Alonso Wins in Bore-ain
Perhaps it was the excessive levels of hype that the media have been throwing in the direction of the 2010 season? Perhaps we expected too much from Bahrain – it’s not produced many thrills in previous seasons either, an issue that was perhaps overlooked when given the top billing? Whatever it was, we can only hope that the rest of the season generates more interest than the season opener.
Good Weekend
Clearly a good weekend for Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Ferrari. Maximum points for the team, with Alonso settling right in and delivering exactly what the Tifosi expect. For Massa, it was the first race back after his horrific accident in Hungary and he will be pleased with the result although there is the small, dark cloud of the first bragging rights in the team heading Alonso’s way. 
Still, given that Massa’s previous best return from the first race of a season was a measly 6th in 2007, he can’t complain. Bahrain has always been happier hunting ground for the Brazilian than Australia.
“A very special day for me as coming back to the top of the podium is always special but I think it is even more special with Ferrari with all the history behind the team and all the expectations a driver has when he drives for Ferrari.” Fernando Alonso
Lotus also came away happy, both cars were classified which was two more than both the other new teams. And they weren’t that many laps behind by the end – thank goodness for a long circuit. Force India once again had to settle for 9th although at least you get points for it now so Vitanio Liuzzi is off and running in what looks like being a very competitive midfield car in 2010…
Bad Weekend
…It wasn’t such a good weekend for his team mate though. Adrian Sutil could have so easily have been hunting down Sebastian Vettel come the end of the race, instead he disappeared into a cloud of smoke coming from Mark Webber and along with Robert Kubica, came out of it facing the wrong way. That also ruined Renault’s weekend – coming away empty handed.
However, it was Sebastian Vettel who was left looking at the positives of at least finishing fourth when he should have been winning who probably had the worst weekend. A faulty spark plug eventually fingered as the culprit in his loss of power late in the race.
Mixed Weekend
McLaren looked pretty good in race trim, the struggles in qualifying being the downside. Lewis Hamilton is no doubt pleased with a third place in the end but if he’d managed to have kept Nico Rosberg at bay at the start there was a good chance he could have been looking at second place, especially as Massa eased off in order to protect an overheating engine by running rich on fuel.
For the fans, Formula 1 was at least back but it was hardly a race to remember.
Can we start the season in Australia instead, please?
Great start for Alonso and Massa. Hamilton will be a lot happier than Button. Webber is probably wondering about his seat already for next year.
Rosberg will be pleased, but a solid start from Michael after 3 years away, and Rosberg v Schumacher could get very interesting as the year goes on.
Good to see Alonso finally in a competitive car for the first time in 2 years. It’s been too long. str8y(Quote)
What I find sad is that the fans who enthuse about the sport off-season and who write or comment about it are finding the racing boring. How on earth are we to encourage a new fanbase if it’s not seen as exciting? saltire(Quote)
So are we to just lie and claim the race was fun?
Fans will always talk up the sport they love, but when we get a race like Bahrain in which the top 10 were essentially decided by one pass on the track, two passes during pit stops, and one component failure (Vettel deserved the win!), then you can’t expect even the most passionate of fans to claim the race was even close to exciting. dominonation(Quote)
I fear much of the trouble is actually a part of the mindset of modern F1 drivers. A lot of comments following the race from drivers were about how the new rules had made the sport less interesting, with Schumi worrying about conserving tyres and Lewis stating that the race became a train after the first lap. There is no reason that this should have been the case. The drivers seem to have got into the habit of doing nothing on track and just waiting for “strategy” to get them past other cars during pit stops, and they don’t seem to be able to shake that. John C.(Quote)
The drivers can no longer push their cars. Remember Schumi’s amazing ability to pull out flying laps right before and after pit stops? He can no longer to this, especially in the laps following stops, because tire wear is such a critical issue now. Back when the drivers knew they would be pitting in on a certain lap to refill on fuel, they knew that they could ravage their tires as much as they wanted in the laps leading up to their stops because they would simply get new ones as they refueled. Now that fuel is out of the equation, there is too much time to be lost in pitstops to even consider a second stop. dominonation(Quote)