Effwun's F1 Blog

1st - The John Watson Award for most places gained in the race: Anthony Davidson (21st -15th, 6 places)
2nd - The Olivier Grouillard Award for best roadblock: Mark Webber (for holding up Hamilton - twice!)
3rd - The Philippe Alliot Award for most pointless crash: Felipe Massa (spin at turn 8)

Constructors - The David Coulthard Award for outstanding achievement in the field of complaining: Nick Heidfeld (for the complaints about blocking in qualifying, although to be fair he is perfectly justified).

How well did I do with my predictions? Badly. I got that Raikkonen would win, and that was about it. Only 2/10 this week.

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

The final classification of the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix

Position	Driver	Time	Position	Driver	Time
1	Raikkonen	1:31:18.555	12	Fisichella	+ 1 Lap
2	Kubica	+ 19.570	13	Barrichello	+ 1 Lap
3	Kovalainen	+ 38.450	14	Rosberg	+ 1 Lap
4	Trulli	+ 45.832	15	Davidson	+ 1 Lap
5	Hamilton	+ 46.548	16	Sato	+ 2 Laps
6	Heidfeld	+ 49.833	17	Nakajima	+ 2 Laps
7	Webber	+ 68.130	18	Vettel	Lap 39
8	Alonso	+ 70.041	19	Massa	Lap 30
9	Coulthard	+ 76.220	20	Sutil	Lap 5
10	Button	+ 86.214	21	Glock	Lap 1
11	Piquet	+ 92.202	22	Bourdais	Lap 0

Fastest lap: Nick Heidfeld 1:35.366 (Lap 55)

Drivers' Championship after 2 rounds

Position	Driver	Points
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	Bourdais	2
11	Webber	2

Constructors' Championship after 2 rounds

Position	Team	Points
1	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	24
2	BMW Sauber F1 Team	19
3	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	11
4	AT&T Williams	9
5	ING Renault F1 Team	6
6	Panasonic Toyota Racing	5
7	Red Bull Racing	2
8	Scuderia Toro Rosso	2

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

Kimi Raikkonen cruised to an almost effortless victory in Malaysia, and in doing so has kick started his world title defence. The Finn was almost unassailable as teammate Felipe Massa span off and out of the grand prix, and the McLarens had a sub-par race.

Overnight rain had soaked the track and washed away some of the built up rubber, and therefore grip, from the track. Furthermore, the race was being run under the threat of heavy rain. If it were to rain, the race would invariably turn into a lottery. However, on the formation lap, Jenson Button's engineer confirmed that it would be a dry race, and so it turned out to be. The track temperature started out at 43 degrees celcius and fluctuated a few degrees throughout the race - nothing significant. The air temperature remained constant at 30 degrees celcius (86 F) and the humidity was around 70% - it was going to be hot and sticky for the drivers.

The pre-race buzz was about the McLarens - how would they cope with their 5 place grid penalties, and what fuel loads were they on. There was suspicion that they were on a lighter fuel load than the cars surrounding them, but that would remain to be seen. The pace of the McLarens was also to be seen - it was revealed by Lewis Hamilton that in qualifying they had opted for a lower downforce setting, which hurt their performance. Would it also hurt them in the race?

As the cars peeled off on the formation lap, the different tyre strategies became clear - most of the field were starting on the Option (medium) tyres, but notable exceptions were the two Ferraris, and the two BMWs, who elected to start on the Prime (hard) tyres. So the cars lined up on the grid, and the lights went out. It was a drag race down into the first corner for the two Ferraris, but Massa held his advantage to lead into turn 1. Further back, Hamilton had a blinding start, and climbed to 5th place, as did Nakajima, who climbed from 22nd to 17th. Nick Heidfeld was a big loser in the first corner shoving match, and was forced wide by Jarno Trulli. This would drop the German from 5th to 10th.

There was further drama at turn 4, where Sebastien Bourdais lost control of his Toro Rosso, and prematurely ended his race beached in the gravel trap. After such a strong showing in Melbourne, this is not what the Frenchman wanted. Later in the lap, Rosberg and Glock had a coming together at turn 14 - Rosberg was attempting to go up the inside of Glock, who chopped across the front of Rosberg, and the two had a minor coming together. The result was a retirement for Glock, and a damaged nosecone for Rosberg. Rosberg did not pit on lap 1 to repair the damage, however - possibly because he was boxed to the inside by traffic - and made an entire lap minus a front wing before pitting at the end of lap 2.

Ahead of all the chaos, the Ferraris of Massa and Raikkonen calmly began to march into the distance - it didn't look like anyone was going to mount much of a challenge. Further back, though, there was a great 3-way tussle for 8th place between Coulthard, Alonso, and Heidfeld. Coming down the long back stretch, Alonso attempted a pass on Coulthard on the right hand side, meanwhile Heidfeld picked up the Scot's tow, and moved to the left to pass. In their attempts to outdo each other, Alonso and Coulthard left the door open for Heidfeld, who passed both of them under braking for turn 15, the final corner. It was a fine piece of driving from Heidfeld, making a three-wide pass that would not have looked out of place in the Daytona 500. Alonso, who couldn't get the job done at turn 15, took a wider line than Coulthard, and thus made a better exit of the corner. Alonso capitalised, and was able to pass Coulthard into turn 1/2.

So, lap 3 was completed! Back at the front, the Ferraris were half a second per lap faster than anyone else on track, whereas the McLarens were struggling for pace - overheating of their tyres was apparently an issue. Hamilton slowly inched up to the back of Mark Webber's Red Bull and caught him by lap 14, but then got bottled up behind the Australian until the first round of pit stops. When Webber pitted on lap 17, Hamilton instantly went a second per lap quicker, and looked in good shape to comfortably leap ahead during the pit stop rotation. However, when Hamilton pitted on lap 19, there was a problem with the right front tyre, which resulted in a 20 second pit stop. The McLaren team also elected to use another set of the Option tyres, which was probably the wrong rubber to be on. Also, in the confusion, the right front wheel rim shield was not set in its correct position, and it was spinning freely at speed. The aerodynamic penalty was probably small, but all in all, it was a lacklustre stop for the McLaren team, and when Hamilton rejoined the race, he rejoined in P11 - behind Webber again.

It was smooth sailing for the Ferrari boys though. After having put in some very quick laps, Massa pitted on lap 17. Raikkonen stayed out, and proceeded to blitz round the track, setting a new fastest lap of the race (1:35.679) on lap 18, and was on course for an even faster lap on lap 19 (having set the fastest first and second sector times), but peeled into the pits. With their usual efficiency, Ferrari serviced Raikkonen and sent him back out and as he trundled down pit lane, Massa steamed down the pits straight. It looked like it would be close, but Raikkonen emerged ahead of Massa. Those stunning laps turned by Raikkonen had allowed him to leapfrog his teammate.

Thereafter, Felipe Massa seemed to go off the boil. Maybe he was rattled, or perhaps disheartened, by the fact that he had lost the lead to his teammate, echoing the Brazilian's disappointment at the 2007 French GP where exactly the same thing happened. His lap times worsened, and Raikkonen extended his lead. Then on lap 31, Massa spun at the exit of turn 8, and beached his car in the gravel. His race was over. He would later complain that the rear end of the car felt strange, but his mechanics could find nothing untoward in the telemetry. Had he simply made a mistake and got the power down too soon? Is this symptomatic of Felipe struggling without traction control?

So, it looked like it would be a comfortable run to the flag for Raikkonen. The same could not be said for Hamilton. After having emerged behind Mark webber (again) after his disastrous first pit stop, Hamilton got bottled up (again) for 18 laps, until Webber pitted on lap 40. Hamilton ran longer, and pitted on lap 45. He switched to the Prime tyre and, although it was a relatively conservative stop by the McLaren crew, he emerged ahead of Nick Heidfeld, who was in 6th place. The man infront of Hamilton was Jarno Trulli, some 12 seconds ahead. Hamilton put the hammer down, and set personal best after personal best lap in his attempt to hunt down the Italian. In the end, he came within a second of fourth place, but there were just too few laps remaining to be able to attempt a pass. Hamilton would have to settle for 5th.

