Bahrain Grand Prix Review

Some have heralded this victory as Button's best to date, although that is debatable. Compared to, say, Malaysia, it did not come by virtue of brilliant banzai laps before his first stop; Toyota's tactics rather handed the lead to him on a plate. But Button was in that position because of his assertive pass on the fast-starting Lewis Hamilton going into turn 1 on the second lap. This ensured he was within striking distance of the Toyotas at the first stops, and possibly pressured Toyota into panicking.

Once in the lead, Jenson didn't look back - that's the confidence that comes with race wins. Button's lead of 12 points over team-mate Rubens Barrichello is the biggest points lead after four races since 2006. More incredibly, in four races this year he has quadrupled the number of wins he scored in his previous 153 starts over 9 seasons. If he goes on to win the title, then no other driver in the history of the sport has become champion after such a sustained period of non-success.

Brawn's lead in the constructors' race of 22.5 points is also the largest after four races since Ferrari's dominant 2004. One factor that should not be overlooked is the fact that, in eight starts, Brawn has recorded eight points finishes, the only team to do so. Speed and reliability are going hand in hand. But Barrichello can't be overly chuffed right now. His race was done when he was trapped behind Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in the first stint, and when his three-stop strategy left him at a track position disadvantage.

That disadvantage included being stuck behind Nelson Piquet Jr early in his second stint when he was desperate to make up time, and his displeasure at being held up by his compatriot was clear. Except that, obviously, it was a battle for position and Piquet was doing nothing wrong. One wonders if these are the beginnings of the frustrations that come with Rubinho playing second fiddle in a title-winning team again. Not only will he have to get on terms with Button, the rest of the field are catching up as well.

In reality, though, this race was Toyota's to win and lose. They lost it more than Button won it. They had a front-row sweep, Button was not that much heavier, Vettel was the danger but he got held up behind Hamilton early, and Timo Glock had not only got away cleanly from the dirty side of the track, but he had actually dived into the lead after some nice synchronised driving with Jarno Trulli. The TF109s were pulling away and maintaining a gap in the first stint. Everything was falling into place.

Instead, Toyota put both men onto the harder prime tyre for the middle stint, and the resulting lack of pace meant that they surrendered the lead - and in Glock's case, a bucketload of positions. Was it for fear that the option tyre wouldn't last? Practice had shown that the softer tyre was durable here. Glock's middle stint was 22 laps; his final stint on the option tyre was 24 laps. There was simply no reason to go conservative on tyre choice in the middle stint.

Did Toyota also think that there was an advantage to be had in being on the option tyre in the last stint whilst others were on the prime, and chasing others down? The only example of that happening so far this year was Robert Kubica in Melbourne, and he ended up colliding with Vettel who was not giving up his spot without a fight. In other words, why would you make life harder for yourself by having to hunt down positions in the closing laps? At any rate, Trulli never made it past Vettel in the final stint.

Toyota weren't helped by the fact that whilst Trulli and Glock are fine pilots, but they probably aren't the best drivers in the field. Who knows whether they had a role to play in the poor tyre choice at the first stop, but ultimately it was unlikely any driver could have compensated for the disadvantage of the harder tyre at that crucial moment. This was Toyota's best chance at a victory to date, and they blew it. Such a golden opportunity may not as readily come around again for a while.

Red Bull will be pleased to know that China was no fluke and its dry-track pace is genuinely there, to the point where Button now thinks the RB5 is the fastest car in the field. Vettel was far heavier than the Toyotas, but having been severely compromised by being stuck behind Hamilton in the first stint, the best he could hope for was to eventually leapfrog Trulli for second, which he duly did. Even at this stage he could be the man who could give Button the most headaches in the championship.

The McLaren is clearly an improving car, but there's also no denying that Hamilton was simply superb - both in qualifying to get into Q3, and then in the race itself, making a beautiful start, almost getting up to 2nd, and taking a comfortable 4th in the end which is higher than where the MP4-24 ought to be. He is being made to work for his points this year, and he is responding with some fantastic driving and gaining respectability for it - possibly more so than when he won in a top car that he simply waltzed into.

How good Hamilton was in Bahrain can be measured against his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who not only missed the Q2 cut again, but suffered badly in the first stint by starting on the harder tyre. He fell to as low as 17th in the early going and recovered to no higher than his eventual 12th place. China was a good effort from the Finn to come home 5th, but he needs to start performing on more 'normal' weekends. As the MP4-24 improves, right now there's no reason for McLaren not to be tailoring it around Hamilton.

