Ferrari struggling as McLaren-Mercedes pull away

By Volker Gundrum Jun 18, 2007, 15:34 GMT

Indianapolis, Indiana - Sunday's US Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Speedway showed quite clearly that the McLaren-Mercedes team are the team to beat this year and that Lewis Hamilton is the driver to beat.

The British rookie managed his second career victory, edging out team-mate Fernando Alonso and giving his team another one-two - a result that should have put smiles on the faces of everybody connected with the team.

It did not.

Fernando Alonso, for one, certainly had no smile on his face as he attempted to overtake midway through the race and Lewis blocked him, prompting the Spaniard from pulling up alongside the McLaren box on the next lap and waving a fist.

Mercedes motorsports director Norbert Haug admitted that Alonso had thought he should have been allowed to pass. 'He thought he was faster at the time, but Lewis drove the way he should have.

'I have no problems if things become a bit heated, but the team will make sure that it does not become too heated,' Haug said.

Although the two demonstratively embraced on the winners' podium, there can be no question that McLaren team officials are facing a potential problem.

World champion Alonso certainly did not join the team to play second fiddle to a Grand Prix newcomer who was not only grabbing more than his fair share of the headlines, he was also grabbing more of the points.

After seven season races Hamilton leads the standings with 58 points compared to the 48 that Alonso has.

Ferrari bosses, meanwhile, would probably love to have the kind of problems that McLaren are facing and the newspaper Il Secolo XIX wrote on Monday: 'Ferrari disappoints again and quite a few are dreaming of Schumacher.'

Although Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen finished third and fourth respectively, they had no chance of matching the two McLarens for speed. 'McLaren is just too strong, I could not match their speed. They are now very far away in the championship,' Massa said.

Ferrari boss Jean Todt is similarly worried. 'The situation in the championship is becoming more and more complicated,' but he added that the team was working on developments that would allow them to take on the McLarens.

La Gazzetta dello Sport seems unconvinced. 'The alarm bells are ringing for Ferrari,' they wrote, while Il Giornale said that Ferrari had been soundly beaten.

Raikkonen called on the team to improve the car for the qualifying. 'We need to get better there,' he said.