How did the new teams do in the first race?
Bahrain played host to three brand new teams this year, Lotus, Virgin Racing and HRT Cosworth/Hispania Racing. After months of preparation it was their first taste of F1 proper with nothing to hide behind.
Lotus performed the best of the new teams, they had a seemingly problem free weekend with their cars both going on to almost finish the race – they were both classified as finishers though. They were off the pace and even got outqualified by one of the Virgin cars but the results happen on race day. Top marks for their effort though and as they were the last team to be granted their entry they have done a fantastic job, it shows what bringing in F1 experience can do.
Virgin Racing put on a reasonable show though neither car finished the race due to technical issues – one hydraulic related and one with gearshift problems. The car looked ok, on about the same pace as the Lotus’ but they have got to work on the reliability of the car. 19 laps which was how far Timo Glock went before he had gearbox problems is the longest run that the car has managed so far.
HRT Cosworth had the worst time as they only managed to get Chandhok out into qualifying for a single lap because of issues with his car – he didn’t make any of the practice sessions – and he crashed the car on his second lap. Senna managed to haul his car round for 18 laps before a water leak put pay to his race. The team will have to get it all together for the next race and get both cars out for practice.
Both HRT and Virgin also need to look at operations and how they prepare the cars with both teams having issues with wheel nuts that cost them running over the weekend. All of that said though they all got to the track and started the race which was more than US F1 could manage. These new teams can only improve and it will be interesting to see them battle with each other over the course of the season.
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