SAKHIR, Bahrain — The sense of relief almost matched the flood of emotion as the opening bars of the Italian national anthem rang out over the Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday night. After 45 races without a single victory, Ferrari finally reclaimed the top two steps of Formula One’s podium, and with it re-established itself as a championship contender for the first time in over three years.
In truth, anything short of fighting for victory on the dawn of F1’s new era would have been considered a failure for F1’s most successful team. Ferrari’s fallow period has only been tolerated because of the promise of a return to the top under F1’s new car regulations this season.
For the past year, positive noises had leaked out of Maranello about the potential of the new car and its power unit. The first preseason test in Barcelona appeared to validate that optimism, but those within the team were still keen to temper the hype. Ferrari had shown promise in testing before only to…
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