Ok, so I know some of Lewis Hamilton’s maladies in Koala Lumpar were beyond his control, nevertheless his five place grid spot penalty in qualifying dropped him to his lowest starting position since Germany last year when he crashed heavily into the tyre barriers…
Rushing up to fifth place, Hamilton was basically unable to get around the notoriously hard to pass Mark Webber and subsequently grained his tires trying to do so. Then a messy 18+ second pit stop caused by an un-cooperating front wheel spat assembly dropped him even further down the order.
Hamilton did indeed go further on his second stint due to the heavier amount of petrol aboard his mount and the usual superb McLaren pit-stop enabled him to shuffle ahead of the most irksome Aussie, leaving him free to nip at the heels of Jarno Tulli’s reborn Toyota. Although “Jaguar” got very close to the Italian who was chasing his first podium in his last 50 starts, the two drivers remained stationary to the flag.
So, with two rounds gone, I know it’s way too early to make any predictions about who’ll be the 2008 World Champion, although may I suggest that Hamilton and Raikkonen seem to have that air of superiority in their step, especially when being interviewed. And I’ll give the Krakow Kid the nod for third over Felipe Massa, with Nick Heidfeld leading the rest of the grid in driver’s standings, although Heikki Kovalainen may be quick to disagree with me, eh?
While I’ll be happy with either Hamilton or Raikkonen winning the title, I’d prefer to see the Iceman claim his second crown so he could join the very distinguished list of two time consecutive World Champions…
