The 2021 Formula One season is back on track after pre-season testing. Due to Covid-19, the usual venue, the Circuit de Barcelona in Catalunya, was unable to host the event, so teams gathered at the Bahrain circuit.
With testing now limited to just three days it was sure to create headaches for the teams. Any issues that sidelined the cars meant less time on track and too much time in the pit garage, while the clock relentlessly ticked away.
I must mention the incredible reliability of the latest generation of cars, as demonstrated last weekend. There were few delays in circuit activity due to vehicle failures. Teams such as AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo clocked the highest number of laps, each reaching 422 of the 5.412 km circuit, without major issues, while setting respectable lap times.
Interesting was those teams amassing the lowest number of laps, and certainly not by design. The much-feted Aston Martin did not experience the return envisaged and it all seemed to happen to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Day one was an electrical issue, day two a gearbox replacement and on the final day, a drop in turbo pressure. The German only managing to record 117 laps over the three days. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the lowest lap accrual of all which went to Mercedes AMG with just 304.
The Brackley team had to replace a gearbox on the first day. They lost 54 minutes of Valtteri Bottas’ track time after a spin and beaching by Lewis Hamilton just before lunch on day two.
Then an unknown, but serious issue on day three brought out the Mercedes garage pit screens, only permitted when major work is required. How much was to mislead opposition is unknown, but Hamilton and Bottas did not look happy. Roll on the first race.
I am sure all Formula One fans will be aware that last Saturday we lost the man who inspired many of us to follow the sport, Murray Walker, aged 97.
I was honoured to meet him in 2002 on a trip to Banbury, Oxfordshire in the UK. Murray was at a book store promoting his autobiography, Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken.
Unbeknown to me, my daughter had arranged something rather special – I found myself escorted to the head of a very long queue, to a one-on-one with the voice of F1.
The time was all too short, but it was an amazing experience, made very special by his friendliness, the racing anecdotes and his greetings to close motorsport friends in South Africa. This was the man who undoubtedly became the best known and most admired motorsport commentator in the world.
Thank you Murray for the many years of happiness you brought to us all. RIP.
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