Malaysia 2008 : Raikkonen storms to victory in Malaysia

It was a weekend in Malaysia for Ferrari to bounce back after a dismal outing in Australia with Kimi Raikkonen taking the Malaysian Grand Prix with relative ease. Second Place belonged to Robert Kubica in a fast improving BMW-Sauber F1.08 and Heikki Kovalainen in third place.

Jarno Trulli in the Toyota showed that Toyota have good pace this year with an impressive 4th place finish just ahead of a charging Lewis Hamilton who, if not for one poor pit stop would have placed higher.

The race began with Felipe Massa on pole and after turn one, Massa kept the lead ahead of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli came together lightly, but enough to send Heidfeld down to 10th place. Heidfeld would have a difficult time making up ground the rest of the race from there. First lap bumper cars was limited to just Sebastein Bourdais spinning off into the gravel trap and beaching his car for the day.

Lap by lap run down:

Lap 2 had Massa in the lead edging close to a 1 sec gap ahead of Raikkonen followed by Kubica, then Trulli, Kovalainen, and Coulthard.

Lap 4 as Alonso was pushing Coulthard, Heidfeld took advantage and made a brilliant 2 car pass to move up into 8th.

Lap 6 proved bad luck for Force India when Adrian Sutil pulled off the track into retirement.

Lap 10 showed that Ferrari were by far the quickest cars on track as Massa and Raikkonen pulled a full 8 seconds ahead of BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica. It was apparent that barring any mechanical failure that Ferrari had washed away any ill effects from the Australian Grand Prix and were out to prove their dominance that winter testing had shown.

Lap 17 Massa pits

Lap 18 Raikkonen pits and comes out just in front of Massa to take the lead of the race for the first time and begins to pull away quickly from Massa.

Lap 19 was disaster for Lewis Hamilton when right front tire problems had him in the pits for 20 seconds and that seriously damaged his hopes of a podium in Malaysia.

Lap 31 was Massa’s downfall when he loses the rear of the car ans spins into the gravel trap where he’s beached for the day. This hands 2nd place over to Robert Kubica.

Lap 47 Rubens Barrichello limps into the pits for a 10 second stop and go penalty, his second penalty in 2 races. This one for speeding in the pits.
The deserving winner, Kimi Raikkonen finishing well in front of Robert Kubica who was well in front of Heikki Kovalainen.

It was fitting to hear Raikkonen say his drive to the victory was ‘pretty easy’ once he had the lead. Did I hear Lewis Hamilton say that last week in Australia.
As far as the race goes, it was a fairly uneventful race with drivers showing they could actually get along without traction control. Compared to Australia this was a clean race. Ferrari were clearly the quickest team on the day, but the second quickest team on the day had to be BMW-Sauber. McLaren struggled for grip all day and couldn’t muster up enough pace to challenge either Ferrari or BMW-Sauber.

It’s a pretty dramatic turnaround with respect to who has the bragging rights. Last week no one questioned that McLaren won with ease and Ferrari fumbled their way out of Australia. Now, after such a dominant performance in Malaysia by Ferrari, a steadily improving BMW-Sauber, and McLaren much slower despite Kovalainen’s 3rd place, the bragging rights are squarely on the shoulders of Ferrari.

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1h31m18.555s
2. KUBICA BMW +19.5s
3. KOVALAINEN McLaren +38.4s
4. TRULLI Toyota +45.8s
5. HAMILTON McLaren +46.5s
6. HEIDFELD BMW +49.8s
7. WEBBER Red Bull +1m08.1s
8. ALONSO Renault +1m10.0s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull +1m16.2s
10. BUTTON Honda +1m26.2s
11. PIQUET Renault +1m32.2s
12. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
13. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap
14. ROSBERG Williams +1 lap
15. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +1 lap
16. SATO Super Aguri +2 laps
17. NAKAJIMA Williams +2 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +17 laps
R. MASSA Ferrari +26 laps
R. SUTIL Force India +51 laps
R. GLOCK Toyota +55 laps
R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +56 laps

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Malaysian F1 GP 2008 - Qualifying :Malaysia Mighty Massa heads Ferrari front row at Sepang

Today in the Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying, it was Ferrari’s turn to shine in qualifying as they claimed the first row of the grid. It was Felipe Massa who grabbed pole with a 1:35.748 and Kimi Raikkonen behind.

Heikki Kovalainen out qualified Lewis Hamilton for the 3rd spot with Hamilton grabbing 4th on the grid. So an all Ferrari front row, and an all McLaren Mercedes second row is what will start the Malaysian Grand Prix.

