TOYOTA’S lock-out of the front row of the grid for the first time in their history did not end with their maiden win as Jarno Trulli was forced to settle for third and Timo Glock seventh.
McLaren’s recent revival continued as Lewis Hamilton was fourth, albeit knowing his car lacks the pace of the three teams that finished in front of him.
“I’m delighted considering we started fifth,” said Hamilton.
“We had a great start, but it was so hard to keep up with the Red Bull and the Toyotas and Brawn. It was impossible.
“We have got to keep on pushing, but this is good for the team.”
Behind Hamilton came Barrichello in fifth, while Kimi Raikkonen ended Ferrari’s points drought by finishing sixth and Fernando Alonso was eighth in his Renault.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has blamed badly-written rules, last season’s title tilt and a degree of a complacency within the team for their miserable start to the year.
The legendary marque began the Bahrain Grand Prix without a point to their name after the opening three races for the first time since 1981.
“Right now we are facing a strange, far from positive situation as we have three different Formula One cars on the grid,” he said.
“We have cars with KERS, cars with no KERS and a different floor, and cars with KERS and no floor, which I think is bad.”
