Bahrain GP Wrap-Up
By: Jeremy McMullen
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By: Jeremy McMullen
| Some left Bahrain having made an emphatic statement. Others left frustrated but ultimately encouraged. And yet, there were others who left still scratching their heads in confusion. Where Australia proved to be a lesson in dominance and Malaysia one in reemergence, Bahrain offered up a wide variety of drama that could never be scripted; at least most of it. And while the rookie Lewis Hamilton deservedly occupied much of the headlines, Nick Heidfeld should have gotten out of his car and said loud and clear, 'Can I get an offer please!'
Leading up to the race all the attention and hype surrounded the rookie Lewis Hamilton, and rightfully so. Hamilton stood on the brink of history before the Bahrain GP. He had facing him the opportunity to get off to the best start for any rookie in F1 history. Lewis, in fact, would drive his way into the history books using his unique rookie coolness to track with Massa all day long until eventually finishing second. Hamilton showed himself to be more the seasoned aggressor than the reckless rookie and it has everybody sitting up and paying attention. In contrast, little attention was given to Heidfeld until he made an impressive pass for fourth on two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. On a whole, the Bahrain GP proved to be a drama filled and exciting race.
The drama of knock-out qualifying continued at Bahrain. David Coulthard was relegated to the back of the grid from the start when his gearbox gave him fits in the first round. And despite their normal running position during a race, Bahrain proved to be the first time all season so far a Spyker started from dead last in the field.
For the first time all season both of the Honda factory cars made it to the second round of qualifying…barely. Nevertheless, the trend of customer cars out-qualifying factory cars continued. Anthony Davidson, in his Super Aguri, out-did the factory Honda cars. Both Williams-Toyotas were able to split the performances of their factory Toyota competitors. And Mark Webber and his Renault powered Red Bull chassis at least beat out Heikki Kovalainen and his Renault.