This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

It isn’t an accident that Lewis Hamilton is running so well after only two of 17 events in the Formula One season.  After a second today he’s third overall in points.

During the offseason McLaren was sending out reports that showed his times were EXTREMELY competitive when compared with teammate and defending F1 champion Fernando Alonso or McLaren test driver Pedro De La Rosa, a very experienced F1 driver.

Hamilton has talent.  If you doubt that, watch him hold off Kimi Raikkonen at the end of today’s Formula One event in Malaysia.  Raikkonen was in third and was hounding Hamilton for second on the podium but the rookie responded to the challenge.

“Kimi was only six seconds behind and they told me he was catching he at half a second a lap,” Hamilton said at the post race interview session.

“So I had to dig as deep as I could and really just try to stay in front and pull the car to the end and stay as consistent as possible .  I’m just overwhelmed.”

Hamilton, in fact, had the fastest lap of the race.  He’s not a rookie flash in the pan.   After two events he has a third and second for his efforts, an obvious talent.

In fact, he told his crew after today’s race that he’ll get a win this season and I don’t doubt him.

In addition to his talent, he has the added advantage of climbing into a much improved McLaren race car that’s closed the gap to Ferrari and Renault, the two teams that dominated the series for the previous two seasons.

So for those of you who argue there’s no drama or interest in F1, take that argument off the table.   Compared to the days when Michael Schumacher had to break before someone else won, now there’s four or five drivers with the talent and equipment to drive to the front.

Watching them get there is, again, an entertainment value in Formula One.
Peace.