Category: Motor Racing

Ferrari arrived at Monte Carlo hoping for a much better showing than they managed last season when the McLarens ran rings around them with a perfect 1-2 result. Fast-forward twelve months on, not only have Scuderia improved on form with a quick and reliable car, but Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row of the grid even though the McLarens were the pre-race favourite.

Indeed, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver around the streets of the Principality after setting the pace in the Mercedes-powered MP4-23 during opening practice on Thursday. You would expect the team and driver to continue this impressive form into the all-important qualifying session, but it seems their Italian rival have something up its sleeve in terms of outright performance.

With Felipe Massa scoring his third pole position of the season with a lap time of one minute, 15.787 seconds around the tight, twisty and challenging street circuit, it will be fascinating whether McLaren can fight back. World champion Kimi Raikkonen is alongside his team-mate with second position giving Ferrari its first front row start since 1979. By starting at the front, Ferrari will have the advantage in strategy and hopefully can end that winless streak at Monaco after six difficult years.

Championship challenger Lewis Hamilton was disappointed and shocked to only qualify in third. The McLaren driver admitted later on that he was losing time to the red cars in the middle sector of the lap, but he remains optimistic for the race ahead. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was only two-tenths of a second slower and will start the race in fourth.

Behind the two top teams in Formula One, Robert Kubica took his customary fifth position for BMW Sauber while Nico Rosberg carried his excellent practice form into qualifying with sixth for Williams. The British squad is celebrating its 600th Grand Prix and team boss Sir Frank Williams is hoping Rosberg can score some championship points in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Double world champion and two-time Monaco winner Fernando Alonso lines up in seventh for Renault despite a lack of speed and rear-end grip in the R28. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli will start in eighth ahead of the Red Bull pair of Mark Webber and David Coulthard – ninth and tenth respectively.

In Coulthard’s case, the Scot was unable to take part in the top-ten shootout for pole position after losing control of his car under braking at the sea front chicane. The Red Bull locked its rear brakes over a crest in the road and the car pitched right into the Armco and DC became a passenger as the car went out of control down an escape room… Luckily he was unhurt but the Red Bull RB4 suffered heavy damage.

Several drivers’ last efforts in Q2 were affected when Coulthard struck the barrier. That left Nick Heidfeld down in P13 (his worst for 2008), both Hondas (Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, though the latter is under investigation by the race stewards for blocking one of Giancarlo Fisichella’s laps in Q1), Kazuki Nakajima, and Timo Glock.

Nelson Piquet continued to struggle in qualifying after being knocked out in Q1. The Brazilian is under pressure to perform and it didn’t help that he nearly damaged his car when exiting Portier during his fast lap… He will line up 17th on the grid.

Both of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s new cars were also knocked out in the first round. Champ Car star Sebastien Bourdais was unlucky not to make it through, with his last lap just half a tenth slower than Kazuki Nakajima in 15th. Team-mate Sebastian Vettle was one-tenth slower and is in P18.

And bring up the rear, are the Force India drivers of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella. The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix is Fisichella’s 200th Grand Prix but it was a frustrating session for the Italian. Not only was he given a five-pace penalty for changing the gearbox before qualifying, but he is under investigation over a blocking incident with Honda’s Barrichello…

Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix will be an interesting contest between the top four drivers in Formula One. Felipe Massa might not be a fan of this street circuit but he will have the advantage of having a clear track in front of him. If the Brazilian wins, he will significantly reduce the points gap to world champion Kimi Raikkonen in the drivers’ standings. For Raikkonen, the Finn has to challenge his team-mate for the race victory in order to sustain his championship lead. As for Lewis Hamilton, he wants that ‘dream result’ by winning for the team while McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen is hoping that he has an opportunity to score that elusive first victory after a set-back race in Turkey.

There is a possibility of rain heading to Monte Carlo on Sunday and it should be a dramatic race if the heavens open… Without traction control, it will be a challenging task for the 20 drivers to control 700 brake horsepower around a twisting street circuit for 78 laps… Let’s see what happens on race day!

Monaco Grand Prix grid

1. MASSA Ferrari 1:15.787
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:15.815
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1:15.839
4. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1:16.165
5. KUBICA BMW 1:16.171
6. ROSBERG Williams 1:16.548
7. ALONSO Renault 1:16.852
8. TRULLI Toyota 1:17.203
9. WEBBER Red Bull 1:17.343
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:15.839
11. GLOCK Toyota 1:15.907
12. BUTTON Honda 1:16.101
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1:16.455
14. NAKAJIMA Williams 1:16.479
15. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:16.537
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:16.806
17. PIQUET Renault 1:16.933
18. SUTIL Force India 1:17.225
19. FISICHELLA Force India 1:17.823*
20. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:16.955**

* Under investigating for blocking
** Penalised for gearbox change

Felipe Massa once again proved unbeatable at the Istanbul Park circuit with a commanding drive in the winning Ferrari F2008. The Brazilian’s second win of the season places him in striking distance in the world championship honours.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished in an excellent second position after driving an aggressive race by running a three-stop strategy. Even though Lewis overtook the race leader Massa on the 24th lap with a brilliant overtaking move, the extra pit stop cost him that race win… But at least the McLaren driver should be satisfied with the result, especially beating the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn recovered from a bad start to finish in a close third but his points lead in the drivers’ standing is now reduced to seven points after team-mate Massa latest victory.

