2013 Audi A3

F1 Fights To Come Back From Boring Season Opener In Bahrain Page 2

 
5 2,594 views Mar 15, 2010
Follow Nelson

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa go 1-2 at the 2010 Bahrain GP

The newer teams to the grid, Lotus, Virgin, and HRT, saw several retirements--in fact only Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus-Cosworth finished the race out of the six, with Bruno Senna (HRT) and Jarno Trulli (Lotus) both knocked out by mechanical issues, while Karun Chandhok (HRT) crashed out on the first lap. Virgin's two cars both suffered mechanical problems as well, with Timo Glock losing his gearbox and Lucas di Grassi out with hydraulic issues. BMW-Sauber also both of its cars retire due to hydraulic problems, and Renault's Vitaly Petrov ended his day with a broken suspension on lap 13.

At the end of the day, it was clear that the top eight finishers, representing Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes, were all closely matched. Each driver and all four teams are capable of contending for the title this year, though it remains to be seen if the drama of such a deep pool of top-tier competitors will outweight the boredom of parade-lap racing.

Looking ahead to Melbourne, which kicks off its first practice in just over 10 days, all four of the front-running teams stand poised to make a run for the pole and the podium, though Renault, Williams, and Force India are all within striking distance as well, particularly Vitantonio Liuzzi, Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica, who finished between seven and 13 seconds behind Mark Webber's eigth place in Bahrain.

Will the track at Melbourne be more conducive to overtaking? Will the weather help avoid overheating tires? Will the Red Bull team face more exhaust/engine issues? Can Ferrari hold on to its early lead, or will pressure from behind overcome? We can only wait, and tune in to watch, when the race weekend starts March 26.

[via GMM]






Tags:
Posted in:
 
Contribute
Send us a tip Comment Contact the editor
Follow Us

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

  • Posting indicates you have read this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • Notify me when there are more comments
Comments (5)

  1. By Mac N Posted: 3/15/2010 5:12pm PDT

    Yes, it was boring ! Very very boring unless all you cared about was Ferrari winning. It is quite simple. No overtaking is boring racing. Overtaking is discouraged under the new rules by the fear of losing tyre performance. SO CHANGE THE FRIGGIN RULES COS OTHERWISE I WILL GO BACK TO NOT WATCHING ! Seriously, why would I stay awake until 2am to watch that crap again and I am one of those fickle fans who you will lose for sure.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  2. By  gazzed Posted: 3/15/2010 9:39pm PDT

    Give it a couple more races and then see if changes need to be applied.
    Thought it was a good and proper race.
    And yes some drama and good viewing have been lost by banning refueling but one race doesn't say the entire story.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  3. By S-MAC Posted: 3/16/2010 2:40am PDT

    Im seriously disapointed in the new race, but surely its not just refuelling and tyres, its areodynamics, this has stopped cars getting too close in dirty air for years - limit this like indycar, gp2, a1 gp etc.
    please change something !
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  4. By  memory stick  Posted: 4/23/2010 12:18am PDT

    Grumblings around the F1 paddock and fan circles continue over the "boring" nature of the 2010 Formula 1 season, but if you look at the numbers, the 2010 F1 season is shaping up to be the most exciting in decades.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  5. fisher.2011 avatar fisher.2011 fisher.2011 Posted: 8/24/2011 6:48pm PDT

    China is a beauful country
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

Connect with Facebook

Motor Authority. Now with your friends.

Discover stories your friends read.
Share stories more easily.
You control what you share.
Learn more

Research New Cars

Go!


More from High Gear Media

 
 
MotorAuthority
  • Follow Us
  • Twiiter
  • Facebook
 
 
© 2011 MotorAuthority. All Rights Reserved. MotorAuthority is published by High Gear Media. Stock photography by Homestar, LLC. Send us feedback.