Ok, ok, I know I always say I want my racing right at the front, drivers fighting for victories, but whilst Bahrain didn't have any of that, I rather enjoyed the race as a whole. Hell I even said in my last post that if Alonso was back at the sharp end again that I'd stick with F1 this year.
Age is only a number
If you're fast enough you're good enough. This is the general rule in F1. Fernando Alonso is 41 and the oldest driver on the grid. Irrelevant. He is also one of the best, and still one of the hungriest and most dedicated to his profession.
I couldn't believe it when he stuck his Aston Martin in 5th on Saturday in Bahrain. It confirmed what many people had suspected from testing and indeed from the Bahrain practice sessions (when in the latter Alonso was top 3 in the time sheets consistently) - that of the fact that Aston Martin had made serious improvements and gains from last season. Over one lap it looks like they have the third quickest car, more or less.
On race pace in Bahrain, they had arguably the second quickest car. Whilst the Ferrari's were quicker on the first stint, Alonso bided his time and was just too strong in the second half of the race, the Aston seemed to be much kinder to its tyres compared to the Ferrari (sidenote, was Alonso on different tyres to Sainz? I don't recall). Either way, the race pace is very much there.
Ok LeClerc retired, which helped bump Alonso up the order a bit, but to finish first in F1, first you have to finish. Alonso didn't finish first, but you get my point.
But Alonso robbed Hamilton and Sainz then disappeared up the road later on, having diced with both Mercedes cars earlier on after falling behind them both at the start. I'd say Mercedes are definitely behind Aston and Ferrari.
It is just so exciting to see Fernando back where he belongs at the sharp end. Andrew Benson agrees :-).
Ferrari - same as usual?
The red cars seemed fairly swift early on, though not anywhere near the Red Bull of Max. Indeed, Perez swiftly dispatched both of them to ease into second. Then LeClerc broke down and the pace of Sainz faded towards the end of the race.
And now LeClerc is taking a ten place grid penalty in Saudi Arabia, the season has started off pretty miserably for a team that no doubt had title aspirations.
Red Bull and Max utterly dominant
Both George Russell and Toto Wolff said after the race that they could see Red Bull winning every race this season. I don't think they are too wide of the mark on that prediction. Max was in a league of his own, with Perez 20 odd seconds off in second.
Lance Stroll - One tough bastard!
12 days after breaking his wrists and his big toe, plus some other hefty bruises and the like, Lance Stroll wrangled his Aston Martin to 6th. Amazing. That is why I love F1 - the drivers are absolute warriors!
Let's see what Saudi Arabia has in store for us this weekend. Will the Aston Martin still be strong and quick? Will Ferrari and Mercedes improve? What has happened to McLaren?
