It was really no surprise to see Massa win at Bahrain. Ferrari were dominant at Bahrain and Raikkonen seemed to be suffering from a lack of pace, most likely the result of a poor setup choice. Before Bahrain, Massa was seen as a complete fool, not worthy of a drive at Force India, let alone Ferrari. After Bahrain, it seems many people think he has redeemed himself for his mistakes, but I disagree.

In both Australia and Malaysia, Massa had a very strong car in a good starting position and blew it both times with stupid mistakes of his own creation. At Bahrain he was dominant throughout practice, qualifying and the race, but I personally don’t think it adds up to much.

The Ferrari was massively faster than BMW and McLaren at Bahrain and was able to pretty much cruise the entire race. The only competition Massa was going to have was going to be from his teammate, who was generally lacking pace.

The reason I disagree with Massa having redeemed himself is that he was driving the fastest car, without any competition, around a track which he has always been good at. Until he can consistantly have the pace he had at Bahrain, beat Raikkonen on a regular basis and do so at more unforgiving tracks, he is far from redemption.

The other big talking point of the weekend has been Hamilton’s crash. The crash was no fault of his own. Nor was it Alonso’s as it turns out, but my first reaction was the same as Martin Brundle’s - did Alonso brake test Hamilton?

After looking at the video on YouTube a few times and hearing what Renault and McLaren have to say, it is quite clear that Hamilton’s car is understeering. He is trying to get a run up the inside of Alonso, but the car isn’t turning enough. If you watch carefully, you can see that Hamilton’s car isn’t turning right to the same degree as the steering wheel.

Unfortunately, having the poor race was his own fault really. I don’t think anyone knows how Hamilton lost the bridge piece of his wing, but it is likely it happened in the mayhem at the first corner. Even if the wing failed of it’s own accord, if Hamilton had got away properly, he would likely have had a better race.

To make matters worst, the McLaren had the same rear traction issues as it had at Malaysia, so hopefully they can fix that for Barcelona.

It was good to see Kubica on the podium after his qualifying performance while Trulli seems to be enjoying the Toyota without driver aids at the moment.

Bahrain seemed to generally suggest that the state of play at Malaysia was a one-off, although the beginning of the European season at Barcelona will provide a much better picture of where the teams are. Three weeks is too long to wait.