World champion Fernando Alonso won the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday to hand new team McLaren-Mercedes its first Formula One win since 2005.
Rookie Lewis Hamilton, F1's first black driver, added to the McLaren resurgence by finishing second ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who won the season-opening Australian GP last month.
Pole-sitter Felipe Massa of Ferrari was overtaken by Alonso and Hamilton on the first lap and never challenged the lead from then on, finishing fifth.
PHOTO: EPA
"When I was leading after the first corner and I saw who was second, that opened the dream to win the race," Alonso said.
"We knew our chance was to overtake the Ferraris at the start," he added. "We were lucky to do it and it was even better to have your teammate second."
Yesterday's win is the 16th of Alonso's career. The last time a McLaren won an F1 Grand Prix was October 2005 in Japan, when Raikkonen claimed victory.
After just two races with McLaren, Alonso found it hard to believe he was a winner for his new team.
"It's absolutely fantastic. It is wonderful what we achieved in so short a time," he said. "From the first test in December to the new car in January, I think it is just difficult to believe."
In the first race of the year it was Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton in the top three. Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber finished fourth yesterday for the second straight race.
Massa went onto the grass on the sixth lap trying to overtake Hamilton, losing five seconds and two places.
"I braked late and he braked later and went straight on," Hamilton said.
Massa was unrepentant.
"I tried to attack Lewis but I made a mistake and ended up off the track," Massa said. "I cannot blame myself for trying and next time things will go better."
Alonso, who took the world title in 2005 and 2006 for Renault, switched this season to McLaren, which had a winless season in 2006, its first since 1996.
The Spaniard also become the first McLaren winner in Malaysia since Raikkonen in 2003. Alonso started from pole position for that race at the age of 21, setting a record for the youngest driver to take pole in Formula One.
In the constructors competition, McLaren now leads with 32 points after two races with Ferrari next at 23 points. Alonso leads the drivers standings on 18 points, ahead of Raikkonen on 16.
The next race is the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was