Hamilton won the chinese GP, Moves closer to world title

Shanghai: Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai to put himself on the verge of becoming the youngest world champion in the motorsport’s 58-year history. McLaren driver Hamilton, in his second season in Formula One, led from the start as title rival Felipe Massa finished more than 14 seconds behind in second place at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Hamilton won his fifth race this year to
move seven points clear of Ferrari’s Massa and needs to only finish in the top five of the November 2 season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix to be sure of securing the championship.
Fernando Alonso became the youngest champion in 2005 as a 24-year-old.
Ferrari moved closer to retaining the team title as world champion Kimi Raikkonen took third place and fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren got a puncture on lap 35 and dropped out on lap 50. Ferrari has 156 points to McLaren’s 145. Robert Kubica saw his mathematical chance of winning the title disappear as the Pole steered his BMW to sixth place.
Hamilton will need to avoid a repeat of last season when he finished one point behind Raikkonen after heading the standings entering the final two races. He had a four-point lead over Alonso and sevenpoint advantage over Raikkonen before the last race in Brazil and could only finish seventh then.
Sunday’s victory — matching Massa’s five wins this season - - never looked in doubt as Hamilton made a clean start from pole position and built a four-second lead after 10 laps. The only uncomfortable moment came on lap 12 when he oversteered on turn two yet retained control to make his first of two pit stops ahead of Raikkonen in second and Massa in third.
At the halfway point, Hamilton led Raikkonen by 6.6 seconds and Massa by 15.4 seconds. The top-three remained unchanged until Raikkonen let his teammate overtake him with six laps remaining, boosting Massa’s chances of delivering his first title in front of his home fans in Brazil.

ForceIndia's bad run continue

Force India’s search for the elusive maiden point in the current Formula One season continues as Adrian Sutil failed to finish the race and Giancarlo Fisichella finished 17th in the Chinese Grand Prix here on Sunday.
Fisichella began from the last position of the grid and gained three places when he took the chequered flag in the 56-lap penultimate race of the season. Sutil encountered a gearbox problem on lap 14 and was forced to pull off the track before one third distance. The German driver, beginning at 19th position, had graduated to 17th but had to face his second consecutive failure.

Its back to back win for Alonso

Fuji (Japan): Twotimes world champion Fernando Alonso claiming his second successive victory by winning an incidentpacked Japanese Grand Prix.
As the main championship protagonists licked their wounds on a day of errors, collisions and penalties, the Spaniard steered his Renault home just two weeks after winning in Singapore for his 21st career triumph.
Alonso took full advantage of a bad day for title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa as he came home 5.2 seconds clear of second placed Pole Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber.
Defending drivers world champion Kimi Raikkonen finished third for Ferrari.
Alonso, the champion in 2005 and 2006 for Renault before departing for an inglorious season with McLaren last year, has yet to agree a deal for next season, but is likely to stay with the French team.
Brazil’s Nelson Piquet Jr was fourth in the second Renault ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli of Toyota and the Toro Rosso of Germany’s Sebastian Vettel.
Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais was hit with a 25 second penalty after the race for running Massa off the track, relegating him to tenth from sixth. It was good news for Massa who was bumped up to seventh from eighth.
Championship leader Hamilton failed to score a point for McLaren after a poor start from pole position and some impetuous moves which cost him dearly.
These saw him overrun the first corner and go off the track together with Raikkonen, who outpaced him off the grid at the start, and later hit by Massa’s Ferrari as he attempted to pass him.
Hamilton was given a drivethrough penalty for his part in the first corner melee and Massa was given the same punishment for ramming Hamilton into a spin in the second incident.

Massa also struggled through a day of collisions, errors and penalties on his way to finishing seventh to claim two points.
This reduced Hamilton’s championship lead to five points with two races left in China and Brazil. Hamilton has 84 points and Massa 79.
In the constructors’ championship, Ferrari jumped back in front with a seven points lead over McLaren. Ferrari have 142 and McLaren 135.
Hamilton’s McLaren teammate, Finn Heikki Kovalainen, retired with a blown engine in the early stages when he was running well.

