The storm after the lull

The Englishman won the eighth race of his short career, and after yesterday, no one can blame him for thinking that he might just get another peek at the drivers8217; championship 12 months after he threw it all away. The reason for that feeling, to a large extent, is the performance of the Ferraris. Both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish as the first race this season made a bit of history 8212; only seven drivers reached the chequered flag, a record of sorts even in the crash-boom-bang world of F1.

Perfect start

The big question for the season, obviously, is whether Hamilton can stay consistently ahead of the Ferraris, and Sunday was a clear indication that he8217;s not going to go down without a fight.

8220;I feel fantastic. It8217;s a dream start to the season and my championship challenge,8221; Hamilton said at the FIA press conference. 8220;It was a super race which I controlled from the beginning. I was able to drive at a steady pace without feeling any pressure, which is always the ideal situation when you are leading.

8220;The car is fantastic to drive and the team has done a superb job. I have prepared much better this year than last, and it8217;s important that me and the team continue to push hard in the months to come.8221; The McLarens, surprisingly perhaps, are looking like strong championship contenders for the second year in a row they have had a tendency, of late, to fall asleep after a big season. 8220;I am sorry not to have Heikki Kovalainen with me on the podium as a one-two would have been a great reward to the team.8221;

Seeing red

The Ferraris, meanwhile, couldn8217;t have had a worse start to the year. Felipe Massa crashed out in the first lap itself, while Kimi Raikkonen kept launching attacks and spinning off before his challenge finally ended up in an engine failure five laps from the end. 8220;It8217;s really disappointing not to finish the race, but at least one point is better than nothing,8221; he said, not sounding too worried about the car or the championship.

8220;The reason for the engine failure needs to be analysed. But the car was good and I had good pace when I found a free track ahead of me, even though I spun a couple of times trying to pass those ahead. This result is obviously not the best start to the season but it is a very long one, and we are well aware that we8217;re capable of recovering from situations far worse than this,8221; he said. He would know about recovering from hopeless situations after last year, when he, and Ferrari, came back from the dead to win the drivers and constructors championships.

Other surprises

The start-of-the-season surprise was provided by Germans Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg. Heidfeld brought in his Sauber at second place, while Rosberg got the first podium finish of his career. The Saubers had been pretty consistent last year, even though they weren8217;t keeping pace with the Ferraris or the McLarens, and this season looks like it8217;ll follow a similar pattern as they remain at least a second off the pace.

Williams, meanwhile, have been very slowly finding some of their old speed in the last couple of seasons, and they will be fairly pleased if they can consistently stick to the front-runners through the season.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso finished up in fourth place while Sebastien Bourdais brought his Toro Rosso in at a creditable seventh in his first race for the team. And as far as season-opener impressions go, it should be quite an exciting season ahead as most of the midfield teams are packed quite close together.

The writer is in Melbourne as a guest of the Force India F1 team