It was an almost infallible performance by Lewis Hamilton this weekend, as he clinched his first win of the F1 season in Melbourne Australia. The heat was intense and the mechanics of the cars were put to the test, and boy was it a wild race!
Out of 22 cars that started the race, only 7 cars finished the race. None of which were the Ferraris who were left hanging their heads low at their engines and differentials that were the problem for them all weekend. Somehow with a very twitchy car, Fernando Alonso managed to finish 4th after F1 newcomer, Sebastien Bourdais’ car failed him with just three laps to go. I believe he was still awarded points and he definitely deserved them after driving with some of the best. Finishing in second and third were Nick Heidfeld and Niko Rosberg, respectively, who both drove great. Sadly both Hamilton’s teammate, Heiki Kovalainen, and the only driver to test Hamilton, Robert Kubica, had disappointing finishes despite how well they raced. A race full of yellow flags and safety car appearances plagued Melbourne track, and left a lot of work to be done before the end of this week where the teams will be racing in Malaysia.
Hamilton was simply brilliant and consistent today, and I’m rooting for him all the way! It was really something to see the sole British flag being raised between the two German flags behind the winners’ podium. It was also refreshing to see the finishers actually excited and happy to be on the podium. I hope the enthusiasm stays high this season, because I’m sure these drivers all have great personalities but don’t get to show it when they’re flying 300mph down a straightaway.
I just saw the advert on TV for the first F1 race of the season this year in Australia next weekend, and I’m very excited! The biggest change this season is Alonso’s return to Renault, and speculators are unsure if this is on a good note with Renault’s crew chief.
My picks for the F1 championship this year is the current champion, Kimi Raikkonen, and Lewis Hamilton. Seeing how cool Hamilton was on Top Gear, just makes me even more of a fan. This guy is seriously fast and it’s completely natural to him! He put up times on the Top Gear track in the wet, that were just 0.2 seconds slower than the Stig. The Stig is no slouch as we all know, and it’s the best mystery ever to leave his identity concealed.
I hope Kimi has a solid season as well, and that he keeps Massa in his rear view mirrors, but in the end I want Lewis to continue his dream since his story of how he got into the F1 is so inspiring. Not only that, but he’s even received much praise from the legend, Michael Schumacher, who I speculate will come back to the F1 just to whoop Alonso’s butt again.
The NBA had their all-star break this past weekend and it was quite eventful and fun to watch. Taking place in New Orleans, the festivities included the Celebrity game, Rookie Challenge, Shooting Stars, Skills Competition, Three-Point Shoot-Out, Dunk Contest, and the All-Star game.
The most notable events were the Three-Point Shoot-Out, the Dunk Contest, and the All-Star game. Toronto’s Jason Kapono easily defended his title against some of the league’s best 3 point shooters including Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic. In the much anticipated Dunk Contest, Dwight Howard was quite literally “Superman” and I can’t help but feel that Jamario Moon would have provided a better challenge for the smiling giant Howard, than the serious Gerald Green. In the All-Star game, other than the poorly designed uniforms and the abundance of turnovers, the action was competitive and great at the end. It was exciting to see Ray Allen steal the game away from the West when Chris Paul was leading them to a come-back after being down by ~10 points for most of the game. Somehow LeBron James racked up some serious stats under the radar and was named the game’s MVP. Personally I thought Ray Allen should have received the honours after coming off the bench, knocking down 26 points, and winning the game single-handedly, but stats are stats.
Well that concludes the All-Star weekend summary, and I look forward to seeing how the US team fares in the Olympics in Beijing.
