Alonso storms to Malaysian victory

O no wrong team!


Fernando Alonso stormed to victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix, taking the lead in the very first corner and never looking back. Lewis Hamilton resisted pressure from Ferrari all day to finish second and complete a one-two for McLaren ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.

Heavy, overnight rain had washed the track surface and made matters much more slippery for the start of the race, although by then the sun was shining and track temperature was well above 50 degrees Centigrade.

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton rocketed off the line and both slipped down the inside of turn one to pass both Ferraris and put their McLarens first and second respectively. Massa recoiled back in third, making a tentative probe up the inside of Hamilton in turn three only for the British driver to firmly close the door. Raikkonen maintained fourth ahead of the two BMWs, Rosberg and Fisichella.

Alonso began to stretch his lead and by lap four had a four-second lead over Hamilton who was busy fending off a rampant Felipe Massa. The Brazilian caught a perfect slipstream down the pit straight but Hamilton stood his ground, forcing Massa down the outside and narrowly retained second place. Massa then rallied for a charge down the inside of turn four, passed Hamilton, but braked too late, ran wide and let the McLaren take the position again.

Massa regrouped and the next lap threw another one down the inside of turn four only to go completely off track, releasing Hamilton and letting Raikkonen take third place. Massa rejoined the race in fifth, behind Nick Heidfeld.

The excitement then settled and Alonso continued to build a lead of a second-per-lap over Hamilton with Raikkonen close behind. Heidfeld and Massa languished a further five seconds down the track.

Massa was the first front-runner to pit on lap 17 while on the McLaren pit wall there seemed to be some concern over whether Fernando Alonso knew he was expected in for fuel, but the double-champion was in no doubt and dived into the pit lane on lap 18 from a 17-second lead. Kimi Raikkonen pitted too on lap 18, but Hamilton continued on track and inherited the lead until he too made his pit stop on lap 20.

As everything shook out on lap 23, Alonso led Hamilton by 11 seconds with Raikkonen third, Heidfeld fourth, Massa fifth and Rosberg sixth. The order was maintained until the second round of pit stops, but there were also no surprises to be had then.

Alonso continued to lead, but Hamilton seemed to struggle on the harder compound Bridgestone tyre. As the British driver did all he could to cover the final twelve laps of the race holding onto second place, Nico Rosberg had a bigger problem as smoke started pouring from the back of his Williams Toyota. Rosberg was forced to retire after an extremely competitive drive in which he was easily running in sixth.

The final eight laps saw Raikkonen close right in on Lewis Hamilton for second place. By lap 52 Raikkonen was just two seconds behind the young rookie and still closing in. By the final lap, Raikkonen was less than a second behind and pressuring Hamilton hard but could not get past - Hamilton did not make any mistakes.

Fernando Alonso though cruised to victory in a dominant performance and Lewis Hamilton brought his McLaren home in second to complete an exceptional one-two finish for the Mercedes-powered team. Kimi Raikkonen collected third place ahead of Nick Heidfeld, Felipe Massa, Fisichella, Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen rounding off the top eight.

Source