Lewis Hamilton wrote his name in Formula One history yesterday when, with a
mature drive to a second-place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix behind
Felipe Massa, of Ferrari, he became the first driver to finish on the podium
in each of his first three races.
Perhaps more significantly, the Briton also made the leap, during 57
consistent laps in the desert heat of Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit, from being
regarded as a mere rookie of outstanding ability who might win a race or two
in his maiden season to a serious title contender.
With a third place in Australia and seconds in Malaysia and Bahrain, Hamilton
is now level on 22 points at the top of the drivers’ championship alongside
his McLaren Mercedes teammate, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen, of
Ferrari, while Massa lies fourth five points adrift.
It is no exaggeration to say that the 22-year-old from Hertfordshire is
already Britain’s best title hope since Damon Hill’s championship-winning
season in 1996. He is also the favourite to win the BBC Sports Personality
of the Year award, while the sport itself has not looked this exciting for
years, with three different winners to start the season.
Hamilton’s ultra-consistent driving, both in qualifying, which put him on the
front row of the grid — second — for the first time, and during the race,
came in stark contrast to Alonso. The two-times defending world champion
looked out of sorts all weekend and struggled with poor handling and lack of
grip to finish fifth, a long way behind his supposed acolyte.
Alonso has been regarded as McLaren’s champion-elect this season, but Bahrain
has changed all that and everybody, from Hamilton himself to senior managers
in McLaren, now recognise that the Briton’s remarkable composure under the
pressure of race conditions is making him a serious player this season.
Hamilton has been cautious about talking of championships — that is
understandable from a modest young man who is as surprised and delighted by
his extraordinary debut as his millions of new fans — yet after the race, he
talked openly of a title bid.
Asked whether he believed he now had the same chance in the title race as
Alonso, he said: “Absolutely. I don’t see why not. I have the same car and I
seem to be as competitive as him. As long as I can keep up the consistency,
I know now that a win is going to be possible. We need to make no mistakes
and try to take advantage of this four weeks to the next race to try and
keep on beating the Ferraris.”
If Hamilton came of age here, no less can be said of Massa, who started from
pole for the second grand prix in succession, but was under enormous
pressure after making a mess of his winning opportunity in Malaysia a week
ago. In the paddock, the feeling is widely shared that the likeable
Brazilian’s career is hanging in the balance somewhat and that his
confidence could have been irretrievably damaged by another failure.
To give him his due, however, Massa drove beautifully. At the start, the scene
of his trouble in Malaysia, he did not put a foot wrong despite Hamilton’s
attempts to wrong-foot him, and he drove a clean race from there. Just as
Hamilton had embarrassed Alonso, so Massa left the much more highly paid
Raikkonen, who was third, looking sheepish at the end. As a result, the
battle for supremacy at Ferrari is wide open after three races.
While Massa enjoyed himself in front, Hamilton held his grid position
throughout. He kept Alonso, who got ahead of Raikkonen at the first corner,
at bay early on. Then, once the Finn had shuffled past Alonso during the
first round of pitstops, Hamilton drove comfortably ahead of Raikkonen and
was attacking Massa in the closing laps.
Nick Heidfeld, of BMW Sauber, drove an excellent race that included a
courageous pass of Alonso to secure fourth place for the second race in a
row. The German is getting the best out of the fast-improving BMWs and the
team’s ambition to be title contenders next year looks well on course. His
teammate, Robert Kubica, had more bad luck and had to settle for sixth
place, after driving throughout with the fuel flap open, which ruined the
aerodynamic flow over his car.
David Coulthard impressed with a fighting performance from 21st on the grid
for Red Bull until a drive-shaft failure stopped him when in seventh place
on lap 38. Anthony Davidson had a good day for Super Aguri until his engine
blew four laps before the finish when he was in twelfth position, but Jenson
Button was the victim of a collision with Coulthard on the first lap, which
ended his race.
Result
1, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1hr 33min 27.515sec; 2, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren
Mercedes) at 2.360sec behind; 3, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 10.839; 4, N
Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 13.831; 5, F Alonso (Sp, McLaren Mercedes)
14.426; 6, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 45.529; 7, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 1min
21.371sec; 8, G Fisichella (It, Renault) 1:21.701; 9, H Kovalainen (Fin,
Renault) 1:29.411; 10, N Rosberg (Ger, Williams-Toyota) 1:29.916; 11, A Wörz
(Austria, Williams-Toyota) at 1 lap behind; 12, R Schumacher (Ger, Toyota) 1
lap; 13, R Barrichello (Br, Honda) 1 lap; 14, C Albers (Neth,
Spyker-Ferrari) 2 laps; 15, A Sutil (Ger, Spyker-Ferrari) 4 laps; 16, A
Davidson (GB, Super Aguri-Honda) 6 laps.
