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

A couple weeks ago my red flag went up about the McLaren Formula One car this year.  The MP4-24 – that’s the name – was a dog in testing.  Some were expecting it to trail fleas especially after defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton lined up in 18th place on the starting grid in Australia Sunday.

Things really looked bad when Hamilton’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen retired from damage after a first turn accident.

But Hamilton against the world is a familiar script.  Hamilton climbing onto the Australian podium was an unexpected plot twist, however.

Lewis got there when officials penalized Jarno Trulli of Toyota 25 seconds for a piece of weirdness that happened on the track during a Safety Car period.  Trulli got the post race interview but Hamilton got the post race points.

Maybe Sunday’s real winner, though, was Brawn GP. That’s the old Honda team that turned in dog performances last year that were so bad Honda sold the team.  But Ross Brawn is a racer and racers win races not corporations.

As the season unfolds, let’s hope we see more of Australia winner Jenson Button and teammate Rubens Barichello who finished second. 

Good start to F1.

Peace.