16/03/08 - Lewis Hamilton made his championship bid crystal clear by dominating the Australian GP. Scuderia Ferrari however struggled with a problematic race.
With only a point separating him from the title back in 2007, Lewis Hamilton decided to try and win it all this year. With his performance in the Australian GP, it would certainly take a brave man to bet against Hamilton. Starting from pole position, the young Briton was never challenged as he cruised from start to finish. In one word, Hamilton’s race was ‘easy’ despite an eventful Grand Prix that saw no less than three safety car interruptions.
Defending champions Ferrari could have only wished of having Hamilton’s fortune. Despite displaying a competitive pace during Friday practice, both Ferrari drivers were already facing set backs during qualifying. Reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen had electronic fuel pressure pump troubles that prevented him to participate in Q2. The Finn would start the race 15th. Although Felipe Massa looked competitive throughout Qualifying, the Brazilian got tangled up behind traffic on his final out-lap and failed to generate sufficient heat into his tires. The result was a disappointing fourth place qualifying lap.
Come race day, the troubles never left the team. Massa spun and damaged his front wing at the exit of turn one in an attempt to overtake Kovalainen in the opening lap. The Brazilian was forced to pit early but battled hard to make up ground. Massa’s woes wouldn’t end however. Although he was able to continue despite a race incident clash with Coulthard on lap 26, a mechanical problem would force a retirement.
Raikkonen’s day was just as horrendous. The defending champion fought hard and even reached third position at one point. But a trip in the gravel trap, bad pit-stop timing and yet another unreliability issue relegated him down to ninth initially; 5 laps down the race leaders. Only the misfortune of Rubens Barrichelo and the Honda team awarded Raikkonen the last championship point.
It’s worth noting that Raikkonen distinguished himself as a driver who won the title in his first season with Ferrari since Jody Scheckter did back in 1979. Scheckter however only scored two championship points the following season. Raikkonen could only hope that he won’t suffer the same fate.
Nick Heidfeld finished a fine second place for BMW Sauber from fifth on the grid. The team however would leave Albert Park with mixed results as teammate Robert Kubica was forced to retire from the race. Nevertheless, the competitive pace set by both drivers showed that a maiden win for the team is very possible this year.
Nico Rosberg rounded up the final podium spot for the first time in his career. The young driver has always been hailed as one of the best new talents on the grid. Only the recent struggles of the Williams team prevented Rosberg from collecting trophies. But this result however is a confirmation of the team’s ever improving form since splitting with BMW.
Fernando Alonso took full advantage of the chaotic race to finish fourth place. The two-time champion however had to battle wheel-to-wheel during the last moments of the race to secure his position.
McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen would be disappointed with fifth place. He seemed set to finish second. Unfortunately, the third safety car ruined his pit-stop strategy conceding race positions as a result. The Finn would make up some ground overtaking Fernando Alonso in the process. Kovalainnen however accidentally hit the pit-stop speed limiter on the main straight which allowed Alonso to reclaim track position.
Rubens Barrichello’s finished sixth highlighting the dramatic improvement of the Honda team after a woeful 2007 season. Barrichello however entered the pits at the time that the pit lane was closed garnering a stop-go penalty. Unfortunately, Barrichello exited the pits with the red light still on. The position therefore was given to Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima.
Rookie Sebastian Bourdais was on pace to finish fourth in his Toro Rosso. An engine failure however forced the Frenchman to retire. But with eighth placed Raikkonen five laps down, Bourdais was given seventh place.
