Race
Qualifying
Saturday Practice
Friday Practice 2
Friday Practice 1
History
Race Report And Classification
Photos Courtesy Of Formula One Administration
Well, it wasn’t quite as eventful as Melbourne, but Sepang threw up a couple of surprises which ended up seeing Kimi Raikkonen on the top step of the podium.Polesitter Felipe Massa was sitting in second place before he span it out half way through the race (Picture, top left). Robert Kubica gained, to take second place, and BMW’s second successive podium finish (Picture, bottom right). Heikki Kovalainen took the final place on the podium, which was a good finish considering he started eighth.Result of the day, though, goes to Jarno Trulli. Many people had written Toyota off at the start of this year, but he qualified fifth fastest (being promoted to third after McLaren’s penalty) and finished just outside the podium places. Team mate Timo Glock, however, got spun round by Rosberg on the opening lap, (picture, bottom left) and the team didn’t want him to stay out. As for Rosberg, following last week’s superb podium finish, his tangle with Glock meant that he needed a new nose cone, and came in a lowly 17th.
No points either for Toro Rosso or Force India. Sutil limped off after a couple of laps with a mechanical fault, and Fisichella could manage only twelfth. Neither Toro Rosso managed to finish the race, with Vettel’s Ferrari engine giving up (picture, top right) and Bourdais was unable to follow-up his two points in Melbourne.
Hamilton came fifth, meaning that McLaren still managed to get both drivers into point scoring positions. Lewis did have a problem in the pits, when the mechanics were unable to get the front-right wheel off the car. For now, McLaren still have the edge over Ferrari, but after Kimi’s torrid weekend in Australia, he’s turned it around and lies three points behind Lewis Hamilton. The normally-scolding heat of Bahrain is coming up in two weeks time – who will have the edge in Sakhir?
Classification
1. K RAIKKONEN 1:31:18.555
2. R Kubica +19.5
3. H Kovalainen +38.4
4. J Trulli +45.8
5. L Hamilton +46.5
6. N Heidfeld +49.8
7. M Webber +1:08.1
8. F Alonso +1:10.0
9. D Coulthard +1:16.2
10. J Button +1:26.2
11. N Piquet +1:32.2
12. G Fisichella +1 Lap
13. R Barrichello +1 Lap
14. N Rosberg +1 Lap
15. A Davidson +1 Lap
16. T Sato +2 Laps
17. K Nakajima +2 Laps
Not Classified
S Vettel
F Massa
A Sutil
T Glock
S Bourdais
Qualifying
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa is in a perfect position to repeat last year’s victory. He was on pole position in 2007 and went on to take the chequered flag. Kimi Raikkonen makes it an all-Ferrari front row, and if Heikki or Lewis are going to grab a win for McLaren, they will have to fight for it. Jarno Trulli qualified an excellent fifth, and Timo Glock also made the final qualifying session.
1. F Massa – 1:35.748
2. K Raikkonen – 1:36.230
3. H Kovalainen – 1:36.613
4. L Hamilton – 1:36.709
5. J Trulli – 1:36.711
6. R Kubica – 1:36.727
7. N Heidfeld – 1:36.753
8. M Webber – 1:37.009
9. F Alonso – 1:38.450
10. T Glock – 1:39.656
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11. J Button – 1:35.208
12. D Coulthard – 1:35.408
13. N Piquet – 1:35.562
14. R Barrichello – 1:35.622
15. S Vettel – 1:35.648
16. N Rosberg – 1:35.670
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17. G Fisichella – 1:36.240
18. K Nakajima – 1:36.388
19. S Bourdais – 1:36.677
20. T Sato – 1:37.087
21. A Sutil – 1:37.101
22. A Davidson – 1:37.481
Saturday Practice
1. N Heidfeld – 1:35.019
2. K Raikkonen – 1:35.262
3. F Massa – 1:35.388
4. J Trulli – 1:35.389
5. M Weber – 1:35.437
6. D Coulthard – 1:35.653
7. N Piquet – 1:35.768
8. J Button – 1:35.781
9. S Vettel – 1:35.827
10. T Glock – 1:35.911
11. L Hamilton – 1:35.927
12. F Alonso – 1:36.068
13. K Nakajima – 1:36.183
14. G Fisichella – 1:36.229
15. N Rosberg – 1:36.490
16. H Kovalainen – 1:36.529
17. R Kubica – 1:36.618
18. S Bourdais – 1:36.668
19. T Sato – 1:36.908
20. A Sutil – 1:36.939
21. A Davidson – 1:37.140
22. R Barrichello – 1:37.703
Friday Practice 2
I enjoyed seeing Sepang’s blunt advertising style.
Photo Courtesy of Formula One Administration
1. L Hamilton – 1:35.055
2. F Massa – 1:35.206
3. K Raikkonen – 1:35.428
4. J Button – 1:36.037
5. S Vettel – 1:36.474
6. J Trulli – 1:36.493
7. H Kovalainen – 1:36.512
8. R Kubica – 1:36.671
9. G Fisichella – 1:36.756
10. K Nakajima – 1:36.838
11. R Barrichello – 1:36.879
12. N Rosberg – 1:36.908
13. N Heidfeld – 1:37.106
14. F Alonso – 1:37.328
15. N Piquet – 1:37.331
16. M Webber – 1:37.346
17. T Glock – 1:37.512
18. A Sutil – 1:37.614
19. T Sato – 1:39.021
20. A Davidson – 1:39.361
21. S Bourdais – No Time
22. D Coulthard – No Time
Friday Practice 1
Coulthard’s car falls to bits and brings out the red flags
Photo Courtesy of Formula One Administration
1. F Massa – 1:35.392
2. K Raikkonen – 1:36.459
3. H Kovalainen – 1:36.556
4. N Rosberg – 1:36.578
5. L Hamilton – 1:36.626
6. F Alonso – 1:37.022
7. N Piquet – 1:37.034
8. R Kubica – 1:37.218
9. J Button – 1:37.282
10. J Trulli – 1:37.540
11. N Heidfeld – 1:37.649
12. K Nakajima – 1:37.649
13. R Barrichello – 1:37.776
14. T Glock – 1:37.782
15. S Vettel – 1:38.219
16. D Coulthard – 1:38.232
17. M Webber – 1:38.707
18. S Bourdais – 1:38.798
19. G Fisichella – 1:39.046
20. T Sato – 1:40.178
21. A Davidson – 1:40.351
22. A Sutil – 1:41.269
History
The Malaysian GP is held at Sepang, and has been since 1999, when the raceway was officially opened.
Malaysia has been involved in motor racing in the past. When Singapore was part of Malaysia in the early 1960s, Formula 2 races were held in Singapore at the Thompson Road circuit. This was classed as a “Malaysian GP”, the first of which was won by Yong Nam Kee in 1962. Before Sepang, Malaysia’s main race track was at Shah Alam, where it hosted various tournaments but never Formula 1.
The first Formula 1 race in Malaysia was held at the newly-opened Sepang circuit in 1999 and is one of the most memorable Malaysian GPs to date. Eddie Irvine won it in a Ferrari while chasing down the Driver’s Championship, but both Ferrari’s were disqualified, resulting in the title being awarded to Mika Hakkinen. Ferrari appealed the decision in court, and both drivers were reinstated. The championship went to the final race of the season in Japan, where Hakkinen won and took the title.
The 2001 race was hit by heavy rain in the middle of the race, which left team tacticians scratching their heads. Since then, Sepang has been one of the earlier races in the season.
