the Red Bull. Come the finish, Button clinched his victory by 7.1 seconds over Vettel, with Trulli third, followed by Hamilton who was 22 seconds down, but who grabbed his best result of the season.Button now leads the drivers' championships by 12 points over his team-mate Barrichello, who has 19 points, one more than Vettel.Bahrain grand prix result1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1hr 31mins 48.182secs2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:31:55.3693 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:31:57.3524 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:32:10.2785 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:32:25.9616 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:32:30.2397 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:32:31.0628 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:32:40.9579 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:32:46.380Drivers' championship1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 31pts2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 193 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 184 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 14.55 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 126 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 9.57 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 98 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 59 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 410 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 411 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 3.512 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 313 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 314 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1Jenson ButtonBrawnFormula oneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Nakajima admits Toyota 'help' to gain Williams seat

Japanese racer out to prove he deserves the ride Kazuki Nakajima has confirmed widespread paddock speculation that his links with Toyota helped him secure the Williams race seat...