Lewis Hamilton 'to be UK's richest sportsman'
By Richard Edwards
Last Updated: 8:06am BST 01/10/2007
Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of becoming the youngest ever Formula One world champion after winning the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday.
Hamilton wins in Japan
Lap by lap: As it happened
In pictures: Alonso misses out
The 22-year-old is now within one race of taking the title - which would make him the first driver ever to triumph in his debut season.
Lewis Hamilton is closing in on the F1 title
Commentators have likened Hamilton’s extraordinary year to the emergence of sporting legends such as Muhammed Ali, George Best and Tiger Woods - and he is tipped to become Britain's first ever billionnaire sportsman.
He will secure the championship in China next weekend if he beats his teammate and rival Fernando Alonso, or finishes no worse than one place behind him. Hamilton said it was hard to hide his excitement at the possibility of rewriting the history books.
But he added that he would not be celebrating until the title was certain. “I won’t be going partying,” he said. “At the back of your mind, in the subconscious, you do think about it a little bit but I think the key for me is just focus on the next race and just make sure my preparations are right and take it as it comes. We’ll see after the next race.”
Hamilton, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, is on a £400,000 contract this year, although bonus payments will push that to more than £1 million, especially if he is crowned world champion.
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Keeping Hamilton will cost McLaren a fortune - some estimate as much as £150 million in salary alone for a five-year deal, making him the highest-paid driver ever.
He is already the face of Vodafone and Tag Heuer, and marketing experts predict his commercial appeal could transcend Tiger Woods and David Beckham in the lifetime earning stakes.
Retired seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, who is reported to have netted a total of around £500 million, earned about £17 million a year.
But Hamilton’s appeal will be even greater because he is F1’s first black racer and potential champion rookie.
“It is possible that Hamilton could become the first British sport billionaire. The fact he is black is a unique factor, but also the fact that he is likable and well-adjusted is key,” said Nigel Currie, director of Brand Rapport, a UK company specialising in sponsorship.
Hamilton has had to overcome adversity after a tumultous season for McLaren, who were stripped of all their team points after being found guilty of spying on rivals Ferrari.
He has endured a season of conflict with his teammate Alonso, who has struggled to come to terms with being beaten by his junior partner. And the young sportsman has also found it hard to cope with his worldwide fame, and the demands of the paparrazi.
He has called for and end to the incessant intrusion into his private life - and has warned that he will be driven out of living in the UK if it continues.
He said he was hurt by coverage which falsely portrayed him as a playboy. “They [the press] are all taking about having a British sensation and having a British world champion in Formula 1 - which I am trying my best to do,” he said last month. “I am proud to represent my country, but there is nothing worse than people in the country trying to bring you down and try to ruin your image and your reputation.
“It would just force me out and I would need to go somewhere where I don’t get abused and if that’s the case then it would be a shame.”
Showing posts with label Motor Racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motor Racing. Show all posts
Monday, October 1, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
Hamilton has his say!
Hamilton tells Dennis: Go f*cking swivel!
Mon 06 Aug, 07:23 AM
The full extent of Lewis Hamilton's temporary falling out with McLaren team boss - and long-time mentor - Ron Dennis came to light ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, revealing the heated post-qualifying exchange that was the apparent cause of Dennis' headphone-throwing display on pit-wall.
While many guessed that the displeasure was directed at Fernando Alonso, after the Spaniard had blocked Hamilton at the session's final tyre change, analysis of the radio traffic between Dennis and his protégé provided interesting reading for Britain's Sunday newspaper buyers.
"The 22-year-old Brit then swore at Dennis over the team radio, blasting: "Don't ever f****** do that to me again"," reported both News of the World and The Sunday Times.
"Dennis hit back, blasting: "Don't ever f****** speak to me like that."
But Hamilton responded: "Go f****** swivel."
