F1 Malaysia GP !!

[livi]

Great race !!

[Paco Anton]

Anyone still doubts that FA is the fastest driver in the grid?

[Aerkuld]

Originally posted by Paco Anton
Anyone still doubts that FA is the fastest driver in the grid?

I think it is a close run thing between Kimi and Fernando. In this race Kimi was nursing a potential time bomb of an overheated engine following a water leak in the previous race.
I predict that this will turn in to an epic season with those two battling it out into the last race just like the old Senna vs. Prost seasons.

Then again, you'd be a fool to ignore Lewis Hamilton based on his early performance.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Great race - qualifying was awesome too!

Alonzo/Hamilton are both good - this Hamilton kid is one to watch for sure. I bet his comment about how he "tricked" Massa into braking late won't fly with the veteran too well - look for some of the veterans to very deliberately try to shut him down in future races.

The real test is going to come when you get a Kimi/Massa 1-2 start. In that situation, I think the Ferraris are simply too fast and likely to walk away with wins, but this is racing and anything can happen. . .

Ferrari is still the team to beat, but I'm rooting for Mercedes.

[Steve PH]

Good race, the start was very entertaining, the middle was a bit dull and the end was nail biting! This should be a vintage season.

[TheMentat]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Alonzo/Hamilton are both good - this Hamilton kid is one to watch for sure. I bet his comment about how he "tricked" Massa into braking late won't fly with the veteran too well - look for some of the veterans to very deliberately try to shut him down in future races.

I was a bit taken aback by that comment... He completely undressed Massa, but I would have rather seen some humility in the post-race.

[livi]

I was taken aback by my own bigotry - being rather surprised when the helmet came of and it turned out the new kid on the block was...black.

[Lothar]

First, you had a brilliant manueuver by Mclaren to file papers questioning the moving tea tray on the underbody of the Ferrari. I believe this caught a few other teams, Toyota in particular.

Second, Alonso was in a league by himself with a comparable fuel load on his first stint. He walked away to about a 13 second lead by the first pit stop, and thanks to brilliant teamwork by McLaren as Hamilton held up both Ferrari drivers. Regardless of Kimi nursing his engine, Lewis Hamilton made his car as wide as he possibly could and he baited Massa into cooking that corner brilliantly. Massa made the same mistake not once, BUT TWICE!

Kimi certainly seems to be the class of the Ferrari stable. However, at McLaren, Alonso had the benefit of the favored pit strategy and it was Hamilton that faced the real challenges from Massa and Kimi. McLaren seems to have two drivers that exhibit excellent racecraft.

I hope the rest of the season is that exciting and I am banking on a very close points race.

[Joeaksa]

Was very surprised at Hamilton and his performance. In a race car he sure does not look like a 20 year old kid in his second race.

Did you guys hear his comment on the radio on the last lap? "I will be first in a race this year".... No lack of confidence in this one!

Sure does appear to be the start of a very good F1 season!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I wonder what Alonzo thought of that comment. . .

[bell]

my opinion is that hamilton will be the next "schuey", his "tricking" massa was brilliant, he has a few championships under his belt already in open wheel cars and obviosly understands the game.
when he "tricked" massa he locked up his inside wheel entering the corner, which meant he was late braking and really on them hard.
you could see him holding massa to the inside until he set up his own corner by darting to the outside to prepare to shoot under massa in the corner, excellent move, massa should've saw it coming

this is going to be a very interesting season, and hamilton will have a win or 2 at the least.....

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
I wonder what Alonzo thought of that comment. . .

Probably thinking that the next generation is nipping at his heels and that he better be on the top of his game.

[artplumber]

Alonso is the next generation Joe. They are of the same gen. They'll be fighting for a while. It will be good for the sport and maybe will make for three major teams. It remains to be seen if Hamilton can develop a car - he's clearly fast in a fast car.

[Deschodt]

>I bet his comment about how he "tricked" Massa into braking late won't fly with the veteran too well - look for some of the veterans to very deliberately try to shut him down in future races.

