Bernie Ecclestone and Dr Emmett Brown must surely be the same person. They both think refueling is a thing of the past. Where the Doc had a Mr. Fusion powered by trash, Bernie has introduced trash powered by 180kg tanks of fuel. One has a vision of the future, one is totally insane.
We are only one race into the season and every F1 commentator appears to be telling us that yes, it was a dull race - but wait, it will get better. Or yes, it was a dull race, lets PANIC and change the rules NOW.
In reality, Bahrain was never going to be a drama packed race. It was perfect conditions for a high speed procession with zero action. It was blisteringly hot. Combined with the hot air from following too close for too long, then any attempt to overtake and you risk cooking an engine. It's a long season and engines need to be preserved. Even if they risked trashing an engine and drove close and aggressively, the circuit layout would destroy their tires in a few laps. No team wanted to risk two pits stops in case no one else did and the time lost from pitting would be more than that gained changing tires. Instead, they all drove safely hoping to get to the end without breaking down. I suspect some of the mid runners might have gambled on one or two of the leaders either breaking down or forcing themselves into a tire pit by a couple of scraps. Perhaps if Vettel didn't have engine problems, this might have happened towards the end, but even then they would have been so far ahead of the pack to not make any difference.
It was not a good race for F1 fans, but I blame the circuit conditions as much as the new rules. Australia will be cooler, perhaps even wet. It will be a totally different race. I think it's best to reserve judgement on the rule changes until the fly aways are over and we come back to Europe with a clear picture of the issues.
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