F1 Bahrain - Race Review It was with keen interest I looked forward to the inaugural Bahrain race. First ever in the region and first ever for all the teams and their drivers. Also, from pre race reports I had heard that it was a very technical track, which would put both man and machine to the ultimate test in speed and breaking. The race it self was one of the most exciting races I had seen in quite a long time. Whilst, the “reds” once again showed their dominance, the team that impressed me the most was BAR Honda. BAR has made huge strides this season and so early in the season has shown that they can mix it with the front runners. Whilst I am happy for their lead driver Button, I must say that I am more impressed with their second driver Sato. Sato has matured since his last drive for F1 with Jordan two seasons ago. Whilst Jenson has been in F1 since 2000 (Williams BMW), Sato has really had only one season. He also has put to rest the ugly comments that followed the announcement of his attachment to BAR in pre season press releases. Especially when it was made known that Honda had insisted that BAR give Sato the second drive if the relationship between Honda and BAR were to continue. If this is an indication of things to come, as the season pans out, we just might have BAR Honda contending for the fight with Ferrari and Williams taking the place of McLaren. Not to mention, other hopefuls such as Renault. On the other extreme to BAR Honda, my biggest disappointment is McLaren-Mercedes. Pre season reports indicated a super fast, super reliable car from the team. But sadly they seem to have gone back wards in leaps and bounds. Four blown engines in three races is a huge blow for the big front runner team. Furthermore, they seem to be behind on their development of the car. In 2003, the expected car was not introduced at all (for whatever reasons) and now the 2004 car seems as if it was introduced with little thought having been put into it. I do hope that McLaren will sort them selves out before they get into the European stage of the season. Cause given the right car, they have the driver who can deliver the goods. By-Duncan Udawatta [email protected]