Hamilton victorious in action-packed Melbourn race (Results)

[MalcomX]

Lewis Hamilton’s win for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix almost went unnoticed in Albert Park this afternoon - and that tells you just what sort of race it was. The 23 year-old Briton dominated an event characterised by safety car interventions following a series of dramatic incidents that all happened behind him.

Hamilton would build a lead, lose it behind the safety car, build it again, lose it again. You get the picture. But if he was impressive here a year ago, he was even better on Sunday, never losing his composure as he took the lead of the world championship with almost insouciant ease.

If it was a great day for McLaren, it was a disaster for Ferrari. Felipe Massa spun on the first lap and was then involved in an incident with Red Bull’s David Coulthard before retiring, and Kimi Raikkonen, having benefited from the second safety car intervention, slid off the road trying to pass McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and undid all that work. Then his Ferrari let him down when he was running seventh with three laps to go.

Indeed, McLaren should have had a one-two, but a third safety car intervention following a heavy accident for Toyota’s Timo Glock badly hurt Kovalainen’s chances as he had to pit when everyone had closed up. He dropped way back, was passed by Raikkonen, repassed him, then found himself overtaken by Renault’s Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard overtook both of his rivals in a wonderful move.

After fighting back, Kovalainen repassed the Renault with two laps to go, only to have his car falter momentarily as they crossed the line for the 57th time. As he wiped oil off his visor he accidentally triggered the pit-lane speed limiter and a relieved Alonso pounced to head his former team mate home in fourth place.

Ahead of them, Nick Heidfeld brought his BMW Sauber home an excellent second, chased by Nico Rosberg, whose Toyota-engined Williams was the fastest car on the track in the closing stages. It was the young German’s first podium.

The race began with drama as an incident in the first corner involved Honda’s Jenson Button, Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, Red Bull’s Mark Webber, Super Aguri’s Anthony Davidson and Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel, and led directly or indirectly to their retirements.

Jarno Trulli looked set for good points until his Toyota let him down, and Nelson Piquet’s debut for Renault was little short of disastrous as he trailed at the back and failed to make it home.

Sebastien Bourdais and his Toro Rosso crew made a great call on strategy and were running fourth, ahead of Alonso and Kovalainen with three laps to go, but were stymied by engine failure. Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato similarly failed to make the finish.

“The team did a fantastic job as always, and the car was phenomenal, a complete dream to drive compared to last year,” a delighted Hamilton said. “They pulled me in early on both stops and that kept us out of trouble. Physically the race was a breeze, and great preparation for Malaysia, so bring it on, I’m really looking forward to it.”


1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:34:50.616

2 Nick Heidfeld BMW 58 +5.4 secs

3 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 58 +8.1 secs

4 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +17.1 secs

5 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 58 +18.0 secs

6 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 57 +1 Lap

7 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 55 +3 Laps

8 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +5 Laps

Ret Robert Kubica BMW 47 +11 Laps

Ret Timo Glock Toyota 43 Accident

Ret Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 32 Transmission

Ret Nelsinho Piquet Renault 30 +28 Laps

Ret Felipe Massa Ferrari 29 +29 Laps

Ret David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 25 Accident

Ret Jarno Trulli Toyota 19 Electrical

Ret Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 8 Hydraulics

Ret Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 0 Accident

Ret Jenson Button Honda 0 Accident

Ret Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 0 Accident

Ret Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 0 Accident

Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 0 Accident

DSQ Rubens Barrichello Honda 58 +52.4 secs


Note - Barrichello disqualified for exiting the pits under a red light.

[TranceFusion]

What the hell happened in this race??? almost everyone is out!

[Genesis]

wtf happened?...

I wasn't arse to watched it, I was pissed off enough from France losing to
Wales last night.

[TranceFusion]