Hamilton inside info

[EKE]

Lewis is fuelled 2 to 3 laps longer than Alonso

[Hondanisti]

impressive indeed that he was close to Alonso in qualifying with a heavier fuel load and then also passed him early in the race and kept Alonso at bay behind him by a 2 sec. gap on the first stint.

Alonso ended up pulling a veterans move on Lewis though by running heavier after the first stop in order to short fill on the second stop and reduce his time in the pit lane....

it's going to be fun watching Lewis this year. Let's hope the fizz doesn't bubble out for him like it did for Nico last year early on.

[mep]

Even with alonso finishing bevore hamilton I would
say it's 1-0 for Hamilton.
Shame on Alonso for simply cruising behind one, who
has is first race, insted of overtaking and try to push forward.

In my opinion Alonso is no real racer.

[Tom]

Alonso wasn't cruising, to push would have been risky as he would may have scared Lewis into a silly mistake which cost the team points and running too close would have put Alonso in the hot air behind Hamilton and possibly damaged his engine meaning he might not make it through the next race. If Alonso had pushed it would have been hard for him to overtake anyway without risking contact, Lewis is a good driver but hasn't experienced cars as heavy, powerful or long as F1 machines overtaking him. It wasn't worth the risk. Even if Alonso had got past would he have caught Kimi?

[onon]

i don't like the fact that Lewis Hamilton, the rookie, comes to F1 and starts to dominate the race.

[Ted68]

i don't like the fact that Lewis Hamilton, the rookie, comes to F1 and starts to dominate the race.

Whats the matter with him doing what he did? Survival of the fittest!

[RH1300S]

A great start to his career. I missed the race, but saw the replay on TV last night - his move off the start was sensational. Watch his car body-language - he's utterly on it.

It's too early to really compare him to Alonso yet; FA's a wiley old fox, at the end of day he managed to pull out in-front of Lewis (which is no shame at all for Lewis).

Did you notice Lewis allowed himself to trail in quite some distance behind FA; I'd call that smart thinking, looking after his machinery for next time out.

With the pair of them showing that much class, you'd have to give McLaren the nod for most likely champions this year (very close call with Ferrari 'though).

[ginsu]

i don't like the fact that Lewis Hamilton, the rookie, comes to F1 and starts to dominate the race.

what do you think he is getting paid for? also, i don't think he exactly 'dominated' the race...rather he got a good start and made it stick. personally, i think the bridgestones are going to make for a very boring season. most of the passing will be done at the start and in the pitlane...snore, snore

[dumrick]

Shame on Alonso for simply cruising behind one, who
has is first race, insted of overtaking and try to push forward.

That's called being intelligent. Furthermore, Alonso wasn't cruising, their fastest laps are similar, trying to close the gap would be too risky, putting engine health at stake and risking losing downforce in the fast corners (look at some of Heikki's moments, while he was chasing Toyotas...)

For now, I'm so very happy with McLaren's drivers... such a difference for last year, they BOTH seem actually fast AND intelligent.

[RH1300S]

One other thing to consider:

The outcome of this race may have been decided on the pitwall..........

If LH started with more fuel on-board, I can see no reason why he (his race engineer) couldn't have made a strategy call that would have been a match for or better than Alonso.

All the cards were in Hamilton's favour.

I don't think we saw a genuine race.

We saw two McLarens running as fast as they could - and quite likely it was decided that Alonso would be a better bet over the season - so the 2-3 finish was switched in his favour.

[mep]

Hamilton and Alonso are in the same team the don't have
to kick each other outh on a overtaking try,
but the Hamilton can make overtaking easy.
They should change positions avter afew laps.
So alonso can make his race.
And nobody knowed in this early phase of the race how
quick heidfelds bmw is.

To follow hamilton is also dangerous because of:
-possible safty car phases
-Hamilton drove two times of the track
I would laugh if he would have crashed alosno after driving back to track.
-Beeing a racer doesn't always mean to be inteligent.

[dumrick]

Hamilton and Alonso are in the same team the don't have
to kick each other outh on a overtaking try,
but the Hamilton can make overtaking easy.
They should change positions avter afew laps.
So alonso can make his race.
And nobody knowed in this early phase of the race how
quick heidfelds bmw is.

To follow hamilton is also dangerous because of:
-possible safty car phases
-Hamilton drove two times of the track
I would laugh if he would have crashed alosno after driving back to track.
-Beeing a racer doesn't always mean to be inteligent.

You are assuming that Alonso was quicker than Hamilton and there's no proof of it. Alonso had a hard time already staying in touch with Hamilton with a slightly higher fuel load to get ahead after the pitstops. Even so, I don't know what could have happened if Hamilton wasn't so conservative when approaching backmarkers - Alonso wouldn't be so close to him when he drove to the pits, for sure.
Biggest pace difference between the two seemed to me, in fact, the way they face lapping other cars - Alonso is far more aggressive and tends to lose less time.

[saam]

not a bad race for me, i enjoyed it

i think the team chose to put alonso out in front of hamilton in the pit lane...

IMO hamilton would have beaten alonso here in melbourne, the team didtnt alow it this time..