But at the front, Raikkonen cruised home to a fine win, some 20 seconds clear of Robert Kubica, who drove a very low key race to come home an excellent second, and a further 19 seconds clear of Kovalainen in 3rd. The Finn had also driven a somewhat low key race, but it was a well deserved podium nonetheless. Trulli came home 4th, just 0.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton in 5th, with Heidfeld 6th. Heidfeld would record the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, proving the pace of the BMWs. Collecting the rest of the points were Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso. The battle between those two in the closing stages was a close as the Trulli/Hamilton battle, but Webber proved himself a difficult man to catch and pass, yet again. David Coulthard would come home 9th, ahead of Button, Piquet, Fisichella (who drove an excellent race by all accounts), Barrichello, Rosberg (who was the only man on a one stop strategy, and whose race was scuppered by the early clash with Glock), Davidson, Sato, and Nakajima (who seemed to fade late in the race).

It was a hot, tough race for the drivers. Robert Kubica looked a mess on the podium, and indeed needed a drink of water before his official weigh in. Hopefully that was taken into account... Also, Lewis Hamilton's in car water system failed, and he drove the entire race without any drinking fluids. He seemed none the worse for it, but after the race he said that he could do with a beer.

So, Raikkonen boosted his title defence with a fine win in Malaysia, however Ferrari were only able to take home the same points haul as McLaren due to the retirement of Felipe Massa. Surely the diminutive Brazilian cannot afford any more offs this season, especially as Ferrari are rumoured to be courting the services of Sebastian Vettel for 2009.

And one final note. On the last lap, four drivers set their personal best lap times of the race - Button, Barrichello, Rosberg, and Davidson (and Heidfeld set fastest lap on the penultimate lap). Obviously they were on low fuel, but you can bet the team managers are asking where that pace was in the rest of the race. This will probably be especially true for Jenson Button. That personal best lap time of his was 1:35.715. Compare that to the fastest lap set by Nick Heidfeld - 1:35.366. Clearly the pace of that Honda is improving...

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

The next event of the weekend will be the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix, so here are some useful things to look out for, and some predictions. The race is scheduled for 56 laps (310.408km/192.887 miles), and will start at 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT, 02:00 EST). The pit windows are as follows:

1-stop 27-33 laps
2-stops 16-27, 35-41 laps
3-stops 14-19, 25-30, 38-43 laps.

Last year's winner was Fernando Alonso, and the fastest fastest lap of the race was set by Lewis Hamilton (1:36.701). The lap record is held by Juan Pablo Montoya (1:34.223, set in 2004).

The weather for the race is likely to be wet: according to Accuweather, there will be showers and thunderstorms at 3 pm local time, and they will last the rest of the day. According to Weather.com there will be scattered thunderstorms with a 50% chance of precipitation throughout the race. According to Weather Underground there will be thunderstorms with an 80% chance of precipitation, and according to the BBC there will heavy rain and thunderstorms.

So, predications for the race. The Ferraris looked strong in qualifying, but Raikkonen said he was not happy with his car. It might be possible, seeing as he was so much slower than his team mate that the Ferraris are on a split strategy (Massa on 3 stops, Raikkonen on 2), but it seems more likely that both are on 2 stops. I'd imagine the rest of the players are on two stops also, but some teams may opt for a 1-stop if persistent rain is likely to give themselves more flexibility. If the rain is not persistent, then it might be prudent to be on a three stop strategy to give the ultimate flexibility. Either way, I expect a lot of the teams to start on a heavy fuel load to maximise their pit window in the event of rain.

If there is rain, I predict chaos now that TC has been outlawed - when it rains in Malaysia it pours, and I foresee at least one safety car period. The wet should benefit Fernando Alonso, who is usually very good in changeable conditions. Thinking back to Fuji last year, Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, and Sebastian Vettel were all pretty handy in the wet, so they might show well. It might be a struggle for Sebastien Bourdais who, although they have raced in the wet in CCWS, will be on largely unfamiliar ground if it rains. So, my predictions for the race are Raikkonen for the win, followed by Kovalainen, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Vettel, Trulli, Button. Those are with the assumption that it will rain.

Let's see what the weather man brings!

Provisional Starting Grid

Row 1	Massa (pole)	Raikkonen
Row 2	Trulli	Kubica
Row 3	Heidfeld	Webber
Row 4	Alonso	Kovalainen
Row 5	Hamilton	Glock
Row 6	Button	Coulthard
Row 7	Piquet	Barrichello
Row 8	Vettel	Rosberg
Row 9	Fisichella	Bourdais
Row 10	Sato	Sutil
Row 11	Davidson	Nakajima

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

Felipe Massa took pole position for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix, ahead of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Jarno Trulli will line up alongside Robert Kubica on the second row of the grid after both McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton were sensationally handed 5 place grid penalties for impeding faster cars on their qualifying laps - they will start 8th and 9th respectively.

The worry going into qualifying was the weather - dark clouds were looming nearby, and rain had been predicted. Race control helpfully flashed that there was no rain predicted for the first 30 minutes of qualifying, then a few minutes later indicated that it would rain in 20 minutes. The Renault team were predicting rain within 7 minutes of the start of qualifying... The weather, therefore, was going to be unpredictable.

As a consequence, most drivers left the pits early to get their qualifying runs in before any rain hit. Q1 was quite busy at the beginning - 11 cars were out on track in the first minute. The track temperature was a nominal 47 degrees celcius at the beginning of the session (but would cool significantly to 35 degrees by the end of the hour), and times consistent with P3 were expected. However, a lot of the lower field runners seemed to struggle, possibly due to traffic. Jarno Trulli continued his good form this weekend to post the fastest time in Q1 (1:35.206), narrowly pipping Heikki Kovalainen. At the tail end of the field though, the six cars stuck in the basement were Fisichella, Nakajima (who will be sent to the back with a ten place penalty for his clash with Kubica in Melbourne), Bourdais, Sato, Sutil, and Davidson. Bourdais's elimination was a little disappointing, although he did lose a lot of track time (the entirety of P2) due to a gear box failure. More had also been expected from Nakajima.

No rain had materialized at this point, but the threat was still there. Consequently, in a presumed effort to get their qualifying laps in early, Kovalainen and Hamilton stacked themselves at the pit lane traffic light waiting for the session to start. Q2 turned out to be a hard fought battle, with several drivers trying both the harder Prime tyre and the softer Option tyre. Not least of those attempting both was Jenson Button, who had the benefit of Ross Brawn coaching him about his tyre choice. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough for either of the Hondas - Button was 11th and Barrichello was 14th. This was not really a surprise - Button had cautioned after his excellent practice times not to expect the same in qualifying - but the elimination of Nico Rosberg was a surprise. He could manage no better than 16th - last in Q2, almost 7 tenths off tenth place. This could possibly be attributed to hydraulic problems that he suffered in P3, which limited his running.

The fastest man in the session was Kimi Raikkonen, who set a stunning time of 1:34.188 (to confirm my prediction of a mid to low 1:34 fastest lap), which was about 2 and half tenths faster than his teammate Massa. Massa looked worried at one point - he was hovering in 5th place - as did Hamilton - who was hovering in 7th. Both drivers elected to do a second run on fresh Option tyres, and ended up 2nd and 3rd respectively.

So, after Q2 the people stuck in lobby were Button, Coulthard, Piquet, Barrichello, Vettel, and Rosberg.

