A tiger on four wheels

Malaysian Business, Apr 16, 2007

ON THE day when golf's Tiger Woods lay just one stroke behind the leader entering the final day of the US Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, motor racing's version of the precocious black athlete took his cue and performed great feats of speed on four wheels. The Petronas Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix ended just after 4.30pm to confirm that Lewis Hamilton, at just 22 years of age, is destined to do to Formula 1 GP what Woods did to the world of golf more than 10 years ago. He finished second to his senior partner, reigning world champion Fernando Alonso, to make it a McLaren one- two finish, a feat the team achieved back in 2005 at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Hamilton scorched round the 5.4km Sepang circuit in 1 hour 32 mins and 4 seconds, 17 seconds behind his team leader. What was remarkable was that he battled to keep position and finished just ahead of the more experienced Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, who was breathing down his neck less than a second behind.

Hamilton now lies third, adding eight points to the six he scored in Melbourne three weeks ago. Alonso is top of the heap with 18, with Raikonen in second with 16.

The start of the race confirmed Hamilton's ability to stamp his authority as soon as the lights go green, overtaking pole-sitter Filippe Massa in his fiery red Ferrari at the first turn - a position he preserved to the very end.

Home interest centred on the Petronas-sponsored BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who repeated his fourth place finish in Melbourne with a similar score here in Sepang. His teammate Robert Kubica straggled last, finishing one lap behind.

The race in Sepang followed a slight hiatus in the excitement level triggered by Hamilton's podium placing in the season-opening race in Melbourne three weeks earlier.

Among the local media contingent, the issue of interest was the looming competition from Singapore, which seems well on the way of securing the rights to hold its own Formula 1 race. Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has gone out of his way to allay any Malaysian fears of being upstaged by their southern neighbour. The fear in Malaysia is that if the race were to be held consecutively over two weekends due to the proximity of both venues, then a lot of the drawing power of Sepang would be `siphoned' off by Singapore.

Some point out that nothing like a dose of healthy competition to make the race organisers in Sepang make improvements. Watching the race from the stands in Sepang is indeed not for the faint-hearted. The stifling heat and humidity has been described by some of the more `fragile' visitors from cooler climes as being `...toasted alive!' Locals complain about the RM25 lunch pack and five-star rated RM5 tin can of soft drinks. The toilets are invariably wet, which is a great turn-off for Western sensitivities.

For now though, such sensitivities can be put on the backburner as the sport celebrates its new, young heroes, with Hamilton leading the charge.