As for his fellow countrymen, Heikki Kovalainen suffered a left-rear puncture (possibly caused by Kimi’s front wing endplate piercing his Bridgestone tyre at Turn 1) that resulted him dropping down the field. Heikki did well to recover with some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres but in the end finished a lapped 12th.

The BMW Sauber pair of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished the 58-lap race in fourth and fifth respectively, though the lack of pace was a worry. That elusive first win for the German/Swiss manufacturer will come another day.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso came home in a solid sixth place for Renault, casting aside the disappointment from the previous race in Barcelona. Seventh went to Mark Webber for Red Bull Racing with Nico Rosberg taking the final point finish with eighth for Williams.

Finishing in ninth was David Coulthard in the second Red Bull and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was the last unlapped runner with tenth.

Honda’s Jenson Button had a difficult race to 11th position while his team-mate Rubens Barrichello – whose 257th Grand Prix outing did not produce anything to shout about – came home in a disappointing P14. Between the Honda pair was Kovalainen and Timo Glock’s Toyota.

Nelson Piquet’s poor qualifying performance left him 15th, with Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) completing the finishers.

The latter duo both stopped at the end of the first lap to have repairs made after Giancarlo Fisichella’s unhappy weekend came to an end as he tried to pass Kazuki Nakajima – by flying over the top of the Williams! Neither the Italian, nor the Japanese (who got to the pits minus his rear wing) were able to continue.

The other retiree was Sebastien Bourdais, who lost control of his Toro Rosso after it developed a mechanical problem at the rear of the car as he was braking… The former Champ Car champion was out after sliding into the gravel trap.

The 2008 Turkish Grand Prix result leaves Raikkonen with a diminished lead in the world championship chase with 35 points, ahead of Massa and Hamilton on 28 and Kubica on 24. Ferrari extends their advantage atop the constructor standings, heading BMW Sauber by 19 points, with McLaren a further two adrift. The next race is the glamorous Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of the Principality. Can McLaren stop Ferrari on its winning run? Let’s find out in a fortnight’s time.

Turkish Grand Prix result – 58 laps

1. MASSA Ferrari 1h26:49.451
2. HAMILTON McLaren +3.7s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +4.2s
4. KUBICA BMW +21.6s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +38.7s
6. ALONSO Renault +53.7s
7. WEBBER Red Bull +64.2s
8. ROSBERG Williams +71.4s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull +75.2s
10. TRULLI Toyota +76.3s
11. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1 lap
13. GLOCK Toyota +1 lap
14. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap
15. PIQUET Renault +1 lap
16. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
17. VETTEL Toro Rosso +1 lap
R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +34 laps
R. NAKAJIMA Williams +57 laps
R. FISICHELLA Force India +58 laps

office furniture in BulgariamebeliFastest lap: RAIKKONEN 1m26.506s

Drivers’ championship standings – round 5:

1. Raikkonen 5
2. Hamilton 28
3. Massa 28
4. Kubica 24
5. Heidfeld 20
6. Kovalainen 14
7. Webber 10
8. Alonso 9
9. Trulli 9
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 5
12. Button 3
13. Bourdais 2

Constructors’ championship standings:

1. Ferrari 63
2. BMW Sauber 44
3. McLaren-Mercedes 42
4. Williams-Toyota 13
5. Red Bull-Renault 10
6. Renault 9
7. Toyota 9
8. Honda 3
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

NEXT RACE: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. May 22-25

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa achieved his third successive pole position after a dominant performance in qualifying at Istanbul Park.

The Brazilian, who is chasing a third straight victory on his favourite circuit, was comfortable the quickest driver on the challenging Hermann Tilke-designed race track. His time of one minute, 27.617 seconds was two-tenths of a second faster than the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen – who bounced back in style after his big crash in last month’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Kovalainen’s car seemed to have a better balance over his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The British driver was struggling with his Bridgestone and was disappointed that he could only set the third quickest time after making a bad choice over the hard compound tyres… But at least he will start the race ahead of the world champion, Kimi Raikkonen.

The Iceman couldn’t match the pace compare to his Scuderia team-mate, but the differences could be down to different fuel load. Is Kimi running a longer first stint in the race? We shall see.

Robert Kubica lines up fifth on the grid for BMW Sauber with Mark Webber alongside him. It was a good result for the Australian after he damaged his Red Bull Racing against the Armco barrier during the practice session on Friday. Double world champion Fernando Alonso is in seventh position for Renault ahead of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota and birthday boy Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber.

Rounding up the top ten is David Coulthard, who chose to save fuel and only did one qualifying run in Q3.

With the demise of Super Aguri, the qualifying format was tweaked to a new format with the five slowest cars dropping out in Q1 and Q2. This made life difficult especially for Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams and Nelson Piquet in the Renault. The Japanese went into a spin exiting Turn 7 on his first Q1 run while the Brazilian was knocked out as the others improved in the final seconds of the session.

As for Giancarlo Fisichella, even though the Italian out-qualified his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil by half a second, he will start behind the German thanks to his penalty for passing the pit exit red light at the start of Friday practice. It will be a tough race for Fisichella started from the back.

