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Alonso wins Bahrain GP, Schumacher sixth

Sun 14th, March 2010

Sakhir, Bahrain (Sports Network) - Fernando Alonso kicked off his Ferrari debut by winning Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, while his teammate, Felipe Massa, took the second spot to give the Italian team a 1-2 finish in the Formula One season-opener.

Alonso, a two-time F1 champion, benefited from Sebastian Vettel's late-race mishap. Vettel started on the pole and led two-thirds of the 49-lap race, but the Red Bull driver lost power, allowing Alonso to sweep by and take the lead for good.

"It's a special day for me," Alonso said. "Obviously, coming back to the podium always is special, and it's even more special with Ferrari, with the history behind the team and the expectations a driver has when he drives for Ferrari. There's no better way to start the relationship."

Alonso claimed his third victory in the Bahrain GP. The Spaniard won this event consecutively from 2005-06 when he drove for Renault. He also collected his 22nd career F1 victory. Alonso became the fourth driver to win in his first start with Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen last did it in 2007.

Massa's second-place finish came in his return to racing after the Brazilian suffered head injuries in a high speed qualifying crash at Hungary last July.

"The race was fantastic for us," Massa said. "It was a bit strange for me. For sure, I didn't have a good start, and I lost an important position to Fernando in the first corner [on the opening lap]. The race was just great for me. The car was just perfect."

Prior to the start of the race, Ferrari changed the engines in Alonso and Massa's car as a precautionary measure. Both drivers were not penalized.

Lewis Hamilton from McLaren took the final spot on the podium with a third- place finish, while Vettel limped home fourth.

Seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher finished sixth in his debut with Mercedes GP and his first start since retiring after the 2006 season.

"After three years away, I'm happy to say that I had fun out there today, especially at the beginning with the good start that I had," Schumacher said. "I can live very well with sixth position, and it gives both me and the team a good base to make progress."

Schumacher's teammate, Nico Rosberg, took the fifth position.

Defending world champion Jenson Button finished seventh with new team McLaren. Mark Webber came in eighth. Webber's Red Bull car had a plume of smoke come from his exhaust on the opening lap, but it was not a factor from there.

Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello, in his first start with Williams, completed the top-10.

The season-opener at Bahrain featured teams making pit stops for tires only in less than five seconds. Starting this year, teams are prohibited from refueling their cars after they have left pit lane prior to the start of the race.