Iceman stormed the Melbourne heat.

With the long winter months now gone and F1 finally returning the pre season questions would soon be answered. Is the new longer wheel based Ferrari up to it and hoe will they cope with their new driver and no Ross Brawn? What will F1 be like without Schumacher? How good is Lewis Hamilton? Will Bridgestone’s two compound rules work? What will Renault be like without Alonso? And What on earth is going on with that Honda paint job?!

Pre season form showed that it was Ferrari vs. Mclaren at the front with BMW Sauber 3rd fastest. Then the mid-field would be Renault who was struggling to get used to Bridgestone’s after being so long on Michelins, then Williams, Both Red bull teams, Honda, with Super Aguri at the back with Spyker. This seemed to be the case in first practice with Alonso quickest followed by Massa, with friday driver Sebastian Vettle third in the BMW Button 5th, Behind New boy Lewis Hamilton 4th. Though the times were set on a drying track. But come a dry practice 2 Ferraris occupied the top two slots with Massa fastest from Räikkönen Hamilton 3rd. Both Honda’s dropping to 14th and 15th. Being beaten by both Super Aguris of Davidson and Sato. One of the talking points of the pre-season and the weekend being that Super Aguris car looked a lot like Hondas old car from last season. This started a protest form Spyker as chassis sharing is not allowed in F1 and this also included Red bull whose Torro Rosso and RB3 cars were both designed by Adrian Newey. Spykers protest was also backed by Williams and up until this moment is yet to be sorted out. But will continue to rumble on.

Saturday brought another wet practice in the morning but the track was dry by the end and it led to more surprise as Super Aguris finished the session 4th and 9th respectively. For a team that was averaging last on the grid in 2006 it seemed too good a jump. Though it was more embarrassing for Honda itself as it yet again it could only manage 15th and 17th With Barrichello ahead of Button. Renault seemed to be getting to grips with its package as Fisichella made steady progress all weekend setting 2nd fastest time in final practice. Though first upset was in qualifying and would set the scene for an interesting race.

So with the qualifying format unchanged this year it was time to get down to business. First to go were Both Spykers of Abers Sutil followed by three Newey red bulls of Luizzi then Coulthard and Speed. Barrichello was also out in the first session for a second year in a row. Q2 Came and the first big gun to fall was Massa as he bumped over the kerbs in the 2nd sector the car suddenly began to slow. P16 was his position which became p22 after an engine change. Also out were Wurz, Button, Renault rookie Heikki Kovalainenn Williams Nico Rosberg, and finally Anthony Davidson who had just missed the cut. But Takuma Sato managed to get his Super Aguri in to the top 10 for the first time in the teams short history. Also interesting was that Mclaren rookie Lewis Hamilton was giving Double world Champion a run for his money. Alonso did an extra run in Q2 even though he was safely in the top 10 just to try and get ahead of Lewis. In the top 10 shoot out Kimi easily took pole with a very disgruntled Massa watching from the sidelines. Alonso lined up in P2 with Nick Heidfeld putting in a good lap to see him p3 Lewis Hamilton lined up P4 for his first race, Kubica in his BMW 5th with Fisichella only 6th, Webber a superb 7th well ahead of his 19th place team-mate David Coulthard. Both Toyotas Managed to get into the top 10 with Trulli 8th and Ralf Schumacher 9th. A surprise as the drivers has spent the whole off season moaning about all the downfalls of the car . And 10th was Takuma Sato Who had lined up 21st the year before some 6 seconds off the pace you could almost hear the lawsuits being prepared over at Spyker.

So onto the race Ferrari left it very late in the day but decided to change Massa’s engine dropping him to the back of the grid. As the Drivers set off on there parade lap Kimi Räikkönenn found his radio was working properly failing completely at the start. The cars lined up for the start of a long gruelling 17 race season. The lights went out and off they went. Kimi got a good start as did Heildfeld from 3rd he was second but stealing the attention at the start was Lewis Hamilton after an average start his Mclaren seemed to have good acceleration boxed in by Alonso and Heidfeld he was able to change lines and pass his team-mate on the outside in a brilliant move. Massa who’s weekend was already a damage limitation exercise started from the back quickly picked off the Spykers but was stuck behind the Honda’s of Barrichello and Button, Barrichello clipped the wall trying to pass Button but continued with no damage. Button was suffering from heavy under steer and was holding His team mate up. Barrichello eventually passing him on lap 14 Massa would do likewise 2 laps later. Meanwhile back at the front .Räikkönenn was setting a succession of fastest laps in order to take full advantage of the Mclarens who were stuck behind Nick Heidfeld who pitted early on lap 14 while the Mclarens went until laps 22 and 23 Alonso pitting first. Though still unable to get ahead of His team-mate he would have to wait until the second stops where Hamilton got stuck whilst lapping Sato. Alonso made the most of the extra laps of fuel he had to get ahead. All of this was of little worry to Räikkönenn who scored his first win with Ferrari and the teams 193rd. Alonso coming home 2nd and Lewis Hamilton takes 3rd in his first F1 race. Heidfeld 4th with Fisichella 5th Massa managing 6th from the back of the grid Nico Rosberg Scored 2 points with a strong performance in the Williams the final point went to Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota. Who had falling pneumatic pressure. But the main story of the race was the Amazing performance of Lewis Hamilton. His first race netting him a podium and being on the pace and setting 3rd fastest lap overall.

Race Bits

• If Lewis Hamilton’s debut was a dream it was a nightmare for Heikki Kovalainen. Having started 13th he finished a troubled 10th after several off track moments. Renault boss Flavio Briatore not one to mix his words said “Heikki's performance? I think everyone could see on TV and I don't need to protect anyone, it was rubbish..” He continued to say “What else an I say? If I tell you it was good then I'm a complete idiot." Ouch.



• Probably the strangest excuse for not finishing race was given by Christian Albers, he crashed his Spyker on lap 10 trying to adjust his earpiece when it came loose causing him to miss his braking point by 30 meters.



• While Honda were happy with their earth car there on track performance left a lot to be decided. Whilst Barrichello finished 10th Button finished 15th after ironically picking up a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The team hope to have a major aero revision for Malaysia.



• Red Bull’s first race with the Newey deigned RB3 didn’t have the best of starts with Webber dropping from 8th on the grid to 13th including a strange spin on the entry to the pits. Though it was the Red Bull of Coulthard that had the attention after taking out Williams Alexander Wurz. Coulthard trying to pass from a long way back into turn 3. Instead he ended up clashing and flying over the top of Wurz’s car. Though onboard footage showing DC’s cars just inches from Wurz’s head.



• Bridgestone came under fire for not properly distinguishing the different tire compounds. The rules state that the teams must run both tire compounds in the race, most teams ran hard-hard-medium compound but tit was hard to tell as there was a small 2cm circle on the side of the sorter compound. Bridgestone who wanted the rule introduced after running the same idea in the cart championship in America. Though the softer compound in the series has a red side wall it was deemed to expensive for F1. Bridgestone will look into other ideas at the next test session in Malaysia.



• Super Aguri’s race wasn’t as good as the team had hoped, after qualifying in the top 10 for the first time the team were not able to sustain the pace though.



• Sato finished 12th while Davidson endured a tough race after injuring himself in a clash with Sutil. “The car got pitched into the air and landed very heavily and I hurt my upper back. The jolt also winded me a lot making talking on the radio difficult.” Said Davidson who had to go to hospital for checks after having back pains.

Move of the race: Lewis Hamilton and that start!

Chump of the race: David Coulthard, For someone that kicks up a fuss with the FIA over driver safety what exactly was he trying to do on Wurz?