Driver of the race - Bahrain GP

[I am evil Homer]

I'm going out on a limb, esp as I criticised him (rightly IMO) last season and say Heikki was my driver of the race. To be only 3 secs a lap off the pace by the end is a great show.

As good as Alonso was, as well as Vettel managed to bring the cars home it was no great surprise...these are drivers in top teams.

[Retro Formula 1]

I think Vettel had the best weekend. Destroyed his team mate and was unlucky not to win the GP.

Mentions for Alonso for a great maiden Ferrari win, Massa for a superb 1st drive back and Lewis for dragging that McLaren onto the podium.

[PitMarshal]

There wasn't one!

Alonso doesn't deserve it imo because he only won due to a mechanical fault on a car that at one point was several seconds in front of him and still pulling away.

My vote goes to Barichello purely because everyone was writing him off as a has-been at the end of last season.

[jens]

Kubica's laptimes were about similar to those of Mercedes, when he was lapping without distraction, so I think he is certainly a guy, who should be taken into consideration in achieving some impressive results this season. Talking about premature conclusions, I generally expect him to be rejuvenated after having become a lead driver in another team and repeat his 2008 form. :

[ioan]

More to debunk all that: it wasn't the broken header, it was a spark plug problem. So now there can be NO remaining doubts, VETTEL is the driver of the race!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82153

Yep!

And Barbie Rosberg couldn't pass a car running on 7 cylinders!

[ioan]

The team SAID a header over the radio and afterwards Vettel said something mechanical BROKE.

Its not the first time a team says one thing but then "discovers" another.

After all how can it be Red Bull itself!!?? Never, not with Christian Horner leading.

You sure know better than the RedBull people, how could I ever doubt your knowledge?!

[ioan]

I do agree with the saint though, throughout the afternoon it seemed clear 9 and you could hear it as well) that the problem was the broken exhaust header and then waaay after the fact they say it is an engine issue?

sounds like a PR stunt to me. If there is one thing about Renault that you can count on it is their reliability. The same cannot be said for the rest of a Newey built car.

When the car breaks down again I wonder what they will say then.

Klien who was commenting for the Austrian TV first said the engine sounds like if it's not running on all cylinders, so I'll wait with conspiracy theories a bit.

[Langdale Forest]

Yep!

And Barbie Rosberg couldn't pass a car running on 7 cylinders!

I did not know that Rosberg had a Barbie doll!

[ioan]

Alonso, he did what he had to do. He came from third and got the win. People may find excuses but I don't know what he could have done better.

Overtaking, or at least trying to do so, Vettel before his car broke would have been a good start instead of waiting until the win was gifted to him.

[ioan]

I did not know that Rosberg had a Barbie doll!

Me either, but he always looked like one.