Hamilton storms to victory in Melbourne

(adapted from The Times - 16/03/2008)

Lewis Hamilton put a line under McLaren's tumultuous last season with an emphatic opening-season victory in the Australian Grand Prix as world champions Ferrari melted in Melbourne's furnace heat on Sunday.

The 23-year-old British star controlled the race from the outset and had over five seconds to spare at the chequered flag.
It was Hamilton's fifth win in his 18th GP, and he ranked it as his best yet.

"This win, perhaps, feels better than any because I feel I have improved in many areas, but I wouldn't say it was the perfect win, I would say there are a lot of areas where I can improve," he said.

It made it all the sweeter for McLaren, trying to put behind the ramifications of last season's 'Spygate' scandal. "To me coming into a new season, turning over a new leaf, we really wanted to get off on the right foot, (team principal) Ron Dennis has been through a lot and so has the team, but we've pulled through and really it shows in the results," Hamilton said.

Hamilton, who was third here on debut last year behind Raikkonen and Alonso, said the win reminded him of his first F1 victory. "It was a bit like my first win last year in Montreal where we had four safety cars," he said. "It was a good challenge but we've all done a great job." "I felt fantastic. You'd never thought it would have been as physically a breeze as it was. It's great preparation for Malaysia — bring it on, I'm really looking forward to it.; "It is the perfect way to begin the season. We need to continue with the momentum. We could have gone quicker, so I'm not particularly bothered by the Ferrari's pace."

It was a chaotic race, full of incident, with the safety car called on three times during the 58 laps, and only seven of the 22 cars making it home. The race ended at the first corner for four cars, with 2005 Australian GP winner Giancarlo Fisichella skidding off in the Force India team's debut.

Dual world champion Fernando Alonso steered his way through the traffic to claim fourth place and earn five points for Renault, the first time since 2003 that he did not finish on the podium at Melbourne.

Hamilton's triumph and teammate Kovalainen's fifth placing gave McLaren a 14-point haul out of the race and a decisive lead over Ferrari heading into next weekend's second Malaysian GP at Sepang.