Kimi Raikkonen demonstrated in Australia last weekend that he’s going to be an awfully hard man to the beat in
Formula One this year. In his
Ferrari debut, Raikkonen started from the pole and ran away on his own, easily scoring his first win in more than a year.
The new Ferrari looked superb and, despite putting on quite a few pounds over the winter, Raikkonen was as fast as ever, making only one, quickly-recovered, mistake on his way to victory ahead of the pair of McLaren-Mercedes driven by world champion
Fernando Alonso and rookie
Lewis Hamilton.
Raikkonen’s team-mate
Felipe Massa was quick in qualifying but broke his transmission after hitting a kerb and had to start the race from the back of the grid. Massa came through to finish sixth, almost lapped near the end by his new team-mate.
As Raikkonen disappeared, Alonso chased Hamilton most of the way before making a quicker second pit-stop than the young Brit. It was a great result for Ron Dennis and his team, the McLaren-Mercedes proving quick and reliable, if not quite a match for the Ferraris.
With Alonso and Hamilton,
McLaren has a very different pair of drivers than in many years. Ron Dennis said in Australia that Alonso has brought more to the team from outside the car than he has as a pure driver while the 22-year Hamilton has been a ten-year project for Dennis, starting when he was a go-kart prodigy. Alonso has established himself as one of the most thorough test drivers in the business and both drivers live nearby and spend a lot of time with the team. McLaren-Mercedes will be very strong over the next few years, but beating Raikkonen and Ferrari will take everything possessed by the drivers and team.
