The revised pit-stop rules - tyres have to be changed during the race, but no refuelling is allowed - seem to have resulted in drivers being more concerned with tyre preservation, rather than battling to get up the running order (something the new points system is supposed to encourage).
Most cars came into the pits fairly early on, resulting in an especially dull middle section of the race as drivers made sure they wouldn’t need to make a second stop.
It may have been the Sakhir circuit, or it may have been the cars’ delicate aerodynamics, but the other problem was that overtaking appeared impossible.
Indeed, apart from the first few corners of the first lap, and Sebastian Vettel’s enforced drop from the lead to fourth after his exhaust problems, was there any on-track overtaking at all amongst the top eight runners?
This situation was ably illustrated by eventual winner Alonso. Even before Vettel had his issues, the Spaniard was able to catch him, only to have to immediately back off or move out of the Red Bull’s slipstream to restore down force and / or get cooler air onto his Ferrari’s engine to prevent it overheating.
Let’s hope Bahrain won’t be typical of the season and the next round in Melbourne, on 28 March, provides a more exciting spectacle.
On a more positive note, it was good to see Felipe Massa back racing - and getting on the podium - after his nasty accident last year.
Bahrain Grand Prix result:
1 Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / 25 points
2 Felipe Massa / Ferrari / 18 points
3 Lewis Hamilton / McLaren-Mercedes / 15 points
4 Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull-Renault / 12 points
5 Nico Rosberg / Mercedes GP / 10 points
6 Michael Schumacher / Mercedes GP / 8 points
7 Jenson Button / McLaren-Mercedes / 6 points
8 Mark Webber / Red Bull-Renault / 4 points
9 Vitantonio Liuzzi / Force India-Mercedes / 2 points
10 Rubens Barrichello / Williams-Bosworth / 1 point
11 Robert Kubica / Renault
12 Adrian Sutil / Force India-Mercedes
13 Jaime Alguersuari / Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14 Nico Hullender / Williams-Cosworth
15 Heikki Kovalainen / Lotus F1
16 Sebastien Buemi / Toro Rosso-Ferrari
17 Jarno Trulli / Lotus F1
18 Pedro de la Rosa / BMW Sauber (Retired)
19 Bruno Senna / Hispania Racing F1 (Retired)
20 Timo Glock / Virgin Racing (Retired)
21 Vitaly Petrov / Renault (Retired)
22 Kamui Kobayashi / BMW Sauber (Retired)
23 Lucas di Grassi / Virgin Racing (Retired)
24 Karun Chandhok / Hispania Racing F1 (Retired)
