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Hats off to Fernando Alonso for winning his first race with his new team.



Big ups to Michael Schumacher for coming 6th in his return race at age 41. He gets a special point from me for finishing in front of World Champion Jenson Button.



Welcome back to Felipe Massa who has not lost any speed.



G'day for Lewis Hamilton who is definitely in the upper echelon of today's drivers.



Ones to watch: Robert Kubica, Pedro de la Rosa, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, and Nico Rosberg.



Hooray for competition in Formula 1!!!

Vettel get my nod for DOD. (not in the options above though) had complete control of the race till his engine went sour, but still beat his team mate.


Alonso showed his class, particularly in the post race interview.

Massa was unlucky to have started on the dirty side allowing Alonso to get the jump on him and pass so early. I would have liked to have seen Alonso have to work a bit harder.

New rules didn't impress me though, there was more action in the St Patrick's day parade downtown than the parade in Bahrain. Maybe (hopefully) it was just Bahrain, but I fear not.

While we were all expecting better racing, I have a horrible feeling that the guys can't actually race because they have to conserve tires, conserve fuel, blah blah blah!

What happened to real, flat out, b@lls to the wall, racing

GhoGho wrote:Vettel get my nod for DOD. (not in the options above though)

Thanks GhoGho for pointing this out. Vettel was omitted in error and he now appears on the list (albiet at the bottom since he was added later)

Well, only two pages of feedback! Does Bernie need more proof that his 'Tilke Touring Tracks' produce nothing but yawns?!

Even though I picked Fernando to win ... and even though I expected him to teach the young German how to overtake ...

and even though I am a sort of wanna be Tifosi...

...this was one of the dullest races I have ever seen.

I gave DOD to Seb V. because I think he gave us a master's course in how to control a race.

I know Fernando beat the kid's fastest lap by a couple of tenths, and I know he said he was planning to attack him at the end...

BUT from what everyone from the Webbo to Lewis had to say about the impossibility of over-taking --and I don't think any of them were really making sour grapes statements-- I have to believe Vettel would have held Fernando off easily...

Alas! Is it too late for Mr. Newey to purchase a powerplant from Mercedes?! I fear so.

But Australia should be another day; I think I'll pick Webbo to win and Seb to place.

See you,

Jim Watt

Jim Watt wrote: Well, only two pages of feedback! Does Bernie need more proof that his 'Tilke Touring Tracks' produce nothing but yawns?!

Even though I picked Fernando to win ... and even though I expected him to teach the young German how to overtake ...

and even though I am a sort of wanna be Tifosi...

...this was one of the dullest races I have ever seen.

I gave DOD to Seb V. because I think he gave us a master's course in how to control a race.

I know Fernando beat the kid's fastest lap by a couple of tenths, and I know he said he was planning to attack him at the end...

BUT from what everyone from the Webbo to Lewis had to say about the impossibility of over-taking --and I don't think any of them were really making sour grapes statements-- I have to believe Vettel would have held Fernando off easily...

Alas! Is it too late for Mr. Newey to purchase a powerplant from Mercedes?! I fear so.

But Australia should be another day; I think I'll pick Webbo to win and Seb to place.

See you,

Jim Watt

Well said about the race, Jim.

Now my two cents on the whole schmozzle..........
Watching the race, I kept having thoughts along the lines of "Is this a race or just a very expensive test session?"

I mean, going into the season, everyone was talking about how this season was going to be a lot different than past seasons, things like, for instance, (1)no refueling, (2)the return of Schuey to the World Championship, (3)Alonso racing for the Scuderia, etc., etc., etc.,.... I mean, even the Speed Channel broadcast(the pre-race part anyway) was full of excitement and bravado about the new season upon us..............................

And then they ran the race.

How boring was it? There was more excitement during the season-opening IndyCar race at Sao Paulo and that includes the 36-minute thunderstorm-induced red flag(don't even get me started on Saturday's shenanigans there.......). Maybe they should put the F1 cars on ovals once in a while; that might make things interesting...........it could also get rid of the Troll once and for all, if you think about it hard enough......



Anyway, that's my post-race rant............


As for DoD............had Sebby V. been listed that would've been my choice. Since he wasn't at the time I voted, I chose Felipe Massa 'cause anyone who can get back in a race car after what happened to him last year earns my respect.

Hopefully, Australia will be a lot better race than Bahrain. Then again, any race that ain't on a Hermann Tilke built track would've been better than Bahrain.

The formula that has been introduced over the last few years has led to this precessional 'race' (if you can call it that) at the weekend. i.e.

- Restrictions on Engine designs
- Rev limit of 18k
- No more development of engines, including improving reliability (which we know is an issue for some, especially Renault)
- Limitation of number of engines for even more races and even higher penalties - result Nurse your engine especially in the Heat at Bahrain where most teams had cooling issues.
- No refuelling enabling one pit stop to be possible
- Tyres - in order to stick to one stop (especially when starting with a full tank for the whole race) drivers has to nurse the tyres - leading to noone pushing....
- Top 10 starting on qualifying tyres could lead to unfair tyre issues for some, after all we want to see everyone giving everything in Qualifying, not thinking they can't over cook the tyres otherwise they will blow the race...
- Aero dynamic packages leads to difficulty to follow closely making overtaking difficult, especially in places where cooling is an issue

Making the tyre more fragile has been suggested but I think this will lead to more nursing of the tyres. If you want people to push they should be able to have the confidence knowing the tyres will hold out. Drivers should have confidence to push for xx laps without worring if the tyres will give up.

Forcing 2 pitstops might help.

Anyhow that's my tuppence worth....

mlittle wrote: As for DoD............had Sebby V. been listed that would've been my choice. Since he wasn't at the time I voted, I chose Felipe Massa 'cause anyone who can get back in a race car after what happened to him last year earns my respect.

Funny, that was exactly the rationale for my vote

It was a good race in my thoughts

My DOD was vettil, i thought he did very well till those exhaust issues. I'm feeling that this year will be a competitive one.

Can't wait for the Australia come on marky

Dano wrote:It was a good race in my thoughts

My DOD was vettil, i thought he did very well till those exhaust issues. I'm feeling that this year will be a competitive one.

Can't wait for the Australia come on marky

It was a faulty Spark plug. Hence the issue was intermittent.

And yes I too think he was the DOD. Alonso did not deserver to win. I hope Massa wipes the floor with him the rest of the season....

Massa was told to conserve fuel, but the truth was he had heat problems with this Engine. So I am sure if someone was able to push the ferrari's, then we could have seen them with serious engine problems too. Mind you McClaren had rear brake heat problems too..........

Why the F' did so many people vote for Alonso as driver of the day !!!!

szhjcn wrote:Why the F' did so many people vote for Alonso as driver of the day !!!!

That's a good question.........

Alonso was the driver of the day - Very simple really

Had Vettel not had his problem, Alonso would have passed him and easily.

Alonso set the fastest lap of the race more than a second quicker than anyone else. He was sensational to watch and great to see him back in a car that has a chance of winning. The other teams and drivers are really really concerned now

The race was not boring at all. I loved every seoond of it and I don't see it that different to many races in the past. The race opener last year ? What was that ? A Brawn 1-2, was it the safety cars that made the race exciting ?

When a driver drives a perfect race and destroys everyone then it becomes boring .... if that is the case, well many races to come will be like that cause Alonso is back .....

szhjcn wrote:Why the F' did so many people vote for Alonso as driver of the day !!!!

Beacuse ED left Vettel off the list by mistake.

I beg to differ

Anyhow, let's see what happens in Aussie land

szhjcn wrote:I beg to differ

With me or JayVee?