first formula one in the gulf

Corer, competir, eu levo isso no sangue, e parte de minha vida
Ayrton Senna

April 4, 2004
Sakhir, Bahrain

A jewel in the crown for a day, the Kingdom of Bahrain awoke to overcast skies and the eyes of the world. Past an old camel racetrack, a couple of palaces and kilometres of flowerbeds, the US$150mn 16 month-old Sakhir Circuit rises out of soft sandy desert and reaches out.

For the first time since Casablanca in 1958, the Arab world was hosting the Formula One Grand Prix, complete with fruit juice for winners instead of sacrosanct champagne. Other traditions die hard. Michael Schumacher, a king among kings, started first and finished first. The crowd, mostly in that glorious, outrageous Ferrari red, roared every minute and a half as he streaked past 57 times.

And what a noise he made. Nothing on earth sounds like a Formula One car. A dangerous crazy scream, a mad noise that gets inside your head and suddenly nothing else exists. There is little to do except lose yourself in it, and go deliriously insane. As if you had an option. Six hundred kilos of carbon fibre at nearly 1000bhp blur past you at 300kmph.

It was, again, really a race for Ferrari leftovers, with the also-rans choking on Bridgestone fumes. Schumacher and Barichello were unchallenged from lap one. Archrival Juan Pablo Montoya of BMW Williams held a distant third until all his gears died, except fourth, and he limped to 13th. “It's clear that we are not quick enough to match Ferrari,” he declared, defeated. Meanwhile, both the McLaren Mercedes went kaput, bringing down David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen without so much as a whimper (Ferraris, on the other hand, don’t break down. Schumacher’s last mechanical failure was 40 races ago). With the field a lot clearer, Jenson Button stormed past sitting duck Montoya, coming in third, his second podium in two weeks. “Pedal to the metal!” he war-whooped as he passed the Colombian, giving his BAR Honda pit crew quite a scare. “What, say again?” was the immediate response. But everything was just right. “Third best is alright,” he said later, “I’m happy but not ecstatic.” Great words from a 24 year old who shared the winner’s podium with one of the greatest racers of all time.

Schumacher is so far ahead of the pack that he has no real competition. He predicts that the unfolding season will get tougher for Ferrari, but everyone knows he’s just being polite. As he made his way past the pits and to the starting line before the race began, everything else came to a standstill. The pit crews, lesser mortals and the entire grandstand jostled for a peek. He is instantly recognisable by a certain light-stepped, soft-footed manner. Schumacher saunters rather than walks. His head is back, chin just that little bit out, more assertive than aggressive. He owns the place. There is no other.

“Bahrain has prepared a circuit that is difficult to drive but a great challenge,'” said the German, “we look forward to coming back.” Few other circuits in the world can match the Kingdom’s unlimited budget for the gleaming surface of a multi-billion dollar business pretending to be a sport. The Grand Prix is worth almost half a billion dollars in television rights alone and Schumacher is the highest paid racing driver in history, with an income in excess of US$80mn a year.

Still, the financial capital of the Gulf pulled it off, beating such formidable rivals as Dubai for the first ever F1 in the Middle East. For a short burst of time, a spark in the desert, Bahrain shone brightest.

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