Setting the scene for Australia

The first in a series of articles in which AUTOSPORT's F1 editor, Edd Straw, looks deeper into the forthcoming grand prix. This week it's round two in Australia, and the fallout from the poorly-received opener

Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia, the moon... wherever Formula 1 sets up shop it's the same paddock populated by the same familiar faces. How could a travelling circus so oblivious to its environs be anything other than introspective?

Navel-gazing is an occupational hazard, but to write off the latest bout of hand-wringing over the quality of racing as little more than self-indulgence would be a mistake. Be it drivers or teams, the feeling is that the Bahrain Grand Prix has set the template for races in 2010 – with the only real difference of opinion being whether the sport has merely shot itself in the foot, or gone the whole nine yards and blasted its whole leg off.

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