My Wierd Wired World

Kimi Raikkonen finally is back unto his winning ways. After a dreary winless spell last year, the finn notched up a pole position and a victory with his very first race with Ferrari. Raikkonen won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in style as he led from start-to-finish in an exciting race. McLaren though, were the team which took away max points after double world champion Fernando Alonso came second and rookie Lewis Hamilton, on his Grand Prix debut, notched up a third place finish. Kimi’s teammate Felipe Massa could only manage 6th position after starting from the back having replaced his engine overnight.

In a race that seemed very short, the Finn led from the moment the red lights went out, setting a string of fastest laps one after another. Alonso briefly lostsecond position to teammate Hamilton at the first corner but ultimately regained that after the second round of pitstops. The only real excitement in the race came at the closing stages as David Coulthard did a spectacular fly-over atop Alex Wurz’s Williams, both drivers escaping unhurt.

Last year’s champions Renault had a mediocre race with Fisichella managing the 5th place and rookie Kovaleinen coming 10th. Honda had a disastrous start to the season with neither drivers coming in the top 10. Toyota had a mixed day with the 8th and 9th places but Ferrari, BMW and McLaren were the teams which took the max from this race.The race showed that both Ferrari and McLaren had the pace but reliablity will be a core issue, especially in the longer races to come. The next race is the Malaysian Grand Prix at sepang on the 8th of April.

Race Reports: Formula1.com | Grandprix.com