F1-Blog

McLaren make it 1-2

McLaren have made it their first one-two finish for the first time since 2005.

The McLaren result comes from the move at the start by Lewis Hamilton. Lewis came from fourth place on the grid, and hung it out in the first corner, slotting in behind Alonso and even though his heavier McLaren was slower than the lighter Ferrari of Filipe Massa, he managed to hold on until a desperate move from Filipe at corner four allowed Lewis to break away.

Fernando Alonso had it ‘easy’ for the rest of the race distance, and for the mid part of the race so did Lewis. However after the last pit stop, and on the harder compound tyres, Lewis struggled for pace in comparison to Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando. Towards the end of the race Kimi piled the pressure on the young Englishman, however Lewis held on and crossed the line for the number two spot.

Further down the field, the BMW Sauber cars both showed pace. Third spot went to Nick Heidfeld ahead of the second Ferrari of Filipe.

The Williams Toyota cars both showed pace as well, which is a good sign for the team. The Renault’s after performing badly in the qualifying showed better race pace, Giancarlo Fisichella brought his Renault home in sixth, with his young team mate Heikki Kovalainen coming home eighth.

Jarno Trulli also managed a good performance to bring his Toyota home for two points in seventh place.

So, man of the race? Well Fernando drove well, and normally it would have gone to him, as after all this is his second GP in a new team, and on new tyres. However Lewis shone throughout the race, his opening couple of corner overtake on both Ferrari’s, then his ability to soak up the pressure applied by Filipe early on, add to that a great level headed second stint drive, where he took the fastest lap of the race, and a great drive on tyres that were not working for him, while taking the pressure of a fast approaching Kimi. It has to go to the youngster, and remember this is his second GP of all time! Incredible drive, and well justified hype over the Brit.

Do we have our next ‘Mansel’ in our midst? The complete race report will be coming soon, but for now I implore you to to watch the race for yourself, it’s worth it.