As Q3 began, the rain had still not come. Again Kovalainen and Hamilton stacked at the end of the pit lane, along with both Ferraris. The threat of rain was clearly dictating strategy. At this point, the track temperature has cooled significantly, and the McLarens seemed to be struggling for grip and pace. This year's McLaren has been designed to be kinder on its tyres than the MP4/22 (which tended to shred its tyres), so it's possible with the cooler track temperatures that they couldn't get the heat they needed into the tyres.

Most, if not all, drivers elected to do two runs on their race fuel loads, and some (notably the McLarens) used both Prime and Option tyres. Invariably, though, it was the Ferraris who were fastest, even with the McLarens using the Option tyres at the end of the session. The faster of the McLaren drivers was Kovalainen - Hamilton seemed to be struggling, and on his last run started the lap behind one of the Toyotas (although he quickly overtook). In the event, the rain never came, and it was Massa who, as predicted, took pole - he had been fast all weekend, and had been particularly fast on the Prime tyres. He was comfortably ahead of his teammate in second place, who was ahead of the two McLarens of Kovalainen and Hamilton, followed by Trulli, Kubica, Heidfeld, Webber, Alonso, and Timo Glock. There was, however, an air of controversy. Most of the drivers had set their fast times with about a minute of time left in the session as they crossed the line. Rather than continue on hot laps, they elected to coast around the track at idling speeds to save fuel. However, there were a few drivers who were still attempting hot laps - notably Heidfeld and Alonso. Most of the slow drivers had pulled off the racing line, but the two McLarens remained on the racing line. Just before turn 4, Heidfeld and Alonso came upon the extremely slow cars, and had to take evasive action because there were cars on both sides of the track (both off and on the racing line). The closing speed of Heidfeld on the slow cars was tremendous - there could have easily been a major accident had he come upon the slower cars in, say, the fast turn 5/6 flick.

After qualifying, Nick Heidfeld voiced his concerns over the matter, and the Stewards took note, electing to drop both Kovalainen and Hamilton 5 grid positions for tomorrow's race. They will now line up 8th and 9th respectively. With their race fuel loads already set, it looks like it's going to be an uphill struggle for the McLarens in the race. And as a final side bar, just 5 minutes after the end of qualifying, a gentle rain began to fall. Rain is predicted for tomorrow. How much of a role it will play remains to be seen.

Qualifying Results

Q1				Q2				Q3
Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Trulli	1:35.205		1.	Raikkonen	1:34.188		1.	Massa	1:35.748
2.	Kovalainen	1:35.227	+ 0.022	2.	Massa	1:34.412	+ 0.224	2.	Raikkonen	1:36.230	+ 0.482
3.	Massa	1:35.347	+ 0.142	3.	Hamilton	1:34.627	+ 0.439	3.	Kovalainen$	1:36.613	+ 0.865
4.	Hamilton	1:35.392	+ 0.187	4.	Heidfeld	1:34.648	+ 0.460	4.	Hamilton$	1:36.709	+ 0.961
5.	Webber	1:35.440	+ 0.235	5.	Kovalainen	1:34.759	+ 0.571	5.	Trulli	1:36.711	+ 0.963
6.	Raikkonen	1:35.645	+ 0.440	6.	Kubica	1:34.811	+ 0.623	6.	Kubica	1:36.727	+ 0.979
7.	Heidfeld	1:35.729	+ 0.524	7.	Trulli	1:34.825	+ 0.637	7.	Heidfeld	1:36.753	+ 1.005
8.	Kubica	1:35.794	+ 0.589	8.	Webber	1:34.967	+ 0.779	8.	Webber	1:37.009	+ 1.261
9.	Rosberg	1:35.843	+ 0.638	9.	Glock	1:35.000	+ 0.812	9.	Alonso	1:38.450	+ 2.702
10.	Button	1:35.847	+ 0.642	10.	Alonso	1:35.140	+ 0.952	10.	Glock	1:39.656	+ 3.908
11.	Glock	1:35.891	+ 0.686	11.	Button	1:35.208	+ 1.020
12.	Alonso	1:35.983	+ 0.778	12.	Coulthard	1:35.408	+ 1.220
13.	Coulthard	1:36.058	+ 0.853	13.	Piquet	1:35.562	+ 1.374
14.	Piquet	1:36.074	+ 0.869	14.	Barrichello	1:35.622	+ 1.434
15.	Vettel	1:36.111	+ 0.906	15.	Vettel	1:35.648	+ 1.460
16.	Barrichello	1:36.198	+ 0.993	16.	Rosberg	1:35.670	+ 1.482
17.	Fisichella	1:36.240	+ 1.035
18.	Nakajima#	1:36.388	+ 1.183
19.	Bourdais	1:36.677	+ 1.472
20.	Sato	1:37.087	+ 1.882
21.	Sutil	1:37.101	+ 1.896
22.	Davidson	1:37.481	+ 2.276

$ - 5 place grid penalty
# - 10 place grid penalty

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

Nick Heidfeld was the fastest man in Saturday practice, setting a time of 1:35.019 in the closing moments of the session. The BMW driver pipped world champion Kimi Raikkonen and his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa to the top spot. Heidfeld ended up just over 2 tenths faster than Raikkonen. Jarno Trulli continued his good run so far this weekend, and was fourth fastest, ahead of the two Red Bull cars of Webber and Coulthard, who apparently must have satisfied the FIA that their cars are safe to race, having been required to submit a technical report after David Coulthard's failure in Friday Practice 1. Piquet, Button, Vettel, and Glock round out the top ten. Piquet looked to be on a very hot lap at the end - his first sector time was fastest of all - but subsequently lost a lot of time in the other two sectors. The competition at the front was very close - less than a second covered the top 11 places.

The McLarens seemed a little off the pace - Hamilton was 11th fastest, 0.9 seconds slower than Heidfeld; Kovalainen was 16th, some 1.5 seconds off the pace. Meanwhile Nico Rosberg had a disappointing session, only turning 7 laps on his way to 15th fastest. Rubens Barrichello brought up the rear with a time of 1:37.703 - 2.6 seconds off the pace. Given his teammate's speed, it's possible he was evaluating heavy fuel loads.

So, what can we expect in qualifying? Well the BMWs again appear to have excellent one lap pace, so they should be right up there (although Kubica was mired down in 17th place in this session -again fuel loads are the unknown). The Ferraris will again be the cars to watch. Piquet looked as though he had good pace, although Alonso has complained that the Renault lacks decent 1-lap pace. Also, don't discount the McLarens. Hamilton was fastest in P2 yesterday, and today's slow pace is likely due to evaluating fuel and tyres.

I expect we'll see a fastest time (Q2) of around a mid to low 1:34 time. Personally, I think Massa has been the most consistently quick so far this weekend - I think he's in for a good shot at the pole and the race win.

The last factor to consider, though, is the weather. Thunderstorms are predicted for 2 pm in Kuala Lumpur, that is right at the start of qualifying. That would certainly make things interesting!

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Heidfeld	1:35.019		12.	Alonso	1:36.068	+ 1.049
2.	Raikkonen	1:35.262	+ 0.243	13.	Nakajima	1:36.183	+ 1.164
3.	Massa	1:35.388	+ 0.369	14.	Fisichella	1:36.229	+ 1.210
4.	Trulli	1:35.389	+ 0.370	15.	Rosberg	1:36.490	+ 1.471
5.	Webber	1:35.437	+ 0.418	16.	Kovalainen	1:36.529	+ 1.510
6.	Coulthard	1:35.653	+ 0.634	17.	Kubica	1:36.618	+ 1.599
7.	Piquet	1:35.768	+ 0.749	18.	Bourdais	1:36.668	+ 1.649
8.	Button	1:35.781	+ 0.762	19.	Sato	1:36.908	+ 1.889
9.	Vettel	1:35.827	+ 0.808	20.	Sutil	1:36.939	+ 1.920
10.	Glock	1:35.911	+ 0.892	21.	Davidson	1:37.140	+ 2.121
11.	Hamilton	1:35.927	+ 0.908	22.	Barrichello	1:37.703	+ 2.684

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

It was Lewis Hamilton who was the fastest man on track in the second Friday Practice session, with a time of 1:35.055 - one and a half tenths clear of Felipe Massa in second place, and nearly four tenths faster than the world champion Kimi Raikkonen in third place. The two Ferraris were quickest for most of the session, however, and Felipe Massa later felt that he could have gone quicker on his final lap - which was on the softer Option tyres - but was held up a little bit by Hamilton. Indeed, Massa's fastest time was set on the harder Prime tyres, whereas Hamilton's time was set on the Option tyres.