Well, this is not NASCAR where you need to make nice with the pack so that they will let you draft... The "pack" will not have a choice if he qualifies ahead of them...

Massa may not like it, but he sure fell for the move and outbraked himself, and it was not a dirty move a la Schumacher at all, it was great tactics. Massa looked like the Massa of old, fast but not consistenly so, and he reminds me greatly of Fisichella... With the support of a great #1, all the right conditions, he does well and occasionally he might win a race. On his own, if things go wrong, fizzle... not all that consistent...

The Ferrari - especially Massa's with a good engine (unlike Kimi's)- is still the class of the field. Yet Massa could not even recover to pass Heidfeld!!! I guarantee you that Kimi in that same position,with a good engine, would have passed him and caught up to hamilton...

I think Massa is in the Barichello/Fisichella vein. They are still better drivers than we'll ever be, but they are not killers, mentally... Alonso is a killer, Schumi was, Kimi too, and Hamilton is showing great poise ! I wish he had not even apologized for tricking Massa, it was great stuff !

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by artplumber
Alonso is the next generation Joe. They are of the same gen. They'll be fighting for a while. It will be good for the sport and maybe will make for three major teams. It remains to be seen if Hamilton can develop a car - he's clearly fast in a fast car.

Alonso is seven years older, and in Hamiltons eyes and in the time frame of Formula One, a generation away.

This will be a very good scrap and agreed, good for the sport.

[targa88]

At long last a bit of excitement back in F1.
Not a big fan of Alonso - prefer Raikonen. If it were not for mechanical failure - I suspect that Raikonen would have done better when he was with Mclaren MB.
Hope the pace can be maintained for the rest of the season

[Zeke]

I didn't stick around for the post race stuff preferring to switch over to the Las Vegas deal (I was watching the later replay). So, I missed the Hamilton comment. I did see the multiple replays of Massa's mistakes. I say this, if LH is really that good and clever, he indeed will be something to watch. However, I didn't see that as such a clever move. It could have easily worked out the other way and he would have been SOL.

There was also talk about LH slowing down to bait Kimi into blowing an engine. I don't buy that either. It was later said (contradicting earlier statements by the announcers) that the Ferrari pits gave Kimi some more RPM through the telemetry. They could probably see that, we couldn't.

Either way, I never saw a chance for Kimi to take 2nd.

On to Bahrain.

[bell]

Originally posted by milt
I say this, if LH is really that good and clever, he indeed will be something to watch. However, I didn't see that as such a clever move. It could have easily worked out the other way and he would have been SOL.

LH is appearing to be "that good", he has kept a cool head and manages to handle pressure situations like a veteran, that can't be said about alot of F1 drivers.
he has talent which has been guided by ron dennis since 1998 when he was signed to the McLaren Driver Development Support program.

bahrain.....next weekend

[Eric Coffey]

Originally posted by bell
LH is appearing to be "that good", he has kept a cool head and manages to handle pressure situations like a veteran, that can't be said about alot of F1 drivers.
he has talent which has been guided by ron dennis since 1998 when he was signed to the McLaren Driver Development Support program.

bahrain.....next weekend

Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes, he (Hamilton) is that good. Some folks in F1 circles have been down-playing his talent, chalking it up to an improved car/team for `07. That may be part of the equation, but I would imagine NOTHING compares to the pressure of driving an F1 car at 10/10ths in your second GP (for a podium position) with Kimi close behind for the last half of the race! I guess time will tell.

Furthermore, what was Massa's excuse for 5th? Not to mention going wide/off at turn 4 TWICE...

[450knotOffice]

No excuse for Massa.

Hamilton is doing great job. He obviously has exceptional talent. However, I highly doubt he "tricked" Massa into anything. Massa just blew it both times. Milt is right. It could have very easily gone the other way with Massa having made the pass and then he would have been gone. Whether or not he could've caught, and then passed, Alonso is a different matter.

I'm thinking the two best drivers in the field right now are Kimi and Alonso.