| 14.00 | Welcome to F1-Live.com and our live coverage of the 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix. The race gets underway in just over 30 minutes time. |
| 14.02 | Qualifying yesterday saw Robert Kubica claim his and BMW Sauber’s first Formula One pole position, snatching the position away from Felipe Massa in the final seconds of the session. It was a great result for the hard-working team who really have made great strides with the F1.08 package following disappointing initial pre-season tests. |
| 14.04 | Kubica will line up on the pole with Felipe Massa alongside him. After two events that saw Massa make mistakes, the Brazilian really needs to win this race to get himself back into championship contention. Another error and serious questions will be asked. Massa has shown blistering speed all weekend and despite losing the pole, is pre-race favourite should he keep the F2008 pointing in the right direction. |
| 14.06 | McLaren Mercedes find themselves the third team on the starting line-up. Lewis Hamilton did a good job to qualify third at a circuit where the MP4-23 again does not seem to have the pace to challenge Ferrari. A quick getaway will be key for Hamilton if he is to challenge for the race victory. |
| 14.08 | Kimi Raikkonen starts fourth in the second Ferrari in what has been a low key weekend so far for the Malaysian Grand Prix winner. Raikkonen has not shown the pace of Massa so far this weekend, but as the Malaysian event underlined, race day is another matter for the defending champion. Ferrari are strong this weekend, so don’t discount Raikkonen. |
| 14.10 | Row three of the grid features Heikki Kovalainen and Nick Heidfeld in the second McLaren and BMW. Kovalainen has the sped to challenge for the podium this afternoon while Heidfeld can always grind out a result even if he seems much less at ease with his F1.08 than team-mate Kubica. |
| 14.12 | There is a good battle in prospect between Jarno Trulli in the Toyota and Nico Rosberg in the similarly-powered Williams. Both have proven evenly matched as they line-up seventh and eighth on the grid. Points are the target for both racers. |
| 14.14 | Jenson Button did a good job to qualify his Honda in ninth position ahead of double world champion Fernando Alonso in the leading Renault. Honda has made good progress this year and could be able to score points. For Alonso, his R28 seems very much on the ragged edge, but that of course is Alonso’s style when he needs to get the most from the package. After finishing eighth last time, he will be hoping for a little more in Bahrain. |
| 14.16 | Mark Webber leads the way at Red Bull in 11th position. The team has struggled this weekend and with David Coulthard starting 17th, the team will probably load the RB4s with fuel and run a long first stint in order to try and gain track position. |
| 14.18 | Rubens Barrichello starts 12th in the second Honda and is still seeking his first point in over a year. Timo Glock lines up 13th in the second Toyota and is simply hoping for a trouble free race after his Australian and Malaysian dramas. |
| 14.20 | Nelson Piquet starts 14th in the second R28 with Champ Car star Sebastien Bourdais close behind in the leading Toro Rosso. Bourdais has run well all weekend and will seek a clear first lap and then challenge for position. |
| 14.22 | Kazuki Nakajima is having a disappointing season so far in the second Williams. The Toyota protégé starts 16th ahead of Coulthard and the leading Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella. |
| 14.24 | The final two rows of the grid see Sebastian Vettel start 19th in what has been a tough weekend so far for the German Toro Rosso racer. He lines up ahead of Adrian Sutil in the second Force India entry. Sutil has been overshadowed by veteran Fisichella and could use a strong race. At the back, Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato soldier on with the struggling Super Aguri Honda team. |
| 14.26 | Bridgestone has the soft and the medium compound of tyre available this weekend. Yesterday we saw qualifying dominated by the softer tyre, but perhaps in race conditions, the harder option will be favoured by many for stint one and two. The Ferrari does seem especially kind to its tyres, so Massa and Raikkonen may go the soft route from the outset. |
