Mass(a) Effect

Three races, three different winners, and Sauber-BMW on top of the constructors championship. This season is promising to be a humdinger. After two dismal performances, the new center of the latest F1 political intrigue has shown that he deserves a drive with the Ferrari team. In a action packed race BMW showed its exemplary reliability and Ferrari showed why they are top of the heap. If there was any doubt about Massa deserving his next years drive with Ferrari then Bahrain should dispel that.

Ferrari has always been the poster boy of F1, may be it is because they are the only surviving team from the start of F1 or may be it is because they have always been halo products. They always had their pick of drivers, even when the reigning champion called his Ferrari a “fast truck” they could pick and choose who drove for them. The latest wannabe Scuderia recruit is Fernando Alonso, who is not so hot at the moment in the Renault.

The Victim is Massa, he was number 2 to king Michael and then to his prodigy the iceman Kimi. He is no small driver by any angle, he was choosen to be Michael’s partner because of his pace and technical brilliance, and if it wasn’t for Kimi jumping ship from Mclaren he would be a Ferrari’s no. 1 driver and a potential world champion contender. He crashed out in Melbourne and then again in Sepang, and the romour mill started that he was going to be replaced at the end of this year, especially when Alonso’s car turned out to be crap. But after this race Massa served notice that he wont go down without a fight.

The prince of F1 also was off color at Bahrain if Sepang was any indication Bahrain proved that Lewis wasn’t infallible. His armour was fault proof last year, and this year it seems a little too fragile, Mclaren will have to up their game considerably if they have to win this years championship especially with BMW Sauber nipping at their heels.

Oh the funny thing is that you don’t have to win races to be champion, you just have to be consistent, and both Ferrari and Mclaren have shown an amazing lack of consistency. Its going to be an interesting year.

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts

1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 57 1:31:06.970 2 10

2 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 +3.3 secs 4 8

3 4 Robert Kubica BMW 57 +4.9 secs 1 6

4 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 57 +8.4 secs 6 5

5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 +26.7 secs 5 4

6 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 +41.3 secs 7 3

7 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 57 +45.4 secs 11 2

8 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 +55.8 secs 8 1

9 12 Timo Glock Toyota 57 +69.5 secs 13

10 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 57 +77.1secs 10

11 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 57 +77.8secs 12

12 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap 18

13 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +1 Lap 3

14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 56 +1 Lap 16

15 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap 15

16 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 56 +1 Lap 21

17 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 56 +1 Lap 22

18 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 56 +1 Lap 17

19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 55 +2 Laps