Malaysian GP Report
April 7th 2010 04:14
Rain and thunder on Saturday made for a rather topsy turvey grid on Sunday at the ever unpredictable Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Though the expected downpour never came, there was still plenty of action, as the Ferraris and McLarens marched through the field, while Red Bull finally realised their potential and witnessed a thrilling battle between their drivers.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel (1st)
The young German ace was at last able to turn his devastating form into a result - his car for once not running its self destruct sequence. Although he lost out to Webber in qualifying, he scooted off the line cleaner than the Aussie and Rosberg and dove into the first corner in the lead. From there, Seb led the Red Bull charge away from the rest of the field, safe in the knowledge that team boss Christian Horner will have made Webber watch repeats of his botched pass on Hamilton, A Clockwork Orange style. After two heartbreaking failures, Vettel’s clinical Malaysian triumph was thoroughly deserved.
Mark Webber (2nd)
Poor Webber thought his shaky start to the season was finally about to settle down, with a brilliant tyre call winning him pole by nearly one and a half seconds, and a run to the first corner bereft of McLarens and Ferraris, the bain of his 2010 existence. But, it was his biggest rival that flattened his hopes, Vettel snuck through into the lead on the first corner – taking full advantage of the Australian’s overly gentlemanly manner. Webber glued himself to the back of Vettel, but was wise enough not to attempt a brash manoeuvre. His only hope was to try an pressure the German into a mistake, a task ranking alongside teaching a cat to dive for pearls. A sticking wheel nut in his pitstop ruined the Aussies last hope of usurping his stablemate – but he duly completed Red Bull’s crushing one-two result, and set the fastest lap along the way.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg (3rd)
A fantastic front row effort salvaged some grace for Mercedes, who have so far fallen just short of the pre season pundits predictions. The reigning champions shiny new silver cars have sat in their own little timezone, a few tenths behind Ferrari and McLaren and a few tenths in front of Force India and Renault. Malaysia was their best chance so far for a result, and again it was Dreamboat Rosberg who delivered. A trademark solid if unspectacular performance netted the German his and Mercedes’ first podium of 2010. Still, Ross Brawn will be expecting more.
Michael Schumacher (DNF)
Michael seems to look a bit different now. Is it a haircut? No, is it a few extra wrinkles? No… oh, wait, yes, it’s a monkey. On his back, an official, certified monkey. Three races into his return, the seven times world champion has so far failed to match the hype. He’s been trounced each weekend by his teammate, and although he can still say he’s just warming up, the media’s insatiable interest in his every breath only magnifies the pressure. Each lap Rosberg posts ahead of Schuey will surely be another banana for his monkey to feed on. While Michael’s Mercedes broke, it was Nico’s that scored the team’s first podium. He needs a result soon, or else the monkey will grow too large and begin to affect his performance. Simians aren’t ideal for aerodynamic efficiency.
Renault
Robert Kubica (4th)
The Pole’s strong fourth place in Sepang has bolstered his status as 2010’s quiet achiever. Kubica made another great start and displaced both Sutil and Hulkenberg within a couple of corners. He admitted afterwards the car didn’t have the pace to catch Rosberg, but the Renault was far from sluggish, despite resembling a bumblebee.
Vitaly Petrov (DNF)
The Russian was finally able to walk away from a weekend with something to smile about. Although it ended in another DNF, Petrov’s improved qualifying performance put him on the cusp of the top ten, where he remained for the duration of his race before his gearbox digested itself. His thrilling battle with Hamilton was a highlight, displaying racecraft beyond
his years.
Force India
Adrian Sutil (5th)
An unlucky start to the season was forgotten with a brilliant drive by Sutil around Sepang. Starting from the second row set the German up for a strong result for Force India, which he delivered despite the best efforts of his good friend Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton’s charge from the back came to a halt at the sight of Sutil’s rear wing. The 2008 champion piled on the pressure, but Sutil didn’t crack and at some points was even able to pull a gap. A fighting fifth place continued Force India’s impressive start to the season, and opened Sutil’s account with style.
Tonio Liuzzi (DNF)
Unfortunately the Italian Stereotype’s run of form was came to end at Sepang, with a hydraulics failure putting him out of the race early. However, it wasn’t a complete disaster, as he had reached Q3 on Saturday and was running in the points before his car fell into a mechanical coma.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton (6th)
Starting 20th thanks to McLaren and Ferrari’s collective brain misfire on Saturday meant Hamilton the Hoon would be required to pull off another of his aggressive charges through the field. And he did, within a couple of laps the tyre-smoker was up to 12th, and slipping past cars like an eel coated in butter. Despite a mild warning for “weaving” during his exciting battle with Petrov, Hamilton’s aggression won him the battle from the back. His march ended behind the Force India, which grew a few metres of girth when Sutil spotted the McLaren in his mirrors.
Jenson Button (8th)
Jenson fared the worst of the McLarens and Ferraris into the first corner, hung out to dry on the outside. He then struggled for grip on the option tyre prompting him to change tack and pit early for primes. It was a wise decision, at first anyway, He made up plenty of time initially, but was still unable to match the pace of the Ferraris, who closed in and devoured the defending champ as his primes started to decay. Eighth place thanks to Alonso’s last gasp retirement was a well-salvaged result … although seeing his teammate who started three places behind him, finish two places ahead mustn’t have been nice for Jenson, or his Year Two maths teacher.
