Planet F1's thoughts on Bahrain.
It's still early days, but it looks as if F1 has turned into a procession of neurotic old women...
*Change Is Not Always Better
So much for the hope that a ban on refuelling would rekindle F1's flame. Even Michael Schumacher, even the man making his return after three years of pining, admitted he found it boring. Millions of viewers, many of whom who would have only tuned in to watch his return, will have already turned off long before his verdict was broadcast. Perhaps that's just as well given that his damning commentary finished with the prediction, "That's the action we are going to have unfortunately with this kind of environment of race strategy."
In other words, as the rules and new regulations are to blame, don't expect a change of formula when the circus moves on to its next arena.
Tempting though it is to reserve that sort of judgement until the results are in from Australia or even Malaysia, F1 cannot bury its head in the desert sand before it leaves Bahrain. Something already looks fundamentally, crippling wrong with the new regulations. Wait and see? The danger of that policy is that many people will already have decided not to wait or see, and a further exodus will follow if a soporific re-run is repeated in Albert Park.
Though the lack of overtaking will be bemoaned, there were actually a few moves of note and Bahrain's TV director did his product no favours. It looked worse than it truly was. But of greatest alarm ought to have been the suffering of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari in the dirty air churned out by Seb Vettel's Red Bull and the confession of Jenson Button, the World Champion no less, that he was focused on protecting his tyres rather than producing pace. The pinnacle of motor racing? Not if the tortoise is ahead of the hare.
Button's confession included the admission he was overcautious but there is little - if any - incentive to chase at full pelt when overtaking is bordering on impossible. Bahrain's new twisty middle sector was a further barrier to passing because it only succeeds in stretching out the field but even when the faster Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button caught Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher respectively they were unable to even produce an overtaking attempt due to the dirty air spewing on to their front wings.
Next year's ban on Double Diffusers will help the overtaking cause but next year is twelve months too late. Nor will it provide a comprehensive solution. So what can be done? The suggestion of McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, hardly a renowned reactionary, on Sunday night was for two pit-stops, rather than one, to become mandatory so that drivers have good reason to push on every stint. Sensible heads will no doubt ask for a second or third viewing before considering fresh change. But if a repeat is served up, F1 needs to be in a rush to prevent itself suffering long-term damage as a procession of neurotic Sunday afternoon go-slowers.
*The F10 Is The Car To Drive
Better to be in a fast and reliable car than a slightly-faster but unreliable motor. In clean air and on the prime tyres, it may also be the case that Ferrari are untouchable. And better, surely, to be fastest on Sunday rather than Saturday.
Given the size of Red Bull's qualifying advantage, the apparent ease with which Vettel was able to pull clear of the Ferraris on soft tyres, and the fact that Mark Webber was waylaid by technical gremlins on Friday, it would be no surprise if the pattern of Bahrain is repeated throughout the season: Red Bull quickest off the mark, only to be caught by Ferrari or caught out by their own unreliability. You know what people say, Adrian Newey's cars are fast but...
It's entirely hypothetical at this stage but the response of Red Bull to the idea of a second mandatory pit-stop - which only can be introduced with the full approval of the teams - is already worth a quick ponder because if that rule was in place in Bahrain then Alonso would surely have jumped Vettel then and there. Caught between protecting their own interests and that of the greater good, quite the dilemma might await Red Bull.
*McLaren Can Stop Panicking
It looked grim for Macca on Saturday night but Sunday afternoon brought relief in the form of Lewis Hamilton's competitive race-pace. They're behind but not adrift.
Those of a cynical mind will have noted that, having suffered this weekend in qualifying, McLaren are leading the calls for a compulsory second stop - an introduction which would be of greatest benefit to the cars that are quicker in race trim. But their qualifying woes could have just been a matter of circumstance, the broiling heat or a poor set-up.
Moreover, they are suffering from a general lack of downforce and are once again relying on engine superiority and a clever gizmo to disguise their now-traditional aerodynamic weakness. This time last year, McLaren would have been at the very back of the field but for their success with the KERS system and Hamilton was only faster than Mercedes in Bahrain because of the extra mph created by the team's ingenious air flow assembly. The difference in speed between Rosberg and Hamilton along the straights was staggering given that their cars were powered by identical units.
*Bridgestone Are Doing Too Good A Job (Especially If Your Name Is Jenson Button)
Even without a mandatory second pit-stop, the show would still be a spectacle if the extra weight of the cars weakened the performance of Bridgestone's rubber. The problem in Bahrain, as noted by Martin Whitmarsh, was that "There was no real serious degradation of the tyres".
Tyre management was easy rather than a skill, and that's particularly bad news for Jenson Button because his skill at nursing his tyres was predicted to give him a critical edge over Lewis Hamilton (among others). Unless Bridgestone start blistering, that advantage will be factored out of the equation to his considerable disadvantage.
*But Could Bahrain Be So Bad To Make Australia Good
But before we go too far with the pessimism, here's an optimistic scenario for Australia:
Drivers, realising that overtaking is close to impossible in normal racing conditions, identify the first lap as the only opportunity to get past the cars in front, and throw caution to the wind.
If they do, then the risk is that the tight confines of Albert Park are fertile ground for Safety Car deployment. And if and when the Safety Car is deployed, some drivers are bound to take the gamble of pitting early for a 'free' stop in the hope that their tyres will last the rest of the race (which they would have in Bahrain). Cue mass upheaval and, just possibly, plenty of on-track drama.
Well, here's hoping.