During Q3, and after flying laps, both McLaren drivers were ordered to slow down on their way back to the pits to conserve fuel. While doing this, Both Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso, on flying laps seemed to be impeded by the slow MP4-23s. In particular you could easily see Nick Heidfeld having to weave through them because they remained on the racing line.

Nick Heidfeld described the McLarens as:
“cruising on the racing line”.

After being summoned by the race stewards to explain their actions on track, both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have been penalized 5 grid positions. This puts Kovalainen starting 8th and Hamilton starting 9th.

Back to qualifying. Next was the usually fast qualifier Jarno Trulli in his Toyota followed by Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld in that order.
It was Williams Toyota who suffered terribly with the new track surface with Nico Rosberg not able to advance from Q2 and finished 16th. Kazuki (crash) Nakajima, who everybody now wants to stay clear of managed a disappointing 18th on the grid. Nico Rosberg said the Williams is not coping with the new track surface well and cannot find enough grip to keep from sliding around everywhere.

Honda continue to gain ground with a fairly solid qualifying round and the team are especially pleased with Rubens Barichello’s result considering that after a gearbox change in final practice had to run with Jenson Button’s setup.

Initial Grid (Before Penalty)

1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.748
2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.230
3 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.613
4 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.709
5 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.711
6 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.727
7 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.753
8 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.009
9 F. Alonso Renault 1:38.450
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:39.656
11 J. Button Honda 1:35.208
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:35.408
13 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:35.562
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:35.622
15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.670
17 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:36.240
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.388
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.677
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.087
21 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:37.101
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.481


Revised Grid (After Penalty)

1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.748
2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.230
3 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.711
4 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.727
5 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.753
6 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.009
7 F. Alonso Renault 1:38.450
8 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.613
9 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.709
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:39.656
11 J. Button Honda 1:35.208
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:35.408
13 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:35.562
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:35.622
15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.670
17 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:36.240
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.388
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.677
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.087
21 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:37.101
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.481

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Malaysia F1 GP 2008 - Testing

After both Ferrari’s made it to the top of the time charts in Friday’s 1st practice session, it was Lewis Hamilton who topped the 2nd practice session in fine form.

Jenson Button had a good outing posting the 4th fastest time. Even though these sessions are much like in testing with times not really telling too much of a story, Honda really have made some improvements that are beginning to show.

It was Sebastien Bourdais, after very nearly taking out Nick Heidfeld exiting his pit who paid a coincidental price with a transmition failure soon after. A little more luck for Bourdais is all he needs to show what he is really made of.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a great outing with a top 10 finishing time and continuing to show that Force India are not going away and really do have some good potential. I hope for good things from him in qualifying and the race as long as he isn’t punted off the track like Australia.

Both Renaults were either a big disappointment or they had an agenda other than posting a quick time as Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet (jr) were significantly slower in session 2 than in session one with 14th and 15th best times.

It was reliability problems that struck Red Bull throughout Friday practice when Mark Webber in the RB4 had an engine burn out in session 1 and then David Coulthard with a steering malfunction. He ran wide in turn 12, over the curbs blowing out his front suspension.

This starts the story of the day. Back in the Australian Grand Prix when David Coulthard and Felipe Massa came together, the damage to Coulthard’s front suspension did seem a little exaggerated considering the impact. Now, with another front suspension blow out, the F1 Stewards are wondering if the RB4’s suspension is too fragile to race. Here’s their request:

“Following a verbal report from the Race Director, the Team Principal and the Technical Representative are require to report to the Stewards of the Meeting to discuss the incident involving Car no. 9 during practice session 1 as soon as possible, after the end of practice session 2.”

Further to this and after the meeting:
“The Stewards, having met with the Team Principal and Technical Representative of Red Bull racing in relation to the incident involving Car 9 in Practice 1, have requested that the competitor provide to the FIA Technical Delegate a report verifying that the integrity of the suspension is such that the car should not be deemed ‘of dangerous constructions’ under Article 2.3 of the 2008 Formula One Technical Regulations.”

To be brief, Article 2.3 does say that ‘The stewards of the meeting may exclude a vehicle whose construction is deemed to be dangerous‘.

This definitely leads to a possibility (although a slim one at most) that Red Bull could be excluded from the Malaysian Grand Prix. Not likely to happen because the super charged David Coulthard just may want to kick the *$%& out of someone

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The slip between the cup and the lip

This season is undoubtedly about Standard ECU i.e. no traction control and engine braking. It was so apparent at this past weekend Australian Grand Prix that saw numerous crashes and spins caused by driver error.

