Bahrain Race... Alonso leads redwash

Well... what did you think?

The first race of 2010 wasn't stunningly exciting, was it? Pretty unexciting in fact. Interesting yes, but not a thriller.

The new kids on the block (Lotus, Hispania & Virgin) weren't as far off the pace as expected, but were pretty much about as reliable as we expected (ie, not very) with the exception of Lotus, who got 1 car to the end and the other at least classified as a finisher. Hispania just got the better of Virgin when Senna dragged his car into it's 19th lap before it finally packed up. Chandhok managed less that 5 laps in the entire weekend in his Hispania - a bump he didn't even know was there got him on his 2nd race lap.

After my irritation with BBC commentator Jonathan Legard last year ("Hamilton pushes on"), Pit lane poppet Lee Mackenzie got my goat this weekend with her brilliant questioning style. I think she instructed every driver that dropped out of the race to "Just tell us what happened". Oooh. Good idea Lee. They probably hadn't thought of that.

Anyway, the race itself saw Webber deploying a brilliant smokescreen tactic to try and stop anyone from overtaking him, and Alonso laid down the first marker to his team mate by nipping past Massa at the start. Vettel looked to have it in the bag until a dodgy spark plug caused him problems (it wasn't the exhaust, no. The big hole in his bodywork was though). The inevitable happened, and he was passed by Alonso, Massa and Hamilton. Schumacher didn't shine, getting beaten by Rosberg (bet he's happy!) and Button wound up 7th. Welcome to McLaren Jens - I suspect you'd better get used to this. The Saubers seem to have been fast in testing only, and neither of them made it to the end either.

So Alonso won on his first outing for Ferrari. Shame he hadn't practiced what to do during the Italian national anthem. Schumi used to conduct the team, Massa always does a spot of chest thumping. Kimi looked, er, well, bored. Nando looked decidedly awkward and uncomfortable. Still, he'll get used to it.

As for the rule changes, the pit stops were great, cars nipping in and out rapidly, but there wasn't much in the way of overtaking on track and nearly everyone changed tyres once only. Even then, no-one seemed to be clinging on to the track by the tips of their tyres. What's the betting we get a mandatory 2 stops introduced if that keeps up?

F1 2010 - 7 out of 10. Must try harder.

(The Monkees would very much like you to board the Last Train To Clarksville.)

Malaysian Grand Prix - Vettel hot, but not bothered

Malaysia. It's always hot, and it always rains. Except the 2nd part is no longer true (unless you count the drizzly bit around lap 14). Saturday's qualifying session had highlighted the fact that Red Bull and McLaren seemed well matched on pace, but also that Ferrari were struggling. Whilst Vettel bagged another pole, followed by Hamilton, Webber and Button, Alonso was only 5th, and Massa 7th, with Nick Heidfeld an excellent 6th on the grid between the two red cars. At this point, I would like to break momentarily for a small rant: How many times do I have to say Heidfeld is good? Why wasn't he given a top drive years ago? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! ARE YOU BLIND!!!?? Ahem. The Hispanias somehow managed to a) turn up b) remember to bring cars c) get both of them on the track d) actually get both of them within 107%. Pretty remarkable really. Oh, and it didn't rain. Race day looked a more likely candidate for a drop of the wet stuff. The start was exciting, with

I know I'll regret this...

For @Feisty_Onion @BroughtonLass @LizWestmorland Me... before the grumpiness set in. Have a great weekend.

Senna bags Willy drive?

The great thing about F1 rumours is that they change every 5 minutes. Just last week it was looking like Barrichello might be back in at Williams, as new engines, tech staff and a general reshuffle would mean they needed someone who actually knew what they were doing in an F1 car. Which rules out Maldonado, obviously. Now it looks like Senna might be about to get a seat with the team where his Uncle lost his life. I'm sure Bruno's mum must be delighted. I don't hold with all this superstitious mumbo-jumbo though, and with the extraordinary level of safety in modern F1 cars, Bruno should be pretty safe. There is one significant problem with Williams signing him though - and this is going to be a bit unpopular I suspect - Bruno isn't very good. Yes, he put in a couple of reasonable performances with Renault, but Nick Heidfeld (ah... Nick and his lovely beard...) would have been able to do likewise, has he not been dropped. And then they dropped Senna too. Thi

grumpyf1

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