ALONSO EDGES SCHUMACHER TO TAKE FIRST BLOOD IN BAHRAIN
(Image taken from Yahoo)
OK...a new F1 season was about to get underway. If you're not quite sure why it started in Bahrain...well neither am I and neither were most people in the sport. It was said not to have the buzz of Melbourne, the race itself is said to just be an excuse for Bernie to make more money, but whatever. Bottom line, F1 '06 was on and contrary to my season preview, the new McLaren car was not drowned in orange paint but done in an orange-chrome combo. Jenson showed promise by being fastest in practice, not that that counts for anything.
What does count, is qualifying and that system had been overhauled. First came a 15 minute session, all 22 cars took part, bottom six went out. Five minutes left and Raikonen had a spectacular when his suspension busted. Red flag. Slight problem, half the drivers hadn't gone out yet so when it was showtime again you had a total of 19 cars on track, their drivers with one shot to stay in the mixer. Not a problem for rookie Rosberg, not a problem for the Torro Rossos either, same couldn't be said for Ralf though and he joined the Midland's, Super Aguri's and Raikonen at the back of the grid. Sixteen cars left for round two and this time DC was the significant loser(though Klien survived)along with Trulli. Ten drivers left in a shootout for the pole and it was Ferrari who wound up running the show(once everyone stopped cruising round to burn fuel), Schumacher and Massa pushing each other to wrap up the front row with the German taking pole. Button snapped up 3rd with Alonso 4th despite the Renaults leaving it till the last minute.
OK...the new qualifying system will take some getting used to. The race itself works pretty much the same way though. Unfortunately for Jenson, when the lights went out he hit clutch trouble which sent him down to fifth. Duelling with Barrichello wasn't ideal but at least he saw off his Brazilian teammate before going after Montoya, toasting the Columbian on "Turn One"with a Massa spin putting him up to third. He led for short period during the pit stop sequences had to burn Montoya yet again...only to come out of his final stop behind Raikonen who'd burned his way up from the back. The Finn would not submit, leaving Jenson to have to settle for fourth.
Which was a lot better than what happened to DC. The Scotsman generally scrabbled round the midfield though he did see a load of action, mixing it with the BMW's and Liuzzi(the Torro Rosso's performance will possibly raise eyebrows, particularly as they're using 'rev limited' V10s rather than '06 vintage V8s). At one point he was up in 6th and looked like he would pick up some points...only for the impressive Rosberg to overtake him for 8th place. DC finished 10th.
From Alonso's burst through at the start though, the race itself was a tight duel between him and Michael Schumacher and for most of the race it looked like the Ferrari man would come up smelling of roses. Ferrari's sly strategist Ross Brawn hadn't counted on getting outsmarted by Renault though, who kept the reigning World Champion out longer before pitting and got him out just ahead of Schumacher who couldn't find his way round and the Spaniard went on to lead the way to the chequered flag.
Lessons learned in Bahrain:
Super Aguri: It is not a good idea to have both of your cars come into the pits at the same time. Given that team boss Aguri Suzuki was an F1 driver in a previous life, they really shouldn't have needed such an elemental lesson in motor racing.
Giancarlo Fisichella: If your engine is iffy, unlucky mate...but you might want to remember that what you say on the radio could be broadcast worldwide.
Overall...hmmmm. At the moment Alonso is looking the safest bet for the title, particularly if Renault can outsmart Ross Brawn like they did here. Schumacher will probably put up a better challenge than in '05 though this certainly won't be a return to the Schumacher show. The wildcard in the mixer is Raikonen. If he can get on the podium after starting from the back of the grid then he can surely hammer everyone from a decent grid position...but with the new system that means he has to rely on his car not breaking down! Jenson outclassing Montoya confirms that he'll mean business this year though I'm going to wait till he wins a race before putting him in the championship mixer. The Toro Rossos look decent, Rosberg looks quality for a rookie while DC has to step up a gear for Malaysia.
One race down, 18 to go.
Comments go here
Click here to return to sports homepage
Click here to return to Matt G's homepage