The 2006 Formula One season has started. After a long winter, the 22 F1 cars went out on the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain earlier today, and if the first free practice sessions are anything to go by, we are in for an exciting year. In the final session, seven of the 11 teams had cars in the top-10, but unfortunately Panasonic Toyota Racing were not among them. Both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher had a difficult start to the new season with the Italian suffering an electronic problem. "I lost of lot of time because of the electronic problem, but at least I know we have a good car," Jarno told me after taking 24th. fastest time in the afternoon session; two places behind Ralf.

The first day of a new season is always a special occasion. During the season the 'F1 Circus ' meet every other week, but after the last race, the 'family' splits up and most of us don't meet until the first race of the following season. That means that there is a lot of catching up to do, and the words you hear most frequently in the paddock on the Thursday and Friday before the opening race are "Hey - good to see you!".

For several years we have had the first race in Australia, but this year the season kicks off in Bahrain (the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne has been moved back four weeks in order not to clash with the Commonwealth Games). The friendly Bahraini organisers put on a great Welcome Party in the paddock last night with live music, great food, circus acts (we are the F1 Circus after all!) and lots of champagne. And if that was not enough, we could go on to the Red Bull party on a private island close to Manama downtown, so it has been a hectic start of the F1 year.

And it promises to be even more exciting for the rest of the season. The new regulations, calling for 2,4 litre V8 engines instead of the 3,0 litre V10s used since 1995, seem to have mixed things up quite a bit, and there is no clear favourite. At least five times (and Panasonic Toyota Racing is one of them!) hope to win races this year, so I expect a close fight for the championship. Ralf Schumacher agrees: "Yes - it looks like we will have a very open season," he told me this afternoon. "We will have to fight hard and I can promise you that we will do the best we can, " he went on.

I also asked Jarno for a comment about the practice result today (remember - seven teams in the top-10!) but he said: "To be honest - I did not really follow the session. I was concentrating on my own job".

Tomorrow in qualifying we will get a clearer picture of who is fast and who is not so fast. I will be back - hopefully with some positive news from the Panasonic Toyota Racing camp!

The scene is set for the first Grand Prix of 2006. Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher take pole position ahead of Felipe Massa and Jenson Button while Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher will line up in 14th. and 17th. position respectively.

As you know, qualifying is very different from last year ("but it is still a question of putting together a quick lap when it matters," ice-cool Jarno says).

For Panasonic Toyota Racing, it is not just the qualifying which has changed - the whole weekend is different. The reason for this is the success the team enjoyed in 2005: By taking fourth place in the Constructors' World Championship, Panasonic Toyota Racing lost the possibility of running third driver Ricardo Zonta in the Friday practice sessions - only the teams finishing outside the top-four in the previous year' championship can run a third ' friday car'.

It is clear that running an 'extra' car on Friday is a big advantage.
The third driver can evaluate the tyres and also play a significant role in decisions on race strategy. Plus: He can do general set-up work, and this will save mileage on the engines (which have to last for two race weekends this year, remember) of the two race drivers. Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about: Yesterday, Williams and BMW did a total of 56 and 62 laps respectively (with their third drivers doing 46 each) while Panasonic Toyota Racing did just 32 (19 for Ralf and 13 for Jarno).

The fact that Panasonic Toyota Racing are not allowed to run third driver Ricardo Zonta on the Fridays does not mean that the Brazilian is staying at home. Ricardo is still here; helping the team and ready to take over is Jarno or Ralf runs into problems. "But I do miss taking part in the Friday sessions," Ricardo told me yesterday with a sad smile. "And the team also miss my feedback; especially for the tyre choice. I think it is fair to say that I played an important role, not least when it came to the long runs, but that is no longer possible. Too bad - especially if you consider that we have a new tyre partner this season and need all the information we can get," Ricardo went on.

Ralf Schumacher miss the input from Ricardo' third car but his own programme has not changed too much: "My free practice programme is not hugely different," he says. "And the new qualifying format has not changed my Friday programme either: On Friday, we still work towards the race while the Saturday programme is more geared towards qualifying."

As I write this, it is already dark outside the media centre here in Sakhir. But there is still a lot of activity in the paddock, and everybody is looking forward to the race tomorrow. It is a new season with new rules, new engines and even a new team (Super Aguri is the first new team in F1 for many years). Tomorrow, after the race, we all know a little bit more about what to expect for the rest of 2006.

The first Grand Prix of 2006 is over. After a dramatic race here in Sakhir, Fernando Alonso leaves Bahrain as the first winner of 2006 and heads into next week's Malaysian Grand Prix as World Championship leader. Michael Schumacher finished second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen while Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were 14th. and 16th. respectively.

As I write this in the Media Centre, the latest issue of Formula One's own newspaper is published and distributed in the paddock. Yeps - that is right: The F1 Circus has its own newspaper which is published on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning plus an additional post-race issue after the race.

The newspaper - usually 24 pages - is called 'Red Bulletin' and is claims to be 'an almost independent F1 newspaper'. The 'almost' obviously refers to the fact the the Red Bulletin is published by energy drink giant Red Bull (which also owns two of the teams, of course).

Red Bulletin calls itself 'the bulls in your china shop' and that is certainly true: The newspaper is fun, controversial and not afraid of speaking its mind. In his first 'editorial' of 2006, publisher Norman Howell writes: "Let indiscretion be our watchword. We are also determined to tease, jest, laugh and generally poke a little bit of fun at the paddock's great and the good, the high and the more lowly: Because it is our home from home, our street, our city."

The Red Bulletin is a great way to start your day in the F1 paddock. It is handed out at the entrance to the paddock and people usually read it over breakfast. The newspaper has several 'departments' but it always starts with two pages of usually funny news stories called 'Bullevard'. There is also a lot of funny photos, some interviews and even a quiz. Last year's prize was a top-of-the-range VW Touraeg (won by one of the Toyota mechanics working with Midland-Jordan) and this year' first prize is a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

The Red Bulletin also features some great drawings. Yesterday's cover was of Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Ralf Schumacher; showing him as half human, half black panther. The reason for this was a story on page six from 'Dr.Bull' - the paper's own psychoanalyst (or just plain psycho!). The good doctor claims he can tell you all you need to know about someone just by asking a few simple questions. When Ralf was on Dr. Bull's couch he was asked to imagine he was someone else - an animal - and Ralf apparently replied "black panther".

It is all good fun but behind every issue of the Red Bulletin is a lot of hard work. The newspaper is produced and printed in a few containers, which are transported around the world at great cost. BUT - the Red Bulletin is a little bit of fun in a very serious world, and for that I am thankful.

The next issue of the Red Bulletin comes out on Friday in Sepang - but before that my Malaysian Grand Prix preview should be online.