Force India

Sutil was steaming along in 10th place after six laps, thanks to the way the first corner incident reshuffled the pack. But after eight laps his right rear tyre burst, probably as a result of damage inflicted by debris. Fisichella also made a strong start, but dropped out early with gearbox problems.

German GP Win Puts Hamilton On Top

Hockenheim (Germany): Briton Lewis Hamilton delivered another massive endorsement of his great potential Sunday when he opened a clear lead in this year’s drivers’ championship by winning the German Grand Prix in thrilling style. The 23-year-old Englishman, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, dominated the early stages and then, after being upset by two Safety Car interventions and some cautious team strategy, proved he could overtake anyone with a dazzling display of passing moves in the final laps. In blistering style, Hamilton had to pass a clutch of drivers in the closing laps to make up for time lost in the pits when he made an out-of-synch late stop. But he showed his true speed and brilliance by overtaking both Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Ferrari and then his compatriot Nelson Piquet in a Renault to regain the lead. Hamilton took the chequered flag 5.5 seconds ahead of Piquet who claimed the first podium of his career while Massa was third. Hamilton now leads the standings with 58 points from Massa, on 54, whose Ferrari team-mate, defending drivers world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen, is seven points adrift after finishing a disappointing sixth. Hamilton had dominated the first half of the race after powering away from the ninth pole position of his career. The Geneva-based driver had built-up a lead of around 12 seconds by lap 36 when German Timo Glock crashed out in his Toyota. Glock lost control of his car at the last corner when the right rear tyre suddenly deflated sending him spearing into the wall. The German, 26, slid backwards down the home straight before his wrecked car finally came to a stop. Glock was clearly dazed after he got out of the Toyota and was later taken to the medical centre and then a local hospital for a check-up, although his conditions was described as ‘fine’. Hamilton was kept out on the track as all his main rivals made their final pit-stops under the safety car. The Mercedes-powered driver dropped to fifth when he was forced to make his final pit-stop, but soon passed Kovalainen for third spot. Hamilton then hunted down Massa overtaking his rival on lap 57 as he forced him wide at the chicane to take second with Nick Heidfeld having pitted for BMW. Massa attempted to fight back a couple of corners later, but was again forced into the dirt. Hamilton made the same move on Piquet at the hairpin turn three laps later to regain a deserved lead.

Better show by Team India

Force India registered only its second double finish of the season as Ginacarlo Fisichella finished 14th and Adrian Sutil ended the race at 16th at German Grand Prix here on Sunday. Italian Fisichella was trailing his German teammate at one point of time but was benefited when the safety came to the circuit, which turned the order of the 67 lap race.