What after Massa claiming that this regulation is a step back in terms of safety. Practice, qualifying, and the race were so exciting to watch, seeing car after car after car sliding their way through corners and the drivers using their own skill to get through rather than relying on the car to do it for them.

Although some excitement was lost at the Australian Grand Prix because so few cars remained near the end, I welcomed the return of pure driving skill where a pass is skill, and a spin is driver error. Based on driver interviews over the winter, many drivers entrance into this 2008 season has exposed their apparent naivety and/or refusal to respect a new driving style.

The most well known of the bunch has to be Kimi Raikkonen who had 2 off road excursions simply caused by his over aggression and his lack of attention. His drive through the gravel trap after a high speed entrance into a corner to me is an indication he failed to grasp the full meaning of no driver aids. This despite his off season remarks that the new standard ECU would really not affect him.
On the other hand, Timo Glock’s ‘off‘, again the result of the lack of driver aids could have been a very serious incident. It is time for drivers to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk.

I hope this past grand prix is an exception to what will really take place in future races, but if I can take anything away from it, will be that I can be assured of a lot of new excitement and not the usual top 10 leader board every race.

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Barrichello disqualified, Raikkonen gains point

Honda’s Rubens Barrichello has been disqualified from sixth place in the Australian Grand Prix. Barrichello was penalised by stewards for exiting the pits under a red light. It means Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen moves up to eighth place and hence scores a point.

The penalty brought a sad end to what had been an eventful afternoon for Barrichello. After putting in a performance far stronger than anyone had predicted in the RA108, the Brazilian fell victim to unlucky timing when he was forced to pit for fuel under the safety car.

Not only did that infringement earn him a ten-second stop-go penalty, Barrichello also managed to drag over a mechanic as he left his box before the refuelling man had removed the hose from the car. He then returned to the pits to take his penalty, but with the race again running under the safety car, he rejoined despite the red light at the end of the pit lane.

Barrichello’s disqualification means Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima moves up to sixth place, while Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais is promoted to seventh, despite not finishing the race. Raikkonen, who also failed to finish, takes the final point.

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Australia 2008: Hamilton Wins, Disaster For Ferrari

The first race of the season is over and the best script-writers on the planet couldn’t have done a better job. In what can only be described as the first day back at school for most drivers, we saw spins, coming-togethers, random retirements and even swearing on live TV. The 2008 Australian Grand Prix made for a fascinating race and the true pace of all the cars is now much clearer.

The first lap saw the first safety car of the season, and it wouldn’t be the last for the race. An incident at the first corner saw Giancarlo Fisichella and Timo Glock come together, the Italian retiring on the spot. One hope lost for the Vijay Malya outfit - Force India. In the melee was Felipe Massa who damaged his nose and had to pit, Anthony Davidson who retired and Jenson Button and Mark Webber both suffered as well Sebastian Vettel also retired after his stunning qualifying effort yesterday and spent the remainder of the race on the pitwall.


Following the restart Kimi Raikkonen was on a charge and by lap three was into eighth place. Up at the front Lewis Hamilton led Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen, edging out a small lead over the Pole. Further back Raikkonen struggled to get by the Honda of Rubens Barrichello and it took the Finn until lap 19 before making a move stick. Although it looked as though Rubens had given up and didn’t defend the position too aggressively.

An electrical problem ended Jarno Trulli’s race despite the Italian driving well in the Toyota. The weekend has been up and down for the Japanese team; they have showed they have improved over last year but both drivers eventually retired from the race.
Just before the middle of the race Felipe Massa had another incident, this time involving the other Red Bull of David Coulthard. Massa went up the inside of Coulthard and the Scot turned in. It looked like a racing incident although Massa was carrying a fair amount of speed in to the corner. Massa was able to continue but Coulthard retired, prompting a few choice words in an interview when he returned to the pitlane.

The Massa/Coulthard incident brought out the second safety car of the race, which would normally trigger a mass pit stop from the remaining cars. However, despite looking good for a stop, Kimi Raikkonen remained on the track. When the safety car came in Kimi made a move for Kovalainen but overcooked it, spinning his Ferrari into the gravel The Finn was able to continue just about but his race went from bad to worse. Ten laps later the reigning world champion made another mistake following Kovalainen into turn three. Although he was too far behind to make a move up the inside, Kimi managed to get a wheel on the grass and spun again.