Did not finish: M Webber (Aus, Red Bull-Renault) 37 laps completed, T
Sato (Japan, Super Aguri-Honda) 34 laps, D Coulthard (GB, Red Bull-Renault)
32 laps, V Liuzzi (It, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 23 laps, S Speed (US,
Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari) no laps, J Button (GB, Honda) no laps.
Qualifying positions: 1, Massa 1min 32.652sec; 2, Hamilton 1:32.935; 3,
Raikkonen 1:33.131; 4, Alonso 1:33.192; 5, Heidfeld 1:33.404; 6, Kubica
1:33.710; 7, Fisichella 1:34.056; 8, Webber 1:34.106; 9, Trulli 1:34.154;
10, Rosberg 1:34.399.
Eliminated after second 15min session: 11, Wörz 1:32.915; 12,
Kovalainen 1:32.935; 13, Davidson 1:33.082; 14, Schumacher 1:33.294; 15,
Barrichello 1:33.624; 16, Button 1:33.731.
Eliminated after first 15min session: 17, Sato 1:33.984; 18, Liuzzi
1:34.024; 19, Speed 1:34.333; 20, Sutil 1:35.280; 21, Coulthard 1:35.341;
22, Albers 1:35.533.
Championship positions: Drivers: equal 1, Alonso, Hamilton and
Raikkonen 22pts; 4, Massa 17; 5, Heidfeld 15; 6, Fisichella 8; 7, Trulli 4;
8, Kubica 3; 9, Rosberg 2; equal 10, Schumacher and Kovalainen 1.
Constructors: 1, McLaren Mercedes 44; 2, Ferrari 39; 3, BMW Sauber 18;
4, Renault 9; 5, Toyota 5; 6, Williams-Toyota 2. Next race: May 13: Spanish
GP(Barcelona).
Hamilton´s perfomance is good because he has a well balanced car thanks to Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa. Both of them have worked very hard to achieve that compromise between reliability and speed. Give Hamilton a Spyker and see what happens...Hamilton´s driving skills are excellent, but it is not enough to win a title. British press should stop complain about Alonso, because Hamilton won´t ever have better teacher than him, and what happend last sunday in Monaco was perfectly normal. What if Hamilton push Alonso and crash? because don´t forget that Alonso´s experience is huge in comparison with Lewis, and he can stay cool under pressure as he has demonstrated several ocassions when 7 times world champion Michael Schumacher tried to push Alonso to the limits without success....
Jesus Martinez, Zaragoza, Spain
let's not get carried away....hamilton is doing well this season just because he's been given a good car. Alonso, Schumi, hakkinen..all started from the bottom driving crappy cars, got experience and gradually managed to reach the glory. Hamilton should just shut up, drive and profit from the opportunity of having a World Champion as team mate. Hopefully he'll learn to be a bit more humble...
Ana, Madrid, Spain
Why not?
After 5 G.Ps he has the same points as defending champion Fernando Alonso and has finished 3 times in front of him.
He's a rookie still, but if he doesn't get the title this year, it's gonna happen next season.
Jose Costa, Lisbon, Portugal
Alonso is still the best driver in the world, so until Hamilton can reach the Driver's World Championship will swallow lots of fumes from Alonso's car. And even if he does correctly his work (wich is run millions of miles to improve car's performance) Alonso will keep the crown because his innate talent to drive to the limit (much bigger than Hamilton's). Hamilton has so much to learn....
Alvaro, Castellon, Spain
Lewis Hamilton is certainly good enough to be World
Champion it is just a matter of time before he gets it.
Wim Moen, Eerbeek, The Netherlands
Hamilton has yet to prove he can be a solid and cold driver, he makes all sorts of mistakes as it can be appreciated during trainings and in-race. He is backed by a fantastic team and a suprerb competitive team + he is doing well on qual.
A good opporunity for Britain to own the title again, but not yet, Alonso remains the best driver on the track for now.
Ed, London,
He is able to win the championship but he cannot. He is the rookie in the team so he has to allow Alonso to win. After all you cannot complain, Alonso is the best of the lot. Greetings from Gozo.