Hamilton wins British GP in Silverstone

Silverstone: Lewis Hamilton streaked to British Grand Prix victory on Sunday, delivering a masterful drive in wet conditions to delight a vociferous home crowd and reignite his world title challenge. Consistent rain saw nearly all the drivers spin at some stage of the race and though BMW’s Nick Heidfeld produced a good drive to finish second and Rubens Barrichello was third, no one could come close to Hamilton who won his home race by a staggering 68.5 seconds. The British McLaren driver produced an excellent start and a superbly aggressive opening stint to take the lead early on, before going on to close the race out maturely. The victory brings 23-year-old Hamilton his first points since winning at Monaco back in May and moves him up into a three-way tie at the top of the World Championship. Hamilton now shares top spot with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen who finished fourth at Silverstone and Felipe Massa who took no points from a nightmare race. Heikki Kovalainen was fifth in the other McLaren, Fernando Alonso took sixth and Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima were the others to pick up points. Hamilton made the best start of all, shooting around the outside to squeeze into second from fourth on the grid and briefly touching wheels with pole-sitter Kovalainen. Mark Webber, his Red Bull starting from second, suffered an early spin and ended up right at the back of the field. Kovalainen led his teammate and Raikkonen after the first lap, but Hamilton immediately began to apply serious pressure on the leader, forcing him to defend desperately over the next four laps. Such a sustained attack proved impossible to repel and Hamilton slipped past Kovalainen to take the lead on lap five. As the home crowd cheered their hero another Brit, David Coulthard, collided with Sebastien Vettel’s Toro Rosso and both drivers ended up in the gravel and out of the race. It was an unfortunate way for Coulthard to finish his final British Grand Prix - the Red Bull veteran having announced his retirement earlier this week. Kovalainen slid into a spin on his tenth lap and allowed Raikkonen through into second where he would steadily cut the gap to Hamilton until the first round of pit stops. On lap 21 of the 60-lap race Hamilton and Raikkonen entered the pits together with the Briton emerging, by a whisker, with his lead intact. Raikkonen’s pit crew controversially decided not to change tyres, a decision that saw the World Champion lose significant time to the leader and also to those behind. As Raikkonen’s tyres continued to deteriorate, he fell further and further off the pace and after finally cutting his losses and taking new tyres he had fallen to 11th place. The rain began to fall solidly just after the halfway point of the race and Hamilton, Raikkonen and Renault’s Nelson Piquet each aquaplaned off the track - the first two temporarily and Piquet for good. As havoc reigned, BMW’s Robert Kubica span off and out of the race and was soon joined by Jenson Button. With 10 laps to go Hamilton had opened up a lead of over a minute and he went on to lap everyone behind third placed Barrichello in a supreme display of dominance.

Double retirement for Force India
There seems simply no end to Force India's misery, as the Formula One outfit finished its ‘home’ race at the British Grand Prix today with another double retirement against its name. Neither of the Force India cars could survive the tough, wet conditions at the rain-lashed Silverstone track and Adrian Sutil was the first to crash out after 10 laps. In comparison, his Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella did slightly better to complete 26 laps before he too went for an excursion in the gravel to join his team mates in the sidelines. Sutil, though not a dud of a driver in such wet conditions, had a promising start to his race but his campaign soon followed the same wretched script which has often seen him sizzling a while before eventually fizzling out. Sutil was quick off the block as he flew through the crowded midfield to rise to 13th before his campaign was prematurely cut short via a spectacular spin across the Abbey chicane. Much was expected from Fisichella, especially after his impressive showing in the qualifying session, but the Roman spun out at Becketts while winner Lewis Hamilton was lapping him and that was the end of his campaign. The new aerodynamic and mechanical updates could not pull off a miracle, leaving the pointless Force India languishing at the bottom of the Formula One pit.

Massa takes lead in driver's standing as he won French GP

Magny Cours: Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won Formula One’s French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours today to head the drivers’ championship standings for the first time this season. The Brazilian finished the 70-lap race 18 seconds clear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, the world champion, who lost the race lead after his exhaust broke. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was third after holding off the challenge of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. BMW’s Robert Kubica, who started as the leader in the standings, was fifth. Red Bull's Mark Webber, in sixth, and Renault duo Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso were today’s other points scorers. Massa, after his third win this season, tops the standings on 48 points, 2 ahead of Kubica. Raikkonen is third on 43, and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who failed to score a point, drops to fourth on 38 after a second straight disappointing race. “That was fantastic, I didn’t expect that,” Massa told the post-race news conference. “Today I had a lot of luck with Kimi having his exhaust problem, but fortunately for the team he could finish, so this was a good present for me.” Hamilton was penalized 10 places on the grid after his pit-lane crash in Montreal two weeks ago and started in 13th. There was another setback for the Briton today when he incurred a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner in overtaking the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel at a chicane early in the race. The punishment hit his chances of finishing in the points and he came 10th. Raikkonen and Massa filled the first two places on the grid after dominating in qualifying, and proceeded to take charge in the race. Raikkonen led in the early stages as the pair pulled clear of the field, and Massa took over in mid-race when Raikkonen — winner of the event last year — had the exhaust problem. Even so, he managed to get the car to the finish line.

