Sports / Motor Racing |
Alonso and Hamilton cement McLaren comeback(Reuters)Updated: 2007-04-09 09:02
McLaren's Malaysian Grand Prix win on Sunday could be the first of many for their dynamic new partnership of double world champion Fernando Alonso and Briton Lewis Hamilton. The team's first win since October 2005, and first one-two finish since September that year, confirmed the Mercedes-powered team's return as pacesetters after their first barren season in a decade. Alonso's arrival from Renault and the graduation of Hamilton from the junior GP2 series has given Formula One its most exciting new partnership in years. McLaren had started the weekend merely hoping to compete with the supposedly superior Ferraris. They ended it with maximum points. "It's absolutely fantastic," said race-winner Alonso. "I think it is a wonderful surprise in such a short time. "I remember our first test in December and then a new car in January. A lot of work has been done inside the team and everyone has put in a lot of effort to be ready for the first race. "We never expected to be competitive. It is something difficult to believe and everybody deserves a big thank you." Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, beaten into third place in his Ferrari on Sunday, gave McLaren their last one-two finish in Brazil in 2005. McLaren lead the constructors' championship with 32 points from two races, nine ahead of Ferrari with BMW Sauber third on 10 points. Hamilton, 22, is enjoying a dream start to his Formula One career after finishing third in his opening race in Melbourne last month. Triple champion Niki Lauda, who drove for the great McLaren team of 1984 alongside Frenchman Alain Prost, told Reuters after the race that he saw a bright future for the Alonso-Hamilton combination. "Yes, it is the most exciting partnership in the sport and what Hamilton did in the first lap (overtaking Felipe Massa) was fantastic," said Lauda, who pipped Prost to the 1984 world title by half a point. However, the Austrian warned McLaren not to write off the Ferraris. "In Australia , the Ferraris were dominant, and now in Malaysia it is the McLarens. You don't know what will happen in the next race but it is between Ferrari and McLaren," he said. |
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