So the clique circus is back. And we’ve started right where we left off last year. The inaugural race of the 2008 Formula 1 season threw up a lot of surprises, and while the roles from the last race were reversed there was much more to it too. It was now the turn of McLaren to laugh, while the Maranello team has lots of brainstorming to do. Also in the wounded list is our very own Force India F1, while they were not expecting miracles, but that none of their cars made it to the end must certainly be disappointing. Considering only six out of the 22 cars made it safely to the end, it certainly was a bizarre race.Things started going wrong for Ferrari right from qualifying with Raikkonen’s car stalling before the pit line (thereby technically on track), disqualifying him from the qualifying session ahead. Perhaps the fact that had the car even rolled a couple of inches more, they could have pushed it back and prepared it in time for the next round of qualifying, should have given them the hints of things to come. Though Massa did make it to the final round, but even he would not have been happy with starting from the second row of the grid. The person most happy was Robert Kubica. He certainly gave Hamilton a run for his money with a scorching lap, and but for his excursion on the grass, he would have claimed his first pole. Alonso also got the taste of where he stands when the best he could manage was 12th, certainly poor by his standards.
The race start had lots of anticipation and apprehension attached to it with people talking about smoking tyres, stalling cars, et all. They got their money’s worth as even though the front two made a clean start, behind them it was complete chaos. As Kimi made his way from 16th to 8th almost in the first corner itself, his team mate had to suffer an off track excursion followed by a bump in the tyre wall, forcing him to pit in the first lap itself. Meanwhile somewhere behind poor Giancarlo Fisichella was sent flying on his debut with the team having the flying kingfisher logo! Ok, bad one that. But this called the safety car out and things stabilised. As Massa joined the tail of the pack and racing resumed Hamilton was clearly pulling away from the chasing BMW and the rest of the pack. Even as people jostled behind, the Briton was determined to prove that today he would be in a class of his own.
Felipe Massa was giving everything to get back into the points and he certainly had the pace for it. But then he should not have expected mercy from any rival and that was what happened when he overtook Coulthard. The British veteran was having a good race on the Red Bull and would have none of the bossing by the Scarlet car. And in the process somewhere his passion overtook racing sense and he clipped the overtaking Massa ending up in a heap on track to trouble the safety car again. This also cluttered up the grid and reduced the 12 sec cushion that Hamilton enjoyed then. Almost immediately the adroit Ferrari team informed Kimi not to enter the pits, who just about aborted in the nick of time. This certainly saved him a punitive action from the stewards (which incidentally later Barrichello had to face for the same offence as what appeared initially to be the failure of his team boss in not being able to show the split second decision making as of his former team).
As the safety car went in Raikkonen was up till third (though with a stop less than the rest, but then he was on a one stop strategy), a remarkable achievement considering from where he had started. However the allure of a further two points seemed to take over even the stoic Finn and he went for insouciant move to overtake Kovalainen. Kimi did overtake the McLaren, only to out brake himself at the approaching turn, just about avoiding the tyre wall in the process. He retuned on track dead last feeling very chagrin, and in hind sight had he been a little more patient, maybe he could have gained the track position later with more ease and kept his ego intact too. However it would not matter as this would the beginning of the end and things exacerbated. The Ferrari dramatically lost pace after this, eventually grinding to a halt while entering the pits (oh Kimi not again!). Felipe Massa also suffered a similar fate while a points scoring finish seemed within reach. Eventually Raikkonen did earn a solitary point though, courtesy the disqualification of Rubens Barichello, thereby opening his and Ferrari’s account this season, though not in a way they would have liked to.
There were a few more disappointments. Most notable was Sebastien Bourdais, who was having a great debut till his (Ferrari powered!!!) Toro Rosso’s engine gave up painfully in the final stages of the race. Robert Kubica also despite a good start failed to finish courtesy an unintentional knock from behind by the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima. Meanwhile Timo Glock had a bad crash forcing the safety car out yet again (hey, guess the SC logged more track miles than some of the teams here!). This spelled disaster for the hapless Barichello, as what followed this was a comedy of errors (though his team won’t see it in the same light). Firstly he entered the pits just after the deployment of the safety car. According to the rule book during this period the pits are technically “closed”. Though the Honda team said that it was not deliberate/ignorance of rules, as they had no other option because there was no fuel in the car. This entailed him a 10 sec penalty and as he was moving out of pits he dragged a pit crew with the fuel hose. To top it all off he exited the pits under red lights which led to his disqualification. This series of mistakes apart, the Honda team had lot of positives to take back from this race, and they certainly seemed to have moved ahead from the debacle of the previous season.
The team which was most pleased certainly was McLaren and it seems that they have buried the demons of the previous season for good. But more than that was the performance of team Williams that impressed. Not only were they the only other team whose both cars made it to the end, Rosberg also earned his maiden podium finish in the process. Certainly they looked very strong in the entire race with regards to reliability, team strategy and most of all race pace. Toyota however impressed to deceive with both of their cars also not making it to the finish. Renault, though had a troubled start with Piquet Jr crashing out early, but things improved for them and Alonso recorded a strong finish albeit losing out on a fascinating duel with Kovalainen. BMW had a mixed race and Heidfeld was perhaps the most subdued in the entire race, hardly figuring in any excitement at all. One could have felt that he was racing alone in some forlorn part of the track. But he won’t mind that certainly for a second place finish.
If this race is anything to go by, then we are in for another thrilling season. That Ferrari will return with vengeance is a foregone conclusion, but presently the McLaren team and driver combination looks potent. Also teams like Williams and BMW (not to mention Renault and probably Honda) look set to put the cat among the pigeons more often this season. Another positive sign to emerge out is that Toro Rosso and Red Bull have shown more promise than most had expected. Toyota and Force India though need to improve a lot, and fast, lest they become a partner in Super Aguri’s malady. While it’s too early for anyone to start celebrating or mourning (and considering the last season, even the penultimate race is too early for that), but certainly the times for mourning at McLaren seem to be over.
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