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Carlos from Spain said:
A complete walkthrough for Ferrari as expected. Kimi didn't even have to push the pace, he was in complete control, so much so that he almost ran wide on turn 3 from lack of concentration of just coasting the car to the finish line during all the race

I'm happy for Kimi, he finally got a streak of great luck because his direct rival Massa had the same car but had to change two gearboxes and a engine and having to start from last with a horrible one-pitstop strategy. And his second closest rival Alonso was held back in third place the whole race so was no threat at all.

Hamilton did a great job, specially the fact that he didn't make any mistakes and was cool at the wheel inspite of all the pressure being a rookie. That shows potential.

Unfortunatley we did not get to see what Alonso could have done since he was held up by Hamilton for 3/4 of the race In a track such as Albert Park Alonso and with his own teammate in front he was left to keep a 1.5-2second gap with Hamilton so as to have clean air and conserve the car but he would never be allowed by team director to fight to overpass, and was not wise for him either, too dangerous for the championship also.

Only when Hamilton was out of the way and no traffic in front in the 2nd pit stop he was able to do his pace and droppred his race laptimes overtaking Hamilton on the pit stop, and after that Hamiltom was left behind by Alonso lap after lap, opening a dozen second gap by the end of the race.

Nevertheless Alonso was no threat to Kimi today even if Hamilton wouldn't had been slowing him. The result would have been the same. Kimi's fastest lap was a full second faster than the seconds fastest lap time, which was Alonso's. That is ridiculous in F1. A pity Massa didn't get a chance to show his race pace, otherwise it would have been a 1-2 Ferrari today IMO.

Interestingly McLaren leads the constructor's championship.

A huge pitty Kubica broke down, he is my favorite underdog and will give many surprises along the season



Carlos, IMO Hamilton showed more than just potential. He got third place. And as far as I remember, that is a bigger feat than both Kimi and Alonso have ever made.
Hamilton also showed that he is an absolute gentleman and a seasoned professional during the press conference. He was also the only one out of the three who thanked his team and the guys back on the factory.
Formula 1 got a new star Sunday afternoon. He may be the Tiger Woods of F1. And I hope he beats both Alonso and Kimi.

Kimi almost beat his own record of being Mr. No Personality.
He didnt thank the team, from what I could see he didnt share the victory with them (like Schumacher used to) and his lack of emotion and enthusiasm is turning into a joke.
I think he is harvesting the fruits that Schumacher planted in the team - he needs to realize that Ferrari thrives on being a TEAM, not just a bunch of mechanics carrying their lone star to victory.
Having said that, he did a great job - even with no radio contact with the team - and tho it's much, much too soon to say it looks like we will have three competitive teams battling it out this season


About "Unfortunatley we did not get to see what Alonso could have done since he was held up by Hamilton for 3/4 of the race".
I think you may be a bit colored by patriotism here.
Hamilton beat Alonso in the start and he actually opened the gap to Alonso.
When youre not fast enough, you have to stay behind other drivers.
It's pretty much the deal that every car in the field gets. If you get behind other cars, you have to overtake them - and thats not easy.
Massa was held up by the Hondas for around 8 laps.

I think Alonso should be worried about Hamilton.
Alonso may be first driver, but not for long if Hamilton keeps this up.
This is Alonso's 5th season in F1 - and Hamilton's first. You do the math.

Fortunately for Alonso, for some strange reason Hamilton managed to lose around 4-5 seconds in one lap. Perhaps his 2nd pitstop was slower or he got held up in traffic, or Alonso gained 2 secs per lap - or team orders? You guys got an explanation? It seemed very strange to me.

Like Ziggy said:
"I think the gap between the 2 Mclaren pilots increase after their last pitstops because L.Hamilton wanted to spare his material (the next race in Malaysia is a very tough one), realising he has no change to overtake Alonso, furthermore the team probably ordered them to freeze the position.

Besides, if Alonso was really faster than Hamilton, wouldn't he have taken the chance to pass him during the first pitstops ? "

Anyway. Alonso was lucky that Heidfeld had problems.
He did a very good job for his first McL race, and should be thankful to get 2nd and not 4th.

Im amazed to see that McLaren finally managed to get two cars home. perhaps the new rule of 19.000 rpm limitation has made it easier for Mercedes to produce a durable engine?