Most teams and drivers experimented with both the Prime and Option tyres, with the majority of evaluating both types of tyres. Most drivers completed between 30 and 40 laps in their programs, although notable exceptions were Alonso, who would complete only 23 and finish the session 14th fastest; Sebastien Bourdais, who's gearbox seized on his out-lap (even before then he nearly had a tangle with Nick Heidfeld in the pit lane) due to an incorrect ratio in the gearbox; and David Coulthard, who didn't even leave pit lane - his mechanics were presumably still repairing the damage his car suffered in P1.

The weather also fluctuated during the session - the track temperature swung from a high of 57 degrees to a low of 37 degrees celcius as cloud cover moved in over the track. The humidity also shot up from 47% to 74% during the session. The threat of rain was certainly there, but fortunately it never came.

The drivers still seemed to be struggling under heavy braking for turn 14 - Lewis Hamilton got extremely sideways there at one point during the session (and also had a big, lurid slide in turn 10 towards the end of the session), and Fernando Alonso even spun his car through 270 degrees. He would later complain that he could not use second gear anywhere, and that he thought it was broken.

Back on track though, the competition was very close - 1.1 seconds covered 5th to 18th places. There were some good times from Jenson Button, who would finish the session in fourth place (although he cautioned not to expect that kind of performance in Qualifying), and Sebastian Vettel, who ended up fifth, just fractionally ahead of Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, who seemed to be performing well around the Sepang circuit. Behind him was Heikki Kovalainen, whose time of 1:36.512 was some 1.5 seconds slower than teammate Hamilton, but the two were probably experimenting with different tyre and fuel load combinations. Giancarlo Fisichella impressed to put in the 9th fastest time of the afternoon, however there were disappointing times from Rosberg, Heidfeld, Alonso, and Piquet, who occupied places 12 through 15 respectively. Piquet's car seemed to be running a very low ride height, as there was a lot of plank dust from his car through the fast turn 5/6 flick and through turn 12 also. He would later say to his engineer that the car was "bloody good" through 5 and 6, but had understeer in turn 8, which got better as he played with the differential, and that he had oversteer in turn 12.

The conversation that Rosberg had with his engineer was somewhat enlightening - he spoke of having 17 front and 15 rear pressure (presumably tyre pressures, although those numbers seem quite low), and that he wanted less in the front.

So, there was relatively little drama to report, at least compared to P1. There was one moment of concern for Raikkonen though. After the session had already ended, the Finn stopped in the pitlane for several seconds before getting going again and returning to the Ferrari garage. The incident was probably nothing of concern though. Indeed, Ferrari stated that Raikkonen's problem in P1 was not a repeat of the technical failure that blighted him in Melbourne, but a mis-calculation on fuel. That explanation is surely more worrying than a technical failure - such elementary mistakes should not be made by a team as good as Ferrari.

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Hamilton	1:35.055		12.	Rosberg	1:36.908	+ 1.853
2.	Massa	1:35.206	+ 0.151	13.	Heidfeld	1:37.106	+ 2.051
3.	Raikkonen	1:35.428	+ 0.373	14.	Alonso	1:37.328	+ 2.273
4.	Button	1:36.037	+ 0.982	15.	Piquet	1:37.331	+ 2.276
5.	Vettel	1:36.474	+ 1.419	16.	Webber	1:37.346	+ 2.291
6.	Trulli	1:36.493	+ 1.438	17.	Glock	1:37.512	+ 2.457
7.	Kovalainen	1:36.512	+ 1.457	18.	Sutil	1:37.614	+ 2.559
8.	Kubica	1:36.671	+ 1.616	19.	Sato	1:39.021	+ 3.966
9.	Fisichella	1:36.756	+ 1.701	20.	Davidson	1:39.361	+ 4.306
10.	Nakajima	1:36.838	+ 1.783	21.	Bourdais	No Time
11.	Barrichello	1:36.879	+ 1.824	22.	Coulthard	No Time

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

Selamat datang ke Kuala Lumpur (welcome to Kuala Lumpur). The first session of the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix has been concluded, and it was the Ferraris that will grab the headlines, but not all for good reasons. It was Felipe Massa who topped the time sheets with a time of 1:35.392, just over a second faster than his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. However, Raikkonen could only manage 8 laps, as he coasted to a halt with what sounded like the same mechanical failure he suffered in Melbourne - the engine cut out whilst downshifting. The Ferrari team clearly have more work to do to get their cars reliable.

The third fastest man of the session was McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen, with a time of 1:32.556. This was just two hundredths faster than Nico Rosberg in fourth place (although Rosberg's time was set on the softer Option tyres), and just shy of a tenth faster than his teammate Hamilton, who toured back to the pits after 17 laps, having had a minor off at turn 8. Indeed, it looked as though the off was as a result of a technical problem, rather than the problem being caused by the off because the off track excursion was so minor (he found a convenient patch of asphalt).

The same could not be said for David Coulthard who, on his 8th lap, ran wide out of the first part of the fast turn 12/13 complex. He jumped over the painted curbs, which lifted the car just a tiny distance off the ground, but the resulting impact as the car came back down to earth was enough to smash both front wheels off the car, sending DC sliding off into the gravel trap. The incident resulted in a lot of debris, and the session was red flagged for around ten minutes. DC would ultimately have the 16th fastest time. He would later explain to his engineers that the car "sort of hopped". Elsewhere, Patrick Head could be seen leaning into the cockpit of Nico Rosberg's car, and telling the young German exactly how DC's accident had occurred ("he hit the red and white curb on the inside...").

DC's teammate Mark Webber fared little better. On his 12th lap out of the pits, his Renault engine expired mid-way down the back straight, causing a lot of smoke and a little fire. The engine failure caused the rear wheels of Webber's Red Bull machine to lock up, and the Australian span his car behind the safety wall. Another engine failure, this time a Ferrari one, was suffered early on by Adrian Sutil in the Force India car. Sutil would end the session in last place.

One thing that was clear was that a lot of drivers were struggling under braking, especially at turn 15 - the final corner. This is the biggest braking zone on the track, and a lot of drivers were getting out of shape as they came to the end of the braking zone. None more so than Sebatian Vettel, who spun off at the final corner in the dying moments of the session, although it was not entirely down to driver error - the young German suffered a brake failure. It could be that the drivers are missing the engine braking features they used to enjoy, but that are now outlawed thanks to the standard ECU, but it should also be borne in mind that the Sepang circuit has been repaved.

Other than Nico Rosberg, none of the major players ventured out on the softer Option tyres, save for making an installation lap. Thus the teams were probably trying to assess the longevity of the prime tyre which, given the heat that is anticipated in the race, should be the preferred option anyway. To highlight the tyre issues, Nico Rosberg complained to his engineer that the rear tyres were not working, and that they were getting worse throughout the run. Furthermore, he complained that the front-left tyre - which takes a beating round the Sepang circuit - was suffering from degradation, but that it came back to life during the run.

Most drivers turned between 18 to 24 laps. This makes sense, given that the race is 56 laps long, and the pit window for a 2 stop strategy is around 17 - 20 laps.

Elsewhere, Alonso and Piquet were sixth and seventh fastest respectively, followed by Kubica, who spent most of the session in the garage as his team worked on his car. Button and Trulli rounded out the top ten. Kazuki Nakajima has a difficult session - his car was particularly nervous in places, and he spun under braking for the tight left-hand turn 9.