Kubica of BMW claimed his maiden victory at canadian GP

Montreal: Robert Kubica claimed his maiden victory and took control of the world drivers’ championship as Lewis Hamilton’s Canadian Grand Prix ended in disaster here on Sunday. Pole Kubica survived a horrendous crash at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 12 months ago and the BMW Sauber driver took full advantage of a pit-lane accident that took out McLaren’s world championship leader Hamilton and world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. Hamilton crashed into the back of Raikkonen as t h e y emerged from a pit stop on lap 18 with the Englishman failing to spot at the red light at the end of the lane as the Ferrari was waiting on the line. It was a BMW Sauber one-two as Nick Heidfeld claimed the runners-up spot for the second year in a row. The drama also cleared the way for Scotland’s David Coulthard to score his first points of the season with an invaluable third-place finish to ease the pressure on his seat at Red Bull Racing. Hamilton, the defending race winner, started on the pole for the second straight year at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and led until the safety car came out and the leaders pitted on lap 19 of the 70-lap race. That followed Adrian Sutil parking his Force India entry on the grass alongside the track. Raikkonen, who came into the race trailing Hamilton by three points in the world championship, was third before the stops, but came out ahead of the McLaren driver and Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber on pit road. The Ferrari driver stopped at a red light at the end of pit road and Hamilton, picking up speed, rammed into the Raikkonen’s car, knocking off the rear wing. Nico Rosberg then hit the rear of Hamilton’s car. Both leaders got out of their damaged cars and Raikkonen tapped Hamilton on the helmet as he walked past, pointing toward the light. Hamilton, obviously angry at himself, pushed past several cameras in the McLaren garage.

Hamilton won the 2nd race of the season at Monaco

Monaco: McLaren's Lewis Hamilton battled to a masterful Monaco Grand Prix victory on Sunday despite hitting the barriers on an afternoon of mayhem on the principality's slippery streets. First English winner of the showcase race since Graham Hill in 1969. The Briton’s sixth win in 23 starts, and second of the season, catapulted the 23-yearold to the top of the standings —three points clear of Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen who took ninth place after a wet and crashstrewn race. Poland’s Robert Kubica was second for BMW Sauber, 3.0 seconds behind, with Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa in third after starting on pole position. The race, glamour highlight of the Formula One season, was ended after the two hour mark was reached with 76 of the 78 scheduled laps completed. Hamilton made a great start, taking Raikkonen for second place into the first corner, but had to pit on lap seven with a deflated right rear tyre after a brush with the barriers at the harbour-side Tabac corner. The Briton rejoined in fifth but still with everything to play for on a circuit where the slightest mistake carries a heavy penalty. Ironically, the early pit stop played into Hamilton's hands as others literally slipped up, with Massa sliding off at the Ste Devote corner and handing the lead to Kubica for a long stretch before the pitstops. Hamilton’s victory made up for the disappointment of finishing runner-up in a McLaren one-two last year and allowed him to emulate his late boyhood hero and champion Ayrton Senna as a Monaco winner. In a race turned into a lottery by rain and crashes, with accompanying safety car interventions, Australian Mark Webber finished fourth for Red Bull with Germany’s Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was sixth for Honda, his first points since 2006, with Japan’s Kazuki Nakajima seventh for Williams and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen eighth for McLaren after starting last from the pit lane. Hamilton’s friend Adrian Sutil provided the heartbreak and tears, the German starting 18th for Force India but enjoying the race of his life in fourth place until Raikkonen misjudged his braking and shunted him out at the tunnel.

