I have to admit, I was shocked to see the positive response to the first race. 
I am already completely frustrated with this season, in fairness I was frustrated about this season when they announced all the changes last season. It is really time for Bernie and Max to retire.
Everyone says it is going to be interesting. I don't agree. I think it is a bit of a roll of the dice... this week came up Brawn, next week who knows. I don't think that is good for the sport. I think what makes F1... F1 is the absolute pursuit of excellence in every aspect. The only way for that to be achieved is with a stable rule book. Tearing up the rule book doesn't create competition, it creates chaos.
I honestly think F1 was better several years ago. You still had McLaren vs Ferrari, you had Ferrari and McLaren vs Renault as well. On top of that you Bridgestone vs Michelin. Everyone in the sport, the teams, the suppliers, the drivers were all trying to be just that much better. Now, you have things like the stupid tire rule. Bridgestone says that they could have brought an "optimal" tire for this race, but instead the FIA wanted to make things "difficult" for the teams. The only good improvement that F1 has made in several years is the knockout qualifying. Other than that it has been changes for the worse. 
All that said, what Brawn GP and Ross Brawn have done is stunning. They were as dominate as I have ever seen in every session of Qualifying. And I really think that if they wanted to, they could have gone faster. The race was just a reflection of how far ahead of everyone else they are. Button had a 4 second gap in 2 laps?
My prediction is that BrawnGP will be strong to dominate for the first couple of races. Once the diffusers are declared legal/illegal we will see a shift with Ferrari and Red Bull picking up the pace.
The McLaren has some issues that will hamper them for the season. My guess is that it is related to weight distribution not aero. They may pull KERS from the car to make up the pace. Just a guess, but I don't buy that "gear box" issue on Hamilton's car for 1 second. They may have changed the gear box but it was likely due to changing ratios (completely against the sporting regs) more so than a technical issue. I watched the onboard on Hamilton's last qualifying lap, there were no hiccups or noticeable changes in shift patterns or sound.
Here's to the beginning of the end....