Finally, Sebastien Bourdais continued to impress. Although he finished the session in 18th place, 3 places and almost 6 tenths slower than his teammate, he improved his time from an initial lap of 1:43.367 to a 1:38.798. Not bad for a man with relatively little experience behind the wheel of an F1 car, especially when you consider that he complained to his engineer of asymmetry in the braking system that was pulling the car in one direction under braking!

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Massa	1:35.392		12.	Nakajima	1:37.649	+ 2.257
2.	Raikkonen	1:36.459	+ 1.067	13.	Barrichello	1:37.776	+ 2.384
3.	Kovalainen	1:36.556	+ 1.164	14.	Glock	1:37.782	+ 2.390
4.	Rosberg	1:36.578	+ 1.186	15.	Vettel	1:38.219	+ 2.827
5.	Hamilton	1:36.626	+ 1.234	16.	Coulthard	1:38.232	+ 2.840
6.	Alonso	1:37.022	+ 1.630	17.	Webber	1:38.707	+ 3.315
7.	Piquet	1:37.034	+1.642	18.	Bourdais	1:38.798	+ 3.406
8.	Kubica	1:37.218	+ 1.826	19.	Fisichella	1:39.046	+ 3.654
9.	Button	1:37.282	+ 1.890	20.	Sato	1:40.178	+ 4.786
10.	Trulli	1:37.540	+ 2.148	21.	Davidson	1:40.351	+ 4.959
11.	Heidfeld	1:37.649	+ 2.257	22.	Sutil	1:41.269	+ 5.877

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

The Formula 1 travelling circus arrived in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week, on the back of the dramatic and at times chaotic Australian Grand Prix. With only one race completed so far it is difficult to make any predictions about the relative pace of the cars and drivers, especially given the large number of retirements last week, but some observations can be made.

The first is about tyres. When they were actually running, the Ferraris appeared to be very kind to their tyres. Kimi Raikkonen put in a long first stint on heavy fuel with the softer "option" tyres, and appeared to make them work well. This is hardly surprising, as it is a known Ferrari trait that they have excellent aerodynamic grip, although this is often to the detriment of mechanical grip (see Monaco 2007). In contrast, the BMW Saubers seemed to use their tyres up too quickly. They had excellent one-lap pace, but their race pace faded too quickly. This could possibly be ascribed to having quite a hard set-up on the cars, which will give good one lap pace, but will be harsh on the tyres.

Another observation is how well the teams and drivers adapted to the lack of traction control. There were relatively few spins throughout the weekend (although there were a number of offs), but the team that seemed to struggle the most was Ferrari. It could just have been that the drivers needed more time to adjust their driving styles to the new rules, but it is a somewhat worrying sign for a team that is usually so well prepared, as was the technical failures that blighted Kimi Raikkonen during the weekend.

One of the stand out performers in Melbourne was Sebastien Bourdais. In his debut Grand Prix, he ran as high as fourth, and successfully managed to fend of Fernando Alonso until engine failure robbed him of an excellent finish. Bourdais is no slouch, having been CCWS champion four times, and if Toro Rosso can supply a decent car, he may be in with a chance of regular points finishes.

So, what can we expect from Sepang this weekend? Well for one thing, rain. It has been raining since the teams arrived earlier in the week, and the weather forecast predicts almost continuous rain and thunderstorms for the rest of the week. Therefore there is a high probability of a wet race, and with no traction control we could be in for a weekend of drama.

In terms of the teams, McLaren will be aiming to capitalise on their early momentum, and cement themselves at the top of the constructors' championship; Ferrari will be looking to bounce back from their abysmal start to the 2008, but with only a handful of days since the last race, it might be a tall order for the team to fix their mechanical issues. If anyone can though, it's Ferrari; BMW will be looking to improve upon their race pace; Williams must surely be looking forward to scoring another clutch of points, but they may be disappointed if there is low attrition; and finally, Fernando Alonso must be looking to steal more points from the big boys. He's one of the best racers in the wet, and so if the race is indeed wet, he stands a good change of taking home some decent points.

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Malaysia

1st - The John Watson Award for most places gained in the race: Sebastien Bourdais (17th -7th, 10 places)
2nd - The Olivier Grouillard Award for best roadblock: Rubens Barrichello (for holding up Raikkonen)
3rd - The Philippe Alliot Award for most pointless crash: Felipe Massa (spin at first corner and clash with Coulthard)

Constructors - The David Coulthard Award for outstanding achievement in the field of complaining: David Coulthard ("He'd better apologise, or I'm gonna kick three colours of shit out of the little bastard", in reference to Felipe Massa).

How well did I do with my predictions? Well I got that Hamilton would win, that there would be a first corner pile-up, and I said two safety car periods instead of three... I'd give myself 4/10.

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

The final classification of the 2008 Australian Grand Prix

Position	Driver	Time	Position	Driver	Time
1	Hamilton	1:34:50.616	12	Piquet	Lap 30
2	Heidfeld	+ 5.478	13	Massa	Lap 29
3	Rosberg	+ 8.163	14	Coulthard	Lap 25
4	Alonso	+ 17.181	15	Trulli	Lap 19
5	Kovalainen	+ 18.014	16	Sutil	Lap 8
6	Nakajima	+ 1 Lap	17	Webber	Lap 0
7	Bourdais	Lap 55	18	Button	Lap 0
8	Raikkonen	Lap 53	19	Davidson	Lap 0
9	Kubica	Lap 47	20	Vettel	Lap 0
10	Glock	Lap 43	21	Fisichella	Lap 0
11	Sato	Lap 32	22	Barrichello	DSQ

Fastest lap: Heikki Kovalainen 1:27.418 (Lap 43)

Drivers' Championship after 1 round

Position	Driver	Points
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' Championship after 1 round

Position	Team	Points
1	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	14
2	AT&T Williams	9
3	BMW Sauber F1 Team	8
4	ING Renault F1 Team	5
5	Scuderia Toro Rosso	2
6	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	1

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton cruised to a comfortable win in Australia ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg - it is the first win for Lewis down under, and McLaren's first since 2003. The win naturally puts Lewis in the lead of the championship, which is a familiar feeling for the young Brit, having led the championship for the vast majority of the year in 2007. McLaren head the constructor's championship after Heikki Kovalainen in the other McLaren came home fifth.

It was a hot day in Melbourne - the air temperature was 37 degrees celcius and the track temperature started out at 52 degrees celcius (although it would cool off significantly as the afternoon wore on). The action was hot as well, and as predicted, there were several incidents. The drama started early - indeed even before the formation lap Rosberg had brake difficulties which were the result of having to change brake pads after qualifying due to a vibration - the change apparently upset his brake balance and "surprised" the young German. Further down the grid, Adrian Sutil elected to start from the pit lane. As predicted, there was a first corner snarl up. Most of the drivers at the front of the grid got a good start and there was little drama on the run down to turn 1. However at the exit of turn 1, Felipe Massa got it all wrong - he stood on the throttle too soon or too hard and spun his Ferrari into the outside wall, damaging the nose cone of the car. Further back, and possibly as a consequence of trying to avoid the spinning Ferrari, several cars got together, including Fisichella, Vettel, Davidson, Button, and Webber. All five retired from the race. As a consequence the safety car was deployed to clear up the mess. During the safety car period, Felipe Massa pitted twice - once to repair his accident damage and then, after the pits were opened, once for fuel. This would drop him to 17th place.

The safety car period did not last long, and the race resumed on lap 3. Kimi Raikkonen took advantage of the situation and had climbed to 8th place, having started 15th on the grid. However, the Finn (who started on a heavy fuel load) got stuck behind Rubens Barrichello, who was now the lone Honda in the race after Button's early retirement. At the front, Lewis Hamilton began to stroll into the lead, escaping from Robert Kubica at the rate of about half a second per lap. Indeed the BMWs, although fast initially, seemed to be dropping back as their tyres began to grain. Soon, Hamilton was lapping a second per lap faster than Kubica.

