Lewis doubles up at the Brickyard!

Only seven days had passed since the Canadian race, which meant there was, nor real time for teams to try and develop their cars. Meaning that the expected form from the last race would stay the same with Mclaren leading the way Ferrari struggling in 2nd with Bmw close behind. It was also not enough time for Robert Kubica to recover in time to race. The FIA doctors had not given him the all clear to race still suffering mild concussion. Though this only minor compared to what could of happened in his 170mph smash. Sebastian Vettel would replace Kubica. At only 19 years old the Bmw test driver had a chance to become the youngest point scorer in F1 history.

With rumbling from Alonso that he had not felt “Completely comfortable” at Mclaren also saying that he felt his team mate Lewis Hamilton was favourite being a British driver in a British team. Clearly forgetting what happened in Monaco when Lewis was not told not to race him. Team boss Ron Dennis issued a statement saying that both drivers were treated equally and that the Alonso’s comments were taken out of context. Ether way all seemed not well in the Mclaren home. Though Lewis was keen to state that they both got on off the track. So those hoping for a Senna Prost style rivalry will have to wait.

Alonso had layed down the marker being fastest in all 3 practice sessions but Come qualifying Lewis Hamilton managed to steal pole from Alonso. The Spaniard looked favourite to take the top spot. The Ferrari’s were 3rd and 4th Massa from Raikkonen, Heidfeld in 5th who reckoned he could have jumped the Ferrari’s if not for a mistake. 6th was Heikki Kovalainen in the Renault a respectable 7th for Sebastian Vettel in his first qualifying and 8th was Jarno Trulli.

On to the start and Lewis Hamilton held his ground but with Alonso all over his rear, Massa had Held 3rd With Heidfeld 4th Kovalainen 5th Raikkonen dropping down to 6th but starting the race on the harder tires the only front Runner to do so. 7th was Trulli. At the first corner Ralf Schumacher out braked himself and went into Coulthard with Barrichello also getting caught up in it. All 3 retiring by the end of lap 1. Vettel taking to the grass dropping to 11th. Fisichella Who was on a 1 stop strategy threw his race away spinning at turn 4, He rejoined at the back of the grid but it meant a long day in a heavily fuelled car. But it also saw the opportunity for some overtaking. Canada hero Takuma Sato came straight back down to earth when he passed the Honda of Jenson Button under yellow flags at turn one before he could be given a drive through penalty threw it off the track at the same place as Fisichella had. But unlike the Renault driver his car sunk into the gravel. The stewards how ever had decided that Sato must suffer a penalty and announced he would drop 10 places on the grid at the next race. This means he probably will start last at the French grand Prix.

Meanwhile at the front Lewis was slowly was building a 3-4 second gap to Alonso who was building a similar gap to Massa still in 3rd. Williams driver Wurz was fighting the Torro Rosso of Liuzzi for 11th. This battle would last most the race with Wurz finishing 10th as Liuzzi’s car failed 5 laps from the end. Raikkonen was stuck behind Kovalainen but Heidfeld spun out of 5th at turn one he would later retire from the race with power steering failure and a sick sounding car.

Lewis pitted on lap 22 with Massa also in on the same lap only 8 seconds adrift Alonso would Pit just 1 lap later not as heavily fuelled as first thought. After the first stops were complete the biggest loser was Massa who had dropped 16 seconds behind the top two. Raikkonen who would now finish the final two stints on the faster soft compounds made his was up to forth and began closing up on Massa. In the second stint of the race Alonso was faster closing up on Lewis who was badly balked by Liuzzi. This would create in my view two key moments in what is interesting between the two Mclaren drivers. One was just after Both drivers passed Liuzzi was that Alonso managed to get in to the tow of the number 2 Mclaren then pulling right along him but Lewis held his line and forced Alonso to give up on his pass into the first corner. The other was from Alonso himself. The following lap on the start finish straight Alonso swerved across the track at the pit wall in anger that he was not allowed to pass and had to fight for victory. Team Director Martin Whitmarsh admitting as much. Alonso not keeping his cool makes you wonder has Lewis got the better of him He also ran wide on to the grass losing more time, It would be hard to believe. But Alonso was lighter on fuel in the second stint and pitted before Lewis. After that Lewis held the lead once his stop was completed. What was not so clear was the battle for the final podium. With the top 3 on the slower compound tire Raikkonen was on the softer compound taking the pain in the first stint on the slower tires. He set fastest lap of the race on his way to catching Massa but could not pass his Brazilian teammate. He must have been ruing losing the ground at the start.

The last of the drama came on lap 69 with only a handful of laps to go Nico Rosbergs Williams came to a smokey halt with fire coming out of the back of the car. Nico getting out the car in disgust totally in dismay his car had failed him so close to the end running in 6th. So Lewis Hamilton took his second win 1.5 seconds from Alonso with Massa holding on to 3rd from Raikkonen 4th Kovalainen a strong 5th after a better weekend build up Jarno Trulli in 6th Mark Webber taking his first points of the season in 7th and Vettel in 8th to become the youngest ever point scoring breaking the record set by Jenson Button in 2000. Button had an entertaining race but finished a lowly 12th.

So with Hamilton extending his lead to ten points over Alonso. Ferrari slipping further away from Mclaren in the standings. Ferrari showed better pace than the last two races but this was a track they have dominated in the past. They will be hoping they can move the car forward at the silverstone test. The talk is can Lewis win the title in his rookie year? It is a big ask. And with 7 races 7 podiums he is on a brilliant streak that will come to an end at some point. Lewis has made no mistakes come raceday Compared to Alonso and the Ferraris. Only time will tell. The teams will return to Europe in two weeks time for the French grand Prix. Stay tuned this is going to be one hell of a ride!