Malaysian GP - Third and fifth place for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro at Sepang
Sepang, 8th April 2007
The new McLaren driving team of Fernando Alonso and debutant Lewis Hamilton scored a dominant one-two in the boiling hot Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang near Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Although the pair's fortunes ebbed and flowed, they were never seriously challenged after Ferrari's pole-winning Felipe Massa twice outbraked himself trying to overtake Hamilton and dropped to an eventual fifth place, although his teammate Kimi Raikkonen again finished on the podium, this time in third place with BMW's Nick Heidfeld again putting in a consistent performance for fourth place.
An estimated 115,000 spectators gathered in 34 degrees heat to see Alonso make a great start from second on the grid and out-brake Massa into the first corner. Hamilton came up to third place from fourth, relegating Raikkonen to that position before the two BMW Saubers of Heidfeld and Robert Kubica who came together in the first corner.
But Hamilton soon managed to move up to second with Massa eager to get his place back. On lap five, the Brazilian managed to get past the English driver only to run wide and for Hamilton to take his place back. Massa did the same thing on the next lap but went even wider still, taking to the grass and being overtaken by Hamilton, Raikkonen and Heidfeld.
The pattern of the race was set from that moment onwards. Alonso pulled away at a second lap so that he was ten seconds ahead by lap ten. Hamilton had his mirrors full of Raikkonen and the pair gradually pulled away from Heidfeld, who was soon shadowed by Massa. Next up was Kubica pushed by Nico Rosberg, but the BMW Sauber was obviously in trouble and was brought into the pits twice, eventually for a new nose section which had been damaged at the first corner. Giancarlo Fisichella took over seventh place, pushed by Jarno Trulli.
Massa was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 17, followed by Alonso and Raikkonen on lap 18, then Rosberg on lap 19, Hamilton and lap later, and then Heidfeld on lap 22.
The pit stops saw the gap between the McLarens shrink by five seconds to ten seconds, and in that second stint, it actually came down even more to 7.7s as Alonso struggled with backmarkers. At the same time, Raikkonen dropped back from second placed Hamilton to 12s by the second stop. Heidfeld's late first stop saw him close to 4.1s of the Ferrari but that doubled in the middle stint, although he was caught by Massa just before they pitted.
Hamilton was the first front runner to stop on lap 38 with Rosberg. Alonso and Massa stopped on lap 40, Raikkonen a lap later and then Heidfeld on lap 41. The stops opened up Alonso's lead to 14s again, while Raikkonen was 7.7s behind Hamilton. Heidfeld was a further 12s behind and then came Massa, just 1.4s behind. Rosberg had pulled off the circuit, so Fisichella was a distance sixth from Trulli and then Kovalainen.
In the last stint, Raikkonen steadily reeled in Hamilton at about half a second a lap but just couldn't quite get close enough, being 0.8s behind at the flag. Alonso, however, had been 22s in the lead but lost five seconds on the last lap. Heidfeld finished fourth for the second race running from Massa in fifth whose challenged faded in the closing stages. Fisichella finished sixth.
After the race, Raikkonen revealed that "we had to make some compromises on the car that meant we were unable to exploit its full potential", although the restricted engine settings only cost the team around a tenth of a second lap.
The new McLaren driving team of Fernando Alonso and debutant Lewis Hamilton scored a dominant one-two in the boiling hot Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang near Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Although the pair's fortunes ebbed and flowed, they were never seriously challenged after Ferrari's pole-winning Felipe Massa twice outbraked himself trying to overtake Hamilton and dropped to an eventual fifth place, although his teammate Kimi Raikkonen again finished on the podium, this time in third place with BMW's Nick Heidfeld again putting in a consistent performance for fourth place.
An estimated 115,000 spectators gathered in 34 degrees heat to see Alonso make a great start from second on the grid and out-brake Massa into the first corner. Hamilton came up to third place from fourth, relegating Raikkonen to that position before the two BMW Saubers of Heidfeld and Robert Kubica who came together in the first corner.
But Hamilton soon managed to move up to second with Massa eager to get his place back. On lap five, the Brazilian managed to get past the English driver only to run wide and for Hamilton to take his place back. Massa did the same thing on the next lap but went even wider still, taking to the grass and being overtaken by Hamilton, Raikkonen and Heidfeld.
The pattern of the race was set from that moment onwards. Alonso pulled away at a second lap so that he was ten seconds ahead by lap ten. Hamilton had his mirrors full of Raikkonen and the pair gradually pulled away from Heidfeld, who was soon shadowed by Massa. Next up was Kubica pushed by Nico Rosberg, but the BMW Sauber was obviously in trouble and was brought into the pits twice, eventually for a new nose section which had been damaged at the first corner. Giancarlo Fisichella took over seventh place, pushed by Jarno Trulli.
Massa was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 17, followed by Alonso and Raikkonen on lap 18, then Rosberg on lap 19, Hamilton and lap later, and then Heidfeld on lap 22.
The pit stops saw the gap between the McLarens shrink by five seconds to ten seconds, and in that second stint, it actually came down even more to 7.7s as Alonso struggled with backmarkers. At the same time, Raikkonen dropped back from second placed Hamilton to 12s by the second stop. Heidfeld's late first stop saw him close to 4.1s of the Ferrari but that doubled in the middle stint, although he was caught by Massa just before they pitted.
Hamilton was the first front runner to stop on lap 38 with Rosberg. Alonso and Massa stopped on lap 40, Raikkonen a lap later and then Heidfeld on lap 41. The stops opened up Alonso's lead to 14s again, while Raikkonen was 7.7s behind Hamilton. Heidfeld was a further 12s behind and then came Massa, just 1.4s behind. Rosberg had pulled off the circuit, so Fisichella was a distance sixth from Trulli and then Kovalainen.
In the last stint, Raikkonen steadily reeled in Hamilton at about half a second a lap but just couldn't quite get close enough, being 0.8s behind at the flag. Alonso, however, had been 22s in the lead but lost five seconds on the last lap. Heidfeld finished fourth for the second race running from Massa in fifth whose challenged faded in the closing stages. Fisichella finished sixth.
After the race, Raikkonen revealed that "we had to make some compromises on the car that meant we were unable to exploit its full potential", although the restricted engine settings only cost the team around a tenth of a second lap.
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