Hamilton and Alonso: Silver Arrows at The Brickyard - Built out of 3.2-million bricks in 1908, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — hone of the storied Indianapolis 500 oval race — is the most hallowed and historical racetrack in the world. History was made again in the American Midwestern metropolis on Sunday, June 17, 2007 when McLaren rookie driver Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain took his second Formula 1 victory in one week’s time. Starting the race from the pole position, Hamilton (age 22) shot right to the front when the red lights went out, beating his hard charging teammate Fernando Alonso (age 25) into and out of the first corner of the 2.605-mile American circuit (which combines parts of the old school Indy 500 circuit — run backwards — with a relatively new and purpose-built roadcourse section). During the first phase of the race, Hamilton held station in P1 before coming in for his first pit stop on lap number 21. Alonso came in one lap later, but even though both Mercedes-Benz FO 108T-powerd McLaren MP4-22 pitted in sequence, the stops did nothing to change on-track position. And try as he might, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and his F2007 did everything they could to keep the two silver arrows honest, but it was to no avail. At the conclusion of lap number 73, the checkered flag was unfurled and waved furiously at Lewis Hamilton, native of Stevenage, United Kingdom, who flashed my Indy’s ancient grandstands with a 1.5-seond lead on his teammate, two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso of Spain. Massa crossed the finish line another 11.3-seconds back, 2-5-seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Heikki Kovalainen and his Renault R27 were fifth, ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and BMW-Sauber substitute Sebastian Vettel, aged 19, who in filling in for injured teammate Robert Kubica, became the youngest point scorer in F1 history.

Yet to finish a race without a place on the podium waiting for him in 2007, Lewis Hamilton now posses 58 points in the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship. 10 points behind is Alonso. Ferrari men Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have 39 and 32 points, respectively, while Nick Heidfeld, a non-finisher in Indy, is fifth with 26 points.

The jet-setting Formula 1 tour will now return to Europe to compete at the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours on July 1, 2007.