The great F1 duel that will be recreated in the 2021 midfield

'Two out of three ain't bad', as Meat Loaf crooned in the 1970s, but the third configuration of the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, which has been left off the list this year, did mark a significant point in F1 history back in 2010.

Remembered for Fernando Alonso's victory in his debut race for Ferrari, it marked only the second win for the team in an 18-race period. The Spanish/Italian combination started perfectly, matching Kimi Raikkonen's debut win for the Scuderia in 2007, which helped him to the championship that year by a single point.

Alonso backed up his impressive opener with a similarly strong campaign but as we know, Alonso and Ferrari suffered a nightmare season-finale in Abu Dhabi, stuck behind the Renault of Vitaly Petrov, and lost the title to Sebastian Vettel.

The rivalry between Vettel and Alonso was intense throughout the former's quadruple title-winning stint, and things almost swung Alonso's way again in 2012 only for Vettel to save his own bacon with a recovery drive in a severely damaged car in Brazil.

There was always an element of friction between them, and some of that may go back to another championship-critical race in 2007 when Vettel was only just getting his feet on the pedals. In hideously wet conditions at Fuji, Alonso was desperately trying to stay in touch with fellow McLaren racer (and then points leader) Lewis Hamilton.

The spray was blinding, mirrors were fogged up and Alonso made the mistake of cutting across the front of Vettel's Toro Rosso. Contact was made, Alonso spun and re-joined, but just a few laps later he went off terminally, caught out by a deep puddle and perhaps the consequences of damage. Hamilton went on to win while Vettel embarrassed himself by crashing into Mark Webber under the safety car.

That day was the beginning of the Alonso/Vettel confrontation and now there is potential for more in the future. In 2021, both of them will be driving for teams at the top of F1's midfield battle.

Alonso is already ensconced at Renault (to become known as Alpine) and team boss Cyril Abiteboul has likened him to a "hungry shark" smelling blood. By contrast, Vettel has spent most of 2020 acting like a tired racehorse, unable to keep up with his Ferrari stablemate Charles Leclerc and aching for pastures new. Greener grass will be provided by Racing Point/Aston Martin, but does Vettel still have the drive to re-motivate himself and go wheel to wheel with Alonso next year?

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Vettel crystallised his approach to F1 at an early stage by linking up with top performance specialist Aki Hintsa. Hintsa, who worked with distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, was brought into F1 by Mika Hakkinen, and by the time Vettel met him in 2006 he was highly regarded.

Vettel clicked with Aki instantly and began to adopt his ideas. Vettel escalated his physical training, and on moving to Red Bull joined forces with one of Hintsa's personal trainers, Tommi Parmakoski, with whom he developed an intense bond.

Aston Martin, Alpine, McLaren and potentially Ferrari will be fighting in the same space. While Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen chase down the victories, the intensity of what's going on behind could be mesmerising

Success flowed quickly at Red Bull. Writing in 2014 in a chapter of The Core by Aki Hintsa and Oskari Saari, Tommi stated: "In my mind the main reason for Sebastian's success has been his exceptional ability to build a brilliant team around him. Everyone at the factory wants to make him a good car.... it's important for him to surround himself with people who will support him and cheer him on at the right moment and encourage him when things don't go as planned."

Perhaps Vettel's early years at Ferrari featured an element of that, but the Italian team has such a political nature it could never last. Vettel signed for the Scuderia under Marco Mattiacci, who was replaced by Maurizio Arrivabene before Seb first drove in red. Arrivabene subsequently stepped down after the 2018 season so Mattia Binotto could take the reins.

The focus gradually shifted towards Charles Leclerc through 2019, understandably so given his tremendous performances, but that lack of support has hit Vettel hard and we've not seen the same driver who dominated at the turn of the previous decade.

Things may change at Aston Martin. Technical director Andrew Green feels the team has the infrastructure to help Vettel: "We are very driver focused. We take a lot of time to understand our drivers and work with them, we form a really strong relationship and bond with our drivers... we take out all the politics and it just allows them to focus on driving the car as quickly as possible. I think we can get Seb back into that place."

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If the chemistry works, we may see a revival of the original Vettel, even though his great influence Aki Hintsa sadly passed away in 2016. Alonso could find himself dicing with his former nemesis all over again. The race to be 'best of the rest' behind Mercedes and Red Bull promises to be pretty exciting next year.

Aston Martin, Alpine, McLaren and potentially Ferrari will be fighting in the same space. While Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen chase down the victories, the intensity of what's going on behind could be mesmerising.

So, here's a suggestion, let's hand out a second world championship title to the driver who emerges top of that midfield battle. Let's create a separate category. After all, here in the UK we're getting pretty used to a tier-based system - and two out of three really ain't bad...