Malaysia 2008
THIS WEEKEND IT WAS FERRARI'S TURN TO DOMINATE - THEIR CAR HAD LOOKED ALL WEEKEND AS IF IT WAS THE CAR TO BEAT AND SO IT TURNED OUT. FELIPE MASSA TOOK POLE FROM KIMI RAIKKONEN WITH HEIKKI KOVALAINEN 3RD AND LEWIS HAMILTON 4TH OR SO WE THOUGHT.
TEAMS NOWADAYS INSTRUCT THEIR DRIVERS TO CONSERVE FUEL ON THE LAP BACK TO THE PITS AFTER THEIR HOT QUALIFYING LAPS. THIS LED TO A DANGEROUS SITUATION ON SATURDAY WHEN NICK HEIDFELD AND FERNANDO ALONSO WERE THE LAST TWO CARS TO FINISH IN THE 3RD SESSION AND HAD TO WEAVE AT FULL RACING SPEED TO AVOID THE VERY SLOW MCLARENS. THE STEWARDS PENALISED THE TWO MCLAREN DRIVERS FOR BLOCKING AND PLACED THEM 5 PLACES BACK ON THE GRID.
FELIPE HELD OFF RAIKKONEN AT THE FIRST CORNER AFTER THE LIGHTS WENT OUT AND HAMILTON HAD MADE UP FOUR PLACES TO 5TH BY TURN 2 BUT THEN COULD NOT GET PAST MARK WEBBER IN THE RED BULL CAR AND ROBERT KUBICA HELD 3RD SPOT AND THAT IS HOW IT STAYED UNTIL THE FIRST PIT-STOPS. MASSA PITTED FIRST AND KIMI THEN ATTACKED SO WELL THAT HE EMERGED FROM HIS OWN STOP ON THE NEXT LAP IN FRONT OF THE BRAZILIAN. HE WAS NEVER HEADED AGAIN. LEWIS DID THE SAME TO MARK WEBBER WHEN THE AUSTRALIAN PITTED AND HAD MADE UP MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO BE ABLE TO PIT HIMSELF AND STILL REMAIN IN FRONT. HOWEVER, A DISASTER WITH A WHEEL-GUN LOST HIM 12 SECONDS AND HE CAME OUT BEHIND WEBBER AGAIN AND STAYED THERE ALMOST TO THE END OF THE RACE.
MASSA EITHER SUFFERED A CAR PROBLEM OR A DRIVER ERROR - EITHER WAY, HE SPUN OFF ALL BY HIMSELF AND BEACHED THE CAR AND RETIRED ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE RACE. ROBERT KUBICA AND HEIKKI KOVALAINEN PUT IN STRONG PERFORMANCES TO FINISH 2ND AND THIRD RESPECTIVELY AND SPECIAL MENTION MUST BE MADE OF JARNO TRULLI WHO GAVE TOYOTA MUCH TO BE PLEASED ABOUT WITH A SUPERB 4TH PLACE ON MERIT IN A RACE THAT SAW FEW RETIREMENTS COMPARED TO AUSTRALIA LAST WEEK.
HAMILTON KEPT HIS LEAD IN THE DRIVERS' TITLE RACE AND MCLAREN DID THE SAME IN THE MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP BUT THE GAPS HAVE REDUCED. IT LOOKS AS IF THERE WILL BE CONSTANT JOCKEYING BETWEEN THESE TWO TEAMS AND THEIR DRIVERS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON. IT WILL MAKE IT INTERESTING TO WATCH!
STARTING GRID
| | | |
| 1.
|
Felipe Massa
|
| 2.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 3.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 4.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 5.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 6.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 7.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 8.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 9.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 10.
|
Timo Glock
|
| 11.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 12.
|
David Coulthard
|
| 13.
|
Nelson Piquet
|
| 14.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 15.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 16.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 17.
|
Giancarlo Fisichella
|
| 18.
|
Sebastien Bourdais
|
| 19.
|
Takuma Sato
|
| 20.
|
Aidrian Sutil
|
| 21.
|
Anthony Davidson
|
| 22.
|
Kazuki Nakajima
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 2.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 3.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 4.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 5.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 6.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 7.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 8.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Lewis Hamilton
|
14
|
| Kimi Raikkonen
|
11
|
| =Nick Heidfeld
|
11
|
| Heikki Kovalainen
|
10
|
| Robert Kubica
|
8
|
| Nico Rosberg
|
6
|
| =Fernando Alonso
|
6
|
| Jarno Trulli
|
5
|
Constructors :
|
| McLaren
|
24
|
| BMW
|
19
|
| Ferrari
|
11
|
| Williams
|
9
|
| Renault
|
6
|
| Toyota
|
5
|
| Scuderia Testa Rosso
|
2
|
| =Red Bull Racing
|
2
|
| Honda
|
0
|
| Force India
|
0
|
| Super Aguri
|
0
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
23rd March 2008
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