A New F1 Season, A New Hope?

The 2010 F1 season finally got underway at Bahrain this Sunday. Five months of anticipation over. Drivers have changed teams, teams have changed owners, the points system has been revitalised, yet the nationality of the World Champion remains the same. But before the race could begin, viewers had to endure a terrible “man and machine” voice-over on the BBC before watching an uncomfortable interview with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, informing the nation that their relationship was, quote by both men, “alright”. Then they answered questions posed by each other. Cringe. Don’t try too hard to show your “friendship” boys...

So, first things first, the teams. Obviously, there is a huge amount of hype about McLaren, a British team with the two latest World Champions, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Will the infighting in that team mean that both drivers concentrate so much on beating the other “teammate” that they fail to focus their attention on actually beating the other 22 drivers on the circuit? The first few races are clearly going to be extremely important, establishing which driver will get the tactical nods towards the end of the 19 race season. Hamilton getting the first little victory, qualifying 4th on the grid, as opposed to Button’s 8th place start.

Mercedes provides the all German squad, with Nico Rosberg and returning, 41 year old, 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher. Like Lance Armstrong in cycling, there is all the talk about Schumacher returning and winning, I find it highly unlikely. And I preferred Ralf. Ferrari have reliable Felipa Massa and feisty Fernando Alonso in their two seats in a bid to recreate former glory which they have seemed to lose since the departure of Schumacher. However, by far the most underrated pairing, and the most likeable, sees Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber remain at Red Bull Racing, with Vettel clinching the first pole of the season.

Lower down the gird, three new teams bring up the rear, with Lotus, Virgin and team Hispania being the new constructors for the 2010 season. Despite the point system going down to place 10 now, race finishes and not points is what these sides will be hoping to achieve on the 60th season of Formula 1. Yet, with Ayrton Senna’s nephew racing for Hispania, maybe we could dare to dream for a little bit more. Although, he starts his first race from the pit lane, so maybe not.

Finally though, after a classic Martin Blundle grid-walk, the formation lap was completed, the lights went from red to green and it was all go, go, go! Well, it seemed rather slow with those full fuel loads, but they did crawl off the grid. Webber at least provided a little excitement by blasting smoke into the face of cars behind him. By the end of lap one, there was very little change and Vettel was 2 seconds up on second place Alonso, leading Brundle to commentate that “it looks rather easy for Vettel”, exactly what you want to hear at the end of lap one on the first race of the season...

On lap 2, the first retirement, another outcome I failed to see coming. Rookie driver Chandhok hitting a bump he did not realise was there apparently, unfortunately for team Hispania. Lap 3 saw Nico Hulkenberg swing off for Williams, but the German kept his engine running and returned to the track just in time to watch driver Lucas di Grassi drive happily off for no apparent reason in his wing-mirrors.

The race then went from dull to tedious until lap 16 saw the first major incidents, the pit-stops. Hamilton and Schumacher both entered the pit lane together and, after only their tyres had changed, left to race in fresh air in the hope of passing a slow Rosberg when he enters the pit. Button and Rosberg dived into the pits one lap later, with Hamilton’s teammate preventing Rosberg from making a clean stop, allowing Hamilton to pass the German. And there was me thinking all the chat about preventing refuelling was to make passing during pit-stops a less likely option, meaning there would have to be more passing on the track. How foolish could I be to believe in such sentiments? Fortunately enough, I was prevented from feeling truly depressed due to my cynical disbelief that the pre-season talk was anything more than utter rubbish.

Lap 19 out of 49 saw the end of team Hispania’s race, when Bruno Senna retired after the driver suffered a panic attack upon the realisation that he had nearly made it 2/5ths of the way through the race. If only he had made one more lap. He later claimed a hydraulic failure but we know the truth. Still, at least he left at a time when it became boring once more, I had to endure watching the cars continually go around the track failing to gain on anyone or appear to do anything product whatsoever. But I am sure they were all preserving their tyres.

Half-way through and I have not even mentioned the likes of Renaults Robert Kubica, or Force Indias Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil. Having now pointed out that they remain with others in the race for mediocrity, we can move on. Current World Champion Button was doing a good job of proving emphatically that F1 is not about the driver, but about the car, by being stuck in 7th, merely one place above where he started an hour previously.

Lap 34 and disappointment occurred for all fans who do not like big egos, when leader Sebastian Vettel’s car became “sick”, according to Martin Blundle. The Ferraris caught up and passed with ease, giving them a comfortable one-two. The two McLarens, so quiet previously, both started to make a charge on the cars in front of them. Hamilton closed in on the Ferraris after passing Vettel who was suffering from a broken exhaust. Button was edging his way towards the back of a much more stable set of Mercedes cars.

Lap 49 eventually came and went with as much incident as the rest of the grand prix put together. Alonso won the first race of the season, with Massa creating a Ferrari one-two. Hamilton took the final podium position. Vettel held off a catching Rosberg to take 4th, with Schumacher, Button and Webber finishing 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. Liuzzi finished in 9th and Barrichello took the last point after coming in 10th.

So, the first race of the season is over, thankfully. Entertaining? No. Full of incidents? No. Over-taking only ever done due to the pit-stops? Yes. On more positive notes, both Lotus cars finished, even if one technically ran out of fuel half a lap from the end. Fernando Alonso is a whopping 7 points clear at the top, yet, if he does not do well next time that lead will evaporate quicker than the illusion that it attempts to create, that you need to win to pick up the big points. And my mother can turn up the sound because she likes the Italian national anthem. She’s lucky it is Mother’s Day.