Ferrari Scores A One-two Finish At The F1 Season Opener In Bahrain

The new F1 season had an electric feel to it well before the first race began. The new kids on the block, in terms of race teams, had their cars polished and set to go. The new teams in GP racing for 2010 are Lotus, HRT, and Virgin. The Mercedes GP team this year is last year's Brawn GP team; with Mercedes buy a controlling stake and rebranding the team for 2010.

Excitement for the season grew more intense when 7-time Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher announced his return to the sport. He last raced in 2006, and is now racing for Mercedes GP, with Nico Rosberg his teammate. There's a new points system for 2010 as well. Add to all of this the fact that the racecars can no longer refuel during races, and you can see that change is in the air in F1.

With this anticipation, the Bahrain race weekend got off to a rousing start. The race on the Sakhir circuit is a 49 Lap affair. The circuit length is 6.299 km and the race distance is 308.405 km. On race weekend, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari set the Lap Record in a time of 1:58.287. The circuit infield resembles an oasis from the desert sand that is part of the exterior regions of the track.

Saturday Qualifying saw Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel take the pole position for the Sunday race. Felipe Massa of Ferrari garnered second spot. Third place on the starting grid went to Fernando Alonso.

The race began with Red Bull's Mark Webber spraying oil from an over-full tank. While not anything serious, it did cause a wash of blue smoke to envelop this area of the track at the beginning. It was Formula 1 beginning the 2010 season with dramatic flair. The start of the race saw Sebastian Vettel take the lead, the other drivers now engaging in hot pursuit of him.

It's noteworthy that finishing first in a race this year yields more points to the winner. A victory is now worth 25 points, compared to last year's 15. In addition, the spread between first and second place is greater as well. The second place finisher gets 18 points, a seven-point spread from first, compared to last year's three-point spread. There's a bigger incentive this year to "win" not just "place" in the points.

Vettel led for a significant portion of the race, driving clean and strong. However, his smooth romp through the desert soon disintegrated into an ordeal. A faulty spark plug the culprit, he began to lose power.

Eventually the Ferrari's of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa passed him. So did the McLaren of Britain's Lewis Hamilton. Vettel eventually finished the race in fourth spot.

Alonso drove a robust race, always keeping Vettel in sight. He pounced on Vettel's misfortune and never looked back. He powered through to stay ahead of his teammate Massa, who drove a good race to take second place.

This was inspiring as Massa was returning from his life-threatening injury of last year. Overall, it was a dream result for Ferrari, looking to recover from their less than stellar 2009 season.

Lewis Hamilton had a strong showing for the first race of the new F1 season finishing in third place. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP battled throughout the race and finished in fifth spot.

Michael Schumacher was off the pace but still drove well and secured sixth position. He had to keep his eyes on his rearview mirrors, as Jenson Button was a continual threat. Last year's World Champion, Button came in seventh place to earn himself 6 points.

Mark Webber, despite his graphic display to start the race, came in eighth place. Vitantonio Liuzzi of the Force India team earned a respectable ninth and earned 2 championship points. He drove a smart race despite some front wing technical problems on his car. The final point awarded in the Bahrain GP went to Rubens Barrichello of Williams, who finished in tenth place.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov had to retire from the race on Lap 13, due to suspension damage. It wasn't a good day under the sun for the BMW Sauber team. Their one driver Pedro de la Rosa exited the race on Lap 29. Their other driver, Kamui Kobayashi, left the race on Lap 12. Both of their cars experienced hydraulics problems.

Virgin's Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi retired from the race as well. Glock lost third and fifth gear on Lap 19. Lucas di Grassi had hydraulics trouble and left the race on Lap 3.

In addition, Bruno Senna of the HRT team retired on Lap 18 with a water leak. He is the nephew of three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna. Karun Chandhok of HRT left the race on Lap 2 after spinning out - - a very short Sunday drive for him.

With the Bahrain GP over and out, Fernando Alonso takes the Drivers Standings lead with 25 points. Teammate Felipe Massa is second with 18 points. Lewis Hamilton holds down third position with 15 points.

In the Constructors Standings, Ferrari takes the lead with 43 points. McLaren-Mercedes holds down second spot with 21 points. Mercedes Benz GP Ltd. sits in third with 18 points.

Ferrari's one-two punch in Bahrain certainly has them in a fighting mood for the rest of the Grand Prix season. Next up is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Of course, all the other teams will be waiting in the ring for Ferrari, ready to show them that they can counterpunch as needed.