But all interest will be at the front. Can Felipe score his third successive win at the Turkish Grand Prix? Can the two McLarens find a way to prevent this and what about Raikkonen? Does the Finn have the speed to challenge for the win? Bring on race day!

Starting grid for the Turkish Grand Prix

1. MASSA Ferrari 1:27.617
2. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1:27.808
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1:27.923
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:27.936
5. KUBICA BMW 1:28.390
6. WEBBER Red Bull 1:28.417
7. ALONSO Renault 1:28.422
8. TRULLI Toyota 1:28.836
9. HEIDFELD BMW 1:28.882
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:29.959
11. ROSBERG Williams 1:27.012
12. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:27.219
13. BUTTON Honda 1:27.298
14. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:27.412
15. GLOCK Toyota 1:27.806
16. NAKAJIMA Williams 1:27.547
17. PIQUET Renault 1:27.568
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:27.621
19. SUTIL Force India 1:28.325
20. FISICHELLA Force India 1:27.807*

*Three-place grid penalty for passing red light at pit lane exit in practice

Kimi Raikkonen has extended his championship lead with a dominant performance in the Spanish Grand Prix. The Finn led home his team-mate Felipe Massa, scoring the perfect result for the Scuderia.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was able to salvage third while his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was taken to hospital following a violent crash at Turn 9.

The Kovalainen incident occurred on lap 22 when he suffered a wheel-rim failure on the left-front tyre. The Finn crashed heavily into the tyre wall and it took a while to stabilise at the accident scene, but Heikki gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was taken by stretcher to the medical centre. Later he was flown to hospital for precautionary checks, and his condition was described as stable.

This incident ruined Nick Heidfeld’s race for BMW Sauber, as he was running a long refuelling strategy. With the safety car on track and the pit lane closed, the German had no choice but to make a pit stop. This resulted in a stop-go penalty that dropped him down the field and he finished a disappointing ninth at the flag.

At least Heidfeld made it to the end, as home crowd favourite Fernando Alonso suffered an engine failure despite starting on the front row. The Spaniard was running in fifth position until lap 35 when the problem occurred… Still, he should be satisfied that the Renault team has made a significant step forward in terms of competitiveness and hopes to challenge Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber in the following races.

Robert Kubica continue to score points for BMW Sauber with fourth while Mark Webber drove a solid race in the Red Bull to take fifth. As for Jenson Button, he was happy to score the Honda’s team first points of the season with sixth – all thanks to a good strategy call in the pits.

By contrast, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli had to make an additional stop and slipped down to eighth. Not a good result for the Italian after chasing Webber for most of the race…

With Trulli down a spot, Kazuki Nakajima in the Toyota-powered Williams took seventh. This was the Japanese best race performance this season.

Giancarlo Fisichella was unable to resist the charging Heidfeld, so brought his Force India home in tenth, ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock, who delayed himself after running into the back of David Coulthard. The Scot’s left-rear tyre was cut as a result, so he also fell back but managed to re-pass Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato before the finish to claim twelfth spot.

Only thirteen cars made it to the chequered flag in an unusually high attrition rate at the Circuit de Catalunya. On the first lap, Adrian Sutil tried an ambitions move on Coulthard but ended up spinning into the path of the luckless Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso.

After qualifying in the top ten, Renault’s Nelson Piquet suffered a nightmare race with a trip across the gravel followed by a tangle with Vettel’s team-mate Sebastien Bourdais at Turn 10 as the Brazilian tried to recover from 18th position… Both cars retired with broken suspension.

Debris from Piquet’s car then punctured the radiator in Anthony Davidson’s Super Aguri, ending his race early.

As for the most experienced driver in Formula One, Rubens Barrichello will want to forget the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix after damaging his car’s front wing in the pit lane.

It may not have been a classic race, but it increased Raikkonen’s championship score to 29 points and his lead to nine over Hamilton (who is on 20). Felipe Massa jumps up to fourth on 18, one behind Kubica (19). Thanks to a one-two result in Barcelona, Ferrari re-take the lead in the constructors’ standing with 47, twelve ahead of BMW Sauber with McLaren-Mercedes a point behind.

Spanish Grand Prix result – 66 laps

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1h38:19.051
2. MASSA Ferrari +3.2s
3. HAMILTON McLaren +4.1s
4. KUBICA BMW +5.6s
5. WEBBER Red Bull+35.9s
6. BUTTON Honda +53.0s
7. NAKAJIMA Williams +58.2s
8. TRULLI Toyota +59.4s
9. HEIDFELD BMW +63.0s
10. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
11. GLOCK Toyota +1 lap
12. COULTHARD Red Bull +1 lap
13. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap
R. ROSBERG Williams +25 laps
R. ALONSO Renault +32 laps
R. BARRICHELLO Honda +32 laps
R. KOVALAINEN McLaren +45 laps
R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +58 laps
R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +59 laps
R. PIQUET Renault +60 laps
R. SUTIL Force India +66 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +66 laps

Fastest lap: RAIKKONEN 1m21.670s

Drivers’ championship standings:

1. Raikkonen 29
2. Hamilton 20
3. Kubica 19
4. Massa 18
5. Heidfeld 16
6. Kovalainen 14
7. Trulli 9
8. Webber 8
9. Rosberg 7
10. Alonso 6
11. Nakajima 5
12. Button 3
13. Bourdais 2

Constructors’ championship standings:

1. Ferrari 47
2. BMW Sauber 35
3. McLaren-Mercedes 34
4. Williams-Toyota 12
5. Toyota 9
6. Red Bull-Renault 8
7. Renault 6
8. Honda 3
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

NEXT RACE: Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul. May 9-11

Ferrari’s Kimi Rakkonen recorded his first pole position of the season by snatching the top spot from home crowd favourite Fernando Alonso in a dramatic qualifying session at the Circuit de Catalunya.