The first scheduled pit stops came on lap 17 - Kubica pitted from second place and took on fuel and a fresh set of prime (medium) tyres. His 8.6 second stop indicated that he was likely on a 2 stop strategy, and he rejoined the race just behind the Barrichello/Raikkonen battle. On lap 19, race leader Hamilton pitted - he took on more medium tyres also. It was a slightly longer stop for Hamilton, but rejoined in 4th place behind Heidfeld. Kovalainen was now in the race lead.

On lap 19 Raikkonen finally found a way past Barrichello - Rubens appeared to make a small mistake into turn 3, and Raikkonen pounced. He then roared off into the distance, finally free of his mobile road block. On lap 22, Heidfeld and Rosberg pitted. The two came extremely close to each other in the pit lane, but avoided contact. They rejoined the race behind David Coulthard and ahead of Fernando Alonso. Alonso managed to muscle his way past Rosberg though, who was still on cold tyres. A lap later, both Coulthard and race leader Kovalainen pitted. Kovalainen rejoined in second place, just ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who had yet to stop.

On lap 26, Felipe Massa made a lunge down the inside of David Coulthard at turn 1. The two collided heavily and whilst the damage on Massa's car was superficial, Coulthard's car was wrecked. David Coulthard clearly thought that Massa was in the wrong, going so far as to say "I'm gonna kick three colours of shit out of the little bastard". The awkward position of Coulthard's car, coupled with the large amount of debris, precipitated the second safety car period of the day. Once the pits opened, several cars made pit stops, including Alonso and Kubica.

On lap 30, the safety car came back in. Hamilton, who had resumed the lead, again took control and marched away from teammate Kovalainen who had Raikkonen climbing all over him. Kovalainen defended into turn 1, but Raikkonen got better drive off of turn 2. Coming down to turn 3 Kovalainen defended the inside line and Raikkonen incredibly made an error and overshot the corner. He gingerly had to negotiate the gravel trap, and after rejoining the circuit, he was in 12th and last place. Raikkonen cruised around the rest of the lap to make his first pit stop. Meanwhile his Ferrari teammate Massa coasted to a halt at the outside of turn 14. It appeared as though it was all coming unstuck for Ferrari. Further up the road, the race of attrition continued. Sato retired his Super Aguri at the end of the pit lane, followed shortly thereafter by Piquet, who abandoned his Renault at the inside of turn 9.

It was relatively plain sailing at the front of the pack - Hamilton continued in the lead, ahead of Kovalainen and Heidfled. The biggest battle on track was for 6th place, which was being fought by Bourdais, Kubica, and Alonso. Bourdais was doing an admirable job in his first Grand Prix, although of course he is not really a rookie, having been four times a Champ Car World Series champion.

At the back of the field, Kimi Raikkonen was on a charge. By lap 43 he had closed down a roughly 12 second gap to tenth placed Timo Glock but under braking for turn 3, he got his left-side wheels on the grass and spun. He avoided the gravel trap and resumed the race, but it had all gone terribly wrong yet again for the Finn. A worse fate befell Glock however - on lap 45 he ran very wide out of turn 12 and got launched over the grass. The impact upon returning to terra firma broke two wheels off his Toyota, and he screeched and slid to a halt next to the outside wall. The safety car was deployed yet again.

The safety car period benefitted Lewis Hamilton, who pitted from the lead on lap 43, and Nick Heidfeld, who pitted shortly before Glock's incident. Kovalainen, however, lost out, and had to make his pit stop from the lead once the pits opened. Fernando Alonso also had to make a stop, but had to severely conserve fuel before the pits opened otherwise he was in danger of running out. Rubens Barrichello, however, had no choice as he would have run out of fuel. It turned out to be a nightmare stop for Honda - the lollipop was raised before the fuel rig was clear of the car and as Barrichello sped away, he dragged the refuelling rig and associated pit crew with him. There were thankfully no major injuries, but Barrichello would be forced to take a 10 second stop-go penalty for pitting whilst the pits were closed. Worse may yet befall the Brazillian - he was shown exiting the pits when the red light was on - an offence that usually yields disqualification. Update: Barrichello was indeed disqualified.

The safety car was due in on lap 48, but just as it peeled off, Kazuki Nakajima ran into the back of Robert Kubica. Both had to pit, but Kubica's race was over. So, after the race resumed the order was Hamilton, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Bourdais, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Alonso, Barrichello (after his penalty), Nakajima. Kovalainen muscled past Raikkonen at turn 13, but ran wide, allowing Alonso through - he began to hunt down Bourdais. The Frenchman held off the double world champion exceptionally well, and even started to pull away once Kovalainen started challenging Alonso again. Further calamity befell Raikkonen though - his Ferrari started sounding very rough, and he was turning laps that were six seconds off the pace. As Martin Brundle put it, it was a limping prancing horse. Eventually, on lap 55, the car gave up and Raikkonen coasted to a halt in the pit lane, just as he had done in qualifying. Both Ferraris were out of the race.

Cruelly, just a lap later Bourdais retired with smoke wafting from the rear of his Toro Rosso as he exited turn 12. It was a superb performance from the Frenchman, but it was all for nought. With his retirement, all six Ferrari engined cars were out of the race. His retirement also freed up the battle between Alonso and Kovalainen. On the penultimate lap, Alonso made a small mistake at turn 13, which allowed Kovalainen to squeeze by into turn 14, much to the delight of Ron Dennis. However, just seconds later, Alonso re-passed the Finn - Kovalainen had reached for a tear-off strip and had accidently hit the pit-limiter in the middle of the front straight! You can bet that Ron wasn't best pleased about that.

But up front, it was all smooth sailing for Hamilton - he cruised home some five and a half seconds ahead of Heidfeld, and eight seconds ahead of Rosberg. There were jubilant scenes in the Williams pits, and shouts of "Nico! Nico!" as he stood on the podium. Lewis Hamilton even showed his approval by giving Nico a giant bouncing hug! The biggest smile was reserved for Ron Dennis though, and Lewis playfully tried to shower his boss with water before the podium ceremony.

So, it was an action packed race, and a race of attrition - only 7 cars were running at the end and only McLaren and Williams brought both cars home. Such was the attrition in fact that Raikkonen ended up classsified in 8th place after the disqualification of Rubens Barrichello. It was a perfect start for Hamilton and a near-perfect start for McLaren, but it was an unmitigated disaster for Ferrari. Even they must feel that scoring 1 point was, under the circumstances, lucky. They never quite got into their stride, and mechanical problems plagued Kimi Raikkonen from day one. And with the Malaysian Grand Prix just seven days away, Ferrari are in for an uphill struggle if they are to prevent a repeat of today's performance.

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

With the race due to start in about 5 hours, here is some useful things to look out for, and some predictions. The race is scheduled for 58 laps (307.574km/191.110 miles), and will start at 15.30 local time (0430 GMT, 2330 EST). The pit windows are 1-stop 29-34 laps; 2-stops 21-25, 35-43 laps; 3-stops 15-18, 29-33, 42-47 laps. Last year's winner was Kimi Raikkonen, who also set the fastest lap of the race (1:25.235). The lap record is held by Michael Schumacher (1:24.125).

Given the pace of the BMWs, it it likely that they are on a 3-stop strategy, and will be starting lighter than their nearest rivals. They will probably also be starting on the softer "option" tyre, but tyre wear will hamper them in the race and drop them down the order. I predict that most of the rest of the field will be on a 2-stop strategy. Ron Dennis spoke about trying to get the option tyres to last long enough, so it might be that teams will try and do two of their three stints on the option tyres, rather than just one stint due to the low grip nature of the track.