| 14.28 | As for fuel strategy, most of the front runners all seem to take roughly the same fuel levels into race day, while those in the lower top ten tend to carry a little more fuel. As ever, running an extra lap at pace is the best opportunity to make the pass. |
| 14.29 | The drivers are all in the cars and ready as the mechanics are being cleared from the dummy grid. |
| 14.30 | Kubica leads the field away from the grid to start the formation lap. Most are starting on the soft tyre. |
| 14.31 | They are all away from the dummy grid. Rosberg is on the hard tyre. |
| 14.32 | Kubica lines up on the pole position for the first time in his career, with Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kovalainen and the rest taking up position. |
| Lap 1 | The Bahrain Grand Prix is go! |
| Lap 1 | Massa ahead of Kubica. Slow start Hamilton |
| Lap 1 | Massa leads Kubica, Raikkonen and Kovalainen. |
| Lap 1 | Hamilton started third and is now P10. |
| Lap 1 | Vettel has pulled off in his STR. |
| Lap 2 | Hamilton has hit the back of Alonso and lost his wing. |
| Lap 2 | Piquet spins.... Hamilton off track. |
| Lap 2 | Button has pitted his Honda... |
| Lap 2 | Hamilton is making his way back to the pits. |
| Lap 3 | Raikkonen passes Kubica around the outside into turn one. |
| Lap 3 | Hamilton and Coulthard both pit. |
| Lap 3 | Massa leads Raikkonen, Kubica, Kovailainen, Heidfeld and Trulli. |
| Lap 3 | Heidfeld moves ahead of Kovalainen. |
| Lap 4 | Rosberg and Trulli battle for sixth. |
| Lap 4 | Fisichella has made a good start and is now 11th in his Force India behind Glock, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg, Trulli, Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Kibica, Raikkonen and Massa. |
| Lap 5 | Barrichello runs 12th ahead of Bourdais, Piquet, Sato, Nakajima, Davidson, Hamilton, Coulthard, Button and Sutil. |
| Lap 5 | Kubica is third and keeping close to the back of Raikkonen's Ferrari. |
| Lap 6 | Alonso runs in ninth and it is amazing he does not have rear end damage. Hamilton somehow managed to hit the back of the Renault hard in an acceleration zone on lap 2. |
| Lap 7 | Massa leads Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen by three seconds. |
| Lap 7 | Hamilton is down in 18th and a long way behind Davidson who runs 17th. |
| Lap 8 | Webber is defending from Alonso while Bourdais is defending from Piquet. |
| Lap 9 | The top five are covered by ten seconds. Massa is the one with most comfortable cushion. |
| Lap 10 | Webber has pulled a gap now to Alonso who is coming under pressure from Glock. |
| Lap 10 | Alonso does have some rear wing damage from his incident with Hamilton. It will be effecting the balance of the car. |
| Lap 11 | Piquet has passed Bourdais into turn one. |
| Lap 12 | Massa continues to lead Raikkonen with Kubica staying close behind in third. |
| Lap 13 | Massa gets the gap to Raikkonen out to five seconds. |
| Lap 13 | Sutil still runs at the back in the second Force India and is already a lap down. |
| Lap 13 | Fisichella still runs in 11th and is holding off Barrichello in the leading Honda. A good job from the Italian veteran. |
| Lap 14 | Hamilton is off the pace in 18th as he is only slowly closing in on Davidson. |
| Lap 15 | Trulli has pulled a gap from Rosberg now. |
| Lap 16 | Sutil must have a problem as he is three seconds slower than anyone on that last lap. |
| Lap 16 | Hamilton gains ground on Davidson, the gap down from ten seconds to seven. |
| Lap 17 | Button now on the back of Coulthard, but they are at the back almost after lap one drama. |
| Lap 18 | Kubica pits his BMW Sauber from third. |
| Lap 18 | Rosberg pits from seventh. |
| Lap 18 | Piquet pits his Renault. |
| Lap 19 | Kubica now runs behind Trulli and now he runs wide and loses time. |
| Lap 19 | Button and Coulthard make contact. Button has lost his front wing. |
| Lap 19 | Button dived down the inside and they made contact. Button was too fast into the turn. |
| Lap 20 | Button pits the Honda again. |
| Lap 20 | Correction, Kubica exited behind Glock not Trulli. |
| Lap 21 | Raikkonen pits from second. Shows Massa's qualifying speed. |
| Lap 21 | Trulli pits his Toyota. Alonso pits his Renault. |
| Lap 21 | Button back in and is set to retire. |
| Lap 22 | Massa pits from the lead. He had a four second advantage over Raikkonen. Heidfeld and Kovalainen both pit too. |
| Lap 22 | Massa leads Webber who has yet to pit. |
| Lap 23 | Webber now pits his Red Bull. Fisichella pits his Force India. |
