A few weeks back I criticised the opening Formula 1 race of the season
in Australia
for being a bit of a bore fest - in my opinion, the
2014 rule changes
meant the teams were so strung out in terms of car development, including some dodgy reliability issues, that no two manufacturers were really on equal grounds to give the fans a proper ding-dong of a battle.
To be a familiar sight this year?
So if there were anywhere this might be rectified it'd be Bahrain, given the teams already have two pre-season tests worth of data to call upon.
That was immaterial for the field as yet again it seems Mercedes turned up to a different race to the rest of the grid. Rosberg took pole on Saturday while Hamilton filed in behind just under three tenths behind. Both Mercs were in the low 1 min 33s in final quali, the closest third place man Ricciardo could get was a low 1 min 34.
Sunday was the same. Lewis leapt off the line and by the first corner had closed out his teammate for the lead. From there the Silver Arrows romped away, both cars recording fastest laps a minimum of nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
After a 10-lap sprint to the finish following a safety car due to a pit-exit moment of madness from Maldonado in the Lotus, who punted Gutierrez's Sauber, flipping it off the track, Hamilton held out for the win. Not before a thrilling set to though - excitement in F1 shocker.
Unprecedented Merc 1-2-3 on the cards...
Cruising around behind the grumbling SLS, Merc F1 boss Paddy Lowe mentioned to his drivers over the radio that they should get both cars to the finish. More of a gentle reminder with serious ramifications if not followed than a definite finishing order diktat from the pit wall.
On restarting the race both drivers went at it hammer and tongs. This is what we want to see and is what we'd hoped the new regs would bring. Rosberg chucked a few moves on Hamilton down into turn one with the aid of DRS (the activation zone seemed to be well judged last weekend), with the Brit getting the cut back every time. The real heart-in-mouth moments came at turn four, however.
Rosberg again launched an attack on Hamilton, lap after lap, and with plenty of room on the exit looked to go round the outside. Credit to the Merc drivers here - this is some of the closest wheel-to-wheel action at the top level for years, but both kept it clean knowing there's a whole season of sharing a pit garage - and more importantly, data - ahead.
Gutierrez/Maldonado incident cause of safety car
Hamilton showed the size of his spuds by squeezing Rosberg out to the paint on the exit as the German repeatedly tried to go round the outside, forcing him out into the desert on the exit before edging him out into the quick direction change of five, six and seven.
It takes bottle to battle for position on the fastest, most challenging section of track, especially when first and second places are all but secured and your boss is giving you thinly veiled directives to bring both cars home or you'll be hauled over the coals. However, racers race.
This is what F1 needs: drivers who want to win and are prepared to make a move no matter what's on the line, and team management who will support them; Mercedes saying it was crucial to let their rivers compete rather than 'Multi 21-ing' their way across the line.
A little bit of needle on the team radio from Rosberg was the only sign of pressure. Both were all smiles on the podium. Expect a silver wash this year, but if the battles are as good as they were last weekend, rather than a boring lone Red Bull at the front for 50-odd laps, we won't mind all that much.
Ricciardo the best Red Bull in Bahrain
Daniel is quicker than you...
...are five words four-time world champion Vettel hoped and probably thought he'd never here this year. But the German's race engineer Rocky did indeed tell him on the radio, actually asking him to let Ricciardo by. That's got to smart, especially when he didn't even make Q3 and his Australian teammate was given a 10-place grid penalty.
How the tables turn. There was a bit more of that in Bahrain, as Force India's Sergio Perez finished third after qualifying fourth. By comparison, both McLarens DNF'd.
One constant was Ferrari's torrid form. After Ferrari top man Luca di Montezemolo likened the new efficiency-focused rules to taxi driving, his squad could only manage ninth and 10th, with Alonso and Raikkonen respectively. Another decent showing from Williams and a result for Ricciardo in fourth after starting 13th - he beat his teammate, and sometimes, as Hamilton knows, that's all that counts.
Some great racing from the dominant Mercs
The future's bright, the future's silver
Bahrain was about Mercedes, though. Not only are their two cars the fastest, their fuel consumption is superb and the new chassis doesn't seem to eat its tyres like the W04 used to.
Last time out in Malaysia, Hamilton managed to lap over a second quicker than Rosberg but by 19 laps had used 0.53 per cent less fuel. In a sport ruled by tiny margins, this matters. Fast-forward to Sunday and the fact that neither Merc had to lift and coast all that much (granted, the safety car helped) and it proves how dominant the team is. The W05 and its two drivers seem to be the perfect package - fast and frugal. Prepare for silverware to go the way of the silver arrows on a regular basis this year.