2010 marks the 60th birthday of Formula One racing, and the Bahrainis have been demonstrating all weekend just how well they can stage celebrations. It wasn’t enough to lay on a mouth-watering selection of world championship-winning cars and landmark designs - they flew in 18 world champions too for on-track cavalcades on Saturday and Sunday.
Drivers: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1m 54.101s; 2. Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1m 54.242s; 3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 1m 54.242s
Q: Sebastian, the testing did not tell us very much. You have picked up where you left off but how big a surprise is pole position to you?
Sebastian Vettel: A big surprise. I mean in winter testing no-one really knew where we were. Of course it was clear that there were four teams pretty strong, but close to each other. To be honest yesterday it was a very tough day for us and we had not as much running as we were hoping for. Another long night especially for the mechanics, not a lot of sleep, some tired faces, but everyone was still keen this morning to push. I knew we had a great car but first of all you have to get it together. I have to say practice this morning and qualifying went pretty smoothly. Obviously I am very, very happy to be on pole, so thanks to the team. As I said the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month with a lot of testing in a short amount of time. To come here first time everyone really shows how strong they are and to be on top is definitely a very, very nice feeling.
Pole position shootout
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m54.101s
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m54.242s
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m54.608s
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m55.217s
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m55.241s
6 Mark Webber Red Bull 1m55.284s
7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m55.524s
8 Jenson Button McLaren 1m55.672s
9 Robert Kubica Renault 1m55.885s
10 Adrian Sutil Force India 1m56.309s
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:54.099 14
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:54.368 0.269 13
3 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:54.500 0.401 15
4 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:54.533 0.434 13
5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:54.646 0.547 16
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:54.739 0.640 14
7 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.000 0.901 14
8 Robert Kubica Renault 1:55.331 1.232 15
9 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.432 1.333 11
10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:55.461 1.362 13
Drivers: Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Robert Kubica (Renault) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:55.409 23
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.854 0.445 22
3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:55.903 0.494 23
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:56.076 0.667 28
5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:56.459 1.050 18
6 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.501 1.092 26
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:56.555 1.146 30
8 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:56.750 1.341 26
9 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:57.140 1.731 25
10 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.255 1.846 24
1 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:56.583 18
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:56.766 0.183 18
3 Robert Kubica Renault 1:57.041 0.458 19
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:57.055 0.472 19
5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.068 0.485 19
6 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.163 0.580 19
7 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.194 0.611 19
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:57.199 0.616 15
9 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:57.255 0.672 17
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:57.662 1.079 16
DRIVERS: Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Felipe MASSA (Ferrari), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes GP)

Thursday March 11, 1500 hours local time (1200 GMT):
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes).
Friday March 12, 1600 hours local time (1300 GMT):
Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Robert Kubica (Renault) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).
The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.
Q: How does it feel to start the season as the defending champion? Is it a different mindset to previous seasons?
Jenson Button: I’m actually really looking forward to the start of the season. It will be a thrill and an honour to sit on the grid with the number one on my car - it’ll actually be the first time in my car racing career that that’s ever happened - but I won’t be spending too much time thinking about the drivers who want to take it away from me. Obviously, my aim is to retain the title and we’ll need to start the year extremely strongly if we’re going to achieve that because, more than ever these days, world championships seem to be won at the start of the season rather than at the end of it.
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Launch Force India VJM03. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil. Launch Force India VJM03. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP PETRONAS MGP W01. Valencia - Tests. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F10. Valencia - Tests. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTO)
Robert Kubica, Renault R30. Valencia - Tests. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Launch Williams FW32. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Launch Williams FW32. F1 wallpaper 2010 (Tests in Valencia)
Launch Williams FW32. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. Launch Toro Rosso STR5. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. Launch Toro Rosso STR5. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Launch Toro Rosso STR5. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi. Presentation Sauber C29. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)
Launch Sauber C29. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTO)
Launch Sauber C29. F1 wallpaper 2010 (HI-RES PHOTOS)