Vince, Gozo, Malta
I understand that english people is anxious for having a world winner but don´t expect that for soon. Hamilton is a very good driver but ... Alonso is much much better now. Perhaps McLaren is the only team in which the two drivers run in the same conditions (without team strategy). Hamilton in Ferrari or in Renault ( in a non-british team) would be in a very different situation. Alonso is now simply the best one and the champion (perhaps the fact that he is spanish is not a good new for the britons).
sarah, london,
F1 is not a sport actually so everything is possible. If Hamilton gives a chance for selling more computers, tobacco or whatever surely he will win or will be made the winner. The same would happen with any other contender.
Toni, Barcelona, Catalunya
I'm write from Spain and i think that Hamilton is still young for win the championship. Alonso, Raikkonnen and Massa will have it difficult, and Hamilton will have oportunities, but i think that Hamilton will be champion of F1 in 2 or 3 years.
A greeting from the best city of Spain, Barcelona
Sike, Barcelona, Spain
Hamilton may have had a good debut but he will soon be pulled back down to earth once either Alonso leaves McLaren or McLaren start seeing sense and start supporting and helping the world champion (Alonso).
Sarah, Glasgow, Scotland
This Hamilton's debuting is amazing! Now the F1 is really watchable! But I think some pilots should be a little more aggressive...
Why does anyone believe in Massa? It is his second hat trick, pole position, best lap and, of course, the winner as well.
Well, I think anyone of the 4 big ones can win the championship, but given the last results I would say that the champion will be either Massa or Hamilton.
Leonardo Bastos, Sheffield, UK
I think its great to see all the spanish are getting behind alonso and saying hamilton has no chance till he retires, but i think Hamilton has a lot to learn and we still have a lot more to see from him.
It is true that he hasnt really had much in the terms of a challenge from the other drivers yet, but surely thats a good thing as well as a bad.
Lets see how the year pans out because Hamilton will improve and if he's already beating Alonso now, where will he be in ten races time?
Christopher Duffin, Dublin, Ireland
Hello. I want to congratulation to Hamilton. I think he will win the titel of world champion, but he must stand up to the rest of the season, if he do this he will be the winner this year. An other important fact is that the car have to drive the complete next time so fantastic.
Richard, Heidenau, Germany
Hi! In first place, congratulations to Hamilton!! We know a little English but it is enough to say that Alonso is the best racer on the Earth so Hamilton will have to wait until Fernando retires. We love Button!!!!
Alberto and Jesus, Monreal del Campo, Spain
Louis is a great driver, but lets not forget that F1 is very long and nerve breaking. He has been extremly lucky until now, but what will he do under stress with 1 of the bigger named drivers 2 iches away and putting pressure on him at every turn. Will he be able to hold out? Don't let anyone forget that Louis team mate is the actuall world champion and the only one who was able to end with Schumacher 10 year hold on F1 racing, so Louis learn all you can from him and don't try to fly before you can walk.
Susi, Malaga, Spain
Hamilton will win the championship... in 5 or 6 years, when Alonso retired the F1.
PASCUAL, MADRID, SPAIN
Lewis Hamilton is obviously a driver with great potential; regrettably he has two nemeses, the British Press and the nation’s expectation. As a young man he has all the necessary attributes for becoming World Champion, youth, and ‘the risk on injury’ that at such a young age not a matter that will enter his mind. You have a great car Lewis and a good Team Manager who will steer you towards you objective – Bon Chance!
Reg Proudfoot, Whaley Bridge, United Kingdom
Sir, He surely can if Ron Dennis wants this.
ROSS HENRY, london,
Lewis Hamilton is, without doubt, a future World Champion but I focus on the word 'future'. To seriously expect Hamilton to outpace the likes of Raikkonen and Alonso over the course of an entire season is an expectation too far.
We Brits have a habit of taking young, sporting potential and overloading it with premature expectation that ultimately fails to appear. Tim Henman anyone? Yes, we should all be excited by young Lewis Hamilton, but lets give the lad some room to grow shall we?
Simon Douglas, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
Whilst I share in the collective enthusiasm around Lewis' encouraging performances in his maiden F1 season, it is important we don't fall victim to customary British hysteria. To keep pace with the current World Champion in equal equipment is certainly impressive, but to utter of the Championship at this early stage is farcical. Lewis, being a level-headed chap, will, I'm sure, laugh off such hyperbole. To evoke comparisons with the elite pantheon of Formula One greats is ridiculous; the sport has changed phenomenally and to leap into arguably the most prized berth on the grid, the McLaren Mercedes, unquestionably distorts the achievement of three successive podiums; Senna wrestled with a Toleman-Hart; Schumacher a temperamental Jordan; Alonso himself began in a lowly Minardi - lets not get carried away...
