Räikkönen in a league of his own in Australia

Ferrari driver gets dream start with new team

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Kimi Räikkönen's career at Ferrari got off to a perfect start. The Finn, who started from pole position led the Formula One Australian Grand Prix more or less from start to finish. The victory marked Räikkönen's tenth career win in Formula One.
     
The current World Champion Fernando Alonso of Spain, who has switched from Renault to McLaren, came in second 7.2 seconds behind Räikkönen. Another McLaren pilot, Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain, finished commendably third on his Formula One début.
      German Williams driver Nico Rosberg, son of the former Finnish World Champion Keke Rosberg, advanced from 12th place on the grid to finish seventh, whereas Heikki Kovalainen of Finland could do no better than tenth and out of the points. The Renault driver started from the 13th position, and will probably be hoping to put the Australian GP behind him as quickly as possible. He spun the car once through 360 degrees, and admitted making other mistakes over a less than illustrious weekend.
      Previously Räikkönen has produced a podium finish in Australia three times. Last year he came in second while still with McLaren.
     
One of the first to congratulate Räikkönen via Ferrari team boss Jean Todt's mobile phone was the seven-time World Champion and former Ferrari ace Michael Schumacher.
      "At least I think it was Michael", the winner commented afterwards at a press conference. "The reception was quite poor and I had difficulties hearing him."
      Räikkönen's previous Formula One win came in Japan in October 2005. Melbourne was the first time he heard the Finnish and the Italian national anthems played one after another.
      In the afterglow of his tenth career win, Räikkönen gave full credit to his new team. "The atmosphere in the team is perfect, and the people make my life really good and easy."
     
Still, the weekend was not perfect for Ferrari, either. Problems with the gearbox in Felipe Massa's car in qualifying resulted in the Brazilian's having to start from the last row, as - just to be sure - the team decided to change his engine as well.
      In the end Massa finished sixth. "In normal conditions we could have easily achieved a one-two victory", Massa commented afterwards.
      Jean Todt expressed his contentment with the car's performance but not its reliability. "Massa brought home three valuable points, but considering the car's potential this is still a disappointment", Todt pondered.
      After the first race in a long series, McLaren now leads the manufacturers table thanks to Alonso and Hamilton's sound performances.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Formula One: Schumacher´s retirement cause for reshuffle of drivers in top teams (14.3.2007)
  Kimi Räikkönen heads to Melbourne in confident mood (13.3.2007)

Links:
  Ferrari World
  Formula 1

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