Things were rosier following the race, which Hamilton won from a pole inherited when Alonso was demoted five places on the grid for his pit-lane indiscretion, but the Briton admitted that there had had to be a lot of bridge-building in the aftermath of the session, in which he was accused of precipitating the blocking incident by not allowing Alonso through in the fuel-burning phase.
"I came back, everything was quiet, we didn't really speak too much," Hamilton revealed in the post-race press conference, "I went back to my engineers, we did the same job as always, a debrief. Then we had a sit-down with Martin Whitmarsh - Fernando and his mechanic and me and my mechanic - and we went through what the programme was.
"They asked me why I didn't do the part that they want me to, and I explained to them. I said 'I made a mistake, I apologise, it won't happen again. But it has happened, let's forget about it and move on. We are both on the front row, so we can still smile'.
"I thought that, because of the argument I had with Ron over the radio, he was obviously angry, I thought that perhaps he was just teaching me a lesson, so I just took it on the chin. Obviously, yesterday, he wasn't very happy. We just had to be professional, we spoke about it. I told him my views, he respected those. He said 'okay, I respect that because it is part of your personality and perhaps, in your situation, maybe that was better for you or whatever'.
"We came to a mutual understanding and started on a clean slate today. It is not great because of all the problems we are having already with the FIA and with Ferrari. It is just more pressure on the team. The comforting thing is that considering we have all this stuff going on, even this weekend, it just shows how strong the team are because we still came here and still qualified 1-2. We came here and weren't distracted from our job. That's the main thing.
"I think, going on from now, we need to analyse the weekend as always. We need to sit down, I guess, and talk as a team and re-unite. But I have no worries about it.
"I have been working with Ron for nearly ten years now so, okay, it is quite a big event and a problem for the team, but I think the relationship we have is very very strong and something like this is not going to come between us. We will move on and move on to bigger and better things."
Mon 06 Aug, 07:23 AM
The full extent of Lewis Hamilton's temporary falling out with McLaren team boss - and long-time mentor - Ron Dennis came to light ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, revealing the heated post-qualifying exchange that was the apparent cause of Dennis' headphone-throwing display on pit-wall.
While many guessed that the displeasure was directed at Fernando Alonso, after the Spaniard had blocked Hamilton at the session's final tyre change, analysis of the radio traffic between Dennis and his protégé provided interesting reading for Britain's Sunday newspaper buyers.
"The 22-year-old Brit then swore at Dennis over the team radio, blasting: "Don't ever f****** do that to me again"," reported both News of the World and The Sunday Times.
"Dennis hit back, blasting: "Don't ever f****** speak to me like that."
But Hamilton responded: "Go f****** swivel."
Things were rosier following the race, which Hamilton won from a pole inherited when Alonso was demoted five places on the grid for his pit-lane indiscretion, but the Briton admitted that there had had to be a lot of bridge-building in the aftermath of the session, in which he was accused of precipitating the blocking incident by not allowing Alonso through in the fuel-burning phase.
"I came back, everything was quiet, we didn't really speak too much," Hamilton revealed in the post-race press conference, "I went back to my engineers, we did the same job as always, a debrief. Then we had a sit-down with Martin Whitmarsh - Fernando and his mechanic and me and my mechanic - and we went through what the programme was.
"They asked me why I didn't do the part that they want me to, and I explained to them. I said 'I made a mistake, I apologise, it won't happen again. But it has happened, let's forget about it and move on. We are both on the front row, so we can still smile'.
"I thought that, because of the argument I had with Ron over the radio, he was obviously angry, I thought that perhaps he was just teaching me a lesson, so I just took it on the chin. Obviously, yesterday, he wasn't very happy. We just had to be professional, we spoke about it. I told him my views, he respected those. He said 'okay, I respect that because it is part of your personality and perhaps, in your situation, maybe that was better for you or whatever'.
"We came to a mutual understanding and started on a clean slate today. It is not great because of all the problems we are having already with the FIA and with Ferrari. It is just more pressure on the team. The comforting thing is that considering we have all this stuff going on, even this weekend, it just shows how strong the team are because we still came here and still qualified 1-2. We came here and weren't distracted from our job. That's the main thing.
