Hamilton: "I just hope that I’m still able to walk on the streets."

If I were Lewis Hamilton, I'd probably be concerned about the same thing. Now that the rookie Formula One driver has made history (again) and in three races, is vying for the championship points lead, his popularity in his home country has probably grown a "wee bit." At the post-race conference, Times reporter Ed Gorman asked Lewis to comment on his grand achievement and speculate on what "the reception is going to be like" in England.

Hamilton replied, "I think the support is growing and I’m looking forward to getting to Silverstone and seeing how many fans will be there, but it’s great. I’ve not experienced it yet so it will be new to me, and I just hope that I’m still able to walk on the streets."

I can't wait to see the new nicknames the British press dream up for him!

Hamilton goes 3 for 3...!

At the Grand Prix of Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton became the only man in the history of Formula One to attain 3 podium finishes in his first three races, after finishing second behind the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Even more notable is the fact that the finish places Hamilton in a three-way tie for the championship points lead, which he now shares with his Mercedes-McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Here's the update from Formula1.com. More to follow.

Hamilton: "To go into my third race in F1 and be on the front row is an amazing thing."

This kid is amazing. Or maybe to put it better, he's having an amazing start to his debut F1 season.

He has qualified on the front row for the Grand Prix of Bahrain! And as if that were not enough, Lewis is actually disappointed that he did not take the pole! Here's the story from Planet-F1.com.

Hamilton second fastest in Bahrain practice!

I am actually not sure what to make of this news, but Lewis Hamilton clocked a 1:33.540 to Kimi Raikkonen's 1:33.527, making him the second fastest driver out of two sessions during practice for the Grand Prix of Bahrain.

Hamilton's Mercedes-McLaren teammate, reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso, posted a 1:33.784, good enough for fifth place.

And all I can say is "Wow." Let's see what happens during qualifying...

Lewis talks you through a lap at Bahrain

I really like the Planet-F1.com website; they consistently get the good stuff. Here's an article in which Lewis Hamilton describes what it's like to drive a lap at the Bahrain International circuit, a track on which he raced... and won... in 2004 (driving a Formula 3 racecar).

Enjoy.

More about that guy Arundell...

First, I should have known better than to get my racing info from a general newsie.

From Crash.net I learned, number one, that his name has TWO "L's". And in this article, the author points out that Mr. Arundell podiumed at Monaco and Holland in 1964. And he was out of F1 after only two seasons.

No wonder I never heard of him...

Who was that two-podium winner in '64?

In an earlier post, I wondered aloud about the identity of the driver that had, 43 years prior to Lewis' stunning finish on Sunday, claimed two podium finishes in his first two GP starts. Well, according to this article from the Telegraph Online, it was a gentleman by the name of Peter Arundel, who was racing for Lotus at the time. Arundel gathered two third places finishes in the first two races of his Formula One career.

Never heard of the man.

Now Damon Hill weighs in: Hamilton will "win a race" this season...

Former World Champion Damon Hill had praise for Lewis in this article at Planet-F1.com, saying that a win for the young Brit is probably in the cards this season. Said Hill, "Somewhere between now and the end of the season, that's going to happen and then he'll grow in stature and start to see himself differently, and we'll all start to see him as a championship contender."

Hill's kind words went even further: "I think Lewis is probably the closest we've got to a guy who can dominate and be at the top for a long time," he said. Nice.

Haug: "...expected to be at the front."

Mercedes motorsports head Norbert Haug was pleasantly pleased by the Mercedes-McLaren 1-2 at Sepang this past weekend. The last time McLaren pulled that off was back in 2005 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, according to this article at Planet-F1.com.

Haug also said, "Alonso confirmed to be the most complete driver in F1, and a debut like Lewis Hamilton's is the stuff dreams are made of."

Well said.

Another amazing statistic about Hamilton

From this Planet-F1.com article comes this: apparently is has been 43 YEARS since the last Formula 1 driver has been able to claim two podium finishes in his first two Grands Prix. That would take us back to 1964, I believe. Who was the driver?

Lewis says his next step? To win.

Hamilton says he "tricked" Massa...!

