By David Mirsky

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 3/155/10 — The much anticipated 2010 Formula 1 season has finally arrived, and did it ever.  The anticipation of this new season is just not hype as one might
think, this was the real deal.

There are newly arrived teams on the
grid such as the Virgin Racing team headed up by Virgin’s super star Sir Richard Branson.

Another new team is one of the older teams related to Formula 1,
Lotus, that British racing staple with their trademark British racing green cars.

There’s also another team, so new and so confused, they have no name
as yet.  The ink on their deals are most likely still wet.  There was
supposed to be an additional new team, US F1, based in the United States,
headed up by long time racing journalist, Peter Windsor, who, ironically is a Brit.

Unfortunately, their final funding never materialized, keeping them off the tracks, and most likely avoiding law suits from suppliers, and the
FIA.  Their future will likely have to wait for the 2011 season.

But as it goes, the show must go on and it did.  Prior to
the day’s main event, the promotors, here at the Baharain International
circuit invited some of the world’s greatest names in Grand Prix racing to
drive the cars that made them champions in an exhibition of speed.  Jean
Alesi, Nigel Mansel, Damon Hill, Mario Andretti, just to name a few, were on
the track wow-ing every one there, including all of the current drivers in
F1.  Any true racing fan could have only dreamed about this who’s who of
racing royalty right in front of them.

And yes, there’s more.much more.  This 2010 season is, in my
opinion, a once in a lifetime season.  Seven time World Champion Michael
Schumacher, F1′s winningest driver decided to return to racing after a three
year retirement.  Formerly with Ferrari, the German super star accepted
Mercedes Benz three year contract to come out of retirement.  Remember, this
is a young man’s sport, and most of the drivers are well under 30 years of
age.Schumacher is 41, making him the oldest driver, other than Nigel
Mansell, to start a Grand Prix at that age.  He truly is a remarkable
talent.  Another change came from the Ferrari team.Fernando Alonso, a two
time World Champion himself is the Italian team’s latest arrival.  Many
consider Alonso the best driver on the scene today.  He joins Brazilian,
Felipe Massa as the team’s other driver.  You may recall Massa’s season was
cut short last year during the Hungarian Grand Prix when a part from Rubens
Barrichello’s car flew off and struck Massa unconcious, subsequently sending
him into a coma.

Bruno Senna, the nephew of the great, three time World
Champion, Aryton Senna has finally joined the F1 ranks.  He’s not the driver
his uncle was, but his name alone should make him a crowd favorite.
Russia’s first Formula 1 driver, Vitaly Petrov also made it onto today’s
roster, along with India’s very first F1 driver, Karun Chandhok, Senna’s
team mate over at the new HRT team.

The race began with the very talented Sebastian Vettel, taking his
Red Bull sponsored car from the pole position into the lead with the two
Ferraris of Alonso and Massa in tow, immediately pulling away from the rest
of the pack, and proved to be Vettel’s closest competition.  2008′s World
Champion, Lewis Hamilton spent his day in fourth place trying to keep up,
but fell short.  He bested his new team mate, 2009′s World Champion, Jensen
Button who finished back in seventh place, never able to reach the  Silver
Arrow Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher who finished the race
in fifth and sixth place, respectively.  Talent truly does surface.  All
four of the former and current World Champions finished the race in the top
ten.just more excitement for this new season.  Mark Webber, Vitantonio
Liuzzi, and Rubens Barrichello, completed the top ten finishers of the race.
Basically, the race ran without any real incidents other than a couple of
spins or any one on one duels.making it something less than heart stopping.
The hot desert sun and the more than twenty turns on this newly
re-confirgured track had to be a factor in many of the driver’s
performances, and their cars.  The demands on these men and machines became
apparent when race leader, Sebastian Vettel’s car suddenly slowed towards
the end of the race.  A broken exhaust pipe caused a huge reduction in power
in Vettel’s car, allowing Alonso’s Ferrari to over take him, with Massa
right behind.

There were also some new rules and regulations for the 2010 season,
including a new scoring system, a smaller front tire set up to compensate
for the reconfigured rear tires, and the biggest change came in the way of
doing away with fuel stops.  Cars will be allowed to pit for tires, and
other repairs, but will not be allowed to take on fuel.  The day of the 3
second tires only pit stop is here, and it is something to see.   1 car, 1
driver, 18 mechanics all working in sync to change four tires in less than 4
seconds.  NASCAR fans would be impressed.

All in all, the day provided plenty of thrills and plenty of racing.
2010 should be considered a “one of” year in racing more cars, more drivers,
more World Champions. The entertainment of motor sports has just reached a
new level.  Perfection is truly the name of this game.

The next F1 race will come from Melbourne, Australia in 2 weeks.