It was a thrilling season opener in Bahrain, which saw the battle between two world champions, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, continue into the 2006 season. Fernando Alonso took the victory over pole-sitter Schumacher in a race where some struggled and other displayed solid performances.

The new qualifying 'knock out' format on Saturday was exciting viewing and lived up to expectations. Shell-powered Ferrari was on fine form, securing the front row of the grid. Felipe Massa took second position on what was his debut weekend for Ferrari, and Michael Schumacher took pole, equalling Ayrton Senna's record of pole positions at 65.

Despite a spin from Rosberg at the first corner, it was on the whole a clean start for the drivers with the Ferraris initially holding their positions. Alonso's pace saw him hot on the heels of Massa, charging from fourth position in the first lap to overtake him for second. From then onwards the head-to-head battle between Alonso and Michael Schumacher continued until the chequered flat was dropped.

Massa stayed with the race leaders until he locked up and spun - dramatically close to Alonso - and headed to the pits for a tyre change. An unfortunate problem changing the right rear tyre delayed matters and Massa joined the drivers at the back of the pack.

This first race of the season inevitably carried several unfortunate incidents. Giancarlo Fisichella's bad luck in 2005 appears to have continued. After a difficult race weekend marred with technical trouble, the Italian suffered hydraulic failure and limped into the pits.

Jacques Villeneuve retired in spectacular fashion when plumes of white smoke and flames bellowed from the back of the BMW-powered car. Bahrain is tough on engines and conditions got the better of this car and he'll now go to Malaysia knowing he will automatically be relegated ten positions down the grid as required by the one-engine-per-two-race rule.

Super Aguri's first ever pit stop was thrown into confusion due to a reported malfunction of the fuel rig and saw both cars pit at the same time.

Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix

It was also a frustrating race for Rubens Barrichello, who after some competitive racing with his new team-mate Jenson Button, suffered gearbox problems and was gradually overtaken.

There were also some fine performances, most noticeably Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg. A spectacular suspension failure in qualifying meant Raikkonen started the race from the back of the grid. McLaren chose a one-stop strategy which saw Raikkonen standing third on the podium just ahead of Britain's Jenson Button. It was Nico Rosberg's race debut. After spinning on the first corner and pitting early, he benefited from excellent pace set some of the fastest laps, sweeping through the field to take points.

The struggle for P1 between Schumacher and Alonso took the drivers ahead of the field. Like the majority of the teams, both drivers used a two-stop strategy and Schumacher made his first pit stop, rejoining in fourth place. Alonso followed suit four laps later, but despite gaining some ground, was still behind the German.

Victory rested on the final pit stops. Schumacher pitted a second time and Alonso pushed ahead until his second pit stop. On exiting the pitlane, the two drivers found themselves wheel to wheel heading for the next turn, when the Renault snuck past to take the lead and victory.

Eight points for Michael and Ferrari, although it was an unlucky afternoon for Felipe Massa. After a fantastic qualifying and impressive team debut, he finished just outside the points.

Ferrari stands third in the FIA Constructors' standings with 8 points behind Renault and McLaren-Mercedes, tied with 10 points.

Mike Copson, Shell's Technical Manager said, "We are, of course, disappointed for Massa's bad luck but we're really pleased that after this intense period of testing and development with Ferrari, the fuel and lubricants package we developed for this race worked absolutely flawlessly and we got two cars home and one on the podium. This gives us a lot to work with and we're really looking forward to building on this success over the next few races."