Hamilton gets second straight F1 win

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Nobody is likely to call Lewis Hamilton's first Formula One victory a fluke any more.

The sensational 22-year-old rookie from England not only backed it up with his second straight win, he did it by fighting off two separate challenges from Mercedes McLaren teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

A week earlier, in Montreal, Hamilton was aided by five full-course caution flags, one of which caught his teammate on pit road and took him out of contention, relegating the Spaniard to a seventh-place finish.

Sunday, in the U.S. Grand Prix at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the safety car stayed behind the pit wall and Hamilton outdueled Alonso to gain his seventh consecutive top-three finish - a first in F1 for a rookie - and extend his points lead over his teammate to 10 points heading to the French Grand Prix in two weeks.

This is all very heady stuff for the youngster, who is the first black driver in F1 history.

“Coming into the season, being realistic, I never expected anything like this, but I hoped to do well,” Hamilton said. “I hoped maybe I'd get a podium at some point. This is just insane.”

The McLaren drivers finished 1-2 for the third time this season, but this time the order was reversed from Malaysia in April and last month's race at Monaco.

Hamilton started from the pole for the second straight race and Alonso tried hard to pass his less experienced teammate at the start. He darted to the outside and pulled nearly alongside Hamilton for a moment, then backed off and dived to the inside as the leaders squirted through the first two narrow turns, a sharp right-hander and then a left-hander.

“I think the start was the key point of the race because after that, whatever, you were second and we finish second in the race,” Alonso said.

Hamilton managed to stay in front and continue to fend off pressure from the hard-charging Alonso to the end of the 73-lap event on Indy's 2.605-mile road circuit.

Alonso almost wrested the lead from Hamilton as they began lap 39. He had been dogging the back of his teammate's silver and red McLaren for several laps and pulled alongside on the main straightaway but was unable to complete the pass as they drove into the first turn.

The outcome of the race remained in question until Alonso locked up his brakes on lap 47 and drove through the grass, allowing Hamilton to pull out to a 2.5-second lead. Hamilton drove on to the win without further challenge, finishing 1.5 seconds - nearly half the main straight - ahead of Alonso.

“To follow that close is not easy,” Alonso said. “I did have my chance (at the end of lap 38), but it was not possible. I could get close to him but not overtake. He made no mistakes.”

Asked about his teammate's attempt to pass at the midway point, Hamilton said, “I was very nervous about that. I saw him coming. But I made sure I made one move (to block), which is all you're allowed, and made it stick.

“So it was very, very tough, but he fought very well, very professional. At the end, I managed to pull a gap and ... I was able to maintain that gap and control the rest of the race.”

Reports earlier in the week that Alonso thought his new teammate was being given preference by the British-based McLaren team were allayed by the warm hug they gave each other when they reached the victory podium.

The two then turned to the cheering crowd with arms over each other's shoulders, smiling widely.

“We're very, very close on the track and I think we are getting closer and closer off track,” Hamilton said. “And our respect for each other I think is growing and it's great. We're really happy for the team. But, once again, I'm just proud and honored to be sitting next to him as I've always looked up to him for the last few years.”

Ferrari had won six of the previous seven F1 races at Indy, five of them by now-retired Michael Schumacher. But, this time, the McLarens were just too strong.

The Ferraris of 2006 Indy runner-up Felipe Massa and Raikkonen, who replaced Schumacher, battled each other most of the day before finishing third and fourth, respectively, with Renault rookie Heikki Kovalainen fifth, followed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

“It was difficult to fight the McLarens with their consistency and their pace,” said Massa, sounding somewhat frustrated. “We're going to work a lot the next two weeks to improve the car. The championship is not so close, but we need to keep fighting.”

BMW Sauber's Sebastian Vettel, a 19-year-old rookie filling in for Robert Kubica and making his first F1 start, finished eighth, earning the final point. Kubica missed the race after sustaining a concussion and a sprained ankle in a spectacular crash in Canada.

Fifteen of the 22 cars were running at the finish.

Honda's Rubens Barrichello, a former USGP winner when he was with Ferrari, didn't make it past the start, colliding with Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and Red Bull's David Coulthard as they fought for position near the back of the grid on the start. All three were out before completing a lap.