First post of the new season and F1 finds itself embroiled in political and social unrest. Will the Circus set up their tent in Bahrain? As of today it seems unlikely. Less than a month away from the first race and talk is now about whether to extend the season to include it as the last race of the year.
I can't believe this kind of discussion is even going on. Bernie is not not renowned for his caring consideration. We all remember the Silverstone sagas where it was "pull your socks up or we'll move on". Now, when it comes to Bahrain it would appear to be "how can we include you?" Never mind the news reports going around, although at the moment it would appear that the Royal family are making tentative moves towards entering dialogue with the Disaffected protesters.
Should it go ahead, I'd be afraid that we'll see a rerun of Indy 2005 only this time it's likely that only Ferrari and Mercedes would show up - I'm Calling It for the Bookies - Massa 1st, Schumi/Rosberg Joint 2nd, Alonso DNF (unclassified).
Kudos to Webber and Button for their comments - Webbo making the point that F1 should not be high on their list of priorities and Button being honest in saying that he hasn't a clue what's going to happen.
Congrats to Nick Heidfeld on his F1 Return - the man who blew away Kimi returns to take over Kubica's Seat at Renault while the man himself recuperates. Delighted to see he's out of Intensive Care and that all opreations would appear to have been successful. I wish you a full and speedy recovery - though you might want to think about taking a wee break from rallying.
On a lighter note testing seems to be giving rise to the usual pre-season nonsense of where everyone is in the pecking order. Fast times giving rise to rival comments that fuel was light and tyres were supersoft - Driver and team stating that they're happy with the new car - Lauda sticking in his two cents worth - Boss Haug stating that the car will not be a challenger.
Play it up or play it down we all know that this is all just data collection and means nothing come the green light. The cars being tested are just basic stripped down models and bear no resemblence whatsoever to the machines which will line up in the first GP of the season in Melbourne - No. I mean Bahrain...ummm.
