Kimi wins the season opener in Australia in true style, but the star of the show was Lewis Hamilton - brilliant drive to come 3rd in his debut.

I think compared to his fellow rookies, Hamilton's control and maturity shone through. It's a pity he was stuffed by Sato coming up to the second pit stop but perhaps that was also some inexperience. I got the impression that in the earlier stages, Alonso was perhaps giving him some rope and pressuring him, but when that didn't seem to phase Lewis, FA started trying. A 3rd spot for him on his debut is superb and I can see a win for him this year. Unfortunately, the ITV team will have to clean up their commentary box!

Kimi drove a superb race - especially as he didn't have a radio so wasn't in full contact with the team. His flying laps were brilliant - a second up on what the rest of the field were doing - truly awesome. Massa was made to look very ordinary - especially when Kimi lapped him.

Renault have a lot to do and Kovalainen isn't really there yet, I think they should have chosen a more experienced driver to partner Fisi.

The BMW Sauber is looking very promising and could be troublesome for Renault and Toyota. I truly hope that Williams can turn it around this season but can't see them winning anything - perhaps a podium if it goes pear-shaped for the other teams.

Button is severely pissed off, his body language in the interview at the end and his comments about the car show that. I think Honda areally going to struggle this year! Their designer should be shot - how can you have a car that is demonstrably worse than the previous year's! Rubens struggled to beat Sato in the Super Aguri!

Pity that Davidson had problems at first, but he stuck to it and brought his car home.

What the *bleep* was DC playing at! The most experienced driver on the track pulling off a rookie stunt! That could so easily have taken Wurz's head off, I'd be surprised if there isn't some form of penalty.

On the whole, I reckon we might be in for a good season :)

Kimi has definitely thrown down the gauntlet and it's up to the rest to play catch-up

:yahoo:

bugger!

wanted Jenson to do well this season - and dont want boring old Kimmi to be winning things....

:clap: for Lewis - got big hopes for him, hope to see him do extremely well this season :)

same here. I don't think he's going to challenge this season at all but i reckon he will be the best of the rest (i.e after Kimi, Alonso and MAssa). He'll probably be scrapping with the likes of fisichella but i can see a few podiums for LH this season. Top 4 finish would be great and could potentially propel him to big things in a season or 2. IMHO, its too early for anything bigger as the other drivers have much more experience.

Oh and Massa for the title! :ok:

i stayed up to watch the race and I have to say it was a yawnfest!

but don't worry because I am sure that Britain has a World Class driver to follow for the first time in ages

A great debut from Hamilton, for me, the only bright spot on the race but willing him on kept me awake

Honda looked dreadful, Toyota were never on the pace and Renault have fallen back

BMW looked good and have two very good drivers in their team, the criminally underrated Nick Heidfeld racing to a deserved 4th place.

Super Aguri look alot better this season and I can see them scoring points this season. Spyker and Toro Rosso look like there gonna have a long tough season.

Unfortunatley, it was a Ferrari win and the boredom of their domination has probably returned, no doubt that Kimi Raikonnen is a great driver but he is dull, dull, dull!!

Hamilton though, has a big future and well done to Mclaren for putting him in the car

Lewis Hamilton becomes the most succesful rookie in F1 history by claiiming a podium finish on each of his first 3 races. Folks who say 'yeah but he has a good car' etc etc should note that his team mate and current World Champion Fernando Alsonso, finished in 5th place today

GO LEWIS :bow: :yahoo: :clap: :yahoo: :bow:

didnt he do well? proving to be a good little racer.....

and poor Buttons :(

yep Honda have dealt Jens a real turkey this year. Worse than last year's car! How the *bleep* do they do that?

Heads should be rolling at Honda methinks :unsure:

they certainly seem to be going backwards - all the promises they made when they got him to stay... he must be gnashing his teeth at not being able to do anything out there on the track - other than get spun off by other cars...

yep, still, it may be nice for him not to have all the hype this year...

I don't have any sympathy for Jenson Button - his ego is huge and far surpasses anything he has ever achieved in the sport. He is not in the top 5, probably not even top 10 drivers on the grid this year, look at Lewis Hamilton in comparison!

By the way there is a second spanish grand prix to be introduced in Valencia next year on the streets!

to be honest Sam, I think even the mighty MS would struggle in this year's Honda, it really is a crock.

I rate Jenson, yes he has an ego, but show me an F1 driver who doesn't. If you look at his career he has been stuffed by teams and passed around a bit and his contract fiasco a couple of years ago is probably in part due to the way he has been treated.

Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly a much better car this year, he has a world champion from from whom to learn and a 'family' team who he has known since the age of 10. He is a good driver and will probably be in the top 3 this year and will probably never drive for a 2nd rate team until his ego gets the better of him and he tries to build one up.

Given equal cars, I really would love to see JB vs LH vs KR vs AF

We've seen Lewis stuff Nando and Kimi this year, I reckon by October, when Honda have a decent car, JB will be battling with them. Unfortunately, Honda will then develop their 2008 car

:blink:

agreed Lex. I would love to see how JB would perform in a decent car - something Honda just isnt giving him. And actually, whilst he may have had the big ego - I think thats been rubbed off him a bit and hes actually matured now as a driver - give him a good car and he could be a champ.

Believe me, Jenson cannot hold a candle to Alonso, Schumacher or Hamilton. When Raikkonnen is on it he is incredible too. This years honda is a total t**d, no doubt, but believe me, if the great Schumacher had been in the honda seat as long as Jenson, they would be contenders for the title by now. Alonso seems to have had the same effect with McLaren.

And defend Jenson's ego as much as you like but 100+ GP's and one win is nothing to be cocky about (and his one win was a pure freak remember in a wet race in hungary) - yes he's rarely had a great car, but to be honest last year's Honda started fine but they lost their way and stood still - a quality lead driver surely would not have rested on his laurels, but worked tirelessly to get the rest of the team to do better!

I think it may also be a little bit borne out of the fact that he thinks he's a big player when he's not, yet the likes of Hamilton and David Coulthard, and going back further Damon Hill, have never overstated themselves like I feel Jenson does.

Also, this season, Jenson has been shown up by Rubens Barrichello, who for my money went to Honda purely to earn some easy cash!

Believe me, i'd love a British driver to win the championship - even button. But he's not a winner! Hamilton is, he is fantastic!

yep, I think he's matured as well and as I mentioned earlier hun, it'd be great seeing him slug it out with a decent car. In past seasons he has given the 'big boys' in superior cars a run for their money (remember 2004 when he was all over the back of Alonso when Alonson's Renault had the traction control) and finally outfoxed him to get past - good stuff)

It took Schumi a few seasons to get Ferrari firing on all cylinders and he went there as a double world champion and the team were built around him. Jenson went to BAR as #2 to Villeneuve, thoroughly demoralised after being let go by Renault (from whom he was on loan from Williams)

I hope Honda get their collective fingers out and design a decent car to give their drivers a fighting chance next year

Great win for Massa again today - but Hamilton leads the championship with another great podium finish - 4 out of 4 for him!

Jenson button was beaten comfortably by his team mate Barrichello, and nearly took his own team-mate out at one point with a bit of reckless driving. Mardy Brat! roflmao

This is going to be some season at the fron - both the the teams have two drivers who are evenly matched, and the points reflect that too!

it was another flawless permformance by Hamilton, what a great driver that young lad is turning out to be. It was interesting how much emphasis Alonso put on the first corner incident as to his perfomance today. The other driver involved went on to comfortably win the race and with a scary fire as well.

Interesting that the Honda-owned cars were so close, but they still have a liong way to go.

I have a bit of an inkling that Kimi and Ferrari may part company before the end of the season... Just a feeling that all is not well there, especially with Massa doing so well now.

Oh, and Sam, good wind-up attempt ;)

Amusing that the Super Aguri (Honda 2nd team) beat the Honda's again.

Not winding you up Lex, just being honest - Jenson is all mouth and little delivery. Hamilton is little mouth and much delivery judging by his fabulous start! :D

Kimi... I don't know whats up with the bloke. I don't think he's enjoying the fact that he has Schumachers shadow over him, but also I think he has to put more effort in - mind he was unfortunate today.

Massa is an unsung hero and has recovered brilliantly since his spectacular mess up in Malaysia!

i didn't know you were cheering for me haha :P

don't worry Lex wasn't! roflmao

Lewis Hamilton is currently flying in Monaco qualifying!! Cmon Lewis!! What a brilliant driver he already is, unbelievable that he is challenging for the championship at such a young age and in his first season!

Lewis has driven in Monaco in 3 races and 2 classes. He's won all 3 - let's hope he can achieve his first F1 win today :D

I have a sneaking suspicion Alonso may edge him out, but if there's rain today it could be anybody's race.

I reckon we may even see a BMW or Williams on the podium today

Alsonso wins brilliantly. I reckon he'll hold onto the championship this year with Hamilton second and Massa third. Raikonnen seems to be trying too hard, I think Massa has phased him.