It was the Iceman’s 15th career pole position and with his main championship rival Lewis Hamilton down in fifth, the Finn has the advantage to extend his points lead if he wins at Barcelona. The sister Ferrari of Felipe Massa will start in third ahead of Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber.

On row three are the two McLarens with Hamilton and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. It was a disappointing performance from both drivers and Lewis even admits that the pace of the cars ahead shocked him! The British star will need to regain his composure and mount a challenge to score some valuable points in the race on Sunday.

As for Fernando Alonso, this was a fantastic achievement from the double world champion and the Renault team. The improvements to the R28 chassis over the last three weeks (in particular the new aerodynamic kit) have certainly improved the competitiveness of the team and Alonso was highly emotional after qualifying in second. He would have grabbed a shocking pole but the Spaniard is more than pleased to start ahead of his old team McLaren on the grid.

Even his team-mate Nelson Piquet put in a superb performance by qualifying in the top ten for the very first time this season. The Brazilian will line up in tenth position behind Mark Webber’s Red Bull, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld in the other BMW Sauber (seventh, eighth and ninth respectively).

The Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday will be a fascinating contest to see who is running what on fuel strategy. Are Renault running light or have they got genuine pace to match Ferrari, McLaren and BMW? Can Kimi score his second victory? Will we see a fight back drive from Lewis? We will find out this and more in tomorrow’s race at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Starting grid for the Spanish Grand Prix

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:21.813
2. ALONSO Renault 1:21.904
3. MASSA Ferrari 1:22.058
4. KUBICA BMW 1:22.065
5. HAMILTON McLaren 1:22.096
6. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1:22.231
7. WEBBER Red Bull 1:22.429
8. TRULLI Toyota 1:22.529
9. HEIDFELD BMW 1:22.542
10. PIQUET Renault 1:22.699
11. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:21.049
12. NAKAJIMA Williams 1:21.117
13. BUTTON Honda 1:21.211
14. GLOCK Toyota 1:21.230
15. ROSBERG Williams 1:21.349
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:21.724
17. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:21.810
18. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:22.108
19. FISICHELLA Force India 1:22.516
20. SUTIL Force India 1:23.224
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:23.318
22. SATO Super Aguri 1:23.496

After two non-finishes Ferrari’s Felipe Massa answers his Formula One critics with a flawless victory at Bahrain, leading his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to the chequered flag.

The Brazilian had been under pressure to perform after his race-costing errors in Melbourne and Sepang, so this latest race victory – his second in succession at the Bahrain International Circuit – has kick-started his title ambitions. The Brazilian was the fastest driver all weekend and was unlucky to miss out on pole position, but Massa made amends by scoring that all important ten points.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen finished in second position beating pole sitter Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber. The Iceman made a pass on Kubica on lap three but didn’t have the speed to challenge his Ferrari colleague for the win. Despite this, Raikkonen now heads the drivers’ title standings after a disappointing race for Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.

Starting third on the grid, Lewis made a poor getaway and ended the opening lap down in tenth position. Then he collided into the back of his ex-McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso on the exit at turn two damaging his front wing! Lewis was able to continue but spent most of the race playing catch-up running a heavy fuel load. He finished in a frustrating 13th position and a lap down to the red cars…

As for the incident involving Alonso, I believe the double world champion performed a ‘brake test’ on Lewis by deliberately slowing down on the exit of the corner… The Renault driver was defending his ninth position from his arch-rival and decided to back off the throttle causing the McLaren driver to smash into him! But saying this, I think Lewis Hamilton was too eager in trying to make up lost positions (he lost seven on the opening lap). By observing the in-car footage from Hamilton’s perspective, I think he was caught out by the slow Renault in his much quicker car…

Whatever the true reason – we need to look at the telemetry from Alonso to discover the cause of the incident – it was a set back for Lewis in terms of keeping hold of his drivers’ championship lead. With Raikkonen finishing in second in a Ferrari one-two, the Iceman now heads the title race by five points.

This wasn’t the only incident in the Grand Prix, as there was a collision at turn four involving Sebastian Vettel and several others cars. The Toro Rosso was out on the spot, while Jenson Button and David Coulthard came limping around to the pits for new tyres after picking up punctures…

Later on, the British pair managed to collide with one another after trying to make up lost time. Button criticised his friend DC for moving across on him in the braking zone. Jenson took avoiding action but ended up hitting the Red Bull!

It was a disappointing end for the Honda driver after his great performance in qualifying but at least the RA108 has the speed to keep on tabs with the Formula One grid. This gives confidence to Jenson and his team as they seek out more performance in the next couple of races.

BMW Sauber didn’t take the opportunity to turn pole position into race victory but at least the team are now heading the constructors’ standings thanks to Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finishing in third and fourth respectively. That elusive first race victory will have to wait for another day.

