Race 1 - Bahrain GP

(Originally Posted: April 11)(Last of my reposts yay!) The first race of the season hence forth has to be Bahrain, right? I like Albert Park but how can it compete?!

It’s on race days like this that I really feel the love for the sport and the sport contradicts Lance Stroll’s words and actually loves me back! First of all - what a quali. I admit I was one of the people who believed Mercedes was sandbagging during testing, and they were a little bit, but they really are close to Red Bull, perhaps more than any year in recent history. And so what a year it is for Checo to come into Red Bull after the unfairness last year, and what a year it is to be Max Verstappen! Max is a beast who is only getting better and I hope this is the year that man and machine both deliver equally, and he can finally take the fight to Lewis and Mercedes like Sebastian couldn’t quite manage with Ferrari.

  But I’m getting ahead of myself, this is the Bahrain Grand Prix. Checo stopped on the track during formation lap - Okay was it just me or did he break a rule that nobody talked about? Once your car is stalled, you cannot get help from the marshals to help push start your car. It looked to me like his car just died, and then the marshals came and started pushing his car at which point the power just turned on. So the car moving triggered the PU somehow? Which is equivalent to getting a push start? No? Just me? Okay then. In any case, if anyone needs a lucky break after last year - it is definitely Checo. And Seb, but I’m not ready to talk about him yet. The starting laps set the precedent really - what is an action filled race that has no action at the start? Mazepin spins, Charles bullies his way past Valtteri (more of this from Ferrari this year please!), Lando Norris bringing the scenario 7 in spirit and moving past Daniel with his Turn 4 move that more drivers should look at, and Pierre after the safety car restart, Charles vs Lando - it was all happening! The race only got more race-y! Yuki making his way through the grid, Checo doing his Checo thing and pushing past people, the awesome Carlos vs Nando v Seb battle! George Russell with some stellar moves - The man’s in a Williams and he said he’s hoping for a win during pre-race. What a guy! And then, Valtteri’s disastrous pitstop took him out of contention if his slow first stint hadn’t already, and this left Max and Lewis to fight it out. Mercedes had the better strategy with Lewis in my opinion and Lewis had the better luck. Max drove his heart out and I feel like the Turn 4 controversy was not the most controversial, the rules seem clear enough. Red Bull weren’t paying attention to instructions and if only Max had been taking advantage by going wide every lap ala Lewis, he might have ended up with a win! But, as we say in this sport, his time will come. For the day, the win goes quite deservedly to Sir Lewis Hamilton. So where do the teams stand now? Let’s do this quick then - in order of race performance:

• Mercedes - the new regulations have actually hurt them, as has the lack of DAS. Knowing Mercedes, they will have gone away and worked on this, and they will be back with some solutions very soon. But then we used to say these things about Ferrari and now... *sigh*
  
• Red Bull - I can’t lie, I’m not the greatest Red Bull fan (I already miss my Albono!). What I am a fan of though is good racing, and it looks like Red Bull is one of the reasons I am getting that this year. Bring it on RB. Well done!

• McLaren - I dunno, they are definitely strong this year but will they dominate the midfield like I thought they will from testing? Then again, we haven’t seen the true Danny Ric form yet because of the Gasly incident, and Lando is very good but he ain’t no Daniel (yet), is he?.

• Ferrari - Ferrari is back!...in the midfield! It is an improvement, of course it is. But we want mooaaarr! Charles found his form in Q3 and let me breathe a huge sigh of relief. On a lighter note, the team Charlie videos are freaking hilarious!  

• Alpha Tauri - *rubs hands in glee* I am SO EXCITED for this team! Especially since the next race is their home track and Yuki will be more confident! Pierre was already one of the drivers I was going to keep an eye out for, I’m so disappointed he crashed in Bahrain. But then there’s Yuki - and I haven’t seen such a spunky rookie in a long time! Welcome to the midfield, you might be ruling it soon AT! 

• Aston Martin - Hm... Should we talk about Seb now? Maybe I’ll leave it for next time. Safe to say he didn’t have a good weekend. It went marginally better for Lance and he did get a single point for the team but I-
  
• Alfa Romeo - They looked quite strong in testing but they aren’t really going to be joining the midfield battle this year, are they? Top of the tail-enders without a doubt though!
  
• Alpine - I hate putting them so low but really, a plastic bag got stuck in Nando’s car, and Esteban got properly rear-ended by Seb. They will be hoping for a lot better! I don’t want to write them off yet but the fact that Cyril is not there anymore lost some heart points in my book.
  
• Williams - Georgie, Georgie. You strong, beautiful boy you! He had to field such negative questions all day about his last year sub work I just. This is not a great start but I like the drivers’ optimism. 

• Haas - Really I expected worse. They both spun, and they both could have taken someone out but managed to not, and for that they deserve credit. I don’t know what to say about them, just hope for the best and stay safe I guess?

Well there you have it, my half-asleep and 2-week late race thoughts. Hoping to do these more often for Formula E and Extreme E as well! Till next time - Ciao! *winky face*