Lewis Hamilton endured one of the most disappointing afternoons of his short
Formula One career yesterday when a mistake at the start of the Bahrain
Grand Prix and a crash with Fernando Alonso condemned him to his worst race
finish.
Hamilton crossed the line in thirteenth position after what he called a
“disastrous” race. “I am really disappointed and feel like I let the team
down today as I am always the first to blame myself,” a disconsolate
Hamilton, who left the circuit immediately after the race, said.
The 23-year-old Briton finished a world away from his championship rivals in
the bright red Ferraris, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, who ended a
thrilling battle in first and second place respectively. Hamilton was also
beaten for the second grand prix in a row by his McLaren Mercedes team-mate,
Heikki Kovalainen, who was fifth.
The one-two for the Scuderia enabled Raikkonen to vault to the top of the
drivers’ championship, displacing Hamilton, who is equal third, while Massa
re-established his credentials as a championship contender. Perhaps more
significant, however, was the performance of the BMW Saubers of Robert
Kubica and Nick Heidfeld.
Although Kubica started from pole position for the first time and was
immediately overtaken by Massa after a slow getaway, his third-place finish
just ahead of his team-mate underlined that the German cars have arrived.
Indeed, BMW have moved to the head of the constructors’ championship for the
first time.
The talk in the paddock is that this season is beginning to look like a
three-way battle, with the BMWs showing enough pace to beat the McLarens,
though they still lack the outright speed to match the Ferrari race pace.
But with a new aerodynamic package coming for the Spanish Grand Prix in
Barcelona in three weeks’ time, the team are getting ever closer to their
first grand prix win.
Hamilton started his rookie season last year in astonishing form as he and
McLaren produced one error-free performance after another. This year,
elevated to de facto team leader in the wake of Alonso’s departure, the
pressure seems to be getting to him. He started superbly with victory in
Australia, but he and the team have since suffered gremlins more typical of
the calamitous end to last season than the beginning.
In Malaysia, Hamilton was penalised in qualifying and delayed by a tyre-change
snarl-up in the pits. This weekend he looked rattled in the car and
strangely subdued out of it. On Friday he had a crash in practice and,
having qualified in third place in a rebuilt chassis, faltered again when he
selected the wrong engine setting and his car went into “anti-stall” as he
sat on the grid.
Having dropped from third to ninth by the end of the first lap, Hamilton found
himself running behind the slower Renault of Alonso, his bitter rival. As
the pair accelerated out of turn three, Hamilton closed on Alonso’s back
axle and rode up on his right rear tyre, demolishing Hamilton’s front wing
and ruining his race.
The view of some former drivers — Mark Blundell, for example — was that Alonso
had deliberately and momentarily “lifted off” the accelerator, leaving
Hamilton nowhere to go. But if it did happen, it was very subtle. Alonso
denied he had done any such thing, as did Pat Symonds, the Renault director
of engineering, who printed off the relevant telemetry data after the race
to show that Alonso had done nothing unusual.
Hamilton did not make any accusations, describing it as a racing incident. “I
was behind him and I moved to the right and he moved to the right and that
was it — a racing incident, I guess,” he said.
“The whole weekend has not been ideal, starting with the accident on Friday,
but I will keep my chin up and bounce back at the next race. I have had such
a good run in Formula One until now and it was almost inevitable that at
some point things would go wrong. However, there is a long way to go in the
championship and I intend to win it.”
While Hamilton had a weekend to forget, Massa had one that he has been
dreaming about since he spun out of the Malaysian Grand Prix, a week after
failing to finish in Melbourne. The Brazilian has had to put up with a
typical Formula One whispering campaign along the lines that he had been
“found out” in the post-traction control era, but he silenced his critics
yesterday with a flawless performance.
Having outqualified his team-mate he surprised paddock sceptics by running
longer than the Finn in both his first two stints. In the middle part of the
race he and Raikkonen, who was chasing him, exchanged fastest laps in an
exhibition of open racing between Ferrari drivers unimaginable in the days
of Michael Schumacher. But Massa was never threatened and deserved every
drop of the champagne with which he was drenched at the finish.