It was a frustrating weekend for McLaren with Heikki Kovalainen finishing in a lonely fifth and team-mate Lewis Hamilton in P13. The MP4/23 was off the pace and the Woking team will need to rediscover that winning formula to regain that lost ground in order to challenge rival Ferrari in the remaining rounds of the championship.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli continues to impress with another points finish with sixth, confirming the great progress made by the Japanese squad over the winter.

Mark Webber finished in seventh for the second race running in the Red Bull, beating Nico Rosberg’s Williams during the first rounds of pit stops. Rosberg was the last point scorer with eighth.

Rounding up the top ten is Timo Glock in the Toyota and Fernando Alonso – with that battle/tyre scar on the rear wing…

Even with Felipe Massa winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen now heads the drivers’ standings with 19 points, ahead of Nick Heidfeld on 16. Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalainen are on 14 with today’s race winner on 10. In the constructors’ chase, BMW Sauber leads with 30, ahead of Ferrari on 29 and McLaren on 28.

The next stop is Barcelona in three weeks time. Ferrari are the pace setters in this year’s championship and BMW – not McLaren – are chasing them for glory. Can BMW scored that dream result and can McLaren strike back? Find out at the end of the month at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Bahrain Grand Prix result – 57 laps

1. MASSA Ferrari +1hr31m06.970s
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +3.3s
3. KUBICA BMW +4.9s
4. HEIDFELD BMW +8.4s
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren +26.7s
6. TRULLI Toyota +41.3s
7. WEBBER Red Bull +45.4s
8. ROSBERG Williams +55.8s
9. GLOCK Toyota +69.5s
10. ALONSO Renault +77.1s
11. BARRICHELLO Honda +77.8s
12. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
13. HAMILTON McLaren +1 lap
14. NAKAJIMA Williams +1 lap
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1 lap
16. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +1 lap
17. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap
18. COULTHARD Red Bull +1 lap
19. SUTIL Force India +2 laps
R. PIQUET Renault +17 laps
R. BUTTON Honda +38 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +57 laps

Fastest lap: KOVALAINEN 1m33.193s

Drivers’ championship standings

1. Kimi Raikkonen 19
2. Nick Heidfeld 16
3. Lewis Hamilton 14
4. Heikki Kovalainen 14
5. Robert Kubica 14
6. Felipe Massa 10
7. Jarno Trulli 8
8. Nico Rosberg 7
9. Fernando Alonso 6
10. Mark Webber 4
11. Kazuki Nakajima 3
12. Sebastien Bourdais 2

Constructors’ championship standings

1. BMW Sauber 30
2. Ferrari 29
3. McLaren 28
4. Williams 10
5. Toyota 8
6. Renault 6
7. Red Bull 4
8. Toro Rosso 2

NEXT ROUND: Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya. April 27.

Robert Kubica took his and BMW Sauber’s first Formula One pole position, upstaging Felipe Massa in the Ferrari in the final moments of qualifying.

Kubica beat the pre-race favourite Massa by a small margin of less than three hundreds of a second to take his debut pole slot at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Polish driver now has the perfect opportunity to win his first race by being at the front of the 22-car pack thanks to his impressive performance in qualifying. If he can do this, it will be a wonderful result for Formula One, the driver and for the BMW Sauber team.

Felipe Massa seemed disappointed to line up in second place after setting the pace in all the sessions leading up to the top-ten shootout in Q3. To miss out by 0.027 seconds was unfortunate but the Brazilian should be feeling upbeat, as the Ferrari is the fastest car on the track. In addition, he must answer his critics with a race victory after two non-finishes in Melbourne and Sepang, so beating Kubica will be the ideal way of showcasing that he has the potential to challenge for the world championship.

Leading the title race after two rounds is Lewis Hamilton and despite his crash in second practice on Friday, the McLaren driver did well to qualify in third place. His main contender for the drivers’ crown – Kimi Raikkonen – could only manage fourth in the Ferrari while Heikki Kovalainen, in the second McLaren Mercedes, lines up fifth on the grid.

Nick Heidfeld couldn’t replicate his team-mate form in qualifying and will line up on the grid in sixth, 0.6 seconds adrift from pole… Jarno Trulli continues his strong qualifying performance in the Toyota with seventh ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Williams.

As for Jenson Button, the Honda driver managed to pull off a major achievement by taking part in Q3 and recording the ninth fastest time. His performance was made even sweeter as he will start in front of a double world champion – Fernando Alonso – in the Renault!

So with Robert Kubica up front, can the Polish driver translate his pole position into race victory? It will be a wonderful achievement for Formula One but I have some doubts if the BMW Sauber can keep up with the pace against the might of the Ferraris and McLarens. In addition, what fuel loads is Kubica running in the first stint of the race? My best bet is that Felipe Massa will pass him during a round of pit stops to take the lead and the chequered flag. The Brazilian needs to record a race win to kick-start his title challenge and silence those Formula One critics after two non-finishes. As for Lewis, he can continue scoring points by beating Kimi Raikkonen to the flag and extending his points lead in the drivers’ standings.

Starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix

1. KUBICA BMW 1:33.096
2. MASSA Ferrari 1:33.123
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1:33.292
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:33.418
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1:33.488
6. HEIDFELD BMW 1:33.737
7. TRULLI Toyota 1:33.994
8. ROSBERG Williams 1:34.015
9. BUTTON Honda 1:35.057
10. ALONSO Renault 1:35.115
11. WEBBER Red Bull 1:32.371
12. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:32.508
13. GLOCK Toyota 1:32.528
14. PIQUET Renault 1:32.790
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:32.915
16. NAKAJIMA Williams 1:32.943
17. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:33.433
18. FISICHELLA Force India 1:33.501
19. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:33.562
20. SUTIL Force India 1:33.845
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:34.140
22. SATO Super Aguri 1:35.725

Kimi Raikkonen got his title defence back on track with a dominant victory for Scuderia Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The world champion had a frustrating race last weekend in Melbourne, with two driving errors at turn 3 followed by an engine failure. Making up for that disappointment, the Iceman drove a perfect race here in Sepang beating Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber and Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren.

Australian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton struggled with race pace. It didn’t help that he was demoted down five positions due to ‘blocking other cars’ during Q3 in which Lewis and team-mate Kovalainen was at fault… Adding insult to injury, Lewis had a problem in his first pit stop with the right-front tyre (the wheel nut locking mechanism failed). Without these problems, the championship leader could have finished on the podium. Fifth was the best Lewis could have hoped for…

The manner in which Kimi Raikkonen dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix means Ferrari has finally reveal the true pace of the F2008. Though the performance from the blue and white cars (BMW Sauber) could suggest that this championship battle may be a three-way fight. Kubica’s second place finish follows on from team-mate Nick Heidfeld’s impressive result in Australia. Both drivers have now finished in second position in two consecutive races. In addition, this was the Pole’s first podium since the 2006 Italian Grand Prix.

Sure, Kubica benefited from Felipe Massa’s spin on lap 31 to take the runner-up spot, but the German team do have genuine pace to keep up with the top two teams in Formula One. It will be a matter of when BMW scores its first victory this season.

For Massa, the pole sitter was baffled in how he lost control of his Ferrari while running second. It was the Brazilian’s second consecutive retirement following an engine problem in Australia and with no points in these two races, Felipe faces a difficult challenge to regain lost ground over Hamilton and Raikkonen. The cause of the spin remains a mystery but I believe he may have accelerated a bit too aggressively…

In Melbourne at the first corner, Massa lost the back end of his car in a bid to out-accelerate Heikki Kovalainen. This resulted him to hit the tyre wall but he was fortunate enough to get away with only a damaged front wing.

And as he pirouetted out of the Malaysian Grand Prix in a spin, it points to the hallmarks of a driver asking too much on his rear tyres… The Ferrari team admitted afterwards they couldn’t see anything obviously wrong from the car’s telemetry. A potential one-two result for Scuderia ended with a beached Ferrari in the gravel…

Finishing in fourth went to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli who managed to resist a late race charge from Lewis Hamilton. Nick Heidfeld was sixth while Mark Webber scored two points for Red Bull Racing after the team started the weekend poorly.

Close behind Webber was Fernando Alonso, who scored the final remaining point. He finished six seconds ahead of the second Red Bull of David Coulthard, with Jenson Button rounding out the top ten in the Honda.

Despite the poor race for Lewis Hamilton, the Brit retains the drivers’ championship lead with 14 points but following Raikkonen’s commanding victory here in Sepang, the Iceman is only three points behind. In the constructors’ chase, McLaren Mercedes leads with 24, ahead of BMW Sauber on 19 and Ferrari on 11.

Malaysian Grand Prix 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

World Championship standings, round 2:

Drivers:
1. Hamilton 14
2. Raikkonen 11
3. Heidfeld 11
4. Kovalainen 10
5. Kubica 8
6. Rosberg 6
7. Alonso 6
8. Trulli 5
9. Nakajima 3
10. Webber 2
11. Bourdais 2

Constructors:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 24
2. BMW Sauber 19
3. Ferrari 11
4. Williams-Toyota 9
5. Renault 6
6. Toyota 5
7. Red Bull-Renault 2
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

NEXT ROUND: Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit. April 6.

After the disappointment of Melbourne, Ferrari strikes back with a commanding performance in qualifying in Sepang, with Felipe Massa taking his second consecutive pole position.

The Brazilian lapped the Malaysian circuit with a time of one minute, 35.748 seconds, half a second quicker than his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. The margin between the pair suggest Massa is running light… No matter, the red cars were comfortably faster than the McLaren pair of Heikki Kovalainen and Australian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton.

Unfortunately, the Woking team’s prospect of challenging their main championship rivals took a dive after the race stewards decided to dock the McLaren drivers five places on the grid, for blocking other cars in Q3…

How did this happen? After completing their laps in Q3, both Heikki and Lewis started to save fuel by touring around the track at a reduced pace… on the racing line! This meant that faster drivers such as BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Renault’s Fernando Alonso had to dodge through the field. This was unsporting and dangerous. The race stewards made the right call with McLaren accepting the punishment.

With the silver cars push down to eighth and ninth (Kovalainen and Hamilton respectively), the top ten of the grid move up two positions. Jarno Trulli – who was fastest of all in Q1 – is promoted to third for Toyota. Alongside the renowned qualifying expert is Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber followed by team-mate Nick Heidfeld. Mark Webber lines up in an impressive sixth for Red Bull Racing with double world champion Fernando Alonso in seventh for Renault. Completing the top ten is Timo Glock in the second Toyota, just edging out Honda’s Jenson Button.