Felipe Massa won the Turkish GP third year in a row

Istanbul (Turkey): Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix from pole position for the third year in a row on Sunday after tyre concerns slowed Lewis Hamilton’s challenge. The Brazilian took the chequered flag 3.7 seconds ahead of the 23-year-old McLaren driver, who ran most of the race on the harder tyres and had to make three pitstops compared to his rivals’ two. It was Massa’s seventh win in Formula One, at the anticlockwise track where he took his first in 2006, and his second in five races this season. Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen saw his overall lead trimmed to seven points from nine after finishing a close third. The Finn, the only driver to score points in every race this season, now has 35 to Massa and Hamilton’s 28. Massa’s win was champions Ferrari’s fourth in a row and meant that the Turkish Grand Prix, which made its debut in 2005, has still only ever been won by the driver on pole position. Three of his wins have come in Turkey, prompting a suggestion that the Brazilian should change nationality: “I think I can get a passport here already,” he grinned. Poland’s Robert Kubica was fourth, ahead of BMW Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld. Double world champion Fernando Alonso put Renault back in the points with sixth place while Australian Mark Webber was seventh to score for the fourth race in a row. Germany’s Nico Rosberg took the final point for Williams. Massa led from the start while Hamilton, winner of the season-opener in Australia, accelerated past his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen from third on the grid with Kubica close behind. The safety car came out at the end of the opening lap when Italian Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India slammed into the back of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams at the first corner, leaving debris on the track. Kovalainen, coming back from a big accident two weeks ago and making his first start on the front row, went to the back of the field when he pitted at the end of the second lap with a puncture after banging wheels with Raikkonen. He finished 12th. Hamilton pitted after 16 laps and then brilliantly overtook Massa, who had come in three laps later, for the lead on lap 24. The Briton then pitted again at the end of lap 32, with Massa again taking over at the front until his second and final pitstop when Raikkonen took over for three laps before again leaving Hamilton ahead. But the youngster knew he had to pit again for the softer tyres, with drivers having to use both types during the race, and he made his third stop with 13 laps to go before coming back out in second place.

Ferrari Dominates at Spaninsh GP

Barcelona: Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen stretched his Formula One lead to nine points with a dominant win from pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Brazilian Felipe Massa sealed Ferrari’s second successive one-two finish, and third win in a row, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton taking third place to revive his title challenge after a disappointing last race in Bahrain. Raikkonen’s 17th grand prix win left the Finn with 29 points, nine clear of closest rival Hamilton, and catapulted Ferrari back in front of BMW Sauber in the constructors' standings. Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who started on the front row for Renault, retired on lap 35 with a blown engine but he had already fallen down the field after being the first driver to refuel. Massa, winner in Bahrain, had got past double world champion Alonso at the start while Hamilton slotted into fourth place after muscling past BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica from fifth. Poland’s Kubica finished fourth, moving him up to third in the championship with 19 points, ahead of Massa on 18, with Australian Mark Webber fifth in a Red Bull. Britain’s Jenson Button finished sixth for Honda’s first points of the year while Japan's Kazuki Nakajima was seventh for Williams and Italian Jarno Trulli eighth for Toyota. Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella finished the Spanish GP at 10th, the team’s first Top-10 finish in the 2008 season. Adrian Sutil was forced out of the race in the very first lap when he spun off the track.

