There are at least two rushes in motorsport: where Ferrari drives, Formula 1 circulates. If Ferrari wins, it wins. So the season opener on Sunday in Bahrain was a good day for the premier class. Finally, the heart of the big party is back where it sees itself and is liked to be seen: at the top. Charles Leclerc’s triumph in front of teammate Carlos Sainz had only one flaw: the weakness of the competition, the loss of world champion Max Verstappen, the same defect in the second Red Bull. These breakdowns also concealed the Mercedes problem. Lewis Hamilton inherited an unexpected number of points with third place.
Seen from a distance, there seems to be a clear hierarchy: Ferrari ahead of Red Bull and Mercedes. With all due respect to the aura of a strong Scuderia, nothing would be more dangerous for the start of a new Formula 1 era, as the strategists had planned. Because the overdue, clever forced reduction in budgets narrows the room for manoeuvre. Major deficits in the machine can only be compensated for with enormous effort. On closer inspection, however, the differences in performance appear to be marginal, at least between Ferrari and Red Bull. According to his team, the champion stayed within striking distance until the fuel supply failed. That is amazing. New, radical construction regulations always harbor a high risk of a stroke of genius that opens up solo tours. Beautiful for the smartest, painful for the duped, boring for onlookers.