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Lewis Hamilton leaves the pit area - Source: Reuters -
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Team by team analysis of the season-opening Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on Monday (teams in current championship order):
FERRARI (Fernando Alonso 1, Felipe Massa 2)
Alonso won on his Ferrari debut, starting third and
taking his first win since 2008 and 22nd of his career. He also
clocked the fastest lap. Massa, returning after suffering
life-threatening injuries last July, was overtaken by his team mate
at the start but finished runner-up to seal the team's first
one-two since 2008.Ferrari have now won four of the seven Bahrain
Grands Prix.
MCLAREN (Lewis Hamilton 3, Jenson Button
7)
Hamilton moved up from fourth on the grid, benefiting from Vettel's
engine trouble. The 2008 champion spent much of the early part of
the race stuck behind Mercedes' Rosberg after the German got ahead
at the start. Hamilton regained the place in the pitstop. Button
was overly careful with the tyres but jumped Red Bull's Webber at
the pitstop.
MERCEDES (Nico Rosberg 5, Michael Schumacher
6)
Schumacher made his comeback after three years out and at the age
of 41 but was still beaten by his much younger compatriot, who
ended up in the same position that he started. Both made only one
pitstop. Rosberg chased down Vettel in the closing laps but could
not get past.
RED BULL (Sebastian Vettel 4, Mark Webber
8)
Vettel led from pole position for more than two thirds of the race
before suffering an engine problem that cost him the team's fourth
successive win. Webber lost out at the first corner and suffered a
sticking front tyre at his stop.
FORCE INDIA (Vitantonio Liuzzi 9, Adrian Sutil
12)
Force India scored points from race one for the first time, thanks
to the new scoring system. Liuzzi was last in the points in 2007.
Sutil spun to the back of the pack at the start after smoke from
Webber's car clouded his vision. He then posted the second fastest
lap of the race.
WILLIAMS (Rubens Barrichello 10, Nico Hulkenberg
14)
Hulkenberg lost places when he swerved off to avoid another car
early on and damaged his car when he spun a few laps later.
Barrichello had hoped for more.
RENAULT (Robert Kubica 11, Vitaly Petrov
retired)
Kubica spun after being hit by Sutil at the start, damaging the
rear tyres which then overheated. He completed the rest of the race
on the harder tyres. Otherwise, he felt he would have been very
competitive. Petrov, the first Russian in Formula One, was 11th
after the first lap but ran wide over a kerb and damaged the right
front suspension. He retired in the pits.
TORO ROSSO (Jaime Alguersuari 13, Sebastien Buemi
16)
Alguersuari ticked another circuit off the list of ones
to learn, but a low qualifying slot was too much to overcome. Buemi
had a lot of wheelspin at the start.
LOTUS (Heikki Kovalainen 15, Jarno Trulli
17)
Lotus were the only new team to finish the race. Trulli had a
hydraulics problem in the closing stages and had to slow to get to
the finish. Kovalainen reported no problems.
BMW SAUBER (Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi
retired)
Both drivers retired with hydraulics problems, De la Rosa on lap 29
after losing several places at the start and Kobayashi on lap 12.
The Japanese had first lost power steering.
HRT (HISPANIA) (Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok
retired)
The highlight of the team's race was a visit from King Juan Carlos
of Spain before the start. Both cars started from the pitlane.
Chandhok, who first drove the car in qualifying, retired on lap two
(only his fifth in total in the car) when he hit a bump and went
off. Senna lasted longer and pitted on lap 12 before the radiator
leaked all its water.
VIRGIN RACING (Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi
retired)
Di Grassi pulled over after three laps after losing hydraulic
pressure. Glock diced with the Lotuses for a while but then lost
third and fifth gears. He retired in the pits.