Uneventful race in the end, with Alonso showing his class in a comfortable victory - no surprise on the imposible-to-overtake monaco streets!

I think the media (British particularly) have to be careful with Hamilton for his sake and show more respect to the other drivers - He has no race win yet remember, has been a bit spawny and has obviously taken to F1 like water off a ducks back. James Allen was particulrarly guilty today, every time Alonso lost a second or so in traffic (lapping people at Monaco is also tricky!), he jumped on and went mad, proclaiming "Hamilton is turning it on and catching him!" etc. No chance!

Alonso is still the best driver in the field, with Raikkonen the second best when bothered and Massa and Hamilton about the same stage in their progression. People musn't lose sight of that, especially Lewis' support team! 5 podiums out of 5 is fantastic though! :D

Lewis Hamilton drives a stunning last lap to get pole on his first F1 Silverstone GP.

I thought he was going to be 4th fastest at best but his last lap was incredible and it sets the scene for an interesting race tomorrow.

I hope he's been working on his starts though, they've been a weak point for him in the past.

Go Lewis

:bow: :clap: :yahoo: :clap: :bow:

Kimi wins superbly at Silverstone with Alonso 2nd and Hamilton 3rd. It would have been too much of a fairy tale for Lewis to have won but 3rd ain't bad.

I reckon his tyre strategy let him down, but he'd been struggling with the car all weekend apparently.

Ferrari are on a roll but Hamilton is still 12 points clear

:D

Hamilton has finally started to hit a rocky patch - how he responds to all this will tell us how good he really is. Alonso is looking dangerously racy all of a sudden, and the Ferrari's are faster than the McLarens at this time.

Pole will be vital at the Hungaroring this weekend as always.

A fantastic win for Lewis Hamilton today in an epic race at a wet Mt Fuji. Alonso had a big smash (not that ITV, disgracefully, gave a monkeys about his well-being when it initially happened) so Lewis is 12 clear with two to go!

Barring retirements the title is his to lose now!

As for the feud between Hamilton and Alonso, well I feel it is six and half a dozen. Hamilton actually lit the touchpaper by moaning at Monaco that he had to follow Alonso home, despite the fact it's impossible to overtake there! Alonso has been cast as the bad guy in the UK of course, but they are as guilty as each other really.

McLaren have taken Hamiltons side largely because he is "their boy" of course.

What a championship though! If Only Schumacher was still racing, I would have loved to have seen how he would have dealt with Lewis!

MS could well have dealt with Lewis the same way he dealt with Damon, but as with all these suppositions, we'll never know.

The most interesting thing about today was how Lewis seemed to keep his head and make very few errors.

James Allen is a liability for ITV - in the last years he has been creaming himself over Jenson (which turned an awful lot of people off Jenson which was sad), this year he is going into a state of apoplexy over Lewis :wacko:

It will need some very bad luck on Hamilton's part if he is to lose the championship this year. He only has to score 3 more points more than Alonso next week in Shanghai to tie it up.

Another early start :rolleyes:

James Allen just makes me laugh... he soooo wanted to be Murray and is just rubbish in comparison. I hope Lewis does it next race - he deserves it I have to say - a fantastic newcomer :)

I think James Allen is in love with Lewis Hamilton and wants his babies :wub: :wub:

Also, Lex... are you sure Lewis needs three more points than Alonso in the next race? I thought he could afford to lose one point to Alonso and still be crowned champ in the next race?

:lol: well, Lewis is very cute...

I thought it was a point that would do it.... but I havent been watching for ages - am going by the beeb - never reliable....

have to agree hun. I was a Lewis fan when he was in the lower formulas, his drive in Turkey last year was stupendous. That's when I thought that he would be brilliant in F1

he's 12 points clear

hmmm

hang on...

*counts fingers and toes*

if he's a DNF next week and Alonso wins then Alonso 2 points behind. Then the last race he has to beat Alonso..

ok, so he has to beat Alonso next week

:ok:

am sure he can do it :)

especially with his ferrari assisted McLaren...... :peek:

:cop:

:lmaao: :lmaao:

would need extraordinary bad luck for Lewis to fail now.

If he has 2 DNF's and Alonso scores 13 points in next 2 races...

:yikes:

*crosses and prays to the Murray god*

He is 12 points ahead.... so if he finished 4th and Alonso finished 3rd next week... Alonso would get 6 points and Hamilton would get 5 points and he would then have an 11 point lead over Alonso and win the championship, so he hasn't got to be ahead of him next week.... unless my maths is poor?