“Sensational,” he said as he celebrated his second successive grand prix win
in Bahrain and his sixth career victory. “Finally after a start to the
championship under dark clouds, I can see the sunshine again.
“Clearly I always had in mind what happened in Malaysia and so I tried to pay
attention all the time to ensure I brought the car home. It is nice to be
back in the winner’s position here in Sakhir, a track I’ve always liked.”
The other three British drivers in the race fared little better than Hamilton.
Anthony Davidson did his best in the hopelessly uncompetitive Super Aguri to
finish sixteenth, while David Coulthard, who was eighteenth, had another
coming together at a corner. In Australia he clashed with Massa; this time
it was his countryman, Jenson Button, in the Honda who looked ambitious
trying to squeeze past the Scottish veteran on the inside at turn eight. The
resultant impact damaged Coulthard’s car and ended Button’s race.
Results from Manama and how they stand
(57 laps): 1, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1hr 31min 6.970sec; 2, K
Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) at 3.339sec; 3, R Kubica (Pol, BMW
Sauber) 4.998; 4, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 8.409; 5, H
Kovalainen (Fin, McLaren Mercedes) 26.789; 6, J Trulli (It,
Toyota) 41.314; 7, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull Renault) 45.473; 8, N
Rosberg (Ger, Williams Toyota) 55.889; 9, T Glock (Ger, Toyota)
1min 9.500sec; 10, F Alonso (Sp, Renault) 1:17.181; 11, R
Barrichello (Br, Honda) 1:17.862; 12, G Fisichella (It, Force
India Ferrari); 13, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes); 14, K
Nakajima (Japan, Williams Toyota); 15, S Bourdais (Fr, Scuderia
Toro Rosso Ferrari); 16, A Davidson (GB, Super Aguri Honda); 17, T
Sato (Japan, Super Aguri Honda); 18, D Coulthard (GB, Red Bull
Renault) all 1 lap behind; 19, A Sutil (Ger, Force India Ferrari) 2
laps. Retired: 20, N Piquet Jr (Br, Renault) 40 laps completed; 21,
J Button (GB, Honda) 19 laps; 22, S Vettel (Ger, Scuderia Toro
Rosso Ferrari) no laps.
Qualifying positions
1, Kubica 1min 33.096sec; 2, Massa 1:33.123; 3, Hamilton 1:33.292; 4,
Raikkonen 1:33.418; 5, Kovalainen 1:33.488; 6, Heidfeld 1:33.737; 7, Trulli
1:33.994; 8, Rosberg 1:34.015; 9, Button 1:35.057; 10, Alonso 1:35.115. Eliminated
after second session: 11, Webber 1:32.371; 12, Barrichello 1:32.508; 13,
Glock 1:32.528; 14, Piquet Jr 1:32.790; 15, Bourdais 1:32.915; 16, Nakajima
1:32.943. Eliminated after first session: 17, Coulthard 1:33.433; 18,
Fisichella 1:33.501; 19, Vettel 1:33.562; 20, Sutil 1:33.845; 21, Davidson
1:34.410; 22, Sato 1:35.725.
Championship positions
Drivers
1, Raikkonen 19pts
2, Heidfeld 16
3, Hamilton 14
= Kubica 14
= Kovalainen 14
6, Massa 10
7, Trulli 8
8, Rosberg 7
9, Alonso 6
10, Webber 4
11, Nakajima 3
12, Bourdais 2
Constructors
1, BMW Sauber 30
2, Ferrari 29
3, McLaren Mercedes 28
4, Williams Toyota 10
5, Toyota 8
6, Renault 6
7, Red Bull Renault 4
8, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari 2
Grands prix to come
April 27: Spanish GP (Barcelona).
May 11: Turkish GP (Istanbul).
May 25: Monaco GP (Monte Carlo).
June 8: Canadian GP (Montreal).
June 22: French GP (Magny-Cours).
July 6: British GP (Silverstone).
July 20: German GP (Hockenheim).
