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» F1 Columns » Movie Reviews » Restaurant Reviews
| F1 OPINION Back With A Bahrain Bang
We have new regulations, new engines, new teams, new drivers and one heck of a new qualifying format — Formula 1 is back with a mighty thump! October 2005 seems like centuries ago for an F1 fan but the dry spell is finally over and we can all sink back into the well-worn grooves of our sofas and enjoy the fierce battles raging in the F1 colosseum. I suspect that 'The Dummies Guide to the F1 Rules and Regulations of 2006' will appear on the New York Times best seller list and first in line to buy a copy will be the drivers and teams themselves. And maybe Uncle Max should consider investing in a copy himself. But despite the changes made in the FIA boardrooms, it must have felt like a case of déjà vu for McLaren as they lost Kimi in the first 15-minute qualifying period due to a suspension failure. And the race was pretty much routine: Kimi starts from the back of the grid, has a super race, finishes on the podium and blames the team for his 'loss' because, afterall, Kimi would win every single race if it wasn’t for the team, right? Err, no, don't think so Mr Raikkonen — perhaps you should follow the example of your peers and start doing some serious testing to help improve the car. Having said that, the new McLaren is stupefyingly beautiful, giving the impression of a silver arrow glowing with an orange incandescence, all set for achieving supersonic speeds. But it seems my imagination surpasses the car's performance. Juan Montoya didn’t have a particularly exciting race and finished exactly where he started — in fifth. Seems like his New Year's resolution of giving up doughnuts hasn't had too positive an effect on his driving. All round sexy guy The day belonged to the new owner of the number one badge — Mr Alonso, reigning world champion and all round sexy guy. The Spaniard had a magic race and a brilliant second pitstop by the Renault crew saw him just scraping past Michael Schumacher to take the lead. His challenge though was to keep the geriatric Ferrari driver behind him and he managed this quite superbly. Hats off to the Renault boys for a stonking performance but Fisichella will probably be drowning his sorrows in Grappa instead of celebrating with champagne with the rest of the team. The hapless Italian had problems in the qualifying runs and then a hydraulic failure saw him retiring from the race but not before he got a few choice words in over the team radio to be heard by all and sunder. Nobody quite does passion like the Italians. Michael Schumacher finally managed to equal Ayrton Senna’s number of poles but the difference is that Michael has been around since 1991 whereas Senna was only in the game for 10 years before his untimely death. Okay, so all the Schumi fans are going to create voodoo dolls in my likeness but I'm merely stating a couple of facts, and those you can't dispute. But let's get back to Bahrain and the scarlet Ferrari. Bouncing back Michael has certainly bounced back after a dreadful 2005 and claimed his first podium of the season, albeit trailing Alonso. He did put up a good fight but the lads in blue just did a better job today and Michael can't blame his tyres or his car or anything else — he was simply outshone.So how does it feel to have a living legend for a teammate? Massa must have heard that question at least a thousand times since it was announced that he would be replacing Rubino as Michael’s new playmate. The Brazilian calendar boy had a gorgeous qualifying run to make it an all red front row but then a rookie mistake early on in the race saw him spinning himself straight out of contention and finishing just outside the points in ninth. Fastest lap belonged to another rookie — one with a name that is synonymous with fastest laps. Does the name Rosberg ring any bells? Baby-faced Nico, resplendent in his Williams overalls posted some fabulous times and although his qualifying was hardly anything to write home to dad about, his race pace would have made Uncle Frank beam with pride. Mini-Rosberg pulled off some overtaking manoeuvres that would make any Brazilian supermodel gasp in delight. Has Uncle Frank discovered a future world champion? Let's wait and see how many victories he has under his belt after 100 starts and then compare him to someone like, hmm, maybe Jenson Button? Before I get to Honda’s golden boy, Rosberg finished in seventh behind teammate Mark Webber.
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