After the highs of Melbourne, Williams’ Nico Rosberg was frustrated by his qualifying pace and could do no better than P16. That is much better than his team-mate Kazuki Nakajima, who will start at the back following his ten-place grid penalty after crashing into Kubica last weekend… As for Nelson Piquet, the Renault driver seemed to be more comfortable here compare to Melbourne. The Brazilian was unlucky not to out-pace his team-mate Alonso and will line up in P13.

With the Ferraris up front and the McLarens down in the mid-field, Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix will be fascinating. Heavy rain is expected during the course of the race and with no traction control, driving these powerful single-seaters in tricky conditions will certainly test the drivers’ skills to the extreme!

Revised Malaysian Grand Prix starting grid

1. MASSA Ferrari 1:35.748
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:36.230
3. TRULLI Toyota 1:36.711
4. KUBICA BMW 1:36.727
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1:36.753
6. WEBBER Red Bull 1:37.009
7. ALONSO Renault? 1:38.450
8. KOVALAINEN McLaren* 1:36.613
9. HAMILTON McLaren* 1:36.709
10. GLOCK Toyota 1:39.656
11. BUTTON Honda 1:35.208
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:35.408
13. PIQUET Renault 1:35.562
14. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:35.622
15. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16. ROSBERG Williams 1:35.670
17. FISICHELLA Force India 1:36.240
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:36.677
19. SATO Super Aguri 1:37.087
20. SUTIL Force India 1:37.101
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:37.481
22. NAKAJIMA Williams** 1:36.388

* Penalised 5 places for impeding Heidfeld
** Penalised 10 places for Melbourne incident

Lewis Hamilton took a commanding victory in Albert Park with a perfect lights-to-flag drive in a race filled with dramatic incidents and several safety car periods behind the victorious McLaren.

Hamilton kept his composure as the others were crashing, spinning or breaking down with mechanical problems! It was Hamilton’s fifth Grand Prix-career win and the ideal start to his championship campaign. Main rival and pre-season favourite Kimi Raikkonen failed to score after an eventful race fighting through the mid-field.

BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld finished in second with Williams’ Nico Rosberg completing the podium. Both Ferraris retired with mechanical problems after a series of driving errors by drivers Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

McLaren were set for a perfect one-two finish, but Hamilton’s new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen suffered a misfortune of the late safety car period (which resulted him to the tail end of the grid after making his final pit-stop) and accidently hitting the pit-lane speed limited after passing ex-McLaren driver Fernando Alonso in the final laps in this dramatic Australian Grand Prix!

The race was chaotic from the start. On the opening lap in this post-traction control era, the 2008 Formula One World Championship started off with a bang with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa losing control exiting turn 1 and crashing into the tyre wall (breaking his front wing) in a bid to out-accelerate Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren. Behind the spinning red car, a five-car collision involving Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) and Jenson Button (Honda) resulted in the first call of the safety car.

During this chaotic moment Ferrari’s Raikkonen took the advantage to leap from P15 to eighth in one single lap, but he would remain trapped behind seventh-placed Rubens Barrichello’s Honda for the first 18 laps of the race.

After the restart, Lewis Hamilton easily kept his lead from Robert Kubica and it was clear that the BMW did not have the pace to keep up with the McLaren. By the eighth lap, the leading McLaren was 4.3 seconds ahead and the following lap Lewis pulled another 1.3 seconds clear… Running on the lightest fuel load compared to the top runners on the grid, Kubica headed to the pits on lap 16 and dropped further behind the race leader.

Meanwhile the Iceman managed to pass Rubens Barrichello after making several attempts at the Brazilian into turn 3. The Finn made the move on lap 19 and after this, the Ferrari began to fly. The sector times from the red car were mighty impressive and showcase the real pace of the F2008. Without that technical problem during qualifying, it would seem Raikkonen would have won this Grand Prix…

Race leader Hamilton made his first pit stop on lap 18 while his team-mate Kovalainen stayed out until lap 23. Before the Finn made his pit-stop, Raikkonen managed to recover from his low grid position and was now up with the leaders.

It was at this point, that the sister Ferrari of Felipe Massa caused the second safety car when the Brazilian tried an ambitions move down the inside of David Coulthard’s Red Bull at turn 1 on lap 25. The two cars touched and Coulthard was sent flying in the air, only to crashed back down spreading debris across turns 1 and 2. Massa retired when his engine cut out shortly afterwards.

At the second restart Raikkonen – who was decided not to pit for fuel and some fresh Bridgestone tyres – immediately pounced on Kovalainen. But in a bid to pass his fellow Finn, the Ferrari driver braked too late for turn three and went off! Kimi managed to avoid hitting the wall and crept back onto the circuit. But by then, he dropped down to eleventh behind the leading McLarens, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Barrichello, Sebastien Bourdais (who was driving superb and benefitted from a single pit-stop in the first safety car), Kubica, Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima and Timo Glock.

Raikkonen quickly caught Glock’s Toyota but made his second mistake at his ‘favourite’ corner on the Albert Park circuit. Yes, at turn 3… The world champion put his left wheels on the grass at the entry to the corner and the car got away from him. Luckily the anti-stall preventing him from retiring on the spot and Kimi gathered it up and continued.

Meanwhile up front, Lewis was proceeding to edge away from his team-mate Kovalainen, while Heidfeld and Rosberg – who switched places at the first rounds of pit-stop – was keeping up with the second McLaren. Heikki was running a longer middle stint compare to the others and this proved to be his undoing, as the safety car made its third appearance on the day.

On lap 45, Toyota’s Timo Glock ran wide exiting the fast turn 12 and launched his car destructively over an access road, hurling debris over the track. Glock was tremendously lucky not to have been pointing towards the barrier when he hit the bump or he would have had even more violent impact… The safety car was out once again.

The need to wait for the pit lane to open under the caution (yellow) period meant Kovalainen fell to the back end of the pack, while team-mate Hamilton was able to return to the front of the queue with Heidfeld, Rosberg and Bourdais close behind.

Unfortunately, Honda’s Rubens Barrichello refused to wait for the pits to open and made his stop. This resulted in one of the worst pit-stops of 2008. First, he broke the rules entering the pits despite being closed (earned himself a time penalty). Then he managed to knock down his Honda mechanics over as he pulled away with the fuel hose still attached… And to top it off, Rubens exited the pit lane while the red light was on! All this from the most experienced Grand Prix driver and it was no surprise that he was later disqualified from the result despite finishing in sixth.

As the safety car peeled in at the end of lap 49, an over-eager Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) crashed into the back of Kubica. That ended the Polish driver’s race but the Japanese was able to continue after pitting for a new nose. The race stewards were unimpressed, however, and handed Nakajima a ten-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Over the closing laps Sebastien Bourdais was driving beautifully in the Toro Rosso, soaking up the pressure from a trio of faster cars: Fernando Alonso’s Renault, Kovalainen’s McLaren and Raikkonen’s Ferrari. The four-time Champ Car champion was heading for a dream result in his debut Grand Prix with a superb fourth position. And yet sadly, the Frenchman was crudely denied when he suffered a late engine failure three laps from home…

This promoted Alonso and Kovalainen into fourth and fifth and in the remaining three laps, it was battle royale between the present and past McLaren drivers! The Finn passed the Renault at turn 13 (ironically named after the great McLaren driver Senna!) only for the double world champion to cruise back ahead when Heikki accidently hitting the pit-lane speed limiter on his steering wheel as he tear off his dirty, oil-covered visor strip…

Kimi Raikkonen would have finished with this pair had his car not suffered a late failure. The Finn scored no points despite being marked out as the race favourite by fans and pundits.

Lewis Hamilton had begun the race with one of his old karting rivals alongside him – Robert Kubica – and ended it on the podium with another – Nico Rosberg. This was the German’s first podium after 35 races racing in Formula One.

Nick Heidfeld continued his impressive race performance with second for BMW while Nakajima backed up his team-mate Rosberg with sixth, placing the Williams team in second position in the constructors’ standings.

Such was the high attrition rate in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix that only six cars made the finish, both Bourdais and Raikkonen were classified seventh and eighth respectively despite not making it to the chequered flag.

And even though the Ferrari team suffered a double non-finish, the pace of the F2008 will be troublesome for McLaren and the rest of the Formula One grid in the next few races. Without that fuel pump problem in qualifying and the bad luck Kimi Raikkonen endured in the race, it would have been a different kind of results for the world champion… Instead it was the championship runner-up who scored big and this is what Lewis had to say after a perfect weekend in Australia:

“The team did a fantastic job as always, and the car was phenomenal, a complete dream to drive compared to last year.

“They pulled me in early on both stops and that kept us out of trouble. Physically the race was a breeze, and great preparation for Malaysia, so bring it on, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Indeed, the first race of the new Formula One was certainly entertaining. Let’s hope the following race next weekend at Sepang will provide more drama and excitement!

Australian Grand Prix race result, 58 laps

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1h34m50.616s
2. HEIDFELD BMW +5.4s
3. ROSBERG Williams +8.1s
4. ALONSO Renault +17.1s
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren +18.0s
6. NAKAJIMA Williams +1 lap
7. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +3 laps
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +5 laps
R. KUBICA BMW +11 laps
R. GLOCK Toyota +15 laps
R. SATO Super Aguri +26 laps
R. PIQUET Renault +28 laps
R. MASSA Ferrari +29 laps
R. COULTHARD Red Bull +33 laps
R. TRULLI Toyota +39 laps
R. SUTIL Force India +50 laps
R. WEBBER Red Bull +58 laps
R. BUTTON Honda +58 laps
R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +58 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +58 laps
R. FISICHELLA Force India +58 laps
DQ. BARRICHELLO Honda

Fastest lap: KOVALAINEN – 1m27.418s

World Championship standings, round 1:

Drivers:
1. Hamilton 10
2. Heidfeld 8
3. Rosberg 6
4. Alonso 5
5. Kovalainen 4
6. Nakajima 3
7. Bourdais 2
8. Raikkonen 1

Constructors:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 14
2. Williams-Toyota 9
3. BMW Sauber 8
4. Renault 5
5. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2
6. Ferrari 1

NEXT ROUND: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang. March 23.