"I think, going on from now, we need to analyse the weekend as always. We need to sit down, I guess, and talk as a team and re-unite. But I have no worries about it.
"I have been working with Ron for nearly ten years now so, okay, it is quite a big event and a problem for the team, but I think the relationship we have is very very strong and something like this is not going to come between us. We will move on and move on to bigger and better things."
Monday, July 2, 2007
Hamilton Predicts
MOTORSPORT
Hamilton makes Silverstone pledge
Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren can match Ferrari at next weekend's British Grand Prix despite coming third at Magny-Cours.
And so do I !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hamilton makes Silverstone pledge
Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren can match Ferrari at next weekend's British Grand Prix despite coming third at Magny-Cours.
And so do I !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, April 16, 2007
It's that man again ~ Hamilton
Hamilton confirms class in drive to history
By David Tremayne in Bahrain
Published: 16 April 2007
He said before the race that he hoped the result would create "a different championship" for him. Well, Felipe Massa certainly got that after a splendid third grand prix triumph for Ferrari. But the presence of Lewis Hamilton in a challenging second place, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and, more crucially, well ahead of his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, has turned the series on its head.
The rookie sensation not only established a new mark by scoring three successive podium finishes in his first three races, but now shares the points lead with Alonso and Raikkonen, the men who were supposed to be the stars.
Yet again, it was a superb race. It began with Massa on pole position, desperate to redeem himself after his gaffe last week in Malaysia, Hamilton was alongside him on the front row for the first time in his Formula One career, and Raikkonen and Alonso were apparently discarded on row two.
As in Sepang, the start would be crucial. On the cleaner side of the grid Massa got away well. Hamilton, on the dirtier side, did a decent job and protected himself. Alonso failed to beat Raikkonen to the turn, but went around him as the Finn momentarily faltered midway through, while Nick Heidfeld signalled immediately that he would be a threat for BMW-Sauber.
The first stint went Massa's way, but Hamilton pushed him hard and was only a second adrift when the first pit stops began as he stopped on lap 19. Massa came in a lap later, followed on ensuing laps by Alonso and then Raikkonen. The Spaniard's late stop at least explained why he trailed Hamilton in qualifying, but this day he would have no answer to him.
Massa resumed the lead, and opened it to more than 10 seconds as Hamilton and Alonso struggled in the middle stint. The champion had already lost a place courtesy of Raikkonen's later pit call, and on the 32nd lap lost another when the underrated Heidfeld pulled off a wonderful passing move round the outside.
Hamilton was thus indisputably McLaren's prime hope, and girded with the harder compound Bridgestone tyres for the final stint, on lap 44, he changed status from the hunted in Sepang to the hunter in Sakhir. Massa's advantage shrank dramatically, from 7.6sec to 2.3sec by the flag. Raikkonen, by contrast, fell back while Alonso never made a move stick on Heidfeld.
Massa, eyes shining, savoured the success and sheepishly dedicated it to his girlfriend Rafaela, "because she had such a tough time last week". He added: "We put everything together and, hopefully, now we are back to fight. The championship is very, very close. The second stint was crucial, and in the third I had a few tenths' margin if I needed them, but that was not necessary."
Hamilton's performance once again was the highlight of the race, particularly as it left Alonso in the desert dust, and his new benchmark prompted a single-word response: "Sweet!"
It was another bitterly disappointing day for his countrymen - Jenson Button was taken out on the opening lap; David Coulthard's Red Bull failed him with a broken driveshaft after he had demonstrated that he has not forgotten how to overtake, and Anthony Davidson drove splendidly in the thick of some fantastic midfield fights only to suffer a cruel Honda engine failure near the end.
