Germany’s Nico Rosberg, who has yet to transform his practice pace into anything higher than sixth place in a race this season, put Williams on top of the time sheets at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday.
Rosberg, son of 1982 champion Keke, lapped the Sakhir circuit in a time of 1 minute, 33.339 seconds. The German has now been quickest in seven of the 11 practice sessions this year.
Renault’s double world champion Fernando Alonso was second fastest in the afternoon.
PHOTO: AP
Current champion Lewis Hamilton had earlier shrugged off the troubles surrounding his McLaren team to clock the quickest time in the morning.
The Briton lapped in 1 minute, 33.647 seconds.
Only Rosberg, Alonso and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli went faster in the afternoon.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, winner of the last race in China, was fourth fastest in the second session ahead of Australian teammate Mark Webber and Brawn GP’s championship leader Jenson Button.
BMW-Sauber had filled second and third places on a hot and overcast morning, with Germany’s Nick Heidfeld ahead of Poland’s Robert Kubica.
The top three cars in that session were all equipped with the new KERS energy recovery system that offers drivers an extra boost of power at the push of a button, at a circuit where it is expected to be a real advantage.
Only Alonso of the afternoon’s top three had KERS on board.
Button, who won the first two races of the season and finished third in China, is seen as a favorite to return to the top of the podium with the Brawn likely to be more competitive in the hot conditions.
McLaren, who warned at the start of the season that their car was still some way off becoming a winner, have brought new developments to Bahrain in an effort to close the gap at the top.
“We have a few modifications for the floor, hopefully a little bit more down-force, but nothing dramatic,” said Kovalainen, whose teammate has been kept well away from the media since arriving in Bahrain. “There is nothing major at this race. I think the next big package should be in Spain.”
Meanwhile, McLaren have written to F1’s governing body to apologize for misleading stewards and accepting wrongdoing ahead of a hearing next week that could suspend the team from the championship.
“We are cooperating with the FIA. I have written to [International Automobile Federation President] Max [Mosley], but obviously before the 29th [Wednesday] I can’t say anything about it,” McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said. “It’s a letter to them. Certainly, there’s been no leak about it from us and I can’t comment on it.”
A source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters earlier that Whitmarsh had written to Mosley, the FIA and race officials to offer “an unreserved apology” for lying to stewards at last month’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The source said the team had also accepted they had breached the sporting regulations, an admission that effectively throws them at the mercy of the authorities.
McLaren have been charged with five counts of bringing the sport into disrepute and are due to appear before the FIA’s world motor sport council in Paris on Wednesday.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB