Formula One: Melbourne

Two-thirds of my prediction came true. Yesterday I predicted these results:

#1 Kimi
#2 Alonso
#3 Massa

And today the actual results are:

#1 Kimi
#2 Alonso
#3 Hamilton

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa finished 6th after being forced to start from the back of the grid. That's the price to pay for an engine change after it broke down during Saturday qualifying.

The maiden race of the 2007 season was relatively free of serious race incidents. The most dramatic one today was David Coulthard's stunt when his car actually climbed over Alex Wurz's Williams as they approached a corner at high speed. The on-board camera showed how he missed Wurz's hands and head by inches. I dunno, I pity DC. He's finding it increasingly difficult to retire from the sport with dignity and you can feel the bitterness whenever he speaks to the press.

Kimi is on a high though. How sweet his victory today must feel after McLaren's terrible reliability record the last few seasons. I've lost count how many times the car failed on Kimi when he's leading a race. Poor Alonso is now left with McLaren's legendary jinx in his hands and from his early comments I sense he's not feeling all that confident too.

McLaren's off to a good start though. Its rookie driver Lewis Hamilton who is also F1's first black driver is now the first British driver in 41 years to ever finish on the podium in his maiden race. The fact that he was in front of his teammate Alonso for a considerable number of laps today showed that McLaren was happy to let this be a race of merit, at least for now. But make no mistake, team orders is sure to rear its ugly head as the season heats up.

On Kimi again, I can't help noticing a big difference during the post race press conference. He actually looks genuinely happier, unlike during his McLaren days when he's more reserved even when he's fresh off the podium. To the question on his win being like a walk in Albert Park, he responded,

Yeah. The weekend has been very good, so thanks to the team. Today the race was not as easy as it might have looked. Just before the start my radio broke so I didn't have a radio the whole race so it was a bit complicated but at least before the race we had a plan what we wanted to do so I knew pretty much what I was meant to do, but in some places it wasn't an ideal situation. Anyhow, it was a good race for us. I didn't have to push too hard, just have to pace myself a bit and look what the others were doing. An excellent start.

I think that was the longest comment he'd ever made in front of the camera, ever. So the rumour IS true, he CAN talk even when he's not drunk!

They say Formula One isn't Formula One without Michael Schumacher. I disagree. I think it'll do just fine without him and the race in Albert Park today proves it.

The next race will be on 8 April in Sepang. Anyone got a spare free ticket for me?