It was another sweet result for Ron Dennis, especially when you consider his team didn’t win at all in 2006. It also put Alonso top in the drivers’ championship and, while it is early days, the Spaniard will obviously be thanking his lucky stars he is no longer with
Renault, who continue to struggle.
Hamilton’s performance also showed again - if it was needed - that he was more than ready to step up to F1 this year. I have to admit to having had some concerns before the season about him coming straight in and partnering Alonso, but he has definitely shown I had no cause to worry.
Of course, it is early days. We have only had two races, but a third place in Melbourne and now a second place in Sepang, after lots of pressure from Felipe Massa and Raikkonen, has more than proven his abilities at the pinnacle of the sport. As long as he keeps his feet on the ground - and I am sure he will - he will continue to improve and, with every grand prix he does, he should get better and better.
As for
Felipe Massa, his mistake while trying to challenge Lewis was, in the end, very costly. It certainly cost him third place and I just hope he can get a good result on Sunday to keep his confidence up.
He has had a tough start and, while
Ferrari insists there is no number one or number two driver, if he doesn’t turn things around, he will have to play a supporting role to Raikkonen. Thus far, Kimi has scored 16 points, while Felipe only has seven and, while that might be misleading because there is certainly not that much between them, you can’t deny it is quite a difference already.
What can we say about the rest?
Well,
BMW Sauber maintained their position as ‘third’ best, with
Nick Heidfeld again bringing his
F1.07 home in fourth. It was a shame, for them, that
Robert Kubica didn’t do so well in the sister car, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. BMW won’t run a third driver in practice in Bahrain - as
Sebastien Vettel and
Timo Glock are both racing, but it will be interesting to see if that is something that they revert to in Barcelona. Neither race driver has been too pleased at sitting out a session on Friday.
