Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, March 21st 2004.
One can always count for an exciting race in the Malaysian Grand Prix and this year was no exception.
Qualifying was somehow of a mixed bag of surprises and disappointments, but still a great build-up for the race.
Coming from behind Michael Schumacher gradually improved until putting a masterful performance in his qualifier, simply flying above everyone else's time, nipping surprising Mark Weber, who was capable to get into the 33's. Webber placed firmly in the front row with Michael and ahead of Montoya, Barrichello and Raikkonen. A very respectful performance.
The big disappointment came from the Renault camp with Jarno Trulli only managing an mid-grid eight position after going much faster earlier on and Young Fernando Alonso, who made a small mistake in those very fast left/right combination where you have to be braking as you are turning and going at lightening speed...
Fernando overcooked it in the left hander who placed the car a little off balance and as he was turning for the right hander coming at him very quickly, he had to tap the brake pedal and in so doing locked the inside front wheel that caused him to spin, ending his effort for the pole...
In my estimation, he would have knock off Webber from his front row position, I am not so sure he would have taken the pole from Michael.
Kimi Raikkonen, in spite of his McLaren, was able to qualify in 5th spot, behind JP Montoya and just ahead of a strong Button on 6th spot.
Takuma Sato, unfortunately, ended his effort in the sand and like Alonso, had to start from behind... It seems Sato needs to somehow turn his concentration a tab up and his lighten up his right foot a bit... if he does that, I am sure he will start looking as strong as his team mate Button.
The Race.
For a moment, it looked as though heavy rain would produce total chaos for the race, which no doubt would have turned this race into a thriller and quite possibly into a wrecking yard... (When it rains in Malaysia... it pours)
Yet, somehow the rain held, other than a few sprinkles in the opening laps that helped mostly two drivers...
Michael Schumacher (how surprising) because the overall temperature (and most importantly the track's temperature) came down by quite a bit favoring Michael's tire choice...
...and... Juan Pablo Montoya who took advantage of the situation (including Mark Webber's error at the start), but most importantly, Rubens Barrichello wrong tire choice that set him back far enough to finish 4th.
For a moment, the early sparse rain almost allowed JP to overtake M. Schumacher as all of a sudden it looked as though both Ferraris were in trouble. However, Michael being in the lead and the first driver to experience the semi-wet conditions quickly recovered and was able to fend-off Montoya's attack. A true mark of a great champion.
Jenson Button had a good start and started a good race that landed him a well deserved, (and long time coming) podium finish. He has taken a most definitive lead driver position for BAR, a team that it is rapidly improving and I believe more good things will come from them, particularly if Takuma Sato can manage to settle down.
Congratulations to Jenson for a fine and well deserved third place, no doubt more of this good results will come his way, possibly even his first F-1 victory.
Jarno Trulli also had a good start and for a while he was having a tremendous battle with Button and Barrichello, until after his second stop when his tires began acting up, allowing both competitors to drive ahead of him... however, given his starting position, and ending in the points again, he cannot be unhappy for the result (5th).
David Coulthard was lucky to come ahead of Alonso in their last pit stop as he was holding up the Spaniard, just before their pit stop, Alonso managed to get past David and once past him, he just drove away from the David... during the pit stop, the Renault had a longer fuel intake, which allowed Coulthard to leave the pit area just ahead of Fernando, who was unable to re-pass David, ending up with David on 6th and Fernando in 7th. Again, considering Alonso started in the last row and finished in the points, it is not a bad result at all... there will be better races ahead.
McLaren must be worried... as well as Raikkonen (and Montoya, indeed). For the second race in a row, the Mercedes/McLaren package failed in its reliability and left Kimi Raikkonen on the side of the track, this time with transmission failure.
I wonder if the winner in al this will turn out to be David Coulthard, (whose F-1 career may be coming to an end), then again, who knows, he has two point finishes and may chose to run a conservative point-scoring strategy that may put increased pressure on Kimi to start scoring points... it is early, but considering that last year championship was decided in the last race and only by a few points... every one counts and Kimi as none with two races gone and Michael well in the lead with 20.