During the safety car period Rubens Barrichello chose to make a stop in his Honda. Despite the pitlane being closed Barrichello still came in. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the biggest problem as the lollipop man lifted too early and Rubens dropped the clutch with the fuel hose still attached. Thankfully no one was hurt, but Barrichello then left the pitlane when the red light was showing. The Brazilian is currently under investigation and may lose his sixth place. He served a ten-second stop/go for coming in too early later in the stint.

The first largish accident of the year goes to Timo Glock. Timo was having a reasonable race despite getting caught up at the start, but his race soon came to an abrupt end. Running wide out of a corner the Toyota was drawn onto the grass. Glock’s car then bounced over the bumps and was launched into the air. When Glock came back down to earth his Toyota carried him back onto the track, spun around and slowed before sliding into the wall.

The retirees continued as Kubica came into the pits and parked up. A coming together with Kazuki Nakajima forced the Pole to exit the race; another weekend of highs and lows for BMW. Nick Heidfeld kept his head down in the sister F1.08 and earned the team eight valuable points, sharing the podium with Hamilton.

Ferrari’s weekend was over by lap 54 as Raikkonen, whose engine had been sounding sick for a few laps, crawled up the pit lane entry, stopping just short of the white line again. The reliability the F2008 is not looking good and Ferrari score no points from the race.

Sebastien Bourdais enjoyed an excellent race for Scuderia Toro Rosso and looked good in fourth towards the end of the grand prix. It wasn’t to be though and the French driver retired with engine failure just two laps from the chequered flag.

The final lap was all about the ding-dong between Alonso and Kovalainen for fourth place. Heikki finally made a move on the former double champion, but coming out of the final corner and on to the start/finish straight, he accidentally knocked his pitlane speed limiter and lost power. Alonso simply breezed past in his R28.

The podium consisted of Hamilton, Heidfeld and a thoroughly happy Nico Rosberg. Hamilton leads the championship going into the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend, and with six teams in the points at Melbourne it looks to be a great title fight this year. I imagine Ferrari will be working over-time in the next few days to sort out their issues while McLaren breathe a sigh of relief, knowing they have the car and drivers to carry on winning.

The race was so jam-packed I’ve probably missed a lot of points, so I may write another post on Sunday afternoon and include some quotes and reasons why so many cars failed to finish. The final result can be found by clicking here.

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Australian F1 GP 2008 - Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for the season opening Australian Grand Prix, while reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen will begin his title defence from a disastrous 16th on the grid after suffering from fuel pressure problems in the first part of qualifying. The Finn's Ferrari slowed dramatically after its first flying lap of the session, and although Raikkonen tried to keep it rolling as far as the team's garage, it came to a halt at the start of the pitlane entry. The Ferrari crew pushed the car back to their pit, but Raikkonen could take no further part in the session.

But the rest of qualifying was an exciting start to the season! A scene of better things to come from BMW, Toyota and the Red Bull/Torro Rossa family. Robert Kubica continues his strong form in only his second visit to Melbourne this year, managing to line up next to Lewis on the front row - although he could have possibly taken pole but for a mistake on his lap. Kimi was on his outlap when the BMW of Heidfeld was roaring up behind him and the Finn had to make way - quite a worrying sight seeing as 2008 looks like an even more competitive year. Sebastien Vettel, another young gun who joined F1 last year, looks in great shape making the top 10, despite his ex-ChampCar teammate Bourdais left far behind in 18th.

Obviously, for Kimi the day was short and bitter. Ferrari seemed to be relaxed heading into Q1 rather late, but I think this wasn't due to being confident but because of sensitivity - since Friday practise, they've fallen back against rivals McLaren. Of what seems to be a pure technical issue, Kimi's fuel pressure regulator caused him to almost stop on track, rolling down to the start of the pit-lane (Nurburgring 2007 anyone? At least it happened during qualifying.) . TO add fuel to fire, the billion people watchin back in India could witness the dismal performance of both Force India cars with Fisi on 17th and Sutil on 19th. Relax guys, khel toh abhi shuru hua hain(the games' just started)

Tomorrow, the Iceman will start 16th - similar to teammate Massa last year who suffered a gearbox problem in qualifying. This time however, Ferrari don't have a strong driver on pole position. It's going to be a long day tomorrow - but it should be interesting for Kimi as he'll have to work extra hard and study how his car will cope through what will be a very competitive race. Plus, Mark Webber had a bad day on his home grand prix with a car problem so Kimi has to watch out for that Red Bull in front of him tomorrow. Oh yes, and that guy Alonso doesn't seem to be having a good time either! The Ferrari needs to improve qualifying set ups as the speed is there, but the race pace is competitive. So, keep flying Kimi and heads up! It's only just getting started.

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