Reflections on a Grand Prix in Bahrain - a race overshadowed

This was the weirdest race I've ever been to. I have now attended 29 Grand Prix and this one was in a class of its own. It is hard to overstate the degree to which the Mosley affair dominated life in the paddock and media centre.

To give you an indication, as I have already said, watching practice on Friday was almost impossible; during the race itself I actually stopped watching at one point, either on the screens or trackside, to have a meeting(unheard of) while at the end, I didn't even notice that the drivers on the podium were not given champagne. Of course, you may put that down to slovenly reportage and ignorance; my guess is that I was talking to someone, or several people, about Mosley. After the race there was the strange experience of writing a race report(sport) and then turning to a completely separate piece on the latest revelations in sado-masochism(scandal). Anyway, hopefully you get the picture.

Racewise, and particularly from the point of view of my British readers, the outstanding element was Lewis's errors which were so unusual last year. The key one was at the start when he selected the wrong engine setting and the car went into anti-stall. This was the moment his race went awry and why he found himself behind Fernando in 10th place on lap two. Lewis's mistake on the grid was classic rookie behaviour. If he had done that at the Bahrain Grand Prix last season, no one would have been in the least bit surprised. All the more odd that it happened this year. There was some talk pre-season about "second season syndrome." Perhaps that is what we are now seeing.

As far as the incident with Fernando is concerned that seems to be an open and shut case with neither driver particularly at fault, though you can argue - as no doubt some will - about why Lewis's front wing was damaged in the first place. Some have questioned why this issue has been given space on the blog. The reasons for that are blatantly obvious: it was a strange occurrence; there were several theories about what might have happened; it just happened to involve two guys who have a recent history of bitter rivalry(in case some had not noticed); it was a key moment in Lewis and Fernando's race; Daniel asked an interesting question; I could go on...

The impression I have of McLaren is that they need to re-settle themselves somehow. The team has had lapses in concentration, as has Lewis. Heikki has performed far more steadily and has been a model of consistency. But overall it looks a little worrying. Ron says in effect 'wait 'till Barcelona' and he has also doubted whether BMW will remain as competitive as they have been to date, but by the same token, McLaren have got to get themselves back on song. Spain could be a very important race. One view in the press room is that neither Montmelo nor Istanbul are going to suit the silver arrows and there is going to be more frustration for them until we get to Monaco at the end of next month. In the back of my mind I can hear Damon Hill's perceptive pre-season warning when he said he felt McLaren were inevitably going to have to pay a price for having their eye taken off the ball over the winter in so many areas by the continuing ramifications of the spy scandal. Looks a good analysis just now.

For Ferrari it was a great weekend - an excellent reposte from Felipe, two reliable and quick cars and lots of points. I still rate Felipe. There are plenty who don't and see him as a lightweight who is doomed to become a classic Ferrari number two. He may not be the most intimidating guy in the paddock and he may have his moments of mental frailty but with the right support(which he has) there is no reason why he should not rise to the top. He could easily have been champion last year had he not had worse luck than Kimi. This season it is not hard to see that Felipe's ambition to be champion for the first time burns far more brightly than Kimi's ambition to be champion for a second time.

I don't want to go on too long. But a final note about DC. We all know he is the oldest in the paddock and he has had a distinguished career in Formula One, even if it never delivered what it may have promised several years ago. I can't say if he was at fault in his latest "turn-in" crash with Jenson(my impression was that it was the Englishman, not the Scotsman, who was more in the wrong). However, perceptions being more important than reality in Formula One, which they undoubtedly are in the feeding-frenzy atmosphere of the paddock, the mutterings about DC being over the hill have inevitably begun again. If he is it will become all too obvious over the next few races; if he isn't he needs another good result to silence his critics.

In parting I thought the organisers of the race did a great job in making us welcome, even if this Grand Prix is not at the very top of most of our wish lists. The food for us hacks was excellent and a lot of us enjoyed the colourful murals painted on the sides of the tunnel wall which goes under the track to the media centre. I was going to take pictures of some of them but, for some strange reason, I completely ran out of time...