Keith Gillespie, Peterborough, England
Steve and Mazen
Schumacher drove only one race for Jordan (and that only lasted until the first corner). He drove the remainder of the 1991 season (5 races) for Benetton, who had already won one race that season, but were not truly competitive with Williams and McLaren.
Matt, Bristol,
For sure the young Hamilton has lots of talent. But, he does have a team behind him which is capable of producing the goods. The team is one thing... consistancy is one thing, finishing is another. If, and it is a big if.. Mclaren can provide a car capable of finishing a Grand Prix, then this fresh faced young man, Lewis hamilton, can deliver the goods... I have no dought about that.
My main concern is that McLaren will ask him to allow Alonso to take the victories. That is all providing Alonso is in a position to do so. I remember Coultard being in a winning position and allowing his team mate to take the race. We must not forget that teams have their policies and they have there duty to there sponsers.
I really do wish our new British Driver all the best and there is nothing more inviting to me as to see Lewis Hamilton win the F1 title in his first year. What a sensation that would be, not just for the Nation, but for F1. and for the sport itself.
All the best Lewis.
P.Y.
Peter Yetton, Romford, England
steve, michael shumacher started his career in jordans, a mid to bottom of the fielder at the time.
mazen zeidan, vancouver, canada
I disagree with Nacho - Schumacher didn't achieve this, and he was racing Bennetton's. That says a lot about Lewis' talent
Steve, Solihull,
I'm really happy for him. It's great to see a fresh face making the circuit interesting, and he's british. I just hope he stays consistent, if he does that at his current form it will be a huge triumph for him and british racing regardless of whether he wins the championship or not. Lets not hype up another young British sporting prodigy, I fear that Murray and Rooney are already starting to show negative effects of exactly that. We need to let our youngsters develop on their own time.
D, london,
I am agree with everybody that Hamilton is a good driver, and he is the first who gets 3 podiums in 3 races. But you have to take into account that he has started to run with one of the most important teams, Mclaren- Mercedes. Most of the champions always began in small scuderies.
Nacho, Zaragoza, España
If Lweis Hamilton's pit stops had been a bit quicker on Sunday he could have won...Maclaren seemed to take a couple of seconds longer over LH compared to the Ferraris...
Surely I was not the only one to notice that...
M
Joe, Berlin, Germany
Well done Hamilton for shaking up F1's big boys,and actually make them pull their fingers out and RACE.He is a definite World champ in the making but will it be this season??How will he cope when his engine blows on him or has to retire with dodgy breaks??How he responds will show how he will have adjusted to F1 and launch a serious challenge for the Drivers Title.Mr Hamilton i salute you for making F1 watchable again.
Mr D G Roberts, Derby,
juan, Lewis is a team player, remember his second race holding off 2 Ferrari for your man Alonso, to win. But Lewis was not given any credit by your man either. I hope Lewis, don't believe the hype keep grounded and just focus on what he need to do. I think Ron Dennis, and Lewis family have done a great job creating such a driver.
Pauline Green, London, England
If the question is 'can Hamilton win the F1 Championship this year', of course the answer is yes. He has a good car and a lot of confidence after his astonishingly good start. If the question is 'will he win it this year', then most people would say no. Despite his long, trophy filled progress to F1, his inexperience must become significant at some point.
As long as he has a competitive car, I'd say he'll win the championship soon, but let's not allow the hype to become hysteria as it so often does with British sports.
Richard Bell, Salford, UK
My congratulations to Hamilton, but if to keep the second position hamilton had to do 5 zig zag (the regalement only allow 2) is because he isn't a team player , what's about this questionable manoeuvre in this newspaper?. Hamilton will be the new champion of formula 1 but it is only the third race and we have to wait the next races. It is true that Alonso and Hamilton have the same car but the improvement of Mclaren is because of Alonso and his experience. The euphoria of the Ron Dennis and Mclaren team is reasonable but what's about Alonso, They have forgot the last year, but the time will resolve who will win the f1 champonship.
And, of course my congratulations to Hamilton for his beginning
juan cruz, valencia, spain
let's celebrate his successes but back off on the hysteria. he is a remarkably mature and naturally gifted young driver. its true that professional sport these days is big news and entertainment but the UK media shows no balance or understanding - either hysterical adulation or humiliating vilification. where's the consistency and loyalty, the willingness to accept that just maybe Louis won't win the world championship in his maiden year. if he doesn't he is likely to be flayed and filletted and ridiculed. i would suggest he keeps doing what he does best and doesn't read the reviews!
Paul Savage, Cambridge,