David, Karen & Shanna

David, Karen & Shanna

Race

1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:32:27.515

2 L. Hamilton McLaren + 2.360

3 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 10.839

4 N. Heidfeld BMW + 13.831

5 F. Alonso McLaren + 14.426

6 R. Kubica BMW + 45.529

7 J. Trulli Toyota + 1:21.371

8 G. Fisichella Renault + 1:21.701

9 H. Kovalainen Renault + 1:29.411

10 N. Rosberg Williams + 1:29.916

11 A. Wurz Williams + 1 laps

12 R. Schumacher Toyota + 1 laps

13 R. Barrichello Honda + 1 laps

14 C. Albers Spyker F1 + 2 laps

15 A. Sutil Spyker F1 + 4 laps

Did not finish

16 A. Davidson Super Aguri + 6 laps

17 M. Webber Red Bull + 16 laps

18 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 21 laps

19 T. Sato Super Aguri + 23 laps

20 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 31 laps

21 J. Button Honda + 57 laps

22 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso + 57 laps

Disappointment for charging Red Bulls

Red Bull Racing's two drivers had competitive runs in the Bahrain Grand Prix - particularly David Coulthard who was on a charge until both were forced to retire.

"We lost the right rear drive shaft and I had to stop," said Coulthard. "We were on an aggressive race strategy, which had been working well. Typically from the back you would go one stop and long but, as we saw in Malaysia, the one stop option didn't provide a chance to overtake - so we went for the shorter strategy. The race car felt good, the strategy was good, and I think it would have paid off. We're going through some growing pains at the moment, but we will get through it and we'll be stronger on the other side, everyone's working very hard back in the factory."

Webber commented, "The car had an open fuel flap in the second stint, which was the same problem we had in Australia. It's bloody frustrating. After the pit stop, I got myself back in position again, but then something failed and I had to retire. The pace was good, but the result is the same even so."

Team boss Christian Horner added, "Frustrating is the only way to describe today's race. Driving an aggressive strategy, David was a candidate for driver of the day. He overtook more than ten cars and looked set for a strong points finish, only for a driveshaft related failure to force his retirement. Mark made a good start and pushed Fisichella very hard in the first stint. Unfortunately he lost time in the second stint due to a fuel flap failure and, ultimately, a gear box issue caused him to retire. We need to get on top of these reliability issues very quickly, as obviously they're unacceptable. However, we can see that we've continued to make progress and should have had two cars in the points today."

Coulthard philosophical despite cruel retirement.

David Coulthard was sanguine about the disappointing end to his Bahrain Grand Prix after a superb drive through the field that was set to be rewarded with points was ruined by a retirement-inducing driveshaft failure.

It was an agonising day for Red Bull Racing in general with both Coulthard and Mark Webber running comfortably in the points before being forced out with mechanical problems, retirements that almost certainly prevented the team from getting off the mark this season.

Still, despite the anti-climatic end to Coulthard's weekend, the Scot was nonetheless pleased to have shown an impressive turn of pace that had him scything through the field at a tremendous rate from 21st on the grid.

Citing a more aggressive fuel strategy that saw the team ignore the one-stop fuel load usually adopted by out of position drivers as the reason for his pace, Coulthard was happy to show the progress the team are making following a conservative start to the season.

"We lost the right rear drive shaft and I had to stop," he said. "We were on an aggressive race strategy, which had been working well. Typically from the back you would go one stop and long but, as we saw in Malaysia, the one stop option didn't provide a chance to overtake - so we went for the shorter strategy.

"The race car felt good, the strategy was good, and I think it would have paid off. We're going through some growing pains at the moment, but we will get through it and we'll be stronger on the other side, everyone's working very hard back in the factory."

Webber meanwhile was rather more frustrated with the way his race came to an end having run comfortably in eighth position for the majority of the race, the Australian slowed first by an open fuel lap and then forced to retire thanks to a gearbox problem

"The car had an open fuel flap in the second stint, which was the same problem we had in Australia. It's bloody frustrating. After the pit stop, I got myself back in position again, but then something failed and I had to retire. The pace was good, but the result is the same even so."

Coulthard Bullish Despite Withdrawal

Mon 16 Apr

David Coulthard reflected upon the positives to have come from the Bahrain Grand Prix despite being forced to retire for the third successive race this season.

Having seen his race ended in Australia due to a collision with another car, he retired with a brake problem in Malaysia last week and trouble with the driveshaft ended his hopes again yesterday.

But prior to leaving the race midway through with flames emanating from under his Red Bull car, Coulthard had been flying on the Sakhir circuit, climbing from 21st on the grid to as high as seventh.

He said: "I'm disappointed obviously to have another failure but we have to go and look at the positives, and we were quicker than Renault who are the current world champions.

"So as quickly as they have gone backwards we have gone forwards.

"Obviously we are still a long way from Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber but I believe we are better than we were last year, and there are still good races to come.

"It is race three and our goal has got to be to try to be the fourth team by the time we get to the end of the European season."

Red Bull suffered double disappointment with Coulthard's team-mate Mark Webber also retiring with gearbox problems.

The team have only been in existence for two years and Coulthard believes it will take time for them to develop the car enough to forge a place near the top of the grid.

The 36-year-old added: "You just need to look at the history of Formula One and the teams that are winning are those that have been around for several years and have had the same people in place for that time.

"We are a relatively young team still and we are in front of Toyota and Renault who are two big manufacturers.

"We have to be realistic and as painful as it is parking the car, I'd rather park the car having had a good race than what we had last year, which was just a slow car and not very good for anyone."