August 3: Hungarian GP (Budapest).
August 24: European GP (Valencia).
September 7: Belgian GP (Spa-Francorchamps).
September 14: Italian GP (Monza).
September 28: Singapore GP (Singapore).
October 12: Japanese GP (Fuji).
October 19: Chinese GP (Shanghai).
November 2: Brazilian GP (Interlagos).
I'm waiting for the next Hamilton race.
It must be funny :-))))
JAL, Gijon, España
Could someone tell me who Machin Blundell is ?
Philippe, paris, france
Hamilton is half a driver since he does not have Alonso's telemetry and expertise.
Nathan, CHELTENHAM, UK
I just can't help to think if Alonso would have been the one crashing the Best-Driver-Ever (also known as Hamilton), from behind...
... what the headers would have been in the "impartial" british newspapers?
"BITTER" ALONSO SHOULD BE EXPELLED FROM THE F1??
Nath, CHELTENHAM, UK
Funny how McLaren are not doing so well since they were cut off from the "insider info" about Ferrari .
And also funny how Hamilton is not doing so well since he does not have the benefit of Alonso's telemetry .
By the end of the season,we should know whether the 2007 season was one where Hamilton rode on Alonso's coat tails and illegal info about Ferrari's cars and strategy, or whether he actually has any talent of his own.
C.Elder, Paris, France
In Barhein Ferrari as a team gave a lesson to Ron Dennis although I think Ron didn't realize of that.
The last 15 laps both ferrari slowed the pace to save the car machine for next Grand Prix, so Raikkonen accepted the second position.
Last year in Monaco, Mclaren got the first and second position (alonso first, Hamilton second) and they did the same thing than Ferrari this GP. When the race finished the son of Anthony Hamilton started the war which finishs in November as everybody knows. He complained to the FIA stewards he was braked by the team so he couldn't fight to win the race. Instead of calling off the issue Ron Dennis allowed his "son" to go further.
Ron you are an amazing manager!!!!!
Carlos, Madrid, Spain
Hamilton is one of the biggest fiascos in sport ever.
Tato Dulanci, Vitoria, Spain
Ladies and gentlemen, come and see F1 next show:
Hamilton and his crazy crane.
Hamilton attacks Alonso in the rear.
Hamilton harvests the grass.
Hamilton presses wrong buttons
Hamilton eats the tyres.
And more, much more fun.
Tato Dulanci, Vitoria, Spain
"...But Massa was never threatened and deserved every drop of the champagne with which he was drenched at the finish..."
I don't think Massa had even a drop of Champagne in Bahrain...
"However, unlike in other Grand Prix events, in Bahrain, the winners are not allowed to have champagne at the podium and spray it as a victory celebration. This is due to the strict Islamic norms regarding alcohol. As an alternative, Waard, a non-alcoholic drink made from rosewater is used for the celebration."
Tetsuya, Tokyo, Japan
It is plain for everyone to see on TV that Hamilton is easily the worst driver on track in terms of preserving car tyres, one of the most important skills of any F1 driver.
Then there is the gesture he made while passing Fisichella, who he wasn't lapping and was simply defending his race position. Hamilton then pitted and went slower than Fisichella for the rest of the race (and finished behind him)
In truth, perhaps his attitude problems aren't entirely his fault. By letting him know last year that F1 rules don't apply to him (safety car accident, extra sets of tyres in Brazil, tow-truck incident, obstructing Kimi's hot lap, etc. etc.) the F1 administration should also share some of the blame for this.
Mclaren-Mercedes were clearly at odds in Bahrain without a driver of the caliber of Alonso. To make matters worse, they no longer have "fresh" Ferrari data to help them along. Predictably then, they are sliding back to the form they had in the 8 years prior to last year's scandal.
Tetsuya, Tokyo, Japan
"British Rubbish"
Kormak, aqui,
Why take the time to read it then?
