| After just two races in the 2007 Formula 1 calendar | | | | retake him on the next corner. Until he fooled Massa |
| complete, it is already looking much like the two | | | | into braking too late, and as the Brazilian slid past him |
| horse race that everyone expected. What nobody | | | | and out into the gravel Hamilton roared past and that |
| expected was that McLaren would already be leading | | | | was that. Worse was to come for Massa, as he |
| the race, with the sole exception of perhaps McLaren | | | | watched Heidfeld go past. He would spend the rest |
| themselves. In Australia, Ferrari had a mixed race, | | | | of his race trying to get past the BMW, and it is a |
| with Raikkonen leading from pole to checkered flag | | | | mark of their progress that he found it impossible. Up |
| very comfortably, while his team mate, Felipe Massa, | | | | ahead, things got interesting after the second pit |
| managed to battle his way from the back of the grid | | | | stop. The first had been more than a little unkind to |
| up to a very respectable sixth position. Imagine, we | | | | Raikkonen, his stop was almost 3 seconds longer |
| all thought, how he might have done if he had | | | | than Hamiltons and saw him exit snug between the |
| started in the top six. Meanwhile, Alonso had qualified | | | | Renaults of Fisichella and Kovalainen, where he quickly |
| just behind Raikkonen, and the not completely | | | | lost time on his rival in 2nd. However, after the |
| unexpected presence of Nick Heidfeld separated him | | | | second pit it seemed that the hard compound was |
| from team mate Lewis Hamilton, so the McLarens | | | | suiting the Ferrari, and Raikkonen quickly began to |
| were looking strong. Strong enough for team boss | | | | chase down Hamilton, knocking over half a second a |
| Ron Dennis to instruct his drivers to take no chances | | | | lap off the gap between them. Too little, too late. |
| in the first lap, just get around safely. While Alonso | | | | Hamilton crossed the line in second, and ice-man had |
| seemed content to follow, Hamilton (in his first ever | | | | to settle for third, and for second position over all in |
| F1 race) pushed Heidfeld for third, and in the process | | | | the title race. |
| ended up overtaking Alonso and moving into 2nd | | | | As we near race three in the calendar, Bahrain, what |
| place. There he remained, comfortably, until losing | | | | can we expect? It seems obvious that the reliability |
| time in the pits at which point Alonso moved back to | | | | problems that plagued McLaren for the last two |
| second. The BMWs performed well, with Heidfeld | | | | seasons seem to have been sorted out. Ferrari |
| holding 4th until the flag and Kubica also cruising until | | | | continues to appear to be the quickest, but they |
| he was forced to retire due to gearbox failure. | | | | have their own problems at the moment with grip. |
| Fisichella managed a creditable 6th in the | | | | BMW Sauber are looking the most improved team, |
| under-performing Renault, while his rookie team | | | | having managed to get 4th place in both races |
| mate, Heikki Kovalainen, had a debut to forget, | | | | despite having bad luck. Likewise Williams; Rosberg |
| managing to get home in 10th. Perhaps the best | | | | managed 7th in Australia and was looking good in |
| surprise was seeing Nico Rosberg bringing his Williams | | | | Sepang until the engine went, while his team mate, |
| home in 7th, having started from 12th on the grid. | | | | Wurz, was doing fine in Australia until Coulthard |
| Ralf Schumacher, one of the three best drivers in | | | | launched his car over him. In Sepang, Wurz narrowly |
| Formula 1 according to Ralf Schumacher, picked up | | | | missed out on a point when he couldn't hold off the |
| the last point. | | | | challenge of Kovalainen in the Renault. Fisichella has |
| And so to Sepang, where Ferrari looked very strong | | | | managed to finish 5th and 6th in his Renault, while his |
| and the McLarens just a little behind. This was the | | | | rookie team mate picked up his first point of the |
| race Ferrari should have won, but it was not to be. | | | | season with his 8th place in Malaysia, but it looks like |
| Like Australia before it, almost all the decisive action | | | | Renault have an uphill battle ahead, and their best |
| was over by the end of the first lap. Alonso started | | | | hope of finishing third in the constructors will depend |
| alongside Massa, and pushed him off his line by | | | | a lot on how well the BMW Sauber team continues |
| outbraking him at the first corner, allowing Hamilton | | | | to do and whether or not Williams can get their |
| to slide up into 2nd. With Hamilton as his protective | | | | reliability issues in order. Beyond those three will be |
| cushion, Alonso quickly opened up a gap on the | | | | the battle among Honda, Toyota, and perhaps Red |
| following cars, getting further ahead with every lap. | | | | Bull, and filling up the places will be the Super Aguri, |
| Behind him, Hamilton played a deadly cat and mouse | | | | Toro Rosso and Spyker teams. |
| game with Massa, allowing Massa to slip by only to | | | | |