GP – Race: Hamilton, the winner, avoids mistakes

Lewis Hamilton won the first Grand Prix of the 2008 season, driving the McLaren MP4/23. At the Melbourne circuit in Australia, the young Brit executed a flawless race, avoiding all the traps and making no mistakes. He finished ahead of Nick Heidfeld (BMW) and Nico Rosberg in the Williams after an incredible race.

The Ferraris have been victims of various problems, like many teams. In fact, only 7 cars made it to the finish, a first in F1!

See the complete provisional results

The 2008 season officially kicks off, and what a start… In a very eventful race: The red lights go out for the first time in 2008 and turn green. With the cars no longer having traction control, precision is key and most manage their takeoffs successfully. Piquet (Renault) stands out in particular, as does Kimi Räikkönen, who starting from 15th position finds himself 9th after the first corner…

Ferraris are the rare ones to start on soft tires, but cold, it’s not necessarily an advantage. Massa pays the price and spins, furthermore breaking his front wing against the wall. He loses a lot of time and ends up last in a pack led by the safety car.

The first corner indeed experienced several incidents, forcing the marshals to deploy the Safety Car for the first time in 2008: Vettel and Fisichella collided, while further on, it was Davidson and Button who touched wheels. The Super-Aguri driver’s car flew into the air and landed in the gravel. No one was injured, but the race started with a bang.

The safety car enters the pits and the race resumes on the 3rd lap with already 4 retirements. At the front, Hamilton handles the restart the best and maintains his advantage, even increasing it by tenths over Kubica and Kovalainen, stringing together the fastest laps.

The points of contention are starting to appear, particularly for the gain of 8th place where Räikkönen, having caught up to Barrichello, can’t get within less than a second of the Brazilian. He struggles for about ten laps before finally overtaking the Honda on the 18th lap.

Another battle, for the gain of the 12th place between Glock, Nakajima, Sato, Massa and Bourdais and Piquet. The Frenchman made a good start and seems better in the race than in qualifying.

In the meantime, Adrian Sutil, having started from the pits, returned to the pits to retire. A bad start to the season for Force India. Nelson Piquet is still at the back of the grid and doesn’t seem able to catch up with the pack. The Brazilian, 17th in the first lap, is overtaken successively by Nakajima and Massa. The latter is gradually getting back into the race after his pit stops.

We are also starting to figure out the drivers’ strategies. Kubica is actually the first to refuel, as early as the 16th lap. The Pole had little fuel during qualifying. Hamilton is also on an offensive strategy. He stops two laps later. Both drivers put on hard tires and return to the track in 4th and 5th positions, behind Heidfeld.

Bourdais and Trulli pit on the 20th lap, but the Italian’s car won’t restart. The Toyota had problems in the cockpit, and Trulli couldn’t drive optimally.

After the halfway point, Hamilton leads ahead of Kovalainen, Räikkönen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Rosberg, and Barrichello. Räikkönen and Alonso are among the few who have not yet refueled. They are on a one-stop strategy, having nothing to lose after poor qualifying.

On the 32nd lap, Massa and Coulthard violently collide for 11th place. The Ferrari driver attempts to overtake the Scot but isn’t close enough. He goes inside anyway, and Coulthard doesn’t see him. The Red Bull runs over the Ferrari’s wheel, and Coulthard destroys his RB4. Massa suffers far less damage and can continue, while Coulthard’s poor parking triggers the second appearance of the safety car! It’s the beginning of the disaster.

Many drivers take advantage of this to make their second pit stop, even the first for Alonso and Räikkönen, who don’t actually gain any real advantage, on the contrary. Bourdais, being ahead of the curve, made his pit stop a lap before the safety car. He can therefore overtake all the drivers who pitted and finds himself in a very nice 9th position.

On lap 37, the restart is given. The gap accumulated by Hamilton is reduced to a few tenths, and Heidfeld, then in second, cannot keep up with the Briton’s pace. Meanwhile, a few hundred meters further, more bad news for Ferrari. Räikkönen is 5th, attempting to overtake Kovalainen, but being too generous, goes off track. He returns in 12th position, while simultaneously, Massa is slowing down, abandoning the race due to the previous incident with Coulthard. Sato also heads to the pits permanently.

At this stage, there are no more Red Bull, Force India, Super Aguri and soon no Toyota on the Albert Park track since Glock violently goes off the track. The German driver puts a wheel on the grass but keeps going flat out. He couldn’t straighten the car and jumps over a curb. He lands violently, breaking his suspensions and spins into a series of 360° spins, narrowly avoiding the barriers. The Toyota driver causes the safety car to come out for the third and last time on lap 42. He seems shocked, holding his back, but he is walking. Nonetheless, he is sent to the emergency room for a series of medical examinations.

One lap later, bad luck strikes Barrichello. The Honda driver refuels under the Safety Car regime and will take a 10-second penalty for not respecting the ban on entering the pits on the first lap under the Safety Car. In his misfortune, he takes the two refuellers with him. The lollipop man released the Brazilian too early, but no one is injured and there’s no appearance of flames.

With 12 laps to go, there are only 10 cars left in the race… for now. The Finn Kovalainen is in the lead but has not yet made his last pit stop. He is ahead of Hamilton, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Rosberg, Bourdais, Kubica, Alonso, Nakajima, and Räikkönen.

Kovalainen and Alonso come in to refuel together when the pit lane is open. Both men lose a lot in the process and leave as the very last, meaning 9th and 10th.

When the safety car leaves the track again, everything happens very quickly, and positions change frequently. Barrichello takes his penalty and ends up in last position, while at the same time, Nakajima and Kubica, 4th and 5th, collide. They go in for repairs, but only Nakajima returns.

With nine cars on the track, a first since Australia 2006, scoring points becomes easier. Five laps from the end, Barrichello is out of the points. Until the moment when Kimi Räikkönen seems to encounter a problem. The Finn is lapping in 1’36 while his competitors are in 1’30. He retires a few laps later. It’s a disaster in the Scuderia’s pit.

From that moment, all the cars scored points and the surprise comes from Sébastien Bourdais. The Frenchman in the Toro Rosso is still in the race. He is even in 4th position ahead of Alonso and Kovalainen!

Unfortunately for him, the Toro Rosso’s engine will fail three laps before the finish. He still scores a point while the race continues for the gain of 4th place.

Alonso and Kovalainen are fighting at 100%. The Finn in the McLaren manages to take the advantage in the last lap before having a gearbox problem. He cannot accelerate again when shifting to 5th gear on the straight and gives back the position to Fernando Alonso, who will retain 4th place for Renault.

Hamilton was never worried during the Grand Prix and starts the 2008 season on top with this first victory. Heidfeld salvages the situation for BMW while Williams achieves a very good result with Rosberg on the podium and Nakajima in the points!

See the complete provisional results