At least McLaren can now go to Spain with the lie-gate saga behind them as well, the World Motorsports Council having in effect let them off with a 12-month suspended three-race ban, particularly thanks to Martin Whitmarsh's profuse apologies and the evidence of 'culture change' within the team. Don't let any McLaren-speak convince you otherwise, the price they had to pay to get let off was not only to sack Dave Ryan, it was for Ron Dennis to depart.

Dennis has been at odds with Max Mosley for a long time, and regardless of who is right and wrong in that personality clash, Dennis' departure helps McLaren's standing with the FIA. And the reality is, Ron has had a good innings, is a racer at heart, and has played a significant role in the history of F1. But his headmasterly ways and methods were failing; they failed Juan-Pablo Montoya, they failed Fernando Alonso, they mismanaged Hamilton, spy-gate and lie-gate.

Ferrari finally broke their 2009 duck, with Kimi Raikkonen putting in a solid race to 6th. From 10th on the grid, he made an excellent start, and on fuel strategy even led a few laps during the first stop sequence. But against the Brawns, the Toyotas, Vettel and Hamilton, his best hope was to take Glock which he eventually did in the second stops. It was a pretty good indication of where the Ferraris have been at - a few tenths down per lap, around the bottom of the top ten, with minor points the best they can hope for.

That also makes them more vulnerable because there is more potential for mishaps in the midfield, and they pay a heavier price for any slip-up. So it was for Felipe Massa, the winner of the past two Bahrain GPs, and the man who lost last year's championship by one point, but who remains pointless after four rounds. He damaged his front wing on Raikkonen's car at the first corner, and then was hampered as he tried to climb his way back up due to telemetry and KERS problems.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali has been dithering in the press about what message he should send out. Are Ferrari going to keep fighting for results this year, or are they going to go the Brawn route and fold early in terms of this year's challenger and focus on 2010? Frankly, it doesn't matter what Domenicali says, the facts speak loudly enough. If Spain doesn't bring a major step forward for Maranello, 2009 is a lost cause if it isn't already. Brawn already has 50 points to Ferrari's meagre 3.

Alonso's 8th place for Renault - which was fairly much where he ran the whole race on net terms - was also indicative of where Renault are at, even with aero upgrades. It was probably the best all-round weekend for the team so far, with Piquet getting into Q2 and running a solid race to 10th, keeping faster men like Barrichello and Webber behind at times. It is mildly intriguing to observe McLaren, Ferrari, Renault and BMW and seeing which will come out on top in the clawing-back-to-the-top stakes.

REJECT OF THE RACE
BMW-Sauber
Dismal race, coming last and 2nd last

Someone else who has been disappointing so far in '09 had been Sebastien Bourdais, but he actually put in quite a good race for Toro Rosso. Bahrain resident Sebastien Buemi had once again had the better of the Frenchman in qualifying and almost got into Q2, but Bourdais got past the rookie at the first stops despite pitting earlier, having started on primes and changed to options. He then continued his climb, and finishing 13th from last on the grid in a race with only one DNF was not a bad effort at all.

Buemi made a poor start and his race never really recovered. He finished 17th behind the two Force Indias, with Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella both capitalising on the scrambling in the lower half of the field to gain places. Sutil's race was decent enough, but Fisichella put in his best Sunday's work of the year to date, running as high as 11th where he could have finished, had he not experienced problems with his seat in the last stint causing him to be passed by Webber, Kovalainen, Bourdais and Massa.

But the race proved to be nothing short of a catastrophe for BMW. Neither Robert Kubica (last year's Bahrain pole-sitter) or Nick Heidfeld made Q3, they hit each other in the turn 2 squeeze, both needed new nosecones, and both then made no ground for the rest of the race. They had gambled on wind direction based on a weather prediction and set up their aero accordingly, but when the forecast proved false, their set-up meant they were constantly hitting the rev limiter down the straights.

That meant that even though both cars were running KERS, it was utterly useless. In the end, they came home a lapped 18th and 19th, taking out the 'Reject of the Race' award with ease. Spain will be vital; everyone else has already been bringing on developments, with more to come in Barcelona. BMW will also be bringing new parts, but they've actually gone backwards recently. Unless there is a big upturn in fortunes, their decision to sacrifice Kubica's title challenge last year to focus on 2009 is looking sillier by the race.