Press slams new formula after ‘Bore-rain GP’

UPDATE 'Overtaking was basically impossible unless somebody made a mistake,' Schumacher said after his first race back in F1 after three years. 'That is the action we are going to have with this kind of environment of race strategy.'

Schumacher finished sixth after starting seventh – Red Bull's Mark Webber dropped back with an engine worry after the start. Lewis Hamilton, who finished third behind Ferrari pair Alonso and Felipe Massa, took advantage of Vettel's engine problem to pass, although he had earlier passed Nico Rosberg to get back to fourth. 'It is a different challenge,' the McLaren driver said. 'It definitely didn't make racing more exciting in terms of being able to overtake.'

Massa thought GP races this season could well be predetermined by the Saturday qualifying sessions, when a car's pace and position on the grid could dictate its final result. 'Obviously the qualifying and the starts are maybe the two key points this year,' Massa said. 'After the first corner more or less the positions will be settled.' Apart from Vettel's failure, that was the case on Sunday.

03/15/10 (GMM) The British press lashed out at F1's new formula, after the sensationally-billed 2010 season opener in Bahrain proved a questionable spectacle.

Drivers and insiders are blaming the refuelling ban, with most cars adopting similar race strategies at the Sakhir circuit and then being unable to follow their rivals closely enough to overtake.

Red Bull's Mark Webber blamed the rule makers, asking scathingly: "Why do they keep dicking with it?"

The Daily Telegraph's Kevin Garside agreed, arguing that Bahrain was a "warning of the dangers of tinkering beyond repair".

The Fleet Street tabloid The Sun predictably slammed the 'Bore-rain GP', with the Daily Mail adding: "The FIA and teams must look at the problem urgently and see what can be tweaked.

"The sport is in danger of missing out on its greatest bonanza. There are four champions on the grid, all in competitive cars. The racing should be sparkling rather than as dry as the desert."

The foreign press was less vociferous in its condemnation, but even Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport – delighted with the Ferrari one-two – had to mention the lack of fizz.

"Looking at it objectively, this new and highly anticipated F1 produced a rather boring race, with very few passes and most of the field bunched at the back," read the sports daily.

"But Sakhir is an odd track — we'll see how the season unfolds."

France's L'Equipe said it was "unanimous" that Bahrain "was deadly dull", while Auto Hebdo insisted it is "too early to say" the new rules have failed, "but the lack of excitement did not go unnoticed".

Germany's Bild quoted Adrian Sutil's father Jorge as saying: "Next time I will take with me something to read."

Michael Schumacher and race winner Fernando Alonso predicted more of the same in 2010, and reigning world champion Jenson Button played down Alain Prost's claim that the new generation will adjust to the formula that was last in place 17 years ago.

"It's not like the old days," said the Briton. "We have so much more downforce. You could follow cars (back) then. You could slide up the inside. You could race. It's very different now."