Those Who Can’t, Complain
Michael Schumacher
The promised thrills largely failed to materialise as the new Formula One season began with a resounding victory for the Ferrari team in the Bahrain grand prix.
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were among those who blamed the effect of new regulations for the lack of incident in a race won by Fernando Alonso on his debut for the Italian team.
Despite recording the highest maximum speeds on the circuit’s straight, presumably thanks to the controversial new device affecting airflow to the rear wing of their McLarens, Hamilton and Button found themselves stuck behind other cars and unable to overtake.
The blame appears to lie with the effects of the new ban on mid-race refuelling, which forces drivers to concentrate on preserving their tyres and watching their fuel consumption.
“I caught up with Michael and then sat behind him for the rest of the race,” Button said. “I couldn’t get any closer. You lose downforce, you lose front and rear grip. You don’t have traction, so you can’t exit a corner quickly. Michael was very weak on braking. I’d be eight car lengths behind and catch up on him but there was no way I could go past. It’s not like the old days. You could follow cars then, you could slide up the inside, you could race. It’s very different now.”
Hamilton echoed Button’s observations on the difficulty of passing other cars, supporting the belief that the new rules encourage conservative driving. “It definitely didn’t make the racing more exciting in terms of overtaking,” he said.
Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher also aired doubts about changes to Formula 1’s rules for 2010 after his return to the sport in Bahrain.
The 41-year-old finished sixth in his first grand prix for four years.
“Overtaking was basically impossible unless somebody made a mistake,” the German said following the race.
“That is the action we are going to have with this kind of environment of race strategy.”
The changes for 2010 include a ban on refuelling during a race, which means cars must run with a full load at the start, while the top 10 drivers on the grid must begin the race on the tyres they used in the final qualifying session.
The alterations place a premium on tyre management, and drivers must use both soft and hard tyre compounds while the race is in progress.
“The new rules with the tyres that everybody has to cope with – I struggle a little bit with those,” admitted Schumacher.
“But after three years I guess it’s natural you have to find your way into new bits and pieces.”
Schumacher’s greater concern will be over his own lack of pace, particularly in comparison with team-mate and fellow German Rosberg, who held him off to finish, as he started, in fifth place.
Courtesy of The Guardian and BBC Sport
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