Dream start for Ferrari

Suspected exhaust problem scuppers Vettel's chances

By Alex Williams   Last updated: 14th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Dream start for Ferrari

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Ferrari made a perfect start to the 2010 Formula One campaign as Fernando Alonso led home a one-two finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The double world champion, driving in his first race for the Italian team, took the chequered flag comfortably ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa as Ferrari scored their first one-two finish since the 2008 French GP.

Polesitter Sebastian Vettel looked to be heading for victory but a suspected exhaust issue derailed his chances and left him easy prey for the red cars.

Vettel also lost out to Lewis Hamilton, who took the final podium place, but managed to hold off the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg to finish fourth and emerge from the race with 12 points under the new system.

The returning Michael Schumacher trailed team-mate Rosberg home in sixth, with reigning world champion Jenson Button and Mark Webber hot on his heels.

Alonso and Massa opted to change their engines overnight, meaning the Ferrari duo are already two power-plants into the season-long allocation of eight.

Vettel made a clean getaway from pole as the Ferraris swapped positions behind him, with Alonso moving up the inside into second place.

Problems

Webber's Red Bull billowed smoke around the first two corners as Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil ran into each other and lost out in the confusion behind him.

As perhaps anticipated, problems affected the new teams in the opening laps, with Hispania's Karun Chandhok retiring after making contact and Virgin's Lucas di Grassi also parking his machine.

The top three remained spread out as Webber paid for his messy start when he was held up behind Schumacher.

As Vettel began to pull away, the main entertainment was to be found at the tail-end of the field, with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock scrapping over the minor placings.

But the German's car could not handle the strain and he was forced to stutter into the garage, ensuring that Virgin's maiden grand prix ended with a double retirement.

As fourth-placed Rosberg came into the pits to change tyres, he was delayed slightly, allowing Hamilton to steal in front of him.

Webber lost out again during the pit stops as he fell behind Button and continued to be held up.

After his collision at the start, Kubica mounted an impressive charge through the field, pulling off spectacular manoeuvres on Pedro de la Rosa and Sebastien Buemi.

Lead change

As the race passed the halfway point, Alonso and Massa began to make small inroads into Vettel's lead, although they appeared unable to mount a serious challenge.

However, Alonso found some extra pace shortly afterwards, setting fastest laps as he drove up to the back of the Red Bull.

Just as the Spaniard's charge seemed to have faltered, Vettel ran into suspected exhaust problems and Alonso sailed past and into the lead with 15 laps to go.

Massa soon followed as Ferrari took over the top two positions, with Vettel quickly falling into the clutches of McLaren driver Hamilton.

The 25-year-old predictably had no problems grabbing the final podium place away from the young German on the pit straight.

Button continued to be pressured by Webber's Red Bull but stayed in front, with Schumacher narrowly ahead of them both in sixth.

Fifth-placed Rosberg began to bear down on the handicapped Vettel but could not overhaul his compatriot in the closing stages.

Behind them, Schumacher, Button and Webber crossed the line in quick succession with Vitantonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello rounding out the points-paying positions.

Meanwhile, Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen ensured his team were the best-placed of the new outfits by taking the chequered flag in 15th place.

Bahrain Grand Prix result:

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1hr 39mins 20.396secs, 2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:39:36.495, 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:39:43.578, 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:39:59.195, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:40:00.609, 6 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:40:04.559, 7 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:40:05.676, 8 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:40:06.756, 9 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:40:13.404, 10 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:40:22.885, 11 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:40:29.489, 12 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:40:43.354, 13 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:40:53.052, 14 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams at 1 Lap, 15 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 at 2 Laps, 16 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 3 Laps, 17 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 at 3 Laps
Not Classified: 18 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 28 laps completed, 19 Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 17 laps completed, 20 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 16 laps completed, 21 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 13 laps completed, 22 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 11 laps completed, 23 Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 2 laps completed, 24 Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 1 lap completed

Championship standings:

Drivers: 1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 25pts, 2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 18, 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 15, 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 12, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 10, 6 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 8, 7 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 6, 8 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 4, 9 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 2, 10 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1, 11 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 0, 12 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 0, 13 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 0, 14 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 0, 15 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 0, 16 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 0, 17 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 0, 18 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 0, 19 Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 0, 20 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 0, 21 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 0, 22 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 0, 23 Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 0, 24 Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 0
Manufacturers: 1 Ferrari 43pts, 2 McLaren 21, 3 Mercedes GP 18, 4 Red Bull 16, 5 Force India 2, 6 Williams 1, 7 Renault 0, 8 Scuderia Toro Rosso 0, 9 Lotus F1 0, 10 BMW Sauber 0, 11 HRT-F1 0, 12 Virgin Racing 0