[Formula 1] Malaysian Grand Prix : 23 March 2008
-
Venue: Sepang International Circuit, Selangor, Malaysia
Track length: 5.543 km
Race distance: 310.408 km (56 laps)Malaysia held the first ever F1 race in Asia outside of Japan, and this year marks the 10th edition of the Grand Prix. The track is fast and flowing, and its width makes it seem like a runway in places. The racing is generally better than average, and the first corner is often the scene of carnage at the start of the race. In spite of the width though, overtaking opportunities do not number above average, with the entry to turns 1, 4 and 15 being the most popular spots. Monsoon weather has wreaked havoc before once, in 2001, and rain can never be ruled out.
A medium-high downforce is used to help the cars cope with the many fast corners on the track. On the straights, which are unique in being parallel to each other, 320 km/h is still attainable. 2 pitstops are the way to go, with the softer tyre prefered for 2 stints in last year's race. The heat, the humidity and the flowing nature make the race particularly punishing on the drivers, the engines and the brakes.
Of the current crop of drivers, only Alonso, Fisichella and Räikkönen have won this race before, in 2007 and 2005, 2006 and 2003 respectively. Hamilton had a particularly good run to second place last year. The circuit also represents a happy hunting ground for Toyota, which made the points scoring positions in the last 3 seasons.
All eyes will be on several teams this weekend, especially title chasers Ferrari, as both their cars faltered in the heat of Melbourne. The drivers who were involved in accidents will be looking to keep their noses clean and redeem themselves. Nakajima has already been saddled with a 10-place grid penalty for colliding with Kubica in the Australian leg.
Will the hottest race on the calendar yield as much action as the opening round of the season? You'll have to tune in at 3 p.m. on Sunday to find out!
-
Räikkönen's Ferrari has stopped out on the circuit in FP1. Massa is leading the way with a 1:36.2.
-
Webber and Sutil have also stopped on the circuit.
-
Massa improves to a 1:36-dead, and is on another flyer. Piquet is matching Alonso's pace, although he did 20 laps to Alonso's 11.
1:35.7 for Massa now.
-
Kubica appears to have a problem, he has done no more than 3 installation laps and has yet to set a time.
Button's on to a PB lap. He climbs to 7th with a 1:37.2.
-
Malaysian GP free practice session 1 times
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m35.392s
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m36.459s
3. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m36.556s
4. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.578s
5. HAMILTON McLaren 1m36.626s
6. ALONSO Renault 1m37.022s
7. PIQUET Renault 1m37.034s
8. KUBICA BMW 1m37.218s
9. BUTTON Honda 1m37.282s
10. TRULLI Toyota 1m37.540s
11. HEIDFELD BMW 1m37.649s
12. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m37.649s
13. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m37.776s
14. GLOCK Toyota 1m37.782s
15. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m38.219s
16. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m38.232s
17. WEBBER Red Bull 1m38.707s
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m38.798s
19. FISICHELLA Force India 1m39.046s
20. SATO Super Aguri 1m40.178s
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m40.351s
22. SUTIL Force India 1m41.269s -
Malaysian GP free practice session 2 times
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m35.055s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m35.206s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m35.428s
4. BUTTON Honda 1m36.037s
5. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m36.474s
6. TRULLI Toyota 1m36.493s
7. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m36.512s
8. KUBICA BMW 1m36.671s
9. FISICHELLA Force India 1m36.756s
10. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m36.838s
11 BARRICHELLO Honda 1m36.879s
12. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.908s
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1m37.106s
14. ALONSO Renault 1m37.328s
15. PIQUET Renault 1m37.331s
16. WEBBER Red Bull 1m37.346s
17. GLOCK Toyota 1m37.512s
18. SUTIL Force India 1m37.614s
19. SATO Super Aguri 1m39.021s
20. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m39.361s
21. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso no time
22. COULTHARD Red Bull no time -
Malaysian GP free practice session 3 times
1. HEIDFELD BMW 1m35.019s
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m35.262s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m35.388s
4. TRULLI Toyota 1m35.389s
5. WEBBER Red Bull 1m35.437s
6. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m35.653s
7. PIQUET Renault 1m35.768s
8. BUTTON Honda 1m35.781s
9. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m35.827s
10. GLOCK Toyota 1m35.911s
11 HAMILTON McLaren 1m35.927s
12. ALONSO Renault 1m36.068s
13. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m36.183s
14. FISICHELLA Force India 1m36.229s
15. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.490s
16. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m36.529s
17. KUBICA BMW 1m36.618s
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m36.668s
19. SATO Super Aguri 1m36.908s
20. SUTIL Force India 1m36.939s
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m37.140s
22. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m37.703sBarrichello and Rosberg completed no more than 13 laps between them. Alonso and Kubica also seemed to run into minor problems.
