MotorSportVoice - 2008 - Formula 1

As the Formula 1 road show moved to Malaysia for Round 2 the attention was, for different reasons, focused on both McLaren and Ferrari. McLaren were looking to expand on their good start in Australia, whereas Ferrari were hoping to overcome the nightmare of the last round, and amass some worthwhile points this time out.

The practice sessions shed little light on how things would go this weekend, with Felipe Massa being fastest in first practice, and Lewis Hamilton in the second. World Champion Kimi Raikkonen was close in both sessions, but Scotland’s David Coulthard was forced to sit out the second practice session after a freak track-rod failure caused his car to spear off the track. The Red Bull team were summoned by the FIA to explain the incident, and to prove that both of their cars were safe to race. Their explanation revealed that the problem as down to human error, and not mechanical failure. They added that the lessons had been learned from the incident, and that better practices would be put in place with immediate effect. The FIA deemed that this was satisfactory, and allowed both Red Bull cars to resume any further sessions.

The qualifying session was a clear indication of the resurgent Ferrari’s desire and ability as they took pole position with Massa, and second with Raikkonen. Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton were occupying the second row, but were later demoted by five grid places. This was due to a steward’s investigation arising from claims by both Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso that they had been impeded on their flying laps by the McLaren’s. This meant that the new look second row was made up of the Toyota of Jarno Trulli in third, and Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber in fourth. The penalty saw the McLaren’s start the race in eighth and ninth.

The start saw Massa and Raikkonen move away in formation at the front, and a fast starting Hamilton move up to fifth. Mark Webber made an equally impressive start, moving up to fourth place after starting in sixth. It was a different story for F1 newcomer Sebastien Bourdais. After last week’s fantastic debut performance, hopes were high, but he found himself in the gravel trap after a spin, and ultimately out of the grand prix. Both Ferraris edged away lapping about half a second quicker than anyone else on the track. As the pit stops neared, Kimi Raikkonen began to push his Ferrari to the limits, and set some blistering times, leaving him a mere 1.8 seconds behind Massa. The Brazilian retaliated to that lap time, and set the fastest lap of the race, only to see Raikkonen do the same moments later. Felipe Massa’s stop was completed to perfection, and lasted about 8.5 seconds. However, as he was sat in the pits the ever quicker Raikkonen set the fastest lap of the race, as his in lap. His pit crew turned the car around in 7.9 seconds, and he re-joined the race, having leapfrogged Massa courtesy of the very fast in lap, as well as the efficiency of his pit crew. As this was going on Lewis Hamilton was chasing Mark Webber, and when Webber pitted, Hamilton was given the chance to set some fast lap times on a clear track. Robert Kubica was happily avoiding all tussles on the track; as he lapped in a solitary, yet comfortable, third place. However, disaster was striking for Briton Hamilton as the McLaren pit crew couldn’t get a wheel off the car, and his stop was timed at 19.9 seconds. After the pit stops were completed, the Ferrari drivers were in a comfortable first and second, with Kimi Raikkonen pulling away. This was until Massa spun mid way through the lap, finding himself stuck in the gravel trap, and out of the race. Raikkonen’s next scheduled pit stop was clocked at 8.5 seconds, and he re-joined the track to resume the lead of the race. All of the front runners negotiated the pit stops well, and the positions for the run to the finish were Raikkonen leading, followed by Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli and Hamilton. Into the final laps, Webber was being pushed by former World Champion Fernando Alonso. Webber defended well, and eventually began to pull out a gap between himself and Alonso. Lewis Hamilton was trying to find a clean way through to pass Jarno Trulli, but could not find a gap. The penultimate lap saw Jenson Button head for the grass, but he quickly rejoined. The race ended with the dominant Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen crossing the line taking his first win of the season, and getting his championship defence well underway. Aside from the return of Ferrari and Raikkonen, there was a stellar performance throughout the weekend from Robert Kubica, who managed to take second place, and his best result to date in F1.

The next round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship is in Bahrain on 3rd - 6th April 2008.