Whilst it’s Red Bull that gives you wings, it’s Ferrari that are off to a flyer. The 2010 season started off in processional fashion, but with a very familiar look to the top two steps of the podium.

Qualifying for the team was solid if unspectacular, with the Maronello outfit sandwiched between Sebastian Vettel’s lightning fast Red Bull and a great one lap burst from Lewis Hamilton. Interestingly, in his first qualifying since the nearly fatal accident at the Hungaroring, Felipe Massa managed to outpace new teammate Fernando Alonso. In just one grand prix, Alonso has already been outqualified as many times he was in the whole of last year. This is a both a testament to Massa’s racing nouse, and Piquet and Grosjean, Alonso’s teammates last year, being a bit guff.

While the team took the 1-2 with eventual ease, the race didn’t exactly go according to plan. Both drivers had to change their engines before the race, a worrying sign despite the team managing an incredibly reliable pre-season. Engine trouble in the desert has to be a bit more expected than engine trouble in a muggy Spanish town in the middle of winter, but the fact no other teams felt obligated to make a change has to be at least a small concern. This worry of overheating was repeated during the race – with Alonso homing in on Vettel he was visibly trying his best to stay out of the Red Bull’s slipstream, and keep temperatures as managable as possible in the process.

However, this vulnerability proved nothing compared to the broken exhaust on Vettel’s car, which transformed his slender lead into a 38 second deficit by the end of the race. Although the Ferrari’s looked menacing and were clearly quicker on the medium compound, passing at Bahrain has never been easy and Vettel is a sensationally fast driver – despite his faulty car he still finished 8 seconds up the road from Mark Webber, who at least had the excuse of being stuck in more traffic than a rush houred Londoner. Ferrari will claim the result was never in doubt, but if Vettel’s reliability had held then it could’ve been Alonso’s car limping to the finish…

Overall though, Ferrari will be delighted with the way things played at. They were in a league of their own (well, a league of red cars and one Red Bull), with race pace displayed meaning it’s the eleven other teams already playing catch-up. Add to this Alonso’s fastest lap of 1.58.287 being a whole 1.1 seconds faster than anyone elses, and the car’s ability to be both kind to, and electrically fast on it’s tyres, is a huge plus. In the modern era of F1, it is these two components that really seperate the also-rans from the flash in the pans, and those with championship plans.

Last year’s car was a horror to drive and as such took Giancarlo Fisichella three races to even understand, but Alonso has quickly settled. Massa also appears to be showing no after-effects of his horrific injury, and with Mercedes’ and Mclaren’s new high profile signings (Schumacher and Button) failing to impress, it looks like Ferrari might just have the best driver line-up on the grid.

One race in, it is definitely advantage Ferrari.

Join me and Victoria on Formula1FanCast.com’s Fantasy League Formula 1 2010. Our league is called Formula1Fancast.com and the league pin is 722. Try and beat us if you can, but be warned we’re good!

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