-
It's gonna RRRRAIINN!
-
No rain arrived - they should fire the weatherman on the spot.
Massa takes his second consecutive Sepang pole. Behind him are Kimi, Kovy, Hamster, Trulli, Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld, Webber, Alonso...Glock may be investigated for impeding another driver again.
-
the final qualifying saw heidfeld darting past a few cars... wonder if they will be investigated. I think i saw hamilton
-
Originally posted by SBS9828X:
the final qualifying saw heidfeld darting past a few cars... wonder if they will be investigated. I think i saw hamilton
Heidfeld lashes out at slowing cars
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=42083McLaren pair get five-place penalties
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=42094McLaren stresses blocking accidental
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=42095 -
Malaysian GP starting grid
1. MASSA Ferrari
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
3. TRULLI Toyota
4. KUBICA BMW
5. HEIDFELD BMW
6. WEBBER Red Bull
7. ALONSO Renault
8. KOVALAINEN McLaren*
9. HAMILTON McLaren*
10. GLOCK Toyota
11. BUTTON Honda
12. COULTHARD Red Bull
13. PIQUET Renault
14. BARRICHELLO Honda
15. VETTEL Toro Rosso
16. ROSBERG Williams
17. FISICHELLA Force India
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
19. SATO Super Aguri
20. SUTIL Force India
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri
22. NAKAJIMA Williams*** penalised 5 places for impeding Heidfeld
** penalised 10 places for Melbourne incident -
Malaysian GP result - 56 laps
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
Fastest lap: HEIDFELD 1m35.366s
-
No rain in the end. Massa threw second place away, while Hamilton's race was ruined in the first round of pitstops by a loose wheel shield. Kubica takes his best ever finish in second, behind Raikkonen and ahead of Kovalainen.
-
massa damn sway lar .. spin off the track jus like tat .. i think he turn abit too wide or something ...
he doesnt even noe wats wrong with the car when interviwed .. even Kimi finds it weird
kubica had a wonder ful race .. but i think Alonso is disappointing ....
-
Originally posted by hao_hao:
massa damn sway lar .. spin off the track jus like tat .. i think he turn abit too wide or something ...
he doesnt even noe wats wrong with the car when interviwed .. even Kimi finds it weird
kubica had a wonder ful race .. but i think Alonso is disappointing ....
Alonso had a dog of a car to grapple with in the first place.
Malaysian GP result - 56 laps
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 lapsFastest lap: HEIDFELD 1m35.366s
-
Massa's always had a habit of tripping over himself. As for Alonso, Renault's back to its 2003/4 form - during that time it performed better than it should have with Alonso at the wheel, and when it just got good enough in 2005, he took the championship. 2008 looks to be another 2004 for Renault.
-
Originally posted by Gedanken:
Massa's always had a habit of tripping over himself. As for Alonso, Renault's back to its 2003/4 form - during that time it performed better than it should have with Alonso at the wheel, and when it just got good enough in 2005, he took the championship. 2008 looks to be another 2004 for Renault.
well lets jus wait n see ... its still early in the season afterall -
It is, but given the gaps between Renault and the front-runners during winter testing, I'd be very surprised if they did something to close that gap up quickly, short of releasing an all-new car. If they do, rest assured that the other teams will be screaming blue murder like they did with the mass dampers.
-
If I remember correctly, it was only Ferrari who made a complaint about the mass dampers in 2006. Lately though Renault haven't been the trendsetters in the design department - the front two, BMW and Red Bull currently fulfill that role.
-
Yuh huh. Ferrari whinged after the mass dampers had been in use for 18 months - what a crock. What I'm saying is that it'll take something like mass dampers to close the gap between Renault and the top teams.