Fernando Alonso and Ferrari were the class act at Sakhir - and I wasn't surprised by that. The Spaniard is currently one of the top three driving talents in Formula One - the others being Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton - so, give him a good car and he'll certainly deliver.
Schumi? He's obviously not fully "in tune" yet. Perhaps we'll see the old spark in time...
Vettel showed that the Red Bull is also working well, better than the Ferrari on the softer rubber, and set the pace early on. But it was obvious that, once on the harder rubber, the red cars were supreme.
Whether Alonso would have been able to pass the German in a straight fight we'll never know, but I suspect it would have been a stirring battle. Sadly a cracked exhaust pipe settled the issue...
But what the battle for the lead in Bahrain underlined yet again is that the problem of following in the "dirty" air behind another car remains the biggest challenge facing Formula One. If only that wretched double diffuser had not been allowed last year!
Apparently the device is due to go at the end of this season but, if all are in agreement that it should be banned, why oh why do we have to soldier on with it for another year? With fuel stops a thing of the past, overtaking on the road is going to be crucial. Let's hope we don't end up with a series of boring stalemate processions, broken only when cars suffer mechanical maladies.
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