Massa wins Malaysian Grand Prix
Felipe Massa bounced back from the disappointment of the Malaysian Grand Prix in style today as he captured his first victory of 2007 in Bahrain.
Massa made up for letting pole position slip last week as he retained his grip on the lead throughout although Hamilton pushed hard towards the end to close the gap but in the end was unable to catch the Brazilian.
Lewis Hamilton's superb season continued as he entered the history books with his second-place finish.
The 22-year-old became the first ever driver to finish on the podium in his first three races whilst also climbing to joint leader of the championship alongside Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen finished third, while Nick Heidfeld capped a fine performance on the Sakhir circuit to take fourth place.
Two-time world champion Alonso ran the German close but in the end finished half a second behind the BMW Sauber driver in fifth place.
Robert Kubica ensured a good display for BMW Sauber as he took sixth place, Toyota's Jarno Trulli finished seventh while Giancarlo Fisichella, Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg rounded off the rest of the top 10.
There was disappointment for Jenson Button in his Honda once again as he was out of the race only minutes after climbing into his car.
Toro Rosso driver Scott Speed collided with the 27-year-old's car soon after the race began and the safety car was quickly deployed.
David Coulthard was once again unable to complete a race but it was extremely disappointing for the Red Bull driver as he had climbed from 21st on grid up to seventh before flames emanating from the under the car brought an end to his race mid-way through.
Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson also retired late on as smoke poured from the back of his car.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis was full of praise for Hamilton's drive today and his start to the season.
"What a great drive from Lewis, solid performance," he said on ITV1. "He did a great job.
"Three people leading the world championship - great beginning to the season."
Hamilton said: "I think this weekend we have definitely closed the gap on Ferrari and I couldn't ask for more. It is one more step for me and in Barcelona we will push again.
"Unfortunately I didn't get as good as start as Felipe, he did very well on the first corner and I just had to make sure I stayed as close to him as possible.
"I struggled a little bit in the second stint. The car's balance was not very good and that was where I was losing it.
"We got back onto the hard tyre and we were able to keep up the pace."
Meanwhile, Massa was delighted with his victory, saying: "The results in the first two races were not what I expected.
"Something was missing. But this time we put everything together. I'm really pleased."
