Brazil 2005 to Sepang 2007. It took a little over a year and a half but McLaren are back in the front with yet another 1-2. A clean and quick start by Alonso, taking his first victory with the new team, but the real star of the race was his teammate..
This may only be the second F1 race for Lewis Hamilton but he is already showing us glimpses of his immense talent!! He’s now become the first driver in over 40 years to be on the podium in both of his first 2 races. And it’s not just because of the car. In fact, in the first few laps he was definitely not as quick as the Ferraris, but still he managed another great start, getting ahead of both the Ferraris within the first 2 corners, and then kept his cool and defended his position brilliantly while Massa furiously tried to get ahead. Hamilton may be much younger and much less experienced than the Brazilian, but that definitely didn’t show on the track today!
If there were any doubts left after Melbourne, they are all cleared up now.. this man is destined for greatness! After being disappointed by DC and Button, perhaps we can once again hope of seeing a British Champion..
Talking about Massa for a moment.. he’ll no doubt be disappointed! A lot more was expected from him.. Surely he must have expected a lot more from himself!! Of course, things may have been different if he had managed to stay ahead of Hamilton after the 2nd corner, but he clearly had a faster car and he really should have done a better job at overtaking the McLaren.. He had two chances and he completely blew them up!
The only thing in his defense is that there may have been some problem with the car.. Ferrari had been struggling all weekend, especially with Raikkonen’s car, to get a good setup. And even during the race, Massa was constantly trying to adjust the brake bias and managed to lock up his brakes a few times, suggesting perhaps all was not well.. In any case, after those two atrocious overtaking attempts, he must be thanking his stars that Jean Todt is not as open with his comments as Briatore!
As for others.. Raikkonen looked quite glum after the race. He had a few anxious moments behind Massa in the first few laps.. they were even wheel to wheel at one stage before Raikkonen decided to pull back. Who knows if he had managed to get ahead, he may have made a slightly better attempt at passing Hamilton! Nevertheless, 6 points is not terrible, and there are plenty more races to go. Rosberg had a nice and clean race, tough luck for him that his engine blew up otherwise he looked to be finishing in points yet again.. He’s another driver quickly becoming my favourite! Now all we need is for Nelsinho Piquet to join F1!