I predict Hamilton for the win, Kovalainen second, Massa third, Kubica 4th, Rosberg 5th, Heidfeld 6th, Trulli 7th, Vettel 8th (for the points paying positions). I also predict that there will be several off-track excursions during the course of the race, resulting in two safety car periods, and possibly a schemozzle into the first corner (because of poor starts from some midfield drivers due to the lack of traction control).

Ok, let's see how right I am about that - usually I get about 3/8 right...

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the first race of the 2008 season, in what turned out to be a surprising qualifying session. Polish sensation robert Kubica will line up alongside Hamilton on the grid, after having put in a stunning time in Q3 and who could have taken pole position but for a small mistake at the exit of turn 12. Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren will be third on the grid. The highest placed Ferrari is Felipe Massa in fourth place.

Q1 saw the elimination of what would be considered the usual suspects, however there was one surprise early on - the rookie Renault driver Nelson Piquet could manage no better than 21st place on the grid with a woeful time of 1:28.330, some one-and-a-half seconds slower than his teammate Fernando Alonso. The drivers eliminated in Q1 were Fisichella, Bourdais (whose admirable performances of the weekend so far didn't amount to much, especially considering his teammate's performance - more on that later), Sutil, Sato, Piquet, and Anthony Davidson. But the big surprise of Q1 was Kimi Raikkonen. Whilst downshifting on the approach to turn 15, after having set a time that would see him through to Q2, Raikkonen's Ferrari cut out. The problem was apparently fuel pressure - a problem that had manifested itself earlier in the weekend, and which the Ferrari team thought they had fixed. Sadly not. Raikkonen coasted up the pit lane, but could not make it past the pit entry line. The Ferrari mechanics trotted to his aid, but because he had effectively stopped out on track, he would not be allowed to take any further part in qualifying. It looked as though he would be mired down in 16th place.

Further surprises came after Q2 actually started. Mark Webber, who had wowed his home crowd all weekend, suffered a right-front brake failure, which pitched him off the circuit at turn 7, ending his day. This incident precipitated a red flag, with just under 9 minutes of the 15 minute Q2 session remaining.

The rest of Q2 was a hard fought battle, and at one point it looked as though one of the Honda cars might actually make it into Q3. Alas, it was not to be, but there were more surprises - Fernando Alonso could not make it through to Q3. His best time was only good enough for 12th place. Alonso tried to temper this by claiming that the Renault does not have good 1-lap pace, but he will have a lot of work to do to in the race. Perhaps the biggest (and most welcome) surprise was that Sebastian Vettel cruised through into Q3. In fact he set the 6th fastest time in Q2. So, the eliminees from Q2 were Barrichello, Alonso, Button, Nakajima, Webber, and Raikkonen.

It all came down to Q3 then. The new format of qualifying has shortened Q3 to just ten minutes (and lengthened Q1 to 20 minutes), and has eliminated the fuel credit system, ie the "fuel burn phase". The cars would qualify on their race fuel, and whatever fuel they ended qualifying with, that would be what they would start the race with. Sebastian Vettel, after shining so brightly in Q2, opted to step out of his car - it would transpire that he had a technical problem, although Toro Rosso wouldn't confirm what the problem was. It always looked as though it would come down to a fight between McLaren and Ferrari. Surprisingly, it did not. The pace was set initially by Kovalainen, then Hamilton, then by Robert Kubica. However, the young pole ran very wide at the exit of turn 12 and although he kept his foot in it, he surely lost at least a tenth of a second. Thus, on Hamilton's final flying lap, he was able to steal pole position by a tenth and a half. Felipe Massa was left to fly the flag for Ferrari, but came up short - he had to abandon his last flying run due to traffic, and later complained that he just could not get the heat into his tyres.

So, it looked like the grid was set. However, after qualifying Timo Glock received two separate 5 grid slot penalties - one for a gearbox change, and one for baulking Mark Webber on an early run. This would drop the German from 9th to 19th on the grid. So, the final grid would be as follows:

1. Hamilton	2. Kubica
3. Kovalainen	4. Massa
5. Heidfeld	6. Trulli
7. Rosberg	8. Coulthard
9. Vettel	10. Barrichello
11. Aonso	12. Button
13. Nakajima	14. Webber
15. Raikkonen	16. Fisichella
17. Bourdais	18. Sutil
19. Glock	20. Sato
21. Piquet	22. Davidson

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

The two BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld took top billing in Saturday practice for the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, with times of 1:25.613 and 1:25.950 respectively. The BMWs were likely on low fuel runs, in preparation for qualifying later today. In third place was Fernando Alonso, who also appeared to be on low fuel. His time of 1:26.082 was significantly faster than his best Friday time of 1:28.360. It's possible that the Renault team were being conservative in the Friday sessions, but that's a tactic that yields few benefits.

The order of the rest of the top ten was Rosberg, Coulthard, Webber, Button, Vettel, Fisichella, Trulli. Fisichella was a somewhat unexpected 9th place, and surely must have been on low fuel also. Indeed the fact that these runners were concentrating on qualifying is surely borne out by the fact that none of the major players were in the top ten - Massa was 11th, Hamilton 12th, Raikkonen 14th, and Kovalainen 20th. These guys were likely concentrating on set-up and strategy - Raikkonen complained of poor balance on Friday.

So, given the times from this morning, what are we likely to see in qualifying? Probably the Ferraris and the McLarens in the top 4. So far, Raikkonen has been the faster of the top four, but Hamilton was quicker in the hotter afternoon temperatures. This could play into Hamilton's hands, but Raikkonen should have the quicker car overall. I predict we'll see Raikkonen on pole, Hamiton second, Massa third, Kovalainen fourth. Other people to watch for are Webber, who has been punching above his weight so far this weekend; Rosberg, who has been quick, but looks as though his Williams has been letting him down; and Giancarlo Fisichella, who has definitely impressed so far in the Force India. I predict the fastest times we'll see (ie in Q2) will be in the low 1:25s or high 1:24s.

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

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Labels: Formula 1

After P1, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the loss of traction control hadn't hurt the drivers very much, after all there were only a few cases of drivers having small offs and getting the rear of the car sliding through the corners. However, in P2 there were numerous incidents and offs, and a couple of spins as well. The track temperature had risen since the morning's session, peaking at 48 degrees celcius (in the morning session the track temperature started at 34 and peaked at 39 degrees celcius). This meant that the track had a lot less grip. Also, the drivers were probably attacking the circuit a lot more than they were in the morning session.

Lewis Hamilton finished the session as the fastest man, with a time of 1:26.599 set in the closing stages of the session whilst on the softer option tyre. This time was well clear of the second place man - local hero Mark Webber - who set a time of 1:27.473 relatively early in the session, and who remained top of the timesheet for most of the session. Behind the top two, the order was Massa (who, during the session, had an incident at the quick right-hand turn 12 and half-spun his Ferrari), followed by the other McLaren of Kovalainen (whose only incident appeared to be running a little wide under braking to turn 3), followed by David Coulthard. Coulthard complained to his engineers that he was not getting the maximum on his first lap on new tyres and that he had done "bugger all" proper running, presumably due to traffic. After having suffered a mechanical problem in P1, he stopped out on track at the end of P2, and had to get a ride back to the pits in the Medical Car.

Kimi Raikkonen was 6th fastest with a time of 1:28.208 - the Finn had a relatively uneventful session - followed by Jarno Trulli, whose session came to a premature end when he got his left-side tyres on the grass under braking for turn 3, and spun his car into the gravel trap. Nico Rosberg was 8th fastest, and it looked as though the German was struggling for grip, running wide a few times and having to use a lot of opposite lock on occasions. In discussion with his engineer, he complained of understeer in right-hand corners, graining of the tyres, and rear brake locking. His engineer suggested that some of his problems might be due to the balance of the car, but also due to a problem with the differential, which may have been what sidelined Rosberg in the morning session.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 9th fastest - a solid performance from the Italian despite a spin at turn 7 and other little offs. The top ten was rounded out by Timo Glock, who dropped a few wheels off the track here and there, but still managed a 1:28.582.

