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Formula One
F1: Alonso Leads Ferrari Parade To Bahrain Win
Fernando Alonso has won the first Grand Prix of the season..
SPEED Staff  |  Posted March 14, 2010   Sakhir (BHR)
Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain Grand Prix Sunday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Fernando Alonso made a stunning debut with Ferrari Sunday winning the Bahrain Grand Prix. His teammate Felipe Massa was second making the statement that Ferrari is back after a disastrous 2009.

After starting second Alonso quickly passed Massa in the early stages and set his sights on leader and pole sitter Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel controlled the race with a comfortable lead through pit stops, but on lap 35 engines woes slowed him down and Alonso quickly pounced taking the lead on lap 36.

Lewis Hamilton was third, followed by Vettel who hung on to fourth, with Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello rounding out the top 10.

The race was Vettel’s to lose and that happened when he radioed his crew that the engine in his Red Bull RB 6 was souring. Speculation during the weekend was that engines could suffer due to the profusion of sand. Ferrari reacted to that by changing the engines in both their F10’s Sunday morning.

The result was the 1-2 finish for the famous Italian team with Alonso winning with a nearly 15 second lead.

Nico Rosberg for Mercedes ran as high as fourth before being passed by Hamilton during pit stops. He was able to finish ahead of his famous teammate Schumacher and will have bragging rights after leading Schumacher throughout each session during the weekend.

Webber took the sixth spot during a pit stop passing Button during the exchange. Webber went on to run a trouble free race after emitting huge clouds of smoke shortly after the start. Renault's Robert Kubica and Force India's Adrian Sutil touched and spun inside the cloud but recovered to finish 11th and 12th.

With his ninth Force India’s Liuzzi in his first Grand Prix since 2007 showed the team’s strength visible so far in 2010 is for real.

It was a mixed bag for the debuts of the new teams.

Lotus drivers Heikki Kovalainen, 15, and Jarno Trulli, 16, were both able to finish the race, within 3 seconds of the lead pace at times.

As for the other new teams, their first race was a short one. Karun Chandhok wrecked his HRT F1 machine on lap two, and teammate Bruno Senna lost an engine 16 laps later.

Virgin Racing also saw its two cars out early, with hydraulic issues sideling Lucas di Grassi after two laps and Timo Glock losing a gearbox just after passing Kovalainen.

New drivers Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg had less than stellar days. Hulkenberg spun his Williams early in the race, while Petrov broke the suspension after hitting a curb.

BMW-Sauber saw both of their cars also forced to retire early with suspected hydraulic problems.

Alonso will carry the driver points lead to Australia while Ferrari has the constructors lead by a large 43 points, owing to this seasons new points arrangement as Formula One moves to Melbourne in two weeks.

RESULTS 2010 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

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