Hamilton won first race of the season

Force India Feel The Heat As Cars Drop Like Dead Flies At Oz GP

A bit of trivia for starters. How many times in a season do 22 cars line up on the grid and only six last the complete distance of 58 laps? Well, at the Albert Circuit, it’s a new record of sorts, though of a dubious kind. In the Formula One’s 2008 season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, officially only six finished, bettering the ignominy of 2006 when only 13 cars lasted the distance. On this unforgiving circuit, with track temperatures climbing to 52 degrees, egos melted as cars got fried and dropped out like dead flies, while some drivers got caught out by the devils. For Force India, the Australian odyssey is best forgotten. After a decent Friday and a below par Saturday, it turned out to be a disastrous Sunday. On the first lap as drivers were trying to slot themselves at the first corner, lead man of the team, Giancarlo Fisichella, went off on the first corner after being nudged by Nelsihno Piquet and Timo Glock from either side. Fisichella had Sebastian Vettel for company on the walk back from first corner to the pits. Second Ferrari driver Fillipe Massa, who started from second row, too spun and kissed the wall that damaged his front wing endplate. Another driver too made contact, but the pileup brought out the safety car that helped them to the pit for a quick repair. No such luck for Fisi, though. The safety car made its appearance twice more on lap 30 and 45. In Fisi’s absence, Adrian Sutil took charge of the team’s fortune after having to start from the pits because his chassis had to be changed following a spin in the qualifying that punctured the bodywork. After seven laps, he moved into 13th place ahead of Formula 1 newcomer Sebastian Bourdias. But that was the only high that Vijay Mallya could draw from the race. A hydraulic failure meant endgame for Sutil a lap later. The team couldn’t put the car through the normal installation lap as sporting regulations prevent it post qualifying. Of course, the biggest casualty was defending champion Kimi Raikkonen when his car died on him on lap 53. Interestingly, all the cars running on Ferrari engines failed to complete the race. While mayhem continued, Lewis Hamilton maintained his imperious drive. He appeared to be in a different class, even as double world champion Fernando Alonso drove a stunning race to climb up from 12th to fourth. But the biggest cheer was heard from the Williams paddock when Nico Rosberg crossed the finish line in third place, 8.1 seconds behind Hamilton. His pace must have come as a huge relief for the Grove-based outfit that hasn’t had the best of time on the last 10 years barring a few podiums here and there. Though the first race of a new season hardly points the compass in the right direction, but if Mercedes are able to sustain this level for the next 17 races, then Hamilton just might be still able to become the youngest world champion. Honda too showed signs of coming to life, but their Australian dreams crashed after Rubens Barrichello was disqualified.