But could the last laugh belong to the man who was shaded into fourth? Keith Collantine pushes the case for Britain's Jenson Button.

You'd be mad to tip a winless driver for championship glory, wouldn't you? Perhaps not - Jenson Button may not yet have a Grand Prix triumph to his name, but the Bahrain Grand Prix proved that the 2006 title could be his.

Button, fourth, would certainly have been part of the battle for victory had a clutch problem not scuppered his start. He spent most of the race battling through traffic and twice passed F1 hard-man Juan Pablo Montoya - and his best lap was less than 0.2s slower than winner Alonso's.

"The pace of the car was absolutely there but the strategy didn't pan out because I lost places off the start," said Button. "We may not have a podium but we have a very competitive car - when we weren't in traffic we were genuinely as quick as anyone out there."

He easily passed new Honda team mate Rubens Barrichello before a gearbox problem halted the Brazilian's progress. Button returns to the scene of his first podium finish knowing for the first time in his career he has a car capable of winning.

Button's was the most reliable car in pre-season testing and he has proved that he has the maturity and speed to rack up regular points finishes - which is exactly how you go about winning titles.

He faces fierce competition: Fernando Alonso's championship defence got off to a perfect start with a win in the desert. Second-placed Michael Schumacher led most of the race in his Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen produced a sizzling drive to take third from 22nd at the start.

The other major talking point at Bahrain was the stunning debut of Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 champion Keke. Rosberg scythed his was through the pack to finish seventh despite having to make an extra pit stop - and he set the two fastest laps of the race.

He is surely a champion of the future - and on this evidence, a dark horse for a win before the year is out.

But not every driver covered themselves in glory. New Ferrari driver Felipe Massa managed only seven laps before losing control of his car at turn one and flying off the circuit, mere millimetres away from wiping out Alonso. Was this some bold new attempt at destroying the opposition from Ferrari?

There's no respite from the racing action this weekend as the F1 teams are straight off to Malaysia to resume battle. Hardcore fans will need to be up at 6am on Sunday to catch the action - but ITV will repeat the race in full at 3.45pm for those that like their lie-ins!

•  France scooped the inaugural A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport title at Laguna Seca in California yesterday - but failed to win either of the two races. Salvador Duran claimed a double win for Mexico.

Robbie Kerr signed off for team Great Britain with a podium finish for third place. Yorkshireman Darren Manning will step in for Kerr at the final round in Shanghai on April 2nd - but with little experience of the tricky A1GP cars he doesn't look likely to deliver a long-overdue British win in the final round.

Trackside poll: who will be '06 F1 champion?

Can Jenson Button break his victory duck and claim championship honours in the same year? Or will Fernando Alonso make it two in a row?

Michael Schumacher is fired up for a record eighth championship, but could it be Kimi Raikkonen who finally gets revenge for his two missed titles?

It promised to be a scintillating season of Formula One racing - let us know who YOU think will be champion and send your COMMENTS to editorial@autotrader.co.uk

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