Felipe Massa wins at Bahrain GP

Brazilian Felipe Massa stormed to victory here on Sunday for his second successive victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix and answer his mounting bank of critics as his Ferrari team celebrated a comfortable one-two with Kimi Raikkonen finishing second. The 26-year-old Latin American, who had failed to score a point after an error-strewn performance in both opening races, came home as a comfortable winner ahead of his team-mate defending drivers world champion Finn Kimi Rakkkonen. They came home first and second ahead of third-placed Pole Robert Kubica of BMW, who had started from the first pole position of his career, and his team-mate German Nick Heidfeld. This was enough for the BMW-Sauber team to lead the constructors’ championship for the first time. Giancarlo Fisichella outpaced Lewis Hamilton and cut through a cluttered midfield to finish an impressive 12th as Force India notched up its first double finish of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix here on Sunday. Starting 18th on the grid, three-time race winner Fisichella proved why he is considered such a high-quality driver as the Italian came up with a sublime show to finish 12th in the race, ahead of, Williams’ Kazuki Nakazima, Toro Rosso’s Sibastien Bourdais and Red Bull’s David Coulthard besides Hamilton. Team-mate Sutil, however, was involved in an opening lap mess and had to pit his car early with a broken nose. The German would still be happy with his 19th place, especially after failing to finish the races in Melbourne and Sepang.

Bahrain GP Results

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:31:06.970

2. Kimi Raikkonen(Fin) Ferrari +3.3 secs

3. Robert Kubica(Pol) BMW +4.9 secs

4. Nick Heidfeld(Ger) BMW +8.4 secs

5. Heikki Kovalainen(Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +26.7 secs
6. Jarno Trulli(Ita) Toyota +41.3 secs
7. Mark Webber(Aus) Red Bull-Renault +45.4 secs
8. Nico Rosberg(Ger) Williams-Toyota +55.8 secs
9. Timo Glock(Ger) Toyota +69.5 secs
10. Fernando Alonso(Esp) Renault +77.1 secs
11. Rubens Barrichello(Bra) Honda +77.8 secs
12. Giancarlo Fisichella(Ita) Force India-Ferrari +1 Lap
13. Lewis Hamilton(Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes +1 Lap
14. Kazuki Nakajima(Jpn) Williams-Toyota +1 Lap
15. Sebastien Bourdais(Fra) STR-Ferrari +1 Lap
16. Anthony Davidson(Gbr) Super Aguri-Honda +1 Lap
17. Takuma Sato(Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda +1 Lap
18. David Coulthard(Gbr) Red Bull-Renault +1 Lap
19. Adrian Sutil(Ger) Force India-Ferrari +2 Laps

Retired

Nelsinho Piquet(Bra) Renault 40 Gearbox
Jenson Button(Gbr) Honda 19 Accident damage
Sebastian Vettel(Ger) STR-Ferrari 0 Accident damage

Driver's Standing

1. Kimi Räikkönen(Fin) Ferrari 19
2. Nick Heidfeld(Ger) BMW 16
3. Lewis Hamilton(Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 14
4. Robert Kubica(Pol) BMW 14
5. Heikki Kovalainen(Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 14
6. Felipe Massa(Bra) Ferrari 10
7. Jarno Trulli(Ita) Toyota 8
8. Nico Rosberg(Ger) Williams-Toyota 7
9. Fernando Alonso(Esp) Renault 6
10. Mark Webber(Aus) Red Bull-Renault 4
11. Kazuki Nakajima(Jpn) Williams-Toyota 3
12. Sebastien Bourdais(Fra) STR-Ferrari 2

Constructors Standing

1. BMW 30
2. Ferrari 29
3. McLaren-Mercedes 28
4. Williams-Toyota 10
5. Toyota 8
6. Renault 6
7. Red Bull-Renault 4
8. STR-Ferrari 2
9. Honda 0
10. Force India-Ferrari 0
11. Super Aguri-Honda 0

