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F1 Malaysia:
1-2 Victory - Alonso ahead of Hamilton
Sepang, Apr 08, 2007
The start: Fernando had qualified in second place on the starting grid. At the first corner, he took the
lead from pole sitter Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Lewis, fourth in qualifying, overtook Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) in the first corner and then Massa in the second corner to complete the opening lap in second place.
The race: On lap four, Massa attacked Hamilton, but did not get past. On lap six the Brazilian got past. But he ran wide and was immediately repassed by Lewis. Fernando was now running 7.5sec ahead
of his team-mate Lewis, Räikkönen and Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber).
Lap 18: First pit stop for Fernando (8.1sec), Lewis taking the lead and Fernando rejoining in third place
ahead of Heidfeld. The Englishman came in for his own first pit stop on lap 20 (7.4sec) and two laps later Lewis posted the fastest lap of the race in 1min36.701sec. One lap later, when the top-six
drivers had completed their respective first pit stops, Fernando was back in the lead ahead of Lewis.
Lap 38: Lewis came in for his second stop in 7.6sec, resuming in fifth place. Fernando followed two laps
later (7.2sec) and resumed second. After the scheduled stopps for Massa (lap 40), Räikkönen (41) and Heidfeld (42) Fernando emerged in the lead with Lewis second ahead of Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Massa.
After 56 laps, Fernando scored the first victory for Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes with Lewis in second place to claim a podium place again in only his second Grand Prix.
Comments
Fernando Alonso: "To win today after coming second in Australia with my new team is like a dream come true. I'm so happy and pleased with the
progress we as a team have made since we unveiled the MP4-22 in mid-January. We knew the key to victory today was to make a good start and get in front to control the race which we achieved. To
have Lewis in second place makes today's result even better. There was bit of a drama when there was a problem with my radio after about ten laps so I wasn't sure if the team was ready for me when I
came in to pit for the first time. However they were and the radio was fixed during the stop. After that it was a matter of fighting the conditions but as I was not really threatened I could take it a bit
easier, however it was tough – really tough. We will now continue our preparations for Bahrain and I can't wait."
Lewis Hamilton: "That was the toughest race of my
career. I was defending my position for a lot of the time and I'm so pleased that I managed to keep both Felipe and Kimi behind me. However it was hard work and it was just so hot inside the cockpit. A big
thank you to the team who have worked so hard both with the car but also preparing me for the past months. Today's result is super for the entire team. I made a good start and was able to get past Felipe
and Kimi to take second. At one point, Felipe was attacking at Turn 4 and ended up going slightly off the track and I was able to keep second. Kimi was catching towards the end as I was struggling with
the balance a bit but what a race. I now have experience of racing in these conditions and will be even better prepared next year. I'm now looking forward to Bahrain. Congratulations to Fernando, very well done."
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