OPINION: F1 back to its best in Bahrain

A lot was said between the dull affair in Melbourne but the action provided on Sunday night in Sakhir was F1 at its finest.

There is a lot of doom and gloom in the media about F1 the majority of the time. Negative reactions to changes in the sport provide easy headlines as fan backlash grows and grows to the new Liberty Media rebranding and modernisation of the sport.

The boring affair in the season-opening race in Australia, with a lack of overtaking, grid penalty rules and virtual safety car controversies didn't get 2018 off to an exciting start it desperately needed. The two-week gap between round one and two also didn't help, fans left wanting and the same headlines as before about how F1 isn't exciting anymore were circulating in the break.

However come Sunday evening in Sakhir, all of that was forgotten. F1 provided a brilliant, exciting and unpredictable race which is exactly what the sport needed. Everybody feared a season of Mercedes domination and after two rounds, Sebastian Vettel leads the drivers' championship by 17 points and Ferrari have proven they have the pace over the Silver Arrows at times.

There were around 40 overtakes in the opening 10 laps in Bahrain in what was a chaotic and exciting opening act to the race. Controversy, close racing and strategy beginning to take shape, drivers showing no mercy as they weaved around the desert circuit.

Fights up and down the field meant that there was no shortage of action to watch, Lewis Hamilton's triple overtake on Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso was spectacular.

Pierre Gasly's drive to fourth provided a feel-good story in the paddock, the Toro Rosso reaction showing there is still passion no matter the success of a team or lack of it. The Frenchman showed maturity in his drive and was fully deserving of the 12 points he earned.

Red Bull have a lot of issues to fix between now and China, another reliability issue with Daniel Ricciardo will only fuel rumours of his possible exit from the team and escape to Ferrari and Max Verstappen's contact with Hamilton was a completely avoidable racing incident the Dutchman didn't need to risk at that stage of the race.

McLaren recovered from a very poor qualifying session to score decent points on Sunday and they find themselves fourth in the constructors' championship, not bad for a team that seemed in crisis during winter testing.

The fight in the midfield is as closer than it has been for some time, with three or four teams fighting to be best of the rest outside of the top three teams. Renault, Haas, McLaren and possibly Toro Rosso seem to have a strong package and depending on what circuit we are at, could find themselves deep into the points or on the fringes of being lapped.

Formula One does have its issues. There are problems that need to be fixed and aiding overtaking is definitely one of them. But Bahrain proved that in the right circumstances, on the right track and with a little bit of drama thrown in as well, the sport can be hugely entertaining and competitive, just as it should be.