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The dismal season seems to have got a kiss of life. Tifosis, who are traditionally used to seeing their drivers on the podium, are rejoicing 3 points – the first points for the prancing horse in the 2009 F1 season. Such has been the irony of the times that the veterans are grappling and the underdogs are shining.
Sakhir barely threw a surprise. Apart from Toyotas clinching pole, the outcome was more or less a foregone conclusion. Temperatures were seen to be soaring during the weekend and as usual reliability was the top concern for the Ferrari management. With Massa in 8th and Raikkonen in 10th, it was just about finishing the race and gaining some points.

Akin to the 1980 and 1981 championships when Jodi Scheckter and Didier Pironi scored 5th places at Long Beach and Imola respectively to score Ferrari’s first points both seasons, Raikkonen strong drive to 6th helped Ferrari land their first points of the 2009 season.
Massa’s bad luck, however, continued as he had to pit for a nose job on lap 4 after colliding with Raikkonen. In my opinion, Massa badly needs Raikkonen to do well this season, because Montezemolo has hinted more than once that they would contemplate letting go of Raikkonen at the end of the season and get Alonso to bolster their chances. Now, it’s a pretty documented that Alonso is not the ideal partner and not the least bit accommodating. So Massa desperately needs a slice of luck and some real support from the F60.
Stefano Domenicali was left ruing a race which could have seen both their drivers earning some much needed points. He has re-emphasized that the F60 is a fragile, vulnerable package and Ferrari needs to work harder on the entire setup rather than focusing only on the diffuser. Chris Dyer maintained his matter-of-fact approach lauding Raikkonen’s performance and demanding marked improvement in terms of reliability and pace.

3 points are being cherished and Ferrari like every other outfit is looking forward to Europe which purists believe as the real start to the championship. The F60 is expected to undergo significant aerodynamic updates and a moderate showing and some more points are definitely on cards.

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