Hamilton's only real fright came as Davidson's Super Aguri spat a cloud of oil in his face. "It didn't cause me any trouble," he said. "I don't think I made any mistakes that cost me much. I struggled a bit on used tyres, locked up the brakes a couple of times, but otherwise it was pretty smooth. The car was good today so I had a base from which to put pressure on Felipe. We had great pace in the first stint and I could keep up with him. If I'd been able to get in front, I would have pulled away, I'm sure."
The first win thus remains to be secured, but it will come and it will come this year. Of that there is no doubt. And, as Hamilton demonstrated so clearly yesterday, he will have as much chance to fight for the world championship as the man who won it for the last two years.
"I don't see why not," Hamilton said matter-of-factly, the very calmness with which he accepted the idea a clear indication of what is really going on behind those warm brown eyes, "as long as I can keep up this consistency. For the remaining races I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable and try not to make any mistakes, and at McLaren we will all be trying to take advantage of the four-week break to the next race".
It is nine weeks since he was home and in that time his life and career have changed for ever. He reflected on that with the same mental precision he brings to his on-track performances. "It's been a fantastic achievement, and I am extremely proud. We have worked extremely hard to get where we are today, me and my family, and also the team, and I am looking forward to going home. The support is growing but I have not experienced it yet. It's all still new to me, so I hope I'm still able to walk on the streets."
If not, perhaps on water?
Great drivers trail in boy wonder's wake
Lewis Hamilton made history yesterday with a third podium finish on the trot.
Mario Andretti, Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Villeneuve all put their cars on pole position for their first race; Giancarlo Baghetti even won his. In 1970, Swiss racer Gianclaudio Regazzoni finished fourth for Ferrari in the Netherlands, fourth in Britain but retired in Germany.
That same season, Brazil's Emerson Fittipaldi was eighth on his debut for Lotus in the British GP and fourth at Hockenheim but retired in Austria. Michael Schumacher burnt his clutch out at the start of the 1991 Belgian GP, then finished fifth and sixth in Italy and Portugal.
Nobody, not even the greats, has achieved three podium finishes - third, second, second - in their first three grands prix. Get used to the Hamilton trivia; there will be more.
Standings
1 F Massa (Br) Ferrari 1hr 33min 27.515sec
2 L Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:33:29.515
3 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:33:37.523
4 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW-Sauber 1:33:41.315
5 F Alonso (Sp) McLaren 1:33:41.519
6 R Kubica (Pol) BMW-Sauber 1:34:12.520
7 J Trulli (It) Toyota 1:34:48.518
8 G Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:34:49.215
9 H Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:34:56.915
10 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:34:56.524
11 A Wurz (Aut) Williams at 1 Lap
12 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota at 1 Lap
13 R Barrichello (Br) Honda at 1 Lap
14 C Albers (Neth) Spyker at 2 Laps
15 A Sutil (Ger) Spyker at 4 Laps
Retired: A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri on Lap 51; M Webber (Aus) Red Bull on Lap 41; D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull on Lap 36; T Sato (Japan) Super Aguri on Lap 34; V Liuzzi (It) Scuderia Toro Rosso on Lap 36 ; J Button (GB) Honda on Lap 1; S Speed (US) Scuderia Toro Rosso on Lap 1
Drivers' standings
1= Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen 22pts; 4 Massa 17; 5 Heidfeld 15; 6 Fisichella 8; 7 Trulli 4; 8 Kubica 3; 9 Rosberg 2; 10 Schumacher 1; 11 Kovalainen 1.
Constructors
1 McLaren 44pts; 2 Ferrari 39; 3 BMW-Sauber 18; 4 Renault 9; 5 Toyota 5; 6 Williams 2.
By David Tremayne in Bahrain
Published: 16 April 2007
He said before the race that he hoped the result would create "a different championship" for him. Well, Felipe Massa certainly got that after a splendid third grand prix triumph for Ferrari. But the presence of Lewis Hamilton in a challenging second place, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and, more crucially, well ahead of his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, has turned the series on its head.
