Formula 1

Bahrain GP: Toyota Friday practice notes

Panasonic Toyota Racing today returned to competitive action after a break of nearly five months as the team took part in free practice for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix. On a warm Friday at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit, the only grand prix venue in the ...

Edited: Mar 11, 2006, 4:53 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Panasonic Toyota Racing today returned to competitive action after a break of nearly five months as the team took part in free practice for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix. On a warm Friday at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit, the only grand prix venue in the middle of a desert, Toyota drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli had a difficult start to their preparations for the first race of 2006.

Ralf completed his programme of set-up and tyre comparison but Jarno suffered an electronics problem with 15 minutes remaining. Toyota will now look to learn from today's data as it pushes to improve over the rest of the weekend.

NEW WORK STATE OF MIND

After winter in Europe, a refreshed Ralf Schumacher returned to action in the warmth of Bahrain.

Ralf Schumacher:

"This year we no longer have Ricardo Zonta driving on Fridays but my free practice programme is not hugely different. We didn't do much running in the first session while the track was at its dirtiest but we got through our programme without technical problems in session two, collecting some useful data."

"Our lap times were not to the level of some but we are still learning how to make the most of our package in warm conditions. We have a lot of changes on our car from last year and all our testing so far has taken place at lower temperatures. We will analyse the data tonight to make our tyre choice for the next two days."

SAND GLITCH

Jarno Trulli missed out on some running due to an electronics problem in the second session of practice.

Jarno Trulli:

"It was a pity that I was not able to complete my afternoon's work today. The Sakhir circuit was initially very dusty and dirty so like many teams we did most of our running in the second session. I was in the start of a long run for tyre comparison when I suffered an electronics problem which brought my session to a premature close."

"Not the best of days, then, but at least we have some data to work with overnight in preparation for tomorrow. It will be a brand new system of qualifying but the approach will be the same, to put together a quick lap when it matters."

DESERT MIX

It was a hard day's work for Panasonic Toyota Racing around the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain.

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director Chassis:

"That was a difficult first day for us. We had a very conservative programme for the two free practice sessions. Unfortunately we had an electronics problem which stopped Jarno's car before he'd done any really meaningful running. Ralf was able to complete his limited programme but I think we have to wait until tomorrow to see our true level of competitiveness."

"It's a new situation for us to run without the third car on Fridays, but as one of the top four teams that's how it will be so we have to learn to cope with that. Certainly today we've been struggling for grip and to get the tyre in the right operating window. But some of our fellow Bridgestone runners ran quite competitively so that's hopeful for tomorrow."

Ralf Schumacher
Car 7, Chassis TF106/05
First Session Classification: 22nd, 1 lap completed
No lap time
Second Session Classification: 22nd, 18 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m35.170s (+3.817s)

Jarno Trulli
Car 8, Chassis TF106/04
First Session Classification: 21st, 2 laps completed
No lap time
Second Session Classification: 24th, 11 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m35.898s (+4.545s)

-toyota-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Red Bull presents two teams

Next article Bahrain GP: Toro Rosso Friday practice notes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

2 h

Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale

Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

2 h

Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale

Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

2 h

Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title

Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

3 h

Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix

Feature

Discover prime content

How Lando Norris prevailed in a swift errors tour of Interlagos

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

How Lando Norris prevailed in a swift errors tour of Interlagos

"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

How F1’s rules got to be so complex

Formula 1

By Pat Symonds

How F1’s rules got to be so complex

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts