McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton battled to a masterful Monaco Grand Prix victory on Sunday despite hitting the barriers on an afternoon of mayhem on the principality’s slippery streets. ”This has got to be the highlight of my career, and it will be the highlight for the rest of my life,” declared the ecstatic Briton.
Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen stretched his Formula One lead to nine points with a dominant win from pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Brazilian Felipe Massa sealed Ferrari’s second successive one-two finish, and third win in a row, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton taking third place to revive his title challenge after a disappointing last race in Bahrain.
Lewis Hamilton got an early psychological edge over Kimmi Raikkonen, winning pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix while the world champion will start near the back of the grid. McLaren’s Hamilton had the fastest times in the second and third runs of the three-phase qualifying session.
Ferrari are back on top, Lewis Hamilton is a title contender and two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso is back with Renault. Add night racing to all that and one of F1’s most exciting seasons in 2007 is set for a worthy follow-up in 2008.
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/ 13 February 2008
Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, the victim of racial abuse from Spanish fans earlier this month, took top honours on Tuesday in Formula One pre-season testing in southern Spain. The McLaren driver was fastest among the 16 drivers on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit with a time of one minute 19,102 seconds, beating his previous best time on the same track.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen turned the Formula One title battle into a three-way fight to the last race in Brazil on Sunday with victory in China after championship leader Lewis Hamilton skidded out. Hamilton’s double world champion teammate and closest title rival Fernando Alonso finished second with Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa third.
Lewis Hamilton’s bid to become Formula One’s first rookie world champion remained on track on Friday after stewards cleared him of blame for a collision in Japan last weekend. ”No penalty is imposed upon him,” they said in a statement. The 22-year-old McLaren driver met stewards at the Chinese Grand Prix to review video footage of a collision during the rain-soaked Fuji race.
Formula One stewards are investigating Lewis Hamilton’s Japanese Grand Prix victory after complaints about the championship leader’s erratic driving behind the safety car last weekend. ”New evidence has emerged and the stewards are looking into it,” a spokesperson for the International Automobile Federation said.