The rookie sensation not only established a new mark by scoring three successive podium finishes in his first three races, but now shares the points lead with Alonso and Raikkonen, the men who were supposed to be the stars.
Yet again, it was a superb race. It began with Massa on pole position, desperate to redeem himself after his gaffe last week in Malaysia, Hamilton was alongside him on the front row for the first time in his Formula One career, and Raikkonen and Alonso were apparently discarded on row two.
As in Sepang, the start would be crucial. On the cleaner side of the grid Massa got away well. Hamilton, on the dirtier side, did a decent job and protected himself. Alonso failed to beat Raikkonen to the turn, but went around him as the Finn momentarily faltered midway through, while Nick Heidfeld signalled immediately that he would be a threat for BMW-Sauber.
The first stint went Massa's way, but Hamilton pushed him hard and was only a second adrift when the first pit stops began as he stopped on lap 19. Massa came in a lap later, followed on ensuing laps by Alonso and then Raikkonen. The Spaniard's late stop at least explained why he trailed Hamilton in qualifying, but this day he would have no answer to him.
Massa resumed the lead, and opened it to more than 10 seconds as Hamilton and Alonso struggled in the middle stint. The champion had already lost a place courtesy of Raikkonen's later pit call, and on the 32nd lap lost another when the underrated Heidfeld pulled off a wonderful passing move round the outside.
Hamilton was thus indisputably McLaren's prime hope, and girded with the harder compound Bridgestone tyres for the final stint, on lap 44, he changed status from the hunted in Sepang to the hunter in Sakhir. Massa's advantage shrank dramatically, from 7.6sec to 2.3sec by the flag. Raikkonen, by contrast, fell back while Alonso never made a move stick on Heidfeld.
Massa, eyes shining, savoured the success and sheepishly dedicated it to his girlfriend Rafaela, "because she had such a tough time last week". He added: "We put everything together and, hopefully, now we are back to fight. The championship is very, very close. The second stint was crucial, and in the third I had a few tenths' margin if I needed them, but that was not necessary."
Hamilton's performance once again was the highlight of the race, particularly as it left Alonso in the desert dust, and his new benchmark prompted a single-word response: "Sweet!"
It was another bitterly disappointing day for his countrymen - Jenson Button was taken out on the opening lap; David Coulthard's Red Bull failed him with a broken driveshaft after he had demonstrated that he has not forgotten how to overtake, and Anthony Davidson drove splendidly in the thick of some fantastic midfield fights only to suffer a cruel Honda engine failure near the end.
Hamilton's only real fright came as Davidson's Super Aguri spat a cloud of oil in his face. "It didn't cause me any trouble," he said. "I don't think I made any mistakes that cost me much. I struggled a bit on used tyres, locked up the brakes a couple of times, but otherwise it was pretty smooth. The car was good today so I had a base from which to put pressure on Felipe. We had great pace in the first stint and I could keep up with him. If I'd been able to get in front, I would have pulled away, I'm sure."
The first win thus remains to be secured, but it will come and it will come this year. Of that there is no doubt. And, as Hamilton demonstrated so clearly yesterday, he will have as much chance to fight for the world championship as the man who won it for the last two years.
"I don't see why not," Hamilton said matter-of-factly, the very calmness with which he accepted the idea a clear indication of what is really going on behind those warm brown eyes, "as long as I can keep up this consistency. For the remaining races I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable and try not to make any mistakes, and at McLaren we will all be trying to take advantage of the four-week break to the next race".
It is nine weeks since he was home and in that time his life and career have changed for ever. He reflected on that with the same mental precision he brings to his on-track performances. "It's been a fantastic achievement, and I am extremely proud. We have worked extremely hard to get where we are today, me and my family, and also the team, and I am looking forward to going home. The support is growing but I have not experienced it yet. It's all still new to me, so I hope I'm still able to walk on the streets."
If not, perhaps on water?
Great drivers trail in boy wonder's wake
Lewis Hamilton made history yesterday with a third podium finish on the trot.