Ferrari
Felipe Massa (7th)
Felipe did a great job from the back of the grid – following Hamilton through the traffic to cross the line 7th. Crucially, the Brazilian was able to get past Alonso and Button early, and kept Hamilton within tickling distance throughout the race. Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley was especially pleased when he passed Button late in the race, spouting “good boy, beautiful!” down the radio, and tossing him some biscuits after the race.
Fernando Alonso (13th)
Alonso already faced a tough afternoon in Malaysia after the bungle in qualifying, but after his clutch disintegrated right off the line, his job was made much harder. The Spaniard fought on, despite losing cogs from his gearbox over time. He was even able to set fastest laps and chase Massa to the flag, but after passing Button for 8th the Ferrari’s engine finally let go, heartbreakingly close to the flag. The fact he was able to match the best with a car that was essentially a glorified Little Tikes Cosy Coupe, demonstrates just how in tune Alonso is with the Scuderia.
Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari (9th)
Lil’ Algy put in the race of his short career to score his first ever points with a spirited and feisty drive to 9th. After his long (and ultimately losing) battle with Schumacher last weekend, Jaime said he learnt a thing or two from the seven-time world champ. He applied the master’s teachings well in Malaysia, racing strongly amongst the top ten, and pulling off an epic pass on Hulkenberg. Two points well earned.
Sebastien Buemi (11th)
Despite a good start, Buemi’s hopes for points were dashed after some first corner contact with Kobayashi. His Toro Rosso’s front wing was crippled and Buemi fell immediately off the pace, where he languished for the rest of the race. However, he amazingly set the third fastest lap time of the day, showing there is some speed in the old Bull yet.
Williams
Nico Hulkenberg (10th)
Hulky was an impressive fifth in qualifying and managed to complete a race without incident to come home with his first ever point. However the German rookie didn’t seem to over the moon about the achievement, complaining that his Williams lacked the race pace to compete for higher points. He may be correct, but you’d think that after being wiped out by a Sauber-missile on the first lap in Australia, a point in Malaysia would at least bring a feint smirk…
Rubens Barrichello (12th)
Despite his seven centuries of F1 experience, Woobens still managed to kick off his race in reverse. An ‘unknown’ problem at the start let the field pour past the Brazilian, who was looking good for points from seventh on the grid. He was never able to recover, and like his teammate, complained the Williams lacked pace.
Virgin
Lucas di Grassi (14th)
The Canadian High School Sitcom was again unimpressive in qualifying, starting stone dead last. However, Di Grassi arrived on Sunday on a mission. He blazed past the other new team cars on the opening lap and was consistently the fastest of them all, despite suffering early front wing damage from a clash with Kovalainen from newbie-rivals Lotus. Di Grassi’s surprising pace was so far superior relative to the others, he was actually able to turn down the revs and conserve the engine to the finish line.
Timo Glock (DNF)
While Di Grassi and Kovalainen politely bumped noggins, Glock took the Virgin/Lotus battle to Braveheart extremes, launching himself the slower Trulli and sending them both off the track. Trulli managed to continue, but Glock’s anti-stall didn’t kick in and he was stranded after only two laps. He took responsibility for the incident, but cheekily mentioned he’d do it again in the spirit of racing… even for 19th. Bless his cotton socks.
HRT
Karun Chandhok (15th)
The Indian newcomer was delighted to have finished his second consecutive grand prix, the first time HRT managed to get both cars home neither in pieces or on fire. Chandhok also legitimately outpaced his highly rated teammate, Senna for the first time.
Bruno Senna (16th)
It was a low-key performance from Senna at Sepang. He didn’t partake in the new team melee, and was marginally slower than Chandhok. Still he kept out of trouble, notched the miles and helped HRT complete their first double finish ever.
Lotus
Jarno Trulli (17th)
Had it not been for Glock jousting him off the road, Trulli may have given Lotus a chance for a respectable finish. It was not to be, but he did at least manage to get to the end of the race for Lotus on a day when they were outpaced by rivals Virgin.
Heikki Kovalainen (DNF)
Heikki was quick in the Lotus, but a while passing Di Grassi, he clipped the Brazilian’s front wing and damaged his tyre. Eventually it led to a retirement, but his pace was evident. Lotus, despite losing out to Virgin this round, are still quietly confident about their status as best of the newbies.
Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi (DNF)
It looked promising for Kobayashi to finally put in the type of performance that had earned him his drive for 2010. He lined up ninth after a strong qualifying run, but unfortunately Sauber’s colossally bad reliability bit on the first lap, with the engine losing all power after just one corner.
Pedro de la Rosa (DNS)
“Unusual, unexpected and unlucky," was how De La Rosa described the odd failure that prevented him from starting the race. “Comically bad reliability” is how some would describe it. Sauber really need to pick up their game or risk falling prey to the steadily improving new teams.
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