In this F-1 world, second place is the first loser, so Kimi must be under pressure as well as McLaren, and Montoya must be totally confused as everything that affects his prospects for his championship for this and next year seem completely out of his control...
Felipe Massa must be happy with his first point, in spite of a vegetable cutting excursion towards the end of the race, even threatening Michael Schumacher's first position, as he came across the track out of the grass, just in front of Michael, who luckily saw Felipe's green excursion and avoided him... Felipe's car had clutch problems throughout the race and lost control in that moment but was able to regain it without damage... every time he came into the pits; he had to fight the clutch, but was successful and got a point for his efforts...
... which was better than team mate Fisichella who had yet another frustrating race and while finishing 11th, it was not a good finish for him, and he too had clutch problems and stalled his engine in both pit stops.
While Toyota seems to take a positive attitude in saying that out of two races, they have finished with both cars running... the 12 - 13 in Australia and today’s 9 - & 12 can be all tat encouraging, particularly when Toyota has the biggest budget in Formula One....
... And that is some serious $$$$, still, they seem undaunted and it is rumored that are ready to offer some insane 13 million Pounds sterling to hire Ralf Schumacher for their team....
I suppose Ralf could say... screw it, just give me the money and I will be your Sunday driver... yeah... for 13 million pounds... who cares where the car will finish... If he needs to show some trophies, I am sure Ralf can arrange for brother Michael to lend him a few for the show and tell session.... Oh well....
Ralf did not have a happy race... after a brief "touching" encounter with Frustrated Mark Webber; his BMW motor expired leaving him stranded on the side of the track and zero points for his efforts... Not a good position to be in particularly with team mate Montoya firmly one point away from second place and decision time coming up in the Bahrain GP as for his contract with Williams... If the Toyota rumors are true, I believe Frank Williams has no drivers for the 2005 season. Hopefully, this will be an opening for Marc Gene for his full time F-1 debut.
Mark Webber has to be very frustrated with his disappointing performance after taking the front row position with Michael Schumacher.... everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong... nearly stalled at the start, everyone in striking distance passed him at the start, then Ralf Schumacher nudged him in the rear tire, causing a puncture, that cost him precious places at the start and an unscheduled pit stop, and finally on lap 24 a lapse in his concentration caused him to spin and ending up in that horrific sand trap that otherwise could have allowed him to continue... what a terrible end to a very promising qualifying performance...
Mark seems to be lacking on an important ingredient for a successful GP driver... and that is ... "race-luck” I hope things get better for Mark, he deserves far better results... actually, I would not mind seeing Mark Weber as a team mate to Marc Gene at Williams...
Team mate Christian Klein had a somewhat uneventful race after a bad start and finish 10th... I have yet to see through the well mannered Dane to see how god a racer he is as I am not familiar with his track record.... so far so good, finishing 11 & 10 in Australia and Malaysia...
Both Jordan drivers were plagued with mechanical failures, Pantano managed to finish after starting from the pit lane, but only managed a 13th place...
Heidfeld had a good start and for a while he looked very good leaving behind the Toyota, Sauber and Jaguar cars, particularly I remember him driving quite quickly in the fast part of the circuit. All this before he had transmission problems getting stuck in 5th gear... eventually retiring ... It is unfortunate to see a good driver stuck with a second rate team... and in this instance, Jordan seems to be going backwards... They look no better than Minardi at times.
The Minardi drivers did what they could with the available equipment, Bruni finish the race in 14th and Baumgartener, just barely in dead last of the "still running at finish crowd", which if here were pints awarded for merit, it would put him in front of Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Webber, respectively and counting the two races so far. Then again, as stated earlier, in F-1 second place is the first loser, so it does not really count...
So it is April 4th to Bahrain at the Sakhir circuit for round number three |
