A taxi for the critics
Talk about bad timing. The heavyweight critics, amassed in force, probably thought they were on to a sure winner when they selected Bahrain as their venue of choice to voice dissent against F1’s new turbo era.
After a succession of tepid and occasionally soporific races in the desert, and with a meagre crowd guaranteed and then appropriately under-delivered, this weekend must have seemed a sensible selection as a staging post for sour scepticism. But then F1 has never shown much respect for sensible choices. Just think of Pastor Maldonado’s ‘best ever move’ from a rejuvenated Williams to a rock-bottoming Lotus. Or the wisdom of Adrian Sutil leaving upwardly-mobile Force India for a flatlining Sauber. Or, as the headline act of them all, Lewis Hamilton’s logic-defying gamble to depart serial-winners McLaren for underachievers Mercedes. And look at him now.