Mario Andretti, Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Villeneuve all put their cars on pole position for their first race; Giancarlo Baghetti even won his. In 1970, Swiss racer Gianclaudio Regazzoni finished fourth for Ferrari in the Netherlands, fourth in Britain but retired in Germany.
That same season, Brazil's Emerson Fittipaldi was eighth on his debut for Lotus in the British GP and fourth at Hockenheim but retired in Austria. Michael Schumacher burnt his clutch out at the start of the 1991 Belgian GP, then finished fifth and sixth in Italy and Portugal.
Nobody, not even the greats, has achieved three podium finishes - third, second, second - in their first three grands prix. Get used to the Hamilton trivia; there will be more.
Standings
1 F Massa (Br) Ferrari 1hr 33min 27.515sec
2 L Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:33:29.515
3 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:33:37.523
4 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW-Sauber 1:33:41.315
5 F Alonso (Sp) McLaren 1:33:41.519
6 R Kubica (Pol) BMW-Sauber 1:34:12.520
7 J Trulli (It) Toyota 1:34:48.518
8 G Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:34:49.215
9 H Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:34:56.915
10 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:34:56.524
11 A Wurz (Aut) Williams at 1 Lap
12 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota at 1 Lap
13 R Barrichello (Br) Honda at 1 Lap
14 C Albers (Neth) Spyker at 2 Laps
15 A Sutil (Ger) Spyker at 4 Laps
Retired: A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri on Lap 51; M Webber (Aus) Red Bull on Lap 41; D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull on Lap 36; T Sato (Japan) Super Aguri on Lap 34; V Liuzzi (It) Scuderia Toro Rosso on Lap 36 ; J Button (GB) Honda on Lap 1; S Speed (US) Scuderia Toro Rosso on Lap 1
Drivers' standings
1= Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen 22pts; 4 Massa 17; 5 Heidfeld 15; 6 Fisichella 8; 7 Trulli 4; 8 Kubica 3; 9 Rosberg 2; 10 Schumacher 1; 11 Kovalainen 1.
Constructors
1 McLaren 44pts; 2 Ferrari 39; 3 BMW-Sauber 18; 4 Renault 9; 5 Toyota 5; 6 Williams 2.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Hamilton Star on the Rise
Hamilton is in dreamland as he makes his mark in history
Jane Nottage
They may have played the Finnish national anthem at the end of the race as Kimi Raikkonen took his first win for his new team, Ferrari, bringing his total career race wins to ten, but the real star of the Australian Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton who finished in third place in his debut Formula One race.
“I’m ecstatic. Getting into Formula One was a dream, finishing third in my first race is beyond my dreams - I’m loving it,” the McLaren driver said after the race.
It was a stunning debut for the 22-year-old from Hertfordshire. A British competitor has not finished on the podium at his debut race since 1966 when Mike Parkes finished third in France, and the air was ripe with promise of an exciting season to come.
Raikkonen led off the start line to his first pit stop on lap 18. Right behind the red car was Nick Heidfeld, the BMW driver, who had started third on the grid. Behind him was Hamilton, fourth fastest in qualifying but who jumped past his McLaren team-mate and current world champion Fernando Alonso. On lap 18, Hamilton had his first experience of leading a Formula One race and stayed there for five laps until he went in for his first pit stop.
Related Links
After Schu, young men
From the first lap until his second pit stop on lap 45, double world champion Alonso had the uncomfortable experience of being behind his rookie team-mate, who had made his intentions clear in his confident overtaking move at the first corner, a manoeuvre that Hamilton declared “a gift from God, so I took it with me.”
But on lap 45, Alonso had a better pit stop, a lightning 6.5 seconds, while Hamilton’s second stop two laps earlier had been in a comparatively slow 8.2 seconds. That settled the end result and saw Alonso in second place with Hamilton third.