Raikkonen on song at sepang

In Formula One's second race of the season Force India ticked off the biggest, burning question off their list on Sunday. Not just for their benefit, but also for all those doubters out there. After the disaster that was Melbourne, a finish in Malaysia, was obviously the main objective of the team. And Giancarlo Fisichella’s twelfth-place at the Sepang International Circuit illustrated the progress that Force India, erstwhile Spyker, has made in the past five months. Finishing ahead of the two Williams cars Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima and the two dawdling Super Aguris is a noticeable and irrefutable improvement that the Silverstonebased team has racked up over the past few months. For Ferrari, it was a confirmation of what they are capable of. They had the fastest car and the coolest driver. After Felipe Massa lost the race lead to teammate Kimi Raikkonen, a one-two for the Scuderia outfit looked ripe for the taking. But after Massa’s rear wheels locked up, it was left up to Raikkonen to do the needful. BMW’s Robert Kubica benefited from Massa’s error, coming second and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen finished the podium. On a hot and humid afternoon, the start for the two Force India drivers, Fisichella and Adrian Sutil, was conflicting. Sutil, who had a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday, found the gaps and the pace to leap from 20th to 14th within just five laps. He was set for a few more upgrades before a hydraulic problem sealed his fate. Sutil had no option but to switch the engine off and pull off the track and onto the grass. “Sutil had such a great start, especially after a difficult qualifying session. He was looking very good. Unfortunately, it was an instantaneous failure and there was nothing we could do. Fisi put up a very solid, midfield performance. It’s definitely the biggest positive we take from the race. We’ve got the base and hope to build on it now. We can start beating some of the teams out there and win some points,’’ Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer, said. Seventeenth on the grid, the start wasn’t the best of times for the Italian driver. But after a tyre-change in the first stop, the race pace of the Ferrari-powered car was clear to see. “I had a miserable start. There was too much wheelspin and some problem with the clutch and I lost a lot of positions. I was also suffering a lot of understeer with graining on the soft tyres but after we made the switch to hard tyres in the first pitstop, things improved. I’m pretty happy with the way the car behaved,’’ a very tired-looking Fisichella said. The slow start could also be attributed to Fisichella’s slightly cautious approach to the race. Chuckling he admitted, “I was a little careful as I wanted to drive more than one lap.’’ Through the weekend, the VJM01 showed a very competitive race pace, as Fisichella drove the car to its limit and battled through the midfield pack and set a set of laptimes just over one second from the leaders. Fisichella was also, in a sense, able to extract his revenge over Honda’s Rubens Barrichello, who nudged him out of Q2 reckoning on Saturday. Barrichello finished 13th, one behind Fisi.

HOW THEY FINISHED

1. KIMI RAIKKONEN (Fin) Ferrari 1:31:18.555

2. ROBERT KUBICA (Pol) BMW Sauber +00:19.570

3. HEIKKI KOVALAINEN (Fin) McLaren 00:38.450

4. JARNO TRULLI (Ita) Toyota 00:45.832

5. LEWIS HAMILTON (GBR) McLaren 00:46.548

6. NICK HEIDFELD (Ger) BMW Sauber 00:49.833

7. MARK WEBBER (Aus) Red Bull 01:08.130

8. FERNANDO ALONSO (Esp) Renault 01:10.041

9. DAVID COULTHARD (GBR) Red Bull 01:16.220

10. JENSON BUTTON (GBR) Honda 01:26.214

11. NELSON PIQUET (Bra) Renault 01:32.202

12. GIANCARLO FISICHELLA (Ita) Force India 1 lap

13. RUBENS BARRICHELLO (Bra) Honda 1 lap

14. NICO ROSBERG (Ger) Williams 1 lap

15. ANTHONY DAVIDSON (GBR) Super Aguri 1 lap

16. TAKUMA SATO (Jpn) Super Aguri 2 laps

17. KAZUKI NAKAJIMA (Jpn) Williams 2 laps

Retired

Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota—1st lap after collision with Rosberg;

Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso—1st lap, spun off track;

Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India—6th lap, hydraulic problems;

Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari—31st lap, spun off track;

Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso—40th lap, engine failure;

Fastest Lap: Nick Heidfeld, 1:35.366, lap 55.

CHAMPIONSHIP STAKES Drivers

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 14

2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 11

3. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 11

4. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 10

5. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 8

6. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams 6

7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 6

8. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 5

9. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams 3

10. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso 2

Constructors

1. McLaren 24

2. BMW Sauber 19

3. Ferrari 11

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.