For the masters of Formula 1, luck is not lacking. Did they want (we wanted) a less obvious championship? Here it is served: Melbourne, first race, Red Bull no longer dominating and indeed pardoned by a providential Safety Car, without which Vettel 2nd and Webber 4th, wedged between Button's winning McLaren and Hamilton's 3rd one across the finish line, they would have dreamed of that result. And if that weren't enough, the Ferrari ultra-downsized by tests and qualifying closes the season debut with a 5th place from Alonso which - without the aforementioned Safety Car - would have almost easily been a fourth. Crumbs, at the time of the dominant Reds. An unearthed treasure, the way things had turned out on Saturday.
There is enough to make you dream (more: wait) for a championship dedicated to combat and uncertainty. In fact, Mercedes could also fit in, unlucky today with Michael Schumacher very brilliant in qualifying and immediately after the start, but unfortunately penalized by a technical problem. But the great strength of the 2012 World Cup lies in the youngsters. It was talked about on the eve of the Grand Prix: today the message is even more open, evident. This F.1, no longer so attractive for the new generations, is starting to highlight its freshest jewels. With 6 world champions on the track (Vettel and Alonso, Hamilton and Button, Schumi and the returning Raikkonen), the title will hardly be played between drivers outside this circle of names. But the new advances.
Scrolling through the Melbourne standings, behind the top five under the checkered flag (Button, Vettel, Hamilton, Webber and Alonso) is the 25-year-old Japanese Kobayashi. Then the celebrated Raikkonen, world champion five years ago with Ferrari and now back with Lotus, and here is the other Sauber driver: that Perez who in addition to being Mexican, therefore gold for the multiracial nature that F.1 is trying to sell around the world, he also has the added advantage of having just turned 22.
And if we go down the standings even further, here are the riders of Toro Rosso, the Red Bull junior team that didn't have to be asked to put two interesting youngsters on foot during the winter, such as the Swiss Buemi and the Spanish Alguersuari. In their place, the Australian (of an Italian father) Daniel Ricciardo and the French Jean Eric Vergne. The first is almost a rookie, the second is absolutely deb, and respectively 9th and 11th at the end of the Australian GP. A great performance, which for Vergne even started with a rocket start, going alongside Webber's Red Bull at the first corner, which started far ahead of him...
In short, the Circus is rejuvenating. From this point of view, the French Grosjean is also interesting, third on Saturday in qualifying and unlucky in the race, with his Lotus damaged by a collision with the Williams of the Venezuelan Maldonado, gritty and able to end up in battle with Alonso for fifth place , before a serious mistake that sent him against the wall and then to a withdrawal that could also have had unpleasant consequences for his legs. Grosjean and Maldonado: almost 26 and just turned 27, respectively. This Formula 1 also relies on them which, despite boasting in Vettel a reigning double world champion of 25 years not yet completed, has great need of new blood capable of putting the still winning Great Old Men on the ropes with their top single-seaters.
Even in this perspective, the Circus can be said to be lucky. The downsizing of Red Bull and the new ultra-competitiveness of McLaren and Mercedes, awaiting a recovery from Ferrari, indeed promise a balanced season. With more closely contested races, gaps are always in question. In a word: show. And in this show at 300 km/h, the sometimes even naive adrenaline of these guys can only add excitement.
The first try already next Sunday in Sepang, scene of the Malaysian GP.