| Lap 23 | Barrichello pits his Honda. |
| Lap 23 | Davidson lets Hamilton through for position. |
| Lap 24 | Glock has yet to pit. Bourdais pits the STR. |
| Lap 24 | Webber's long first stint has moved him ahead of Rosberg. Glock pits his Toyota. |
| Lap 25 | Barrichello has got the jump on Fisichella. |
| Lap 26 | Alonso has lost position to Glock. The long first stint worked for the German driver. |
| Lap 27 | No changes at the front as the gaps remain stable. |
| Lap 28 | Webber started 11th and now runs seventh and is closing in on Trulli. |
| Lap 28 | Hamilton runs behind Fisichella. His only hope of points is if the team switched him to a one stop strategy. |
| Lap 30 | Raikkonen is keeping the pressure on Massa as the gap remains four seconds. |
| Lap 30 | Fisichella is keeping Hamilton behind him. Good driving from the Force India driver. |
| Lap 31 | Hamilton gets the job done and passes Fisichella into turn one. |
| Lap 32 | Kubica has dropped away in third position. The battle is firmly between Massa and Raikkonen for the win. |
| Lap 32 | Hamilton pits his McLaren. This is probably his final stop. He was 14th. |
| Lap 33 | Hamilton exits behind Massa so he is a lap down on the race leader. |
| Lap 33 | Nakajima pits from 11th in the second Williams. He is on a one stop stratgey. |
| Lap 34 | Hamilton gets out of the way of Raikkonen as the Ferrari battle continues. Raikkonen will be looking to force a mistake from Massa. |
| Lap 35 | Trulli remains less than three seconds behind Kovalainen. Not a good race this from McLaren. |
| Lap 36 | Piquet pits his Renault from 14th. He was chasing the man he replaced at Renault. Fisichella. |
| Lap 37 | Alonso trying to pass Glock for ninth. |
| Lap 38 | Alonso locks his rear brakes and loses a little time. |
| Lap 38 | The Ferrari duo are lapping faster and faster in a personal battle for the win. |
| Lap 38 | Piquet runs off track, he seems to have a problem. |
| Lap 39 | Raikkonen pits from second position. |
| Lap 39 | That is probably race over now for the win as they tend to hold station after the final stops to conserve the cars. |
| Lap 39 | Alonso has made his second stop. |
| Lap 39 | Bourdais pits his STR. |
| Lap 40 | Massa pits from the lead. |
| Lap 40 | Massa exits ahead of Raikkonen. |
| Lap 41 | BMW run first and second but have not made a second stop yet. |
| Lap 41 | Rosberg pits from eighth. |
| Lap 41 | Kubica loses a little time behind Nakajima but then pits. |
| Lap 42 | Trulli loses time behind one of the Super Aguri cars as Coulthard pits. Trulli is chasing Kovalainen for fifth. |
| Lap 43 | Piquet has pulled into the pits and retired. |
| Lap 43 | Webber and Barrichello pit. Davidson and Sato are battling hard for 16th. |
| Lap 43 | Fisichella pits from 11th. |
| Lap 44 | Trulli pits from sixth. |
| Lap 44 | Heidfeld has yet to pit. He leads Massa and Raikkonen at the moment. |
| Lap 45 | Glock pits his Toyota. |
| Lap 46 | Heidfeld pits from the lead. He should filter back out in fourth position. |
| Lap 46 | Kovalainen has yet to pit. |
| Lap 47 | Kovalainen is right with Raikkonen but will have to pit soon. |
| Lap 47 | Massa and Raikkonen have backed off the pace at the front. |
| Lap 48 | Kovalainen pits from third. He will exit back behind the BMW duo. |
| Lap 48 | Barrichello has caught Alonso and looking to take tenth position away from the former champion. |
| Lap 49 | Heidfeld sets the fastest lap of the race. he has fresh tyres and a ligh fuel load after a long second stint. |
| Lap 49 | As the Ferrari duo have backed off, Kubica is cruising up on Raikkonen. |
| Lap 50 | A fast lap from Kovalainen pulls him clear of Trulli. |
| Lap 51 | Kubica has the gap down to three seconds now on Raikkonen. |
| Lap 53 | No changes as Barrichello continues to hound Alonso for tenth. |
| Lap 54 | Hamilton passes Nakajima for 13th. |
| Lap 55 | The Ferrari duo were forced to pick up the pace to keep the gap to Kubica stable. |
| Lap 56 | Massa is on target for the ten points which he really needs. |
| Lap 57 | Massa wins the Bahrain Grand Prix from Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber and Rosberg. |
| Lap 57 | Glock had a fine race to ninth ahead of Alonso, Barrichello, Fisichella, Hamilton, Nakajima, Bourdais, Davidson, Sato, Coulthard and Sutil. |
| Lap 57 | Massa takes ten points but Raikkonen takes over the championship lead from Hamilton. |
