Fastest Laps: McLaren have the pace

Sunday 16th March 2008

Having mainly been second best to Ferrari in winter testing, McLaren responded in Australia not just by taking victory but also by setting the fastest lap of the race.

In apparent vindication of Lewis Hamilton's post-race insistence that he could have gone even quicker, it was team-mate Heikki Kovalainen who set the best time of the time - the Finn's 1:27.418 just eclipsing the Englishman's 1:27.452.

Despite spending most of the afternoon on a charge to close the gap to Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen's best time was a lap of 1:27.903 - nearly half a second slower than the best efforts of the McLaren duo. Felipe Massa didn't even manage to break the 1:28 mark, with BMW's Nick Heidfeld the third-fastest driver on the timesheets.

Williams will be encouraged by Nico Rosberg's time of 1:28.090, with Renault's Fernando Alonso only managing a 1:28.603. The Spaniard may have been relieved to leave McLaren but it would appear that his new car is in excess of a second slower than his former employer's.

Times
01 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1:27.418
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:27.452
03 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:27.739
04 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:27.903
05 Nico Rosberg Williams 1:28.090
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.175
07 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:28.603
08 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:28.736
09 Robert Kubica BMW 1:28.753
10 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:29.310
11 David Coulthard Red Bull 1:29.502
12 Sebastien Bourdais STR 1:29.534
13 Timo Glock Toyota 1:29.558
14 Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1:29.639
15 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1:30.892
16 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:31.384
17 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:32.021

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