Last evening marked a more eventful than expected beginning to this Formula 1 season.
The Bahrain Grand Prix being the onset of this year's World Championship turned out to mark numerous must watch moments.... for the ones who lacked time... Thank me...
- The God of F1, Schumacher made a come back from his 3 year old semi-retirement with Mercedes Benz GP Petronas.
- The Track was more complex with 8 new corners added reducing the laps to 49 [circuit length ~ 6.29 km and race distance ~ 308.41 km].
- And the Much talked about new points system….
The race started with Vettel [Red Bull] at the Pole Position. Followed by Ferrari and Mc Lauren.
The drama on the track begin as soon as turn 1 of Lap 1 when Webber’s [Red Bull] engine emitted clouds spinning Kubica [Renault] and Sutil [Force India] out of the points spots.
If that was not enough, Lap 2: Chandhok [HRT] crashed out of the race. Followed by BMW Sauber not making it to the end alongwith Debutants Glock and Di Grassi [Virgin] grace a` mechanical failures. The list continued with Petrov [Renault] facing a suspension problem which was detected during tyre stop at Lap 13.
Vettel starting at pole maintained an unbeatable lead till lap 34 going to dust that late owing to a spark plug failure ,this was when the face of the race changed with F. Alonso [started 2nd on the grid] finally overtaking Red Bull with fastest lap record ~ 1 min 58 secs followed by team mate Massa [started 3rd on the grid] following suit and finally Hamilton [started 4th] making a third place finish for Mc Lauren.
Vettle till lap 49 despite machine’s give up maintained his position 4 against Roseburg [Merc] finishing 5th [started 5] and Schumi finishing 6 [started 7th].
The final score Board showed:
Ferrari with 43 points
McLaren with 21,
Mercedes GP with 18
Red Bull with 16.
As for Racers: Alonso: 25 points, Massa: 18, Hamilton: 15, Vettel: 12, Rosberg: 10 and Schumacher: 8.
After the dramatic Bahrain GP, eyes are set already southwards for the Aussie GP [March 26-28].
