Reverend
March 16th, 2008, 17:36 PM
Lewis Hamilton steered clear of the chaos at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix to get his title campaign off to the best possible start.
The Englishman dominated from the start in his McLaren to beat Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber and Nico Rosberg's Williams.
World champion Kimi Raikkonen threw away a chance to challenge Hamilton with a mistake while trying to pass the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen.
Kovalainen would have been second but for bad luck with the safety car.
It came out for the third time in a dramatic afternoon at exactly the wrong time for the Finn following a high-speed crash involving Timo Glock's Toyota on lap 44.
Kovalainen had to pit for fuel and tyres while the safety car was out, and dropped to the back of the pack.
He recovered to finish fifth, losing out in an exciting battle with Fernando Alonso's Renault in the last two laps.
Kovalainen passed the double world champion spectacularly towards the end of the penultimate lap, only to lose the place as they crossed the line for the start of the last lap when the McLaren stuttered on the pit straight.
Kovalainen revealed later that he had accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter button while removing an oil-smeared tear-off from his visor.
Heidfeld and Rosberg both drove unobtrusively excellent races to take the final two podium positions.
Heidfeld held a watching brief in the early laps and stayed out of trouble to benefit from Kovalainen's late problem.
Rosberg's third place was the best result of his career in his third full season.
Australian Grand Prix:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
3. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
4. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes
DQ Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda
6. Kazuki Nakajima* (Jpn) Williams-Toyota
7R Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari
8R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
* Nakajima handed 10-place grid penalty for next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix
Key: R = retired; DQ = disqualified.
Full race report: BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7299130.stm)
The Englishman dominated from the start in his McLaren to beat Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber and Nico Rosberg's Williams.
World champion Kimi Raikkonen threw away a chance to challenge Hamilton with a mistake while trying to pass the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen.
Kovalainen would have been second but for bad luck with the safety car.
It came out for the third time in a dramatic afternoon at exactly the wrong time for the Finn following a high-speed crash involving Timo Glock's Toyota on lap 44.
Kovalainen had to pit for fuel and tyres while the safety car was out, and dropped to the back of the pack.
He recovered to finish fifth, losing out in an exciting battle with Fernando Alonso's Renault in the last two laps.
Kovalainen passed the double world champion spectacularly towards the end of the penultimate lap, only to lose the place as they crossed the line for the start of the last lap when the McLaren stuttered on the pit straight.
Kovalainen revealed later that he had accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter button while removing an oil-smeared tear-off from his visor.
Heidfeld and Rosberg both drove unobtrusively excellent races to take the final two podium positions.
Heidfeld held a watching brief in the early laps and stayed out of trouble to benefit from Kovalainen's late problem.
Rosberg's third place was the best result of his career in his third full season.
Australian Grand Prix:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
3. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
4. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes
DQ Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda
6. Kazuki Nakajima* (Jpn) Williams-Toyota
7R Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari
8R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
* Nakajima handed 10-place grid penalty for next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix
Key: R = retired; DQ = disqualified.
Full race report: BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7299130.stm)