Jenson Button

A glance at the podium told Jenson Button all he needed to know. Happiness in Formula One is measured in fractions. As the sport’s golden trio celebrated maximum returns; winner Fernando Alonso making the most of superior machinery, Michael Schumacher guiding his improving Ferrari to second from pole and Kimi Raikkonen, ecstatic with third after starting last, Button was left to reflect on the consequences of an oscillating clutch.

In a Honda car that had skipped through nearly 17,000 testing miles with barely a glitch, Button sat rooted to the grid, rear wheels spinning. Alonso, at the head of a rapidly moving column, bolted off the second row to chase Schumacher into the desert. So it was that a winter’s promise evaporated in seconds at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Disappointment hardly measures up as a response to the lost opportunity. This was a race Button expected to win.

That Button was able to demonstrate pace equal to the pre-race hype and the cars in front, and brilliant judgement to twice pass the king of overtaking, Juan Pablo Montoya, compounded the frustration. Mistakes are simply too costly in this company.

“I went for the start and nothing happened. For a moment I was not sure I was going to move. Then it picked up. But by then I was down to ninth,” Button said. “If you have any issue like that, it is going to cost you. We screwed the start. We are not taking it lightly.”

While Honda wrung hands, their principal rivals rejoiced in an afternoon of remarkable entertainment. If the season continues as it started, F1 will have no trouble pulling in the crowds. Alonso mesmerised in his flawless pursuit of Schumacher, which ended when he parked his rear wing on the Ferrari’s front end as he exited the pits for a second time.

Raikkonen’s signature carve through the field, 13 places in five breathless laps, demonstrated that none is as adept at the knife-through-butter act at 200mph-plus. Nico Rosberg sprinkled stardust over the circuit on debut, setting the fastest lap and ending his first race in the points.

The major stakeholders in F1 have spent an age wrangling over the future of the sport. This race convinced the only constituency that really matters, the fans, that the future is bright.

Alonso was the leading actor in Bahrain, but you would not put your mortgage on a repeat in Malaysia on Sunday. Schumacher, Raikkonen and Button are all capable of hitting the front and staying there. So, in principle, are Montoya, Giancarlo Fisichella and Rubens Barrichello, who all suffered one way or another with problems beyond their control. Many a dull race has passed since F1 last had the possibility of so many winners.

“This was a good, fighting win. I just concentrated on making no mistakes,” said Alonso. “The competition is closer than we thought but this is the perfect start for us. The start was good, the second stop perfect, allowing me to come out in front of Michael. Very nice.”

Schumacher was equally content, knowing that he could not have done more. His Ferrari was quick and showed no sign of frailty. Compare that to the hurry-up dished out by Alonso in the penultimate race of 2005 in Japan, when Alonso went past him on the outside.

Little wonder Schumacher was happy. “If you think where we were last year and someone told us we would finish second here I would have taken that. Pole position, good result, fast car. It is very promising for us,” he said.