After having watched the first race of the new season a number of points spring to mind.

While winter testing certainly gave the impression that the two McLaren's would be the class of the field, I don't think anyone, save Messrs. Dennis and Newey, thought that being the class meant lapping the entire field. The new MP4-13 certainly gave the impression of being in Formula +1 and the rest just regular F1. Lets not forget the people at Ilmor who make the engines for Mercedes, they have certainly done their homework and the results are in the lapping. Bridgestone is, I'm sure, ecstatic about the relationship with Mclaren, their first of many victories to come. Overall, from a certain point of view, this past weekend was a joyous one for many.

However, not if you are the FIA. The teams made a mockery of the new "slower" car rules. Given a chance any engineer worth his/her salt (and F1 has more than its share of talent), most will find a way to make the most of a given rule package. Every year, the cars are just a little bit faster. Last year the tyre war made the lap times plummet.

Now we have the new "skinny" cars. They make a smaller hole in the air, with the same horsepower thus they have higher top speed. The grooved tyres were meant to control cornering grip, it appears that they haven't lost much to the slicks. It should be noted that on a few corners, an F1 car was seen to be actually sliding the back end around a bit, particularly at the entrance onto pit lane. I have to say that this was indeed a sight for sore eyes.

But what happened to the passing that we were promised?

In the early stages of the race, the Benetton of Giancarlo Fisichella was obviously faster than the Williams of Jacques Villeneuve. Could he make a pass? No! Did he try? Yes! From all appearances, he wasn't put off by the fact that he was chasing the reigning World Champion. Villeneuve held his line, and there was no way for Fisichella to get by. There were other examples but that one was shown the longest on TV. So much for the "passing" that the new rules promised.

The new cars will be 6 seconds a lap slower than last year!

That one went out the window the very first day of practice. On Friday, Schumacher put his Ferrari within 4 seconds of last years pole... in the wet! While acknowledging that Michael is probably the best wet driver on the circuit today, it did not bode well for when the track was dry. Saturday and Sunday only proved Friday's foreshadowing.

The smaller teams will be closer to the front!

The same teams who were at the front last year were at the front this year. While it was a McLaren show, the same four were in the first few rows. Some of the smaller teams were having crash tests done on race weekend to make sure that their cars met the new rules. The amount of money spent to develop the new cars may have been better placed elsewhere.

Overall, the FIA is left with a lot of something on its face. The new rules didn't work. The hoped for "level playing field" didn't get leveled, and the teams all spent enormous sums of money on new cars, dollars that some teams could ill afford. The cars are almost as fast, and they will only get faster. The "no passing" that has plagued the sport is still the rule in F1.

Of course, we have to discuss the race and the events in the race itself. Everyone has an opinion of the Hakkinen "pass". The start was one much anticipated, will 3 cars go out at turn 1 like last year? Some were predicting that no one would finish the race.

What we didn't know was that the race was over after everyone made it through the first turn safely. Sure there was a lot of shouting and engines blowing up and mistakes and pit stops, but the race was over. We just weren't told that it was over.

Flashback to Jerez 1997, Mclaren accused of being in collusion with others for staging the race result. Coulthard reportedly very upset with having to let Hakkinen past. Why after all the press and cries of shame did Mclaren do it again?

The team knows what went wrong with Hakkinen on his pit excursion, and what happened isn't really the issue. Mistakes occur in F1. You pay the price in lost time and lost places. Hakkinen paid the price. Coulthard, the driver who had the fewest mistakes, who kept his car intact and on the road was rewarded by being told that he has to allow Hakkinen by. I know that the drivers used the proverbial "we" when discussing who made that rule, but it is a given that the team manager is the person who makes that kind of decision. What would have happened if Coulthard had stayed in front? Would Hakkinen have be able to pass him? It would have taken a race, that we weren't allowed to see, to decide that.

McLaren, along with other teams, has for years maintained a policy of having two drivers capable of winning. Lauda/Prost, Prost/Senna, Senna/Berger are some of the more recent examples. But they have always let them fight it out between themselves to see who will win. That policy has had some drawbacks but for the most part it produced a race, if not on the track then within the team. Team orders do have their place, when the season is drawing to a close and the title is on the line, but not in the first race of the season. Coulthard slowing for Hakkinen to win, especially after the Jerez race, is nothing short of demeaning to Hakkinen, Coulthard and Formula One. A case can and has been made that Hakkinen is still to "win" a race by his own driving. Maybe Ron Dennis is tired of having to settle driver disputes, however the "first one to the first corner" rule, in a team that appears ready to dominate the season, is the last thing that F1 needs.

Staged finishes on top of the failure of the new rules will make Formula One appear to be an international version of professional wrestling and is something that no true fan of F1 is proud of! The fans in attendance on Sunday knew that they had been cheated. I have never before heard "boos" at the trophy presentation of an F1 race, I am subject to correction, and I think that Sunday was the first time it has ever happened. I for one hope that I never hear it again.