F1 2006 Season Opener
You see, most opted for two stops - remember tire changes are allowed again this year - except for Raikkonen and David Coulthard, who one stopped the race. My question is that the tires are now softer because they don’t have to go the full distance, so they should be faster, yet Raikkonen made the most out of his long stint, in fact, he did his fastest lap just two laps before his first stop - on old tires. Of course he was low on fuel and therefore running light, but what’s up with that?
Raikkonen could challenge for the championship if he gets some luck, or in the least has less bad luck than last year. Many feel that the Hondas of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are threats. I don’t think they are. Barichello’s car has to be perfect or I think he just goes through the motions, and Button just doesn’t seem to be able to put it all together for some reason - and just for the record, I’m fine with that.
So, what we have is a great start to what will probably be the best F1 season in recent memory - and it’s about friggin’ time.
One other thing did catch my attention about Bahrain, and that was the performance of Nico Rosberg. Sure he knocked his nose off in the first corner, but what a fantastic drive back through the field to finish seventh. He had pace the whole race, and proved that he belonged in that seat. Plus he earned a little respect along the way.
You see, early on BMW’s Nick Heidfeld tried to pass David Coulthard, and soundly shoved him off the road on the exit. Sure enough, some laps later, after the stops, Heidfeld shows up on the rear wing of DC’s Red Bull again, this time DC goes to extraordinary lengths to not let Heidfeld through. Rosberg on the other hand caught DC in the late going, passed cleanly - even though it took three corners to do it - and gave the veteran driver some room. It looked good on Rosberg, and for a rookie to start earning respect this early on in a season is good form.