Alonso Handed Ferrari Win in First F1 Race of 2010
March 15th, 2010
In his first race as a Ferrari driver, Fernando Alonso entered the history books of his new Italian team, by winning the first round of the 2010 F1 World championship at the Bahrain circuit. Alonso passed the chequered flag ahead of Felipe Massa, his teammate, and Lewis Hamilton, who finished third for McLaren Mercedes. Michael Schumacher, back racing for Mercedes GP after 3 years in retirement, finished sixth.
Alonso now heads the driver’s championship for the first time in three years and looked strong throughout the weekend. Fellow countrymen Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) crossed the line in 14th position, while Pedro MartÃnez de la Rosa was forced to abandon his race due to a hydraulic problem in his Sauber. The new Spanish team, Hispania Racing, who did well just to get their car on the track in such a short time, had both of their drivers, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok, retire due to hydraulic issues.
It turned out to be a straightforward race for Alonso, who overtook his teammate, Massa, on the second corner and then settled into second place behind the pole sitting Red Bull driver, Sebastian Vettel. From then on, the three front runners smoothly pulled away from the rest of the field, until Vettel started to experience a mechanical problem in the exhaust of his Red Bull on lap 30. Vettel lost some top end power in his Renault powered car and, within a couple of laps, Alonso easily passed the unfortunate German. Massa and Hamilton soon passed Vettel as well, who nevertheless managed to hold on to fourth place. With Vettel out of the way, Alonso comfortably completed the rest of the race to cross the finish line first, punching the air in celebration.
“Winning the first race is important but not crucial. What is vital is to get points and to better understand the behaviour of the tyres. The car was very reliable because, otherwise, this result would not have been possible,” said Alonso after the race. This is his 22th victory in F1, a statistic that places him as the tenth most successful driver of all time, level with Damon Hill. “We have a good foundation. The car went well from the start, but if Vettel had not had a problem, it would have been very difficult to overtake,” stressed Alonso, who dedicated the race to “the whole team, who have worked hard during the winter, and to (Ferrari president) Montezemolo, who has done his part to motivate everyone.”
The Formula 1 circus now moves on to Melbourne, where the Grand Prix of Australia will take place in two weeks time.
