Fernando Alonso made his victory in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix–his first for McLaren–look easy. Once he passed pole-sitter Felipe Massa’s Ferrari for the lead into the first corner he pulled away and never looked back.
Had he looked in his mirrors he would have seen his teammate Lewis Hamilton drive a brilliant race in only his second Grand Prix. Hamilton passed Kimi Raikkonen and then Massa in the first corner and then duelled with Massa, being passed and then re-passing the Brazilian until Massa went too deep into a corner and ran wide, losing several places which he was never able to make up.
After driving a steady race Hamilton had to pick up the pace in the closing laps as Raikkonen caught him and tried hard to get past. Driving with far more maturity than either his age or experience would explain Hamilton took second place and moved one step higher on the podium than his first outing in Australia.
Nick Heidfeld showed the pace of the improving, if fragile, BMW and finished in fourth ahead of Massa.
Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth in the race that he won last year, not as poor a result as it sounds considering that neither of the Renaults qualified in the top 10.
All in all this was one of the most exciting races in a while and, with two different winners in as many races and Lewis Hamilton’s improving performaces, this is shaping up to be a very intersting season.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Alonso (ESP) | McLaren Mercedes | 10 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton (GBR) | McLaren Mercedes | 8 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) | Ferrari | 6 |
| 4 | Nick Heidfeld (GER) | BMW | 5 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa (BRA) | Ferrari | 4 |
| 6 | Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) | Renault | 3 |
| 7 | Jarno Trulli (ITA) | Toyota | 2 |
| 8 | Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) | Renault | 1 |
| Fastest Qualifier: Felipe Massa (BRA) | |||