For Ferrari, it was a race of mixed fortunes. Raikkonen drove faultlessly, and with a radio which failed to work, regaining the lead after both of his pit stops. However, Felipe Massa, his team-mate, who had elected to start the race from the back of the grid allowing him to change his engine after having gearbox problems in qualifying, drove well but only managed sixth place.
Hamilton was the only bright point from the British contingent. David Coulthard ploughed his Red Bull car into Alex Wurz as he tried to dive inside the Austrian and misjudged it, ending both their races. “I tried to have a go down the inside of Alex Wurz’s car at turn three, but I was too far back and screwed it up. My apologies to him for that,” Coulthard said. And Jenson Button had awful understeer problems in the first half of the race, gathered a drive-through penalty for speeding through the pit lane, and finished 15th.
Nick Heidfeld, having started in third place, finished fourth, while his team-mate, the promising Pole Robert Kubica, failed to end the race. Mark Webber finished a disappointing 13th in front of his home crowd.
Another man making his Formula One debut was Heikki Kovalainen, from Finland, in the ING Renault. But he could not match Hamilton's heroics, spinning off the track and rejoining the race three times before finishing tenth. Giancarlo Fisichella, his more experienced team-mate, finished fifth.
What a start to his career! GB
Jane Nottage
They may have played the Finnish national anthem at the end of the race as Kimi Raikkonen took his first win for his new team, Ferrari, bringing his total career race wins to ten, but the real star of the Australian Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton who finished in third place in his debut Formula One race.
“I’m ecstatic. Getting into Formula One was a dream, finishing third in my first race is beyond my dreams - I’m loving it,” the McLaren driver said after the race.
It was a stunning debut for the 22-year-old from Hertfordshire. A British competitor has not finished on the podium at his debut race since 1966 when Mike Parkes finished third in France, and the air was ripe with promise of an exciting season to come.
Raikkonen led off the start line to his first pit stop on lap 18. Right behind the red car was Nick Heidfeld, the BMW driver, who had started third on the grid. Behind him was Hamilton, fourth fastest in qualifying but who jumped past his McLaren team-mate and current world champion Fernando Alonso. On lap 18, Hamilton had his first experience of leading a Formula One race and stayed there for five laps until he went in for his first pit stop.
Related Links
After Schu, young men
From the first lap until his second pit stop on lap 45, double world champion Alonso had the uncomfortable experience of being behind his rookie team-mate, who had made his intentions clear in his confident overtaking move at the first corner, a manoeuvre that Hamilton declared “a gift from God, so I took it with me.”
But on lap 45, Alonso had a better pit stop, a lightning 6.5 seconds, while Hamilton’s second stop two laps earlier had been in a comparatively slow 8.2 seconds. That settled the end result and saw Alonso in second place with Hamilton third.
For Ferrari, it was a race of mixed fortunes. Raikkonen drove faultlessly, and with a radio which failed to work, regaining the lead after both of his pit stops. However, Felipe Massa, his team-mate, who had elected to start the race from the back of the grid allowing him to change his engine after having gearbox problems in qualifying, drove well but only managed sixth place.
Hamilton was the only bright point from the British contingent. David Coulthard ploughed his Red Bull car into Alex Wurz as he tried to dive inside the Austrian and misjudged it, ending both their races. “I tried to have a go down the inside of Alex Wurz’s car at turn three, but I was too far back and screwed it up. My apologies to him for that,” Coulthard said. And Jenson Button had awful understeer problems in the first half of the race, gathered a drive-through penalty for speeding through the pit lane, and finished 15th.
Nick Heidfeld, having started in third place, finished fourth, while his team-mate, the promising Pole Robert Kubica, failed to end the race. Mark Webber finished a disappointing 13th in front of his home crowd.
Another man making his Formula One debut was Heikki Kovalainen, from Finland, in the ING Renault. But he could not match Hamilton's heroics, spinning off the track and rejoining the race three times before finishing tenth. Giancarlo Fisichella, his more experienced team-mate, finished fifth.
What a start to his career! GB
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