Here we go again! 145 days after the 2009 season concluded in Abu Dhabi, Formula One finds itself back where it left off-the desert! The Sakhir International circuit, located not too far away from Bahrain's capital Manama, is litrally a circuit of tarmac and curbing thrown into the middle of a harsh desert. Sand storms are common as the drivers don their overalls and race in temperatures where one would prefer to relax in the shade. However the drivers must push themselves physically and mentally in this, one of the most demanding races of the season.
The Bahrain Grand Prix has quite an honour of hosting this year's curtain raiser in such a year that has been highly anticipated by many. Not only has the sport witnessed the second coming of the German Michael Schumacher, statically the greatest driver in the history of the sport, but also the fact that this season is shaping up to be one of the closest and most exciting seasons in many years. New regulations including a ban on refueling will make teams think that little bit harder regarding their strategy and cars have been made bigger to accomodate more fuel. Mclaren Mercedes boast one of the strongest line-ups on paper with the last two World Champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton now team mates. The fairy-tale of team of 2009 Brawn Gp, who rose from the ashes of Honda, now find themselves under the famous German Marque Mercedes, who have subsequently signed an all German pairing of Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to drive for them. Double World Chanpion Fernando Alonso once again finds himself back in a competitive car driving for Ferrari with Felipe Massa who is fit again after his horror crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing finished the 2009 season on a high and with the fastest car. Now they head into 2010 full of confidence on going the extra mile after finishing second to champions Brawn. Their line-up is the only one to remain unchanged with Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber. These 4 teams are the front runners, its been a long time since Formula One has had 4 top quality teams battling it out for the World Championship, at this moment in time it is too close to call.
Bunched up in the midfield we find the squads of Williams, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Force India, Renault and Sauber who are back on the grid after BMW pulled out of the sport citing the economic downturn. Joining BMW in the F1 gravel trap are Japanese giants Toyota who after many years of massive budgets without a single win to their name, decided to pack it in and cut their losses. Rubens Barrichello after a rejuvinated year at Brawn Gp finds himself at Williams partnering rookie Nico Hulkenburg of Germany. At Renault, Pole Robert Kubica is alongside the first Russian in F1, Vitaly Petrov. Force India finished the 2009 season strongly and billionaire owner Vijay Mallaya wants more steps forward to compliment his huge investment in the team. German Adrian Sutil is partnered by former Red Bull driver Vitantonio Liuzzi. For Sauber's re-introduction into the sport the team have decided to go with former Mclaren tester Pedro De La Rosa, who at 39 is one of the oldest on the grid. In stark contrast is his team-mate, the Japanese youngster Kamui Kobayashi. As is the trend within the Formula One midfield these teams will continually take points off one and other and will go all out for that "best of the rest" title, similar to who gets 5th in the Barclay's Premier League.
In order to make Formula One more accessible to independent teams the costs of the sport were dramatically reduced and thus opening the door for new teams. Out of this, 3 new teams find themselves on the 2010 grid. The famous Lotus name returns to the grid albeit under the backing of a Malaysian consortium but still run with the gold and green colour scheme dating back to the Colin Chapman days. Their driver line-up contains experience with veteran Jarno Trulli and Finn Heikki Kovalainen. Originally intended to be known as Manor Gp, Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin group has since bought out the team and has renamed it Virgin Gp. Branson had previously sponsered Brawn Gp last year. Left without a drive after Toyota pulled out, Timo Glock is joined by another rookie Lucas Di Grassi. The final team which was only confirmed in the last few weeks is Hispania Racing Team (HRT). Like Manor, it too was taken over after fears it would have not had enough finances to make the grid. A Spanish consortium based in Valencia bought out the then Campos Meta team and has since secured the places of Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Aryton Senna and Karun Chandhock who is only the second Indian in Formula One. The return of the Senna name to the grid has been welcomed by virtually everyone in the paddock. It was Aryton who said in 1993, "You think I am fast? Wait till you see my nephew." These new teams during winter testing have proven to be quite slow in conparision to their much more experienced rivals but we all hope they can improve as the season goes on.
The 2010 Formula One Season is ready and raring to go, and I for one cant wait!
Video on the new rules and regulations. For those unknowing - Click Here!
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