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First Blood to Fernando

During my commentary on the Bahrain Grand Prix, I jokingly suggested that what we needed to catch the flying Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel was the matador, Fernando Alonso. A few laps later the prophecy was fulfilled. Sorry Sebastian!

Vettel, his car slowed by what was later found to be not a broken exhaust, but a failing engine, was caught and summarily passed by the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa, as well as Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren. The junior German driver was lucky to hang on to fourth place from his fast-closing compatriots Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, the latter making a realistic rather than a riotous return.

Meanwhile in 7th and 8th places, Jenson Button and Mark Webber were forced to give best to their respective team-mates. Completing the top ten, Force India with Tonio Liuzzi and Williams with Rubens Barrichello proved ‘best of the rest', while Lotus alone among the ‘newbie' teams, brought both their cars to the chequered flag.

I suspect that we could be seeing a trend which will develop through the 2010 season.

Unless something crazy happens, we can probably safely bet that all the 2010 wins will come from the four teams and eight drivers who dominated the first race of the season. Using a football analogy, they form ‘the Premier League', while teams such as Williams, Toro Rosso, Sauber and Force India are clearly ‘the Championship'.

A bit like Newcastle United, they will come up with occasional feats of brilliance, but not have the long-term staying power of the big guns. Meanwhile, what about Virgin, Lotus and Hispania?

Well I guess the best football parallel may be an FA Cup third round game. A smaller side sometimes gets to humble the top teams. A top ten performance by them this season would be a bit like Leeds United's 1-0 against Man U at Old Trafford. Everybody will cheer it, in the knowledge it won't happen every day.

For Lotus Racing, merely getting both cars to the chequered flag in their opening race will be seen as a notable achievement. One that the two other rookie teams most clearly did not manage.

Virgin Racing, with former Toyota driver Timo Glock, actually briefly outpaced Lotus. However by the 16th lap of 49, the team were already starting to pack away their garage equipment, with both their drivers sidelined by the recurring hydraulic and transmission issues which have bedevilled the team since the start of testing.

Talking of testing, or the lack of it, Karun Chandhok probably made Formula One history on Saturday. He had the dubious privilege of being the first ever driver to take part in his first F1 qualifying in a brand-new car, which hadn't even turned a wheel under its own power until he took to the racetrack!

As an adventure it was audacious. As a race plan, it was a bit of a disaster.

All credit to the Hispania Racing Team for getting two cars into the opening race of the season, just nine days after the team was formally unveiled. But for Chandhok, making his first Grand Prix start in a car which he had never even driven with a full tank of fuel, it wasn't too surprising that an off-road excursion ended his race on lap 2.

Team-mate Bruno Senna at least managed to hang on a little longer. In the words of HRT's quaintly-worded press release "On lap 18, a cloud of smoke forced the Brazilian to retire." Our trackside sound effects of a million or so dollars of Cosworth engine reducing itself to scrap perhaps gave the more accurate reason for his demise.

Looking back to the top of the order, do I expect that Alonso or Ferrari will run away with the 2010 world championship? Probably not, although the Spaniard made his initial mark at Ferrari with a perfect performance, had it not been for Vettel's engine problem, the race could have had a different result.

McLaren and Mercedes both need to find an added edge in qualifying - and I am sure they are trying. Likewise, Schumacher needs to find an added edge to beat team-mate Rosberg. He will I am sure. He will!

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