Here's a funny story. Lewis claims he tricked Felipe Massa into outbraking early in the Malaysian Grand Prix. And he then apologizes!

If I were Lewis, I might not have admitted something like that to the press, but just joked about it in the paddock with my team. No need to get Massa all riled up and seeking revenge...!

Second Place in his second race!

Wow. Just finished watching the live lap times from the Malaysian Grand Prix, courtesy "The Official Formula 1 Website", Formula1.com.

I missed the start, but apparently Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were able to get into first and second pretty quickly. Felipe Massa tried to make a move on Lewis early on, but couldn't make the pass stick. Alonso and Hamilton ran 1-2 until it was time for the first pit stops. Alonso pitted first, leaving Lewis in the lead, albeit briefly.

On lap 20, Lewis pitted, took on fuel, another set of softs and made a front wing adjustment. He rejoined the race in third and promptly set fast lap of the race.

Lewis took his second stop on lap 39, while running in second, about 8 seconds adrift of his teammate Alonso. He took on the hard tires and rejoined in 5th.

Alonso pitted on lap 40, Massa on 41, Raikkonen on 41.

In any case, after a flurry of pitstops by all the top teams, Alonso and Hamilton regained their 1-2 placings. However, either the hard compounds favored the Ferrari, or Raikkonen was particularly motivated... either way, he steadily closed on Hamilton. By lap 50, Kimi was only 3 seconds behind Lewis.

By the end of the race, Raikkonen closed to less than a second, but Hamilton held on for second place. Second place in only his second race!

How long since the last McLaren 1-2? Good job, guys!

Hamilton qualifies 4th at Sepang

After setting fastest time in the third and final practice session, Lewis Hamilton clocked a 1:36.045 lap to notch 4th position on the grid for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (Mercedes-McLaren) and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), respectively, filled the top three slots on the grid.

Massa set a time slightly more than a full second faster than Hamilton, at 1:35.043. Yikes. But Hamilton mentioned during the post-qualifying press conference that he could have gone even faster:

"The car is working well and I think we could have had two cars on the front row. However when I came to Turn Seven it had started spitting with rain a little bit. I had experienced this at the test last week and knew it could be slippery, so I eased off a small amount. Apart from that everything went smoothly, and I’m confident for the race tomorrow. I’m on the clean side on the track and will aim to make a good start." (from Formula1.com)

Smart move to lift a little and still maintain a great qualifying position.

Hamilton 3rd fastest in Malaysia practice...

Lewis clocked a fast lap of 1:35.712 to record third fastest time in the first practice session on Friday at the Sepang circuit. Hamilton ranked right behind teammate Fernando Alonso and two places behind the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Interestingly, Lewis was a smidge quicker than the Australian Grand Prix winner, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Here's Lewis' quote from the post-practice press conference, taken from Formula1.com : "This is my first Malaysian Grand Prix, but I got to know the circuit well during last week’s test. The heat and humidity are as I expected and have trained for. The practice today was pretty straight forward, and we made further steps. The circuit conditions are constantly changing which makes it challenging to find the right balance. I’m looking forward to qualifying tomorrow.”

The Mercedes-McLarens bookended by the Ferraris. It's gonna be a great race!

Hamilton: Starstruck by... Eddie Murphy??

This is a great (but old... 2006) interview of Lewis by Grandprix.com, in which one of the things he says is that he was never fazed by the great racing stars of the day but, "If I met Eddie Murphy or a movie star it would be like 'Wow!' but when it comes to motor racing I don't think like that."

I think that's hilarious.

Mansell: "No Doubt..." Lewis will win a Title

If I were Lewis... I'd DEFINITELY listen to Nigel Mansell.

Mansell, one of Britain's great motor racing heroes, was recently quoted in this article I found over at Sporting Life. Said Mansell, "He's already with one of the best teams in Formula One. If he stays at McLaren and the team stay as competitive as they are, I have no doubt he will win a World Championship."

Has Nigel been reading my mind or what?

And Mansell offered some words of advice for the young driver... and they had nothing to do with driving technique: "The only thing I would tell him publicly is try not to get caught up in the razzmatazz of F1 and get side-tracked from your objectives of getting podium finishes and winning races."

Solid advice.