Jimmy, Newcastle, England
I am looking forward to Hamilton's next one. Bless him.
jose, durham, UK
Blundell, you have to apologize, because Hamilton was guilty yesterday, no Alonso. I can't believe how blind are you. Alonso never do something unfair and something against nobody and less cash against other, he is a fair rookie, serious and hard-worker. i can't say the same from Hamilton.
sole, toledo,
Hamilton has so much to learn!
And to learn he needs a teacher. But now he has not a teacher (Alonso is gone), he has another pupil (Kova). What's he going to do now??
Montoya, the prise debilitates
Ãñigo Montoya, Madrid, Spain
I respect Blundell, but yesterday he went a little too far. I understand that he dislikes Alonso, but making such a drastic accusation is just unfair, anyway I'm sure he will apologise.
And also, what happend to the press conference???
Mark, Leeds,
In order to prevent Hamilton from destroy his car, we should order Alonso go out from the F1, It is clear Hamilton can't stand Alonso (something visceral, beyond his control) and so, he lost the control of his car. Poor Golden Boy, the New Shumacher. Alonso go home!
KaTO, Taipa Macao, Macao
Hamilton has admitted he had a distrastrous race. He blames himself and has referred to the collision as a racing incident. Just read the article.
Nick, Leeds, England
It is funny. Martin Brundle says that Alonso braked on purpose, but telemetry shows the contrary. Hamilton says he moved to the right and so did Alonso, but TV images clearly show that Alonso did not change his trajectory before the crash (look at sec. 40 of this video: http://www.viddler.com/explore/ionutbratu84/videos/72/).
I do not think that searching for excuses is the right way to handle this "race incident" (as Hamilton called it). Hamilton and his followers should just admit he made a mistake.
Peter, London, England
Since when Martin Blundell has been a sportsman???
The guy is as pathetic as Hamilton driving at the moment, but maybe a better choice of words would be "Partial"???
Mr Blundell is, as good an expert, as he was an F1 driver, practically a disaster.
Shame on ITV for allowing him to talk.
Mario, London, UK
I think there is a certain driver who should swap surnames with one of his colleagues on the grid: How does Lewis Carl 'Buttons' sound?
Also, Ralf Schumacher's throne as the Demolition Derby Dude has been promptly secured by David Coulthard.
As far as Mark Webber's remark on Alonso possibly having deliberately slowed down is concerned, please give the guy the benefit of the doubt. His turtle just can't go any faster. Maybe in Barcelona we'll see an improvement.
Michel Angstadt, Serranillos del Valle, (Madrid) Spain
Oh my God! This Mark Blundell shouldn't be allowed to speak as an expert. He sounds like the most fanatical of Hamilton's supporters. There was no break test at all as it was proven with the telemetry which shows that Alonso was accelerating. But probably he thinks that Alonso should have stepped aside and let him pass. I knew Blundell was extremely biased as he proved last year but now he’s showed his true colours. I would have never expected this from a professional who drove a F1 car for many years.
Disgraceful.
Feanor, Galway, Ireland
Hamilton should take him a camomile: He has shown the fingers when he has overcome Fisichella and other slow drivers.
Andrea, Roma,
Hamilton goes mad any time he sees "bitter" Alonso ahead. This happens last year in Monaco (attacking "bitter" Alonso to the finish line and putting at risk the 1, 2 positions for the McLaren team), then in Brazil when "bitter" Alonso overtook him and he made enough mistakes to miss his World Championship chances and again yesterday in Bahrein, where he crashed "bitter" Alonso. In the three cases, Hamilton was responsible of those incidents. I think Hamilton is overvalued and McLaren has made a big mistake by betting on him and letting "bitter" Alonso go. With this decision Mc Laren has behaved as a patriotic team rather than as a professional one. Who is going to develop and set-up the car now? Who of the two teenagers: Hamilton or Kovalainen?
mercurio, Madrid, Spain
Hamilton must be penalised for that incident.
He destroyed Alonso's car.
Do you imagine a vice-versa situation?
British Rubbish.
Kormak, aqui,
I can't belive you blame Alonso.
Great way to cool down emotions before the Spain GP in Barcelona.Good job Martin Brundle and British press!
Pau, Lima, Peru