For the first time since the 2009 season, there isn’t a Red Bull in the first two rows. What that means for viewers is perhaps a dawning of a new era in F1, with new teams and a newfound competitiveness up front. Of course, it’s only the first race, and we haven’t even had the race at that, so it would be prudent to keep the enthusiasm a bit in-check – more bridled than unbridled.
The first row was swept by the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button, and deservedly so, if not for the drivability of the car than for the design of what has to be the best looking F1 car on the grid. Going in a different direction than every constructor save Marussa (nee Virgin), McLaren has shirked the platypus step nose of all the other builders to present the cleanest, most elegant car on the grid. That alone should be worth one point per race in the standings, just out of principle.
The biggest surprise, more so than the 5th and 6th placings of Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, was the 3rd place showing of Frenchman Roman Grosjean, returning to F1 and putting the Lotus (formerly Renault) in the rarified air of the front of the grid. He’s joined on the second row by Michael Shumacher, who has looked positively rejuvenated in the four on-track sessions thus far this season.
Biggest disappointment of the early season would have to be Ferrari, where Fernando Alonso spun early in Q2 and ended up 12 on the grid. Still, that effort was much better than Felipe Massa’s disappointing 16th, having barely escaped Q1 with a mad dash on soft compound tires. In a make-or-break season for Massa, the start of his campaign has exactly gone to script.
With seven constructors making out the top ten in qualifying, the first race of the season is stacking up to be one of the more competitive – and potentially surprising – early season races in years. Here’s hoping Sunday’s race keeps pace with Saturday’s qualifying.
Race along with Ray on Twitter @RayHartjen.
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