Hamilton savours 'perfect' start
Lewis Hamilton hailed his ’perfect’ start to the Formula One season after winning the Australian Grand Prix, but insisted he still has plenty left in the tank.
Starting from pole, Hamilton produced a composed drive in his McLaren to take the chequered flag 5.4 seconds ahead of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber.
Williams driver Nico Rosberg finished third as only seven cars made it to the end of the 58-lap race, with Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa among those failing to finish.
Massa was forced to call a halt on lap 30 after crashing into David Coulthard’s Red Bull, while Raikkonen ground to a halt in the pit lane just four laps from the end.
There was some slightly better news for the Finn, however, as Rubens Barrichello was disqualified from sixth place when his Honda exited the pit lane when the pit exit light was red, meaning the defending champion at least picked up a point for his trouble.
Kazuki Nakajima was promoted to sixth in the other Williams, while Sebastien Bourdais grabbed two points for Toro Rosso on his Formula One debut.
But Hamilton proved unflappable at the front as he coped with three safety car periods to cruise to victory and ensure he began his world championship challenge in the best possible manner.
And the delighted 23-year-old fired a warning to McLaren’s Italian rivals by insisting they can go even faster.
“It’s the perfect way to begin the season,” he said.
“Going into the next few races, we need to try and continue with the momentum we have.
“We could have gone quicker, so I’m not particularly bothered about the Ferrari’s pace. We need to keep on pushing.
I guess it was like my first race in Montreal last year. In Montreal we had four safety cars, it was difficult to keep the tyres and the brakes up for so long. A good challenge but we did a great job.“
Heidfeld, who started fifth, was not initially overly optimistic about how his afternoon would pan out after being jumped by Rosberg off the line.
“After the start, I didn’t think it was going to be a very good race because I knew that Nico was quite long but he came in earlier than expected,” he said.
“But what we lost on the start, we gained back on the pitstop.”
Rosberg fought his way up from seventh on the grid to fourth thanks to a flying start before producing a consistent drive to secure a maiden podium appearance.
“I’m really happy,” he said.
“Really pleased with the whole team, it’s good progress. I had a fantastic start and everything happened up front really.
“I think we have a solid car to start the season with. I’m hoping to have nice development through the season and I think we can have a good year.”
