Jesus it was dull. Shuey summed it up really by saying how some of the rules are shit basically. We STILL have dirty air coming out of the back of the cars, and now we have front tyres that cope less well running behind a car than last year. No-one could overtake then either!!

What the race did show was that Alonso stands a very good chance winning the Championship again this season. Those Ferrari’s have shown their hand and with only one race done, it’s already slapped the rest of the field in the face.

Lewis had an OK day, though Button was screwed by that dirty air and crap front tyre combination. Though he wasn’t fast enough anyways.

How did Micheal Shuey; who BTW if you noticed, now has initials on any timing screens instead of SHU like previous years do? Well, he did OK I guess, but with such a big change for him and a dire track, it was good enough for all around him. He, on the other hand would be gutted.

Mentioning the track there, I have to say, has got to be one of the worst tracks ever made. The second longest lap time of the season, but unfortunately, that’s due to it being soooooooo slow. Some of the corners had the cars going round them at what looked like Robin Reliant race speeds! I think even World Touring Cars could keep up going around around them!

This has got to be one of the worst starts to an F1 season, and anyone new joining us fans I don’t think would bother with the next race. Worst thing is that the main pull of no re-fueling was the faster and faster lap times and hopefully some challenging. Oh dear, we barely got under 2m lap times. How embarrassing.

Still it all means it can only get better and hopefully the Aussies can put on a better show.

Vettel started from pole position and led most of the race before a spark plug problem hit his Renault engine – slowing him as he slipped down the order to finish fourth.

But despite the disappointment of his efforts not having been transformed into the win, Marko said that Vettel’s driving was hugely impressive.

“The performance of Sebastian was incredible,” said Marko in Bahrain. “He was faultless throughout this difficult race. He controlled everything from the start.

“By lap three we advised him to conserve fuel because we realised he can keep the advantage over the Ferrari. After the problem occurred, Sebastian could hold off two fully operational Mercedes cars which was another sensation.

“We had not believed he could do this. His cornering speeds were astonishing as well as setting fastest sector times at the end of the race.”

Marko also expressed relief that Vettel had managed to take a decent haul of points despite hitting trouble.

“We followed the strategy dictated by the new points system,” he said. “If you cannot win, score as many points as possible.”

Source: Autosport.com

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes Formula 1 needs to consider immediate rules tweaks to spice up the spectacle after new rules failed to deliver an exciting race in Bahrain.

Whitmarsh admitted that the opening race of the season at Sakhir had lacked excitement as the sport adapted to the new regulations, including a ban on refuelling.

Most of the front-runners stopped just once and many drivers, including Michael Schumacher, reported that it was difficult to follow rivals closely and therefore overtake.

Whitmarsh told the BBC that something needed to be done to change the dynamic of the racing – perhaps by revisiting a mandatory two pitstops rule or making tyre compounds more on edge.

“We were one of three teams, that said we should have two mandatory pitstops because we were worried about [people] one-stopping.

“I think we have to re-examine that. But I think if we can now push on Bridgestone to have ‘racier’ tyres, we need a super-soft tyre that is really going to hurt if you take it to 20 laps. You shouldn’t be able to do that with a super-soft tyre and I think even the prime, if it’s a struggle to get it to do half a race distance, then you force [the issue].

“The tyres were much closer in the race than we expected and they determined the spectacle,” he added. “There was no real serious degradation of the tyres, we started the roll of pitstops because we were trying to get ahead of [Nico] Rosberg and everyone started to come in at that point.

“But otherwise, just based on tyre degradation, we could have run to lap 25 or more on the super-soft tyres. If you can do that on the softest tyre, then the primes are just going to romp through for as long as you like.”

Whitmarsh said that the teams were committed to making the sport exciting.

“I think we all are,” he said. “Formula 1 has to be entertaining, people have to be switched on to what is going to happen in the race, if it’s processional they are not going to be. Today was not the best show, we know that and we have all got to work together to improve it.

Whitmarsh added that it was a combination of factors that had contributed to the lack of overtaking in the second half of the race and that while he believed that the 2011 ban on double-diffusers would help, he was focussed on the changes that could be made in the short term.

“I personally believe that more challenging tyres will help the spectacle of the show,” he said. “I also personally believe that we should have two stops mandated because we want to stop this. Today, if we had had a safety car on lap five, we’d have all piled in [to the pits] and we’d have all gone on the prime tyre and run to lap 49 without a stop. That was a real danger.

“I think that the tyres are allowing you to do that, I’m not trying to pass the blame [on to Bridgestone]. We are all in this together.

“We do need to look at mandatings stops, we do need to look at the tyres and make them more fragile, and we do need to work on making the cars capable of racing close together and easier to overtake.

“Unfortunately the double diffuser, and we have all got them, has really worked against that in the last two years, we have got rid of it for next year but that is arguably a year too late. What can we do this year? It’s go to be work with Bridgestone and potentially mandating more stops in the race.”

Red Bull Racing has revealed that Sebastian Vettel’s chances of winning the Bahrain Grand Prix were hit by an engine problem, and not by an issue with the exhaust as the team initially reported.

Vettel was leading the event from Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa when he reported a loss of power in his Renault engine.

Although the team initially believed the problem was in the exhaust, further analysis has revealed that in fact it was an eletrical problem with the engine.

The said, however, that there had been no damage to the unit.

After the problem, Vettel dropped three places and finished the race in fourth position while Ferrari went on to score a one-two.

Fernando Alonso scored victory on his debut with the Maranello team, the Spaniard leading team-mate Felipe Massa to the first one-two for Ferrari since 2008.

Di Montezemolo praised his team on its return to the front following a difficult 2009 season.

And the Italian reckons the result will be a boost for the team to continue pushing towards the titles.

“I am happy but above all really proud of my men who have done an extraordinary job,” said di Montezemolo in a statement. “This victory has been pursued and wanted after months of hard work. I am extremely happy for them and for our fans.

“Ferrari is always Ferrari. I am delighted for our drivers too. Alonso starts with a victory and Massa still so fast in a tough race after last year’s terrible accident

“A first and second place which encourage us to look forward and keep up the hard work.”

Source: Autosport.com