Flying high with Red Bull genius

Perhaps if Adrian Newey had chosen to sleep on the flight home from China we would be applauding the triumphant return of Kimi Raikkonen to the top step of the podium.

Instead, the Red Bull Racing design genius sat at 30,000 feet drawing by hand new parts for the RB8. In Shanghai, reigning champion Sebastian Vettel had been unable to drag the car into the top 10 in qualifying (for the first time since Brazil 2009) and finished fifth in the race. Seven days later he won the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position (and took the DHL fastest lap award). This made him the fourth winner in as many races - something not seen since 1983.

Eagle-eyed technical commentators believe Newey made an adjustment to the complex system of tunnels and vanes that constitute the 'floor' of a modern F1 car. A subtle change allows the engine exhaust gases to create a seal between the air flowing beneath the car and that above it - increasing downforce. It's given back some of the rear-end stability which this year's rule change forbidding 'exhaust blown diffusers' was supposed to have taken away.

The other thing that's back is Raikkonen. He was dismissed from the Ferrari team at the end of 2009 with a year to run on his contract to make way for Fernando Alonso (as, to some extent, was Michael Schumacher in 2006 for Raikkonen).

On his comeback in Australia, the 32-year old qualified only 17th but raced well to seventh. A gearbox change penalty in Malaysia meant starting 10th (after setting the fifth fastest time), but another solid drive was rewarded with fifth place. Again fifth fastest qualifier in China, the Finn was second with a handful of laps to run, but an aggressive two-stop strategy (against others on three) asked too much of his tires and he tumbled to 14th.

In Bahrain, Kimi sacrificed qualifying in order to save tires for the race. He lined-up 11th but by mid-distance was close behind Vettel. He made one attempt to pass at the end of the long pit straight but otherwise the German had him covered.

The major error Lotus made was allowing Kimi to be stuck behind team-mate Romain Grosjean for three laps before his second stop on lap 24. At this point Kimi's soft compound tires were delivering better performance than Vettel's mediums and he might have pounced. Track position is everything: the following car loses downforce and that causes tires to wear faster. Once ahead, it would have been Kimi's race to lose.

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier probably did not sleep too well on the flight home from Bahrain with that scenario playing through this mind.

After a successful career on the track, Matthew Marsh now works at JMI - the world's leading motor sport marketing company. He can be reached at mmarsh@justmarketing.com.