The Final Word - Bahrain Race Report

Bahrain may not have been the race that we all hoped for, but it has paved the way for an extremely intriguing season. Finally, we have an idea of the pecking order and have seen a Champion ominously finding his form in Ferrari red.

Fernando Alonso has been here before, twice. In 2005 he was partnered by the determined Giancarlo Fisichella at Renault. At the time they had both won 1 race (Alonso in Hungary 2003, Fisi in Brazil 2003) and both came into the season optimistic of mounting a title charge. Alonso had qualifying troubles in the season opening race which left the door open for a Fisi win, but the Spaniard soon turned it around and the world title duly followed. Fisi was left in his tracks, weak by comparison – he made it easy for Fernando.
Then came 2007; (double and reigning world champ) Alonso partnering (rookie) Hamilton. Fernando was expecting to dominate; he probably didn’t respect his team-mate enough - Lewis isn’t Giancarlo. Fernando lost his temper (and his form) and looked a shadow of himself at the season-ending GP (where he still had a chance at the title); finishing a distant third.

So, to 2010. Facing the challenge of partnering Felipe Massa (a person who could have won the 2008 title) at Ferrari, Alonso needed to lay down an early marker. He needed to send a message to the grid that he will be a force this year, a message to the team that they were right to trade in Kimi Raikkonen for him, and a message to Massa that HE is the top dog at Ferrari.

The Kingdom of Bahrain, keen to show that it is the best circuit in the Middle-East (and therefore better that neighbour Abu Dhabi), would play host to this hotly anticipated race. The stage was set.

Everyone expected a frantic race with 8 drivers all vying for the win, and the cagy affair of practice did nothing to quash this expectation. The McLarens showed well all Friday; gaining an extra 5mph from their ingenious “F-vent” system which reduces downforce (and drag) along the straight. Mercedes too hinted that their pace was stronger than during winter testing. Rosberg starred; consistently about half a second ahead of illustrious team-mate Schumacher. Alonso didn’t panic; he knew that the F60 would be more than a match for the best of Britain and Germany. He hinted as much with the fastest lap in Saturday practice – he was confident of pole.

However, he had overlooked the Red Bull – we had all overlooked the Red Bull. The Austrian team had quietly gone about their business all weekend; not starring, just being professional. It was a mistake to overlook them; Vettel took pole position and never looked like he was going to be beaten to it. Fernando, trying to better the German, overreached and ended up third (behind team-mate Massa) – would this be a repeat of 2005 or 2007? Webber could have been in the mix too but (as was often the case last year) couldn’t quite extract enough from his car and ended up 6th. No one else came close. The Mercedes and (in particular) McLaren struggled with the new-look sector 2 leaving them over a second behind the Prancing Horses and Raging Bull.

The first corner of the race was always going to be interesting; who would pick their braking point correctly and who would be too cautious with a full tank of fuel? Fernando, aware that the Red Bull was expected to be harsh on its tyres knew that all he had to do was to overtake his team-mate and take advantage when the Red Bull dropped its pace. Turn 1, objective 1 complete. A neat pass around the outside of the corner, holding his line for turn 2 saw the Spaniard into second and now favourite for the race. Behind him, smoke from Mark Webber left Kubica in a spin (a position he did well to finish 11th from) but positions were largely held – the tone was set. Vettel was imperious on the soft tyres. Luscious Liz (Seb’s Car) caressed them, treating them as if this was a Sunday cruise rather than a Grand Prix – the Red Bull was most definitely NOT hard on its rubber, this was ominous (and not what Fernando expected) By the time of the first pit stop, Vettel was far enough ahead to hold onto his lead despite stopping after the Ferrari. However, in a complete reversal to 2009, the Red Bull seemed too soft on its tyres and couldn’t get the most out of the medium compound. Alonso, with a Ferrari as consistently fast on medium as it was on the soft closed; the race got interesting. However, F1 2010 doesn’t seem to equate to overtaking; Fernando got close but couldn’t make a move – it was a story repeated by many drivers after the race.

It looked like the Red Bull would hang on for victory, Alonso dropped back to conserve his tyres/engine – hoping to make a late charge when the lower fuel would have helped him. There was no need. A spark-plug problem left Luscious Liz limping and gave Alonso the opportunity to send out his message to the field. The Ferraris were separated by about 1 second after they had both overtaken Vettel but within two laps that gap had grown to 5 seconds. Alonso had just taken 2 seconds a lap out of his team-mate! The message was clear, this was not a gifted win; Alonso wanted everyone to know that he would have won anyway, that no one is going to stop him this year.

Just imagine if he had started on pole...

Lewis Hamilton had a quiet race really, benefitting from Vettel’s woes to pip him to third. McLaren won’t be pleased with this weekend; they were meant to be challenging for the victory but ended third best. The MP4-25 seemed quick around the fast corners (and obviously the straights) but clumsy and unsettled in the fiddly part of the lap. It also worked the soft tyres too hard (which Button claims made him drive too conservatively at the start of the race), but the car performed well on the medium tyre. Expect them to struggle again in Melbourne but they should come good at the faster circuits; Montreal, Silverstone, Spa, Monza and Suzuka.

Mercedes were expecting to be the fourth fastest team and were proved correct, finishing 5th and 6th. Rosberg outperformed Schumi but you get the feeling that both were slower than Button (7th) and all three were slower than Webber (8th). Let’s hope that the amount of overtaking improves soon.

Liuzzi did well to finish 9th for Force India which makes you wonder how well Sutil could have done from 10th on the grid. Barrichello also gets credit for finishing in the points in 10th. Lotus should also get praise for seeing both cars through to the finish, a feat which made them firmly the best of the new teams this week.

So, what have we learnt?

The Ferrari and Red Bull are the class of the field with the McLaren and Mercedes just behind. Force India, Williams and Renault are then in a fight for best of the rest. Contrary to predictions, Sauber were nowhere – a result I find most disappointing and doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

As for the amount of overtaking? This will improve as teams start to get used to how the races pan out, but I fear that having one pit-stop and extremely developed diffusers has made it too hard to pass on or off of the track.

Next up Australia; I think that the street-like nature and therefore use of soft tyres will favour the Red Bull. Could we see Mark Webber win his home race? It would be a popular victory and a good news story (even if the race is boring) but I can’t bet against Alonso – would you after this race?