It was not just the Mercedes pair. There were inter-team duels all the way
down the field, with the next best coming at Force India, Red Bull, Williams
and Ferrari.
Not every race will be as good as this: of course, that would be almost
impossible. But it’s hard to see the moaning about ‘fuel economy F1’
returning for – based on the sport’s form – at least a race or two.
Mercedes advantage is perhaps even greater than anticipated
In Melbourne and Sepang, Mercedes were able to manage their pace at the front,
meaning they merely dominated rather than obliterated the competition. In
Sakhir that was not the case.
Fighting hammer and tong, Hamilton and Rosberg pushed each other and therefore
their cars to the limit. The result, albeit on a power circuit, was
frightening for the rest of the teams.
By the time the safety car emerged after a typically reckless piece of driving
by Pastor Maldonado – who has been severely punished – Hamilton and Rosberg
had a lead of nearly minute.
Then, with 10 laps remaining, they managed to build a cushion of around 20
seconds.
The rest will surely gain ground, but in the meantime there is only one podium
place available for 10 of the sport’s teams.
Whatever happens on track, F1 has not lost its sense of theatre
With a 18:00 start in Bahrain, the drama in the paddock lived up to the level
of theatre you would expect from Formula One.
First, the sport’s chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone, amiably wandered into
the media centre to express his view that the state of the sport was “not
acceptable to the public”.
Then, an hour or so later, di Montezemolo arrived to hold court outside the
race tower, where a series of high-level meetings were taking place
throughout the day.
At 14:44 precisely, so we are told, the Italian then met Jean Todt, FIA
president, for discussions on the new rules, as a gaggle of journalists
(myself included) patiently waited to speak to the Frenchman. First a
representative from Renault went in, followed by Niki Lauda from Mercedes.
Eventually around 20 of us spoke to Todt, all crammed in one office.
While the whole day had a slightly shambolic feel, it epitomised the sense of
theatre which we have come to expect from Formula One.
Harmony is possible, sometimes
When we did speak to Todt, two words cropped up more often than almost any
others. “Unanimous agreement,” the Frenchman would say.
So, cost caps? If we have unanimous agreement. Shorter races? If there is
unanimous agreement. More fuel? We need unanimous agreement.
Now, while it is incredibly hard to foresee unanimous agreement of any of
those issues – Todt said as much himself on a cost cap – one rare moment of
consensus appeared to emerge on Sunday, with even Mercedes on side.
It was in relation to the engine noise, of course. Some have been stronger in
their criticism of it than others (cue a very strongly-worded put down for
Sebastian Vettel by Ron Dennis) but a general conclusion has emerged: it is
a bit too quiet.
The FIA has set up a working group to address the issue, and there is a plan
to test certain tweaks after the race in Barcelona next month. Exactly what,
or by when, remains unclear.
Ricciardo revisionism is in full swing
You would be extremely hard pressed to find anyone in the paddock who does not
like Daniel Ricciardo, with his enormously broad smile and cheery manner
(apart from maybe Jean-Eric Vergne, who was overlooked by Red Bull when they
came to choose Mark Webber’s replacement).
However, at the start of this year, there were those who doubted his
credentials for a top drive. Could he make his way through the field? How
would he fare under pressure? Surely he would be totally overshadowed by his
more illustrious team-mate, Sebastian Vettel?
Many muttered that Kimi Raikkonen might have been a better choice. That
opinion has rapidly faded from view after just three races.
The Australian has driven beautifully, and once again in Bahrain he gave a
superb performance to climb from 13th on the grid to fourth. He seemed to
have the upper hand on Vettel all weekend, and raced against his German
team-mate superbly for position in the closing stages.
No wonder Christian Horner said on Sunday night that he has “exceeded
expectations”.