The Malaysian Grand Prix

 

Despite being very ill since late friday night, I still woke up at 6am to watch the Malaysian grand prix. Unfortunatly it was disappointing for Kimi as his race was cut short on the very first lap, being hit by Christian Klien and ultimatly destroying Kimi’s rear suspension. Ironically, I have no energy to type a full report despite what happened  and I will insert an article from f1racing.net.

 

19 March 2006

McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya finished today’s 56 lap Malaysian Grand Prix in fourth place. Kimi Raikkonen was hit by Christian Klien’s Red Bull on the opening lap of the race which damaged his rear suspension and caused him to retire. 

"The car was good today and I think we had a solid race," Montoya said. "We lost a lot of time in the first stint as my front tyres were graining, but as soon as we changed the tyres the car came back to life and if you look at my pace against Jenson Button later on it was pretty much the same. With the hot temperatures here we did have to look after the engine, which means that we had to sacrifice downforce, so finishing fourth is encouraging. We have scored some more points for the team and I think we look strong going into the next race."

Raikkonen added, "I am very disappointed because I had a great car set-up and very good race strategy. I think it was fairly obvious that Christian Klien made a pretty fundamental mistake and ran into the back of me at turn five, breaking my rear suspension in the process. A positive side, the team has had good race reliability in the first two races and I am already looking forward to Melbourne in two weeks."
 
Team chief Ron Dennis added, "Kimi being taken out in the first lap and Juan Pablo’s first stint tyre graining problems masked our true competitiveness. We also had to sacrifice some downforce to improve the cooling efficiency of the car. The whole team is looking forward to the scheduled improvements to both the car and engine, which should make us even more competitive in two weeks time. Unlike many teams, we have enjoyed good engine reliability which also supports our positive expectations for Melbourne."

Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug concluded, "Kimi was pushed out in the opening lap and we missed him a lot in this race. Our reliability was there and Juan Pablo drove a solid race. I would like to thank everybody in the team in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart for all their efforts over the last busy month to create this level. Our engines ran fine in both races within a week’s time. We have a solid basis, however we definitely want to do better and we will continue to work hard."

 

The race results are as follows:

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Saturday, Qualifying

Juan Pablo led the first session showing the McLarens are in form, with Kimi being 2nd fastest. The two had been joint together it seemed as they set close times throughout the one hour of qualifying. The McLaren’s package looks strong and it had been the dilemma for the Ferrari engines this weekend as Michael Schumacher, Massa and Red Bull’s David Coulthard all had an engine change, thus dropping them 10 places back on their qualifying time.

Jenson Button in the Honda had a relatively impressive weekend so far like in Bahrain, setting the fastest time so far in session two. However Rubens Barrichello seems to be still struggling from last week in his Honda. Toyota already disappointed by their performance last weekend, had another blow for Ralf Schumacher, quite ironically which was an engine blow, thwarting his chance of getting into the top 10. However, more disappointed was David Coulthard who was the first to be knocked out the top 10, along with other top drivers like Trulli, Villeneuve, Nick Heidfeld and Massa, who with the changed Ferrari decided not to particpate.

In session 3, the final chance for the top 10 drivers to grab pole, it was Fisichella in the Renault who took pole position and justifiably happy. It was enough to beat Jenson in a duel who claimed 2nd position. The two McLarens of Montoya and Raikkonen seem to be heavy fuelled as they qualified 5th and 6th respectively, and Alonso presumably heavy fuelled too qualified 7th.

It was exciting and consistantly fun to watch and I’m looking forward to the race and to see the McLaren’s take hold of advantage from the Renaults. It will be a race decided by tactics and strategy and of course, the tyres which must withstand the strain of the Sepang track. Oh and the drivers too.