Till Bahrain, Ferrari and McLeran had a win apiece which clearly showed how much preparations they did during the winter testing. Wait a min, before jumping the gun let me tell you, there is one more team who had true pace and that's none other than BMW. They clinched their third consecutive podium of the season. As Kimi rightly said, it's a three way fight for the crown. Robert Kubica's maiden pole glory however didn't help him too much in the race when Massa swift pass him before the first corner. Then in lap 2, he probably had his biggest challenge in an F1 car till date and that is to keep the current World Champion Kimi Raikkonen behind him. Well, he couldn't do that understandably but the way Kimi went pass Robert through the outside of turn 1 (see photo) had a glimpse of the Iceman's 2005 suzuka victory where he overtook Fisichella in the last lap in the same fashion. On the whole, Kimi didn't had a spectacular weekend having failed to qualify in the front row of the grid and at times struggling to get the right balance in his F2008 but nevertheless, clinching second on a bad weekend is actually pretty good.Massa though had a flawless race but having said that it's nowhere near an emphatic one cos he almost started from pole when Kubica failed to gain advantage earlier in the race. As we know a clear air in front of the leader is always an advantage and you can easily pull away from the rest of the field. Massa did answer his critics eventually but another DNF would be one too many as Kimi is already leading the World Championship with 19 points. The big loser however was the most over-rated driver in F1's history, Lewis Hamilton. How on earth did he fail to engage the engine setting before a grandprix start? This boy needs to keep his feet firmly on ground before he starts aiming for more than what hes capable of. Later in the race, he was given a run for the money by our very own 'Force India's Fisichella' for almost 3-4 laps. I was so pissed off with Hamilton's antics and his "dismissing wave" of Fisichella, that I desperately wanted to land in that McLaren cockpit and tell him "dude, rather than you lapping him, hes also fighting for positions. Why the f*** are you complaining?"
One thing is clear from Bahrain, McLaren are only 3rd fastest in circuits which have long straights and sweeping corners. They have their work cut out before F1 moves to Europe in 3 weeks time. Ferrari is on the moon with a 1-2 finish and how well they managed to keep Raikkonen's '2nd race' engine serene all through the weekend. BMW and Marrio Theissen would be smiling now after grabbing their first pole in 50 years. The 2008 season is actually unfolding in the most bizarre fashion. Lets wait and see in Catalunya!
Bahrain Results
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1h31:06.970
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 3.339
3. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 4.998
4. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 8.409
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 26.789
6. Trulli Toyota (B) + 41.314
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 45.473
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 55.889
9. Glock Toyota (B) + 1:09.500
10. Alonso Renault (B) + 1:17.181
11. Barrichello Honda (B) + 1:17.862
12. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
16. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
17. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
18. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1 lap
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Kovalainen, 1:33.193
1. Raikkonen 19
2. Heidfeld 16
3. Hamilton 14
Next Race : Spanish GP, Barcelona : Sunday, 27th Apr
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