Bahrain GP: Alonso Tops Ferrari 1-2

Fernando Alonso started his Ferrari career with a bang, winning the season-opening Bahrain GP ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa.

With the new regulations, new drivers and new teams all coming into play, the outcome of the Sakhir race was anybody's guess, although many were guessing that Ferrari were the favourites.

The Scuderia, though, downplayed the tag and justifiably so as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had their measure throughout the first half of the grand prix.

However, a broken exhaust cost the Red Bull racer as the problem meant a serious loss of power - costing him almost two seconds a lap. It also cost him the lead as he was overhauled by Alonso while Massa followed his team-mate by seconds later.

Lewis Hamilton was the next to overtake Vettel, moving up into third place while the German could do little more than count down the remaining laps as Nico Rosberg edged ever closer.

The Merc driver, though, wasn't able to get close enough as a heroic last lap burst from Vettel ensured he had a big enough advantage to cross the line ahead of his countryman.

Michael Schumacher bagged points on his return to F1, finishing in sixth place ahead of Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Tonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing afternoon for two of F1's three new teams as neither Hispania nor Virgin got a single driver to even the halfway point in the race, never mind the finish.

As for Lotus, they got one driver home with Heikki Kovalainen finishing 15th while his team-mate Jarno Trulli was 16th, although he did stop on the final lap.

Results:

1 F. Alonso Ferrari 1:39:20.396
2 F. Massa Ferrari + 16.099
3 L. Hamilton McLaren + 23.182
4 S. Vettel Red Bull + 38.799
5 N. Rosberg Mercedes Grand Prix + 40.213
6 M. Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix + 44.163
7 J. Button McLaren + 45.280
8 M. Webber Red Bull + 46.360
9 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 + 53.008
10 R. Barrichello Williams + 1:02.489
11 R. Kubica Renault + 1:09.093
12 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 1:22.958
13 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1:32.656
14 N. Hulkenberg Williams + 1 lap(s)
15 H. Kovalainen Lotus F1 + 2 lap(s)
16 J. Trulli Lotus F1 + 3 lap(s)

Did not finish

17 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 3 lap(s)
18 P. de la Rosa Sauber + 21 lap(s)
19 B. Senna HRT F1 Team + 32 lap(s)
20 T. Glock Virgin Racing + 33 lap(s)
21 V. Petrov Renault + 36 lap(s)
22 K. Kobayashi Sauber + 38 lap(s)
23 L. Di Grassi Virgin Racing + 46 lap(s)
24 K. Chandhok HRT F1 Team + 47 lap(s)

Source: Planet-F1