The 2010 F1 season was easily the most awaited season of the decade. The return of Michael Schumacher with Mercedes GP, the new rules and regulations that were specially tweaked for the fans, the three new teams, and, of course, for the first time in many years – 4 World Champions on the starting grid, and that too with teams that have the potential to win. Exciting stuff to say the least!

F1 arrived in Bahrain, and many expected it to conquer – but conquer it didn’t! The build up to the Bahrain GP was a little negative at the outset, with USF1 failing to make the start of the season, and in turn requesting the FIA to defer its entry to the 2011 season. The talks initially were to let the newer teams skip the first four races to give them additional time to prepare for the season – but USF1 took the talk a little too seriously and ended up requesting the FIA for a waiver for a year, let alone 2 months! The US Formula 1 dream has always been jinxed, and I wonder how long till Bernie Ecclestone manages to conquer the North American country.

However, talking of conquering – I was optimistic that F1 action in Bahrain would conquer the hearts and minds of F1 fans yet again. While the qualifying action was exciting with drivers qualifying on low fuel levels, Sundays’ race action was the total opposite, and due to exactly the opposite reason – heavy fuel loads! They seemed like oil tankers headed racing. The new rules, and their implementation, did make the F1 action a tad simpler – but it also ensured that even with 4 World Champions and nearly 5 teams capable of leading and winning races, the action was deemed as boring, and F1 is back to being labeled as a snore-fest.

Former F1 champions and the Brit-experts were quick in offering their advice, as well as criticism, and while I do agree with their point of view – I think it’s a little too early in the season to pass judgment. F1 2010 is just one GP old – let’s be patient guys. The most sensible suggestions were to either make two pit stops mandatory for every driver, or even do away with the mid-race refuel ban – both of which I would deem as ‘knee-jerk’ reactions. Let me explain why.



Re-fueling, which has been a treat to watch in the past 12-14 seasons, hasn’t been in F1 forever. One must remember that in the early days cars raced on full fuel loads and the action back then was exciting too. Yes, the races were shorter, but let’s be patient and give the teams some time to scratch their heads and come up with better race strategies to avoid yet another processional race, as was the case in Bahrain. The teams now know that they ‘have’ to adopt different strategies in the coming races to make up positions during the race.

While Bernie has shoo-ed away this suggestion, citing that F1 rules can’t be changed mid-season, I agree too. Teams have spent millions of dollars in designing their race car and working on their aerodynamics to counter the excessive weight that full fuel tanks would offer. Doing away with this rule would be yet another mistake – not to mention another case of disregard for the money spent in research and implementation (like the KERS story).

While I am in favour of the refueling ban, I am not in favour of the different tyre compounds that are on offer to each driver. Yes, it’s one thing to offer two tyre compounds (they are needed – different chassis and different driving styles mean that a softer compound would suit one driver, while a harder one would suit the other), but another to make using both these compounds in a race compulsory. If fuel strategy confused the spectators – tyre strategy is even worse! Imagine your favourite driver being overtaken on track due to a difference in tyre compounds – pointless! Where’s all the fair racing gone? Is the FIA trying to make racing difficult – or is it just really difficult to have simple racing in this aerodynamically dominant era?

Let’s leave aside the FIA and its workings – if F1 is going to be boring all season long, there’s nothing much that we can do besides shutting our television screens. But I would advise against that too – if you saw what I saw in Bahrain, the inter-team rivalry might just make the action a little more fun.

Ferrari clinched a 1-2 in Bahrain, but to me it was pretty much Sebastian Vettel’s race. The ‘Baby Schumi’ led from start-to-finish (well, almost), and didn’t put a foot wrong till the chequered flag. He had to relinquish his lead, and settle for 4th only due to a faulty spark plug – does this mean that the Adrian Newey designed Red Bulls are fast, but fragile yet again? One strong reason to stay glued to the action all season.

The two Ferrari’s started off well, and Massa ‘let’ Alonso go-by at the second corner. An easy let-off I’d say – but a perfect comeback by Massa. He out-qualified his teammate, and could have finished ahead of him had he not been so generous to let Alonso by at the start. Felipe Massa has this phobia against the opening races of the season – because he’s barely done well in any. His aim in Bahrain was to get a good start to the season, and going further I doubt if he’ll let Alonso by quite so easily. The battle of the two Ferrari boys – witness it all season long!

The battle at the respective Mercedes GP garages too were hot! Nico Rosberg was quicker than Michael Schumacher all weekend long, and also managed to comfortably finish ahead of him in the race. However, Schumacher’s fastest lap in the race was much quicker than Nicos.’ Schumacher’s comeback has been hailed as ‘brilliant,’ and if Schumacher can be ‘Schumi’ again – he will wash out the competition. Yet another battle in the making!



McLaren seem like the strongest team on paper – two mighty World Champions. However, Lewis seemed to get the better of Jenson at the season opener. Yes, he’s been in the team longer, and Jenson has all the work to do to strike back – but will he? The McLaren battle will be followed closely all season long.

Force India was yet again the surprise – both their drivers were at the sharp end of the mid-field, and easily managed to out qualify their rivals from last season. Had Sutil not spun on the opening lap, he could’ve easily posted a top 8 finish. The Force India cars, and drivers, not only had the pace to match the front runners, but also much renewed vigour – they are one team to watch out for this season!

While Vettel’s Red Bull manages to stay out of trouble in most GPs – Mark Webber’s is the opposite. The Australian driver had the pace to be at the front, but the first lap mess meant that he was trailing slower cars most of the race. The difficulty in overtaking slower cars clearly indicates that F1 2010 won’t have as much overtaking as predicted. Watch out for Webber too – he’s got the pace, he only needs to stay out of trouble.

And, last but not least, the Indian flavour in F1 – Karun Chandhok. His start to the season wasn’t the best, with a not-so-ready-to-race car in Bahrain, and his subsequent crash on the fifth lap. Karun’s graph can only go higher if he sticks to his guns and drives with grit. He will be one driver that will be closely followed not only by Indians, but the entire F1 fraternity. Unlike his predecessor and compatriot, Narain Karthikeyan, Karun has some assurance of multiple F1 seasons (considering that the Indian GP will need an Indian driver to attract mass) – 2010 is crucial for Karun. Even if he doesn’t match the pace at the top, he will need to out-pace his highly touted teammate, Bruno Senna.

Karun, on his part, has to play the sheet anchor. This is his chance to learn and gain knowledge for the seasons to come. Yes, the going will be tough considering the team was formed only two weeks prior to the Bahrain GP, and the HRT challenger is nowhere near fully complete. But it’s time for Karun to be patient and pick up the learnings. Finish races first, and then aim to move up to mid-grid. Aiming for points I would say is being ambitious, but he wouldn’t be in F1 if he wasn’t.

Like I said, considering that the Indian GP is listed in next year’s provisional calendar, his chances of a second season in F1 are high. How he decides to shape his F1 career is in his hands, but, if nothing else, fast is what he’ll have to be. The political and business decisions for the Indian GP will only aid his selection, but he will only be happy if his talent was more of a criteria than his nationality!

Now, do you still want to turn your TV sets away? Let’s dare you to!