Well this weekend was a classic case of “When it rains –it pours”. For starters there was a four day holiday and to top it off we had a weekend of Formula 1 and the top four teams of BPL going head to head. I will not speak of the football (as I am yet to come out of the trauma of what Arsenal have done to their Premiership challenge), but with F1, fortunately it was a different story (as it was much more satisfying for me). It can be safely said the status quo has finally be restored (both on and off the field). Ferrari after a short hiatus, was back with vengeance during qualifying and the McLaren drivers forgot to read the rule book – again. That they were driving on the “wrong” side of the track was vindicated by the contrite reaction of the team that they did not even appeal to the stewards’ punitive decision. I really wonder how they were so oblivious to their surrounding when everyone else was driving opposite to the racing line and they were warned by the team on the radio. Whatever the case may be, it took out a little sheen from the clinical performance of the Ferraris.
They were on top for most of the weekend, but then so were they in Australia too a, week ago. However this time they made it count by occupying the front row of the grid. But with Massa outpacing Kimi by almost half a second, there were some questions as to the fuel load they were carrying. Same goes for the remarkable qualifying by the Red Bull of Mark Webber. BMWs impressed yet again and though it could be said that Nick Heidfeld missed out due to the McLarens, he was partly compensated by the silver cars being pushed five places down the grid. This “potpourri” grid set up for a mouth watering race. As for Force India, Fisichella agonisingly missed Q2 by 0.045 second right at the end of the first session. But the biggest disappointment had to be Williams who could not make to Q3 despite their strong showing at Albert Park. Also Jarno Trulli had a good session and finally after the McLaren penalty, started 4th, a position few would have expected.
The race got of to an uneventful start as the Ferraris made clear headway, though for an instant it seemed that Kimi would get the better of his team mate at the first corner. However Massa shut the door and Räikkönen was more prudent this time. The biggest gainers were the McLarens and Trulli and Heidfeld had to pay the price for being caught napping. Mark Webber too improved on his a starting position and in due course of the race showed that the qualifying was not a fluke. He held off the McLaren till the pit stops and was strong with the car supporting him too. But at the head of the pack the Ferraris went clear of the field followed by the BMW of Robert Kubica and Red Bull of Mark Webber.
The race was bland till the first sequence of pit stops. Räikkönen smelling his chance started to put in some strong laps and so did Hamilton (despite the wear on his tires). Massa was the first to enter the pits among the Scarlet cars while Räikkönen stayed out a little longer (maybe due to the marginal fuel difference that had been anticipated). This gave him enough opportunity to burn some real fast laps and that coupled with slick pit work by the Ferrari team saw him emerge out of pits just ahead of Massa (who probably was fuming in his car). Though the same sadly could not be said for the McLaren team, as Hamilton’s pit stop went chaotic with some problems on the front right wheel. This cost him ten seconds and more importantly got him stuck behind Webber again.
This disappointment did not hinder the efforts of both Massa and Lewis. But maybe Felipe went a little too hard and this levity caused him to spin, dumping the Scarlet car in the gravel trap on lap 30, thereby ending his chances for a strong 2nd placed finish. His chagrin was pretty palpable when he indicated towards a problem in the rear end of the car to which Ferrari’s riposte was of denial as no abnormality reflected in the data from the sensors. Meanwhile behind the Williams were having a torrid time with Nico Rosberg involved in a first lap incident that required a nose cone change that placed him dead last and fighting with the backmarkers while being lapped by the Ferraris. The BMWs, ever the silent killers were on a strong strategy and seemed to be carrying more fuel than everyone else at the start. Kubica was comfortable in second (thanks to Massa’s benevolence) while Heidfeld was in fighting range with Hamilton through out. Kovalainen also had a good run with the strategy pushing him up to third.
The second round pit stops did not entail any drama, but for an instant it looked like Williams had goofed up in calling both their drivers almost together. Eventually they showed stupendous reactions to send the cars out without any delay within seconds of each other. Hamilton too had a much better stop this time round that got him ahead of Webber, who also lost his position to Heidfeld. Thereafter there was hardly any doubt as to the top 3 finishers. The engine failure of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari powered Toro Rosso on lap 39 might have caused some tension among the Tifosi, but they were not to be disappointed this time round. Kimi led Kubica to take the chequered flag followed by Kovalainen in third. Such was the domination of the top three that (the generally stoic) Räikkönen and Kubica mentioned in the post race press conference that after the final pit stops they went easy on the engines and the car as they had a comfortable gap behind them. But behind them Hamilton drove the wheels of his McLaren to dissimate the 5+ second gap between him and Trulli within a very short period. However the experienced Trulli was not to give up easily (especially with time on his side) and held out the strong charge by the rookie to take 4th ahead of Hamilton. They were followed by Heidfeld and Webber - who certainly should be pleased with this strong finish despite the disappointment of missing out to capitalise on a good start – with Alonso taking the final point.
This turned out to be a pretty good race with all the podium finishers being from different teams and also none of them was there in the previous race. While this confirmed the theory of the battle being predominantly between Ferrari and McLaren, there were much more to be gained out of it. For starters the Williams team that looked so strong in Australia were the biggest losers here and now have to again start burning mid night oil. BMW only keep strengthening the belief that they can challenge for their first GP victory this season with strong drivers and strategy (though the championship may still be out of their reach, for now). Red Bull also seem to have what it takes to be strong in the mid field over a race distance. However Toyota was the team which has shown the biggest improvement and we hope it is not a flash in the pan as a couple of seasons ago.
As for our very own Force India, they will (pragmatically) be pleased with a 12th place finish in a tough race and can look forward to a top ten finish with confidence now. And finally Honda again find themselves where they would not like to be. But in all this conspicuous by their absence was team Renault with Alonso finishing 8th and Nelson Piquet Jr. yet again failing to impress. They really are struggling and despite Alonso driving at the top of his skills, maybe the team requires a little more than just an exceptional driver. They need their car to be much better in race pace for him to be able to challenge - if not the big two then – atleast the BMWs. Looking forward to Bahrain now in a couple of weeks time. The roller coaster rides seems to continue there too.
Drivers Championship:
Lewis Hamilton - 14
Kimi Räikkönen - 11
Nick Heidfeld - 11
Constructors Championship:
McLaren Mercedes - 24
BMW Sauber - 19
Scuderia Ferrari - 11
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