The 2010 season brought sweeping change. Refuelling during races was banned, reversing a practice that had been permitted since 1994. A new points-scoring system replaced the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 structure used since 2003 with a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 system awarding points to the top ten finishers, the most radical revision since the championship's formation. With 24 entries, the race was the first since the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix to have more than 22 starters, and the largest entry list since the 1997 Australian Grand Prix weekend.
Three new teams debuted: the Malaysian-owned Lotus, Hispania, and Virgin. Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One with the new Mercedes works team. Jenson Button, the reigning world champion, made his debut for McLaren after leaving Brawn GP. Felipe Massa returned for Ferrari following his head injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. New drivers included Nico Hulkenberg at Williams, Vitaly Petrov at Renault, Lucas di Grassi at Virgin, and an all-rookie Hispania lineup of Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna — the latter a nephew of three-time champion Ayrton Senna. Petrov became Russia's first Formula One World Championship driver; Chandhok was India's second. The revised stewards' panel featured a former driver for the first time; four-time champion Alain Prost served in that role for the Bahrain event.
Sebastian Vettel took pole position for Red Bull, edging out Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso in the Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton fourth. Nico Rosberg and Schumacher qualified fifth and seventh for Mercedes, separated by Vettel's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber. Jenson Button qualified eighth. The six drivers from the three new teams occupied the bottom of the grid, with Vettel's pace more than 2.7 seconds faster than Timo Glock, the fastest of the new-team runners. Hispania's Chandhok was unable to participate in free practice due to a hydraulics problem but qualified 24th, ten seconds off Alonso's pace.
Vettel led from the start and converted pole into the race lead comfortably. A first-lap incident saw Mark Webber's engine emit oil smoke, causing Adrian Sutil and Robert Kubica to spin to the back of the field. Alonso overtook Massa early to run second, with Rosberg and Schumacher running in close order behind the leading trio.
The race saw numerous retirements, many attributable to hydraulic failures. Chandhok's Hispania hit an unknown bump and retired with a broken front wing. Lucas di Grassi's Virgin suffered hydraulic failure, as did Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber and eventually Petrov's Renault, which struck a kerb too hard. Timo Glock lost gears and retired, and Bruno Senna's debut ended when his engine overheated.
The decisive moment came on lap 34 when Vettel, who had held a comfortable lead, began slowing with what was later identified as a spark plug problem. Alonso, Massa, and Hamilton all passed him in quick succession. Alonso won the race, with Massa second and Hamilton third. Vettel held off Rosberg for fourth, while Schumacher finished sixth behind his teammate. Button took seventh, Webber eighth, Vitantonio Liuzzi ninth, and Rubens Barrichello tenth.
Alonso joined Juan Manuel Fangio, Giancarlo Baghetti, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, and Kimi Raikkonen as the only drivers to have won their first race for Ferrari. It was his first Formula One victory since the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix. Heikki Kovalainen finished fifteenth in a Lotus, making Lotus the only new team to have a car classified as a finisher.
The race drew significant criticism from drivers, teams, and commentators. The ban on refuelling, combined with limited overtaking opportunities on the Endurance Layout, produced a processional race in which almost every car made a single pit stop and position changes were rare. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh acknowledged the need for the Formula One community to improve the spectacle. David Coulthard suggested mandatory two-stop strategies. Alain Prost, however, expressed confidence that top drivers would adapt positively to the new format. The Endurance Layout itself was criticised for offering few passing opportunities; Formula One reverted to the original Grand Prix Circuit layout for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix and has not used the Endurance Layout since.
Ferrari and Alonso led both championships with maximum points after the opening round.
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