Monday, May 4, 2009

F1 Bahrain

Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images The 2009 Bahrain F1 race in Sakhir was without a doubt the best race I've seen in a long time. And yes I'm including the previous seasons as well. Clearly all the new rules and the controversial manner some cars were designed have actually tightened the race. Gone are the days where everything was Ferrari or McLaren (at least for the time being). The race started off real tight and it ended the same. The first three cars came in within 10 secs off each other. There was excitement throughout the race with great overtaking and superb defending. Also for the first time this season the race didn't end under strange weather or timezone problems that interfered with the drivers' visions. (Although the track temperature was astonishing!) The really great thing is that the best is yet to come! Think about it. The issue with the double diffuser that some teams were using has been settled. The FIA has rendered it legal. So that means back to the drawing board for the rest of the teams. No big deal cos almost all of them are getting ready with it. They are all back in Europe where their bases are and that's where they do all their testings. That means by this weekends Barcelona's race, they ought to have installed the diffusers in their cars and performed some decent testing in it. So we'll be seeing some very improved cars from the rest of the teams. That in turn is going to blow the whole season wide open. Without a doubt Ferrari will be staging their big comeback (though they may need a couple or more races) but it's inevitable. So will the rest of the guys. Fernando Alonso, who had practically crawled out of his car after the last race due to a malfunction in his drinking device, will be back with a Bang! Imagine in a situation with that heat and all that extremely hard work and yet not drinking any water for almost 2 hours! That to me is a truly dedicated driver. He certainly earned my respect. Unbelievable! So more power to him. But wait, don't forget, just as all the other teams start installing their diffusers, Teams Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota, would be improving on theirs. They are the teams leading the constructors right now. They are not just gonna sit on their bums and let the other teams play catch up. No, so that's why I say that this may just be the best season we've ever had in a long time. One in which we cannot, even now, predict who's going to be a champion in the end. I believe we will after the next 2 races. But then again, you never can tell.

No comments: