It’s widely known that the bigger the build up, the harder the downfall, and in the case of F1’s 2010-opening Grand Prix in Bahrain last month, that was certainly the case. New teams, new drivers, new cars, new rules… even Michael Schumacher’s return after three years in hibernation couldn’t stop the race being dubbed Bore-rain.

Fernando Alonso drove a crystal-clean race to take the win, driving past team mate Massa at the start and passing pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel on the 34th lap, when the German Wunderkind, after leading most of the race, suffered mechanical problems. A spark plug failure meant Vettel couldn’t hold off Massa or Lewis Hamilton. The Brit was more competitive on the harder tyre and completed the podium. Nico Rosberg almost had Vettel too, but in the end finished less than 2sec behind.

It was a closely-fought battle behind the leading pack too, as Schumacher finished sixth on his comeback, 4sec behind his Mercedes GP team mate, and leading Jenson Button, who pushed the seven-time champion throughout the race. It was a mere second between them in the end. Equally close behind the McLaren was Mark Webber, who finished eighth. The end results suggested a competitive race, but on-track action was scarce.

Picking up the last of the points (courtesy of the new grading system) were a deserving Liuzzi (for Force India), and Williams’ Rubens Barrichelo.

‘To win is always special, but to win for Ferrari is even more special,’ said Alonso as he soaked up his first win since 2008. ‘There is no better way to start the relationship. I am in the best team in the world.’ Alonso’s initial reliability worries were unfounded as his car ran faultlessly, unlike Vettel’s Red Bull. Ferrari changed the engines on both their cars before the race as a precaution to the desert heat.

Schumacher, while not being completely satisfied with his Mercedes, seemed equally happy with his result. ‘I can live very well with sixth position. It’s a good base to make progress.’

Unusually, a large number of cars failed to make the chequered flag. A host of mechanical gremlins troubled BMW-Sauber and the new Virgin and HRT teams. Newcomer Vitaly Petrov’s early running in the points failed to come to fruition, his Renault mechanics spotting a suspension problem when the Russian made his tyre stop.

Results up to this point tell us two things: that the Red Bulls are ultra quick but prone to breaking down and that the Ferraris are fast and dependable.

There may have been a celebration at the Sakhir circuit for the start of the 60th anniversary of Formula 1, but the baloons quickly lost their air at the end of the uneventful race. Drivers complained that it wasn’t their favourtie circuit and that the new layout hadn’t added any overtaking opportunities to the race. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of things to come in F1 this year. We – along with Bernie Ecclestone – will be keeping our fingers crossed.