Further back, the Hondas were 11th (Button) and 14th (Barrichello); the BMWs were 12th (Heidfeld) and 15th (Kubica); the Renaults were in 13th (Alonso) and 19th (Piquet); Nakajima was 16th, and appeared to be suffering similar handling issues as his teammate; Sutil was 17th - he had several offs, including at turn 7 and 9, and appeared to have suffered a broken headrest; The Toros Rosso cars were less impressive in P2 - they could only manage 18th (Vettel) and 20th (Bourdais). Bourdais managed only 11 (compared to his teammate's 40) laps due to a technical problem - he made a very slow tour of the circuit and he appeared to be stuck in gear (possibly hydraulic failure). Finally the two Super Aguris of Sato (who had numerous small offs) and Davidson brought up the rear. Davidson's time of 1:31.527 was almost 5 seconds off Hamilton's pace.

So, what can be learned from P2? Well, that the teams were trying different fuel and tyre strategies. All of the top runners seemed to experiment with the prime and option tyres. Indeed, Ron Dennis stated in a trackside interview that they were concentrating on tyres and trying to get the softer option tyres to last long enough. Something else that can be gleaned is the relative downforce levels of the cars. The Ferraris tended to be quickest through the speed traps - Massa was fastest at 305 kph - suggesting that they were running less downforce. This may have contributed to Massa's off. The McLarens were consistently the next fastest cars through the speed trap (Hamilton was 3rd fastest at 303 kph). Alonso and Webber were also fast (301 and 300 kph respectively).

So, it is difficult to tell who will be the quickest come race day just yet. One thing that was clear though - a lot of cars were struggling for grip, especially rear end grip under braking. One thing I noticed was that, with the new standard ECU, the gear downshifts sound quite harsh. It could be my imagination, but if it is, then it could be causing some rear tyre locking. In fact the only teams who didn't seem to suffer from this problem were Ferrari and McLaren who we know utilise a rear braking pressure modulation system to avoid this problem. It seems to be working well for them!

P2 Statistics

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (1:26.559)
Fastest Sector 1: Lewis Hamilton (28.7)
Fastest Sector 2: Lewis Hamilton (23.2)
Fastest Sector 3: Lewis Hamilton (34.6)

comparison to Raikkonen's P1 best lap:

1:26.461
Sector 1: 28.4
Sector 2: 23.3
Sector 3: 34.7

Average lap time (excluding drivers who set no time): 1:28.722
Standard deviation of lap time: 1.053 s
Smallest interval: P14 - P15: 0.011 s
Largest interval: P20 - P21: 1.058 s (of note: P1 - P2 0.914 s)
Time difference fastest - slowest: 4.968 s

2007 P2 Fastest lap: Felipe Massa (1:27.353)
2007 - 2008 difference: -0.794 s

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

The first session of the new season is in the books, and Kimi Raikkonen started where he left off in 2007: fastest in Prac 1, with a time of 1:27.461, set in the dying seconds of the session. Last year's rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton was second fastest, 0.487 s slower than the world champion, with the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa a further 0.010 s back in third, and Heikki Kovalainen was fourth in the other McLaren with a time of 1:27.114. So, the Ferraris and the McLarens were top of the timesheet. No surprises there then, but it is still only the first practice session.

Behind the leading quartet, local hero Mark Webber posted the 5th fastest time in the all-new Red Bull, whilst teammate David Coulthard could manage no better than 13th, after having suffered a mechanical problem (transmission or engine) that necessitated a trip to the pits and a healthy dose of fire extinguishant. Fernando Alonso was 6th fastest in the new Renault, with teammate Nelson Piquet Jr some 2 seconds slower. Piquet was somewhat hampered by a spin and stall at turn 14, which precipitated a brief red flag to allow his stricken car to be cleared.

7th and 8th places were occupied by Robert Kubica and Timo Glock respectively, but perhaps the best performer of the session was Sebastian Vettel, who posted the 9th fastest time (1:27.959), despite an early problem with the fuel filler flap being stuck open. The young German was some 4 tenths faster than Rookie Sebastien Bourdais, who maximised his running presumably to further familiarise himself with both the car and the circuit. He would end up 14th fastest.

Another surprise was Giancarlo Fisichella - 12th fastest with a 1:29.230, significantly outpacing his teammate Adrian Sutil by around 9 tenths of a second. However, as with all the inter-team differences, different tyres and fuel loads may have been employed.

The tail-enders were the two Super-Aguri Hondas (19th and 20th places), who waited until there was only 9 minutes of the session remaining to set a fast lap. Behind them were the two Williams cars - Kazuki Nakajima set a woeful time of 1:35.053, and teammate Rosberg failed to set a time after what looked like mechanical or electrical issues in his Williams Toyota.

So far the loss of traction control does not seem to have affected the cars too much - there were a few squirrelly moments, but nothing major. There were a couple of offs at the turn 9 chicane, notably by Fernando Alonso; a couple of people got loose at the rear end and put wheels on the grass, including Kimi Raikkonen; and Piquet had his spin. The track was also very dusty and green, so grip levels were not ideal. As the track cleaned up and more rubber went down, the lap times tumbled. Sebastien Bourdais was the first driver to do a hot lap in the session (and therefore in the 2008 season), and he posted a time of 1:33.900. His ultimate time was over 4.5 seconds quicker.

So, the first session of the 2008 season is over. It is always difficult to tell what will happen during the rest of the weekend at this early stage - we might have a better idea after Prac 2 - but it looks like the Ferraris and the McLarens are again the cars to beat.

P1 Statistics

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen (1:26.461)
Fastest Sector 1: Kimi Raikkonen (28.4)
Fastest Sector 2: Kimi Raikkonen (23.3)
Fastest Sector 3: Kimi Raikkonen (34.7)

Average lap time (excluding drivers who set no time): 1:29.241
Standard deviation of lap time: 1.883 s
Smallest interval: P2 - P3: 0.010 s
Largest interval: P20 - P21: 3.283s (of note: P4 - P5 1.149 s, demonstrating the speed of the top 4)
Time difference fastest - slowest: 8.592 s

2007 P1 Fastest lap: Fernando Alonso (1:29.214)
2007 - 2008 difference: -2.753 s

Boy that's a lot of work. I'm not sure I'm going to do that for all the sessions!

Labels: Australia, Formula 1, Grand Prix

Man it's been a long time, and a lot of things have changed in the last two years. I won't dwell on them all for now, because that would take too long. All I shall say is that it is the start of the 2008 F1 season, and there is a lot to look forward to. There is also a lot that should be put behind us. 2007 saw one of the ugliest periods in the sport's history - the spying scandal that embroiled McLaren, Ferrari, and even Renault in controversy. Hopefully this scandal will not raise it's ugly head ever again. However, 2007 was also a year of great racing and great sport. We saw the rise of a new hot star - Lewis Hamilton - who almost took the driver's world championship in his rookie year. And we saw Kimi Raikkonen finally take the world title in a Ferrari, after years of disappointment at McLaren. There were also new rivalries, particularly between Lewis Hamilton and his world champion teammate Fernando Alonso. The partnership ultimately broke down, as did the champion's relationship with McLaren boss Ron Dennis; Fernando left to join Renault.

So, what are the big questions that remain going into the 2008 season? Well, they are surely as follows: can Kimi repeat his championship success? Will Lewis go all the way this year, and how will Heikki Kovalainen measure up to him? What can Fernando do in the Renault? What will the relative pace of the cars be, and will the spying scandal have affected McLaren's performance this year? The only way to answer these questions is to sit back and let the racing unfold...

Labels: Formula 1