Bahrain was an excellent opener and I'm glad to say the new rules, drivers, and teams made for a very entertaining race. Pit stops were very fast, lots to talk about and good action.
Sebastian Vettel took Pole Position and dominated the race. As we generally view Sebastian as a "good dude" we were OK with this. He had built up a sizeable and very comfortable lead when, on lap 33 of 49, he starts going much much slower than before. Is he conserving fuel? Is he saving his tires? What's going on?
Turns out 3rd place is what was going on. a spark plug failed and he was lucky to finish. Bummer for him.
The race also provided my first emotional conflict.
To sum up:
Fernando Alonso wins = Yeah!
In a Ferrari = BOO!
Going to be a complicated season.
The new scoring system gives the winner 25 points instead of 18 and drivers out to 10th place get points (as opposed to 8th last year). This was cool. and really seems to emphasize consistent top place finishes but even 10th place gets 1 point.
Kubica finished 11th.
On to Melbourne
Initially first on the calendar, the first race, held 15 years ago, was won by Damon Hill as Williams took a 1-2 victory in a race that saw Schumacher retire with Brake problems.
The Qantas Australian Grand Prix track has lots of cool elements and is a pretty well rounded track. First turn is quick and should be a good spot for overtaking at 90 MPH. Decent corners throughout with speeds upwards of 190MPH and sections of over 4.5 Gs.
Some of you more astute readers (that would probably all 1 of you) may notice that this post is post race. We haven't seen the race yet but I promise to try to post them earlier.
