Malaysian GP Review
This race was a lot better as entertainment than Australia was, and not just because it wasn't a Ferrari-led procession for the entire race, from the start that led to you wondering just how there wasn't a crash as Webber's clutch failed on the front row and seemingly every car on the grid went round him to the cross your fingers and will it over the line ending as British fans prayed to the gods of reliability for a Button victory.
There's still worries about how the season is going to progress, but they've been allayed somewhat as Ferrari now seem potentially (if not actually) beatable with Montoya keeping Schumacher honest throughout the race, and Barrichello proving that they don't always make the best tactical choices. McLaren have bounced back from their Australian disaster, and Renault are still up there, but Jenson Button and BAR are showing they could be the dark horses of the season.
So, here's the good/average/bad ratings:
Good Race:
Ferrari: Another easy afternoon's driving for Michael Schumacher, who doesn't seem to have broken a sweat in the 30-degree heat. They'll be concerned that they don't have the same advantage as they had in Australia, but there's nothing too much to panic about seeing that they've picked up 33 out of a potential 36 points in the first two races.
BAR: Watching Jenson Button getting the traitional soaking of champagne that marks his initiation into the podium club, it must be easy for Dave Richards to forget the five years of strife that BAR have experienced prior to this season. Suddenly, the pieces have fallen into place and they're looking like a truly competitive team. The only black cloud was Sato's engine failure that lost him his chance of eighth place, but given the rapid development of this team he's going to have more chances for points throughout the season, so they'll hopefully be able to shrug it off.
Sauber: They got a point! Someone will notice them! The people of Switzerland will rejoice! Maybe not, but the average race category was getting full, and Massa getting a point was more than they'd have expected this week.
Average Race:
Williams: It could have been good, but Montoya never seemed to be able to get close enough to Michael Schumacher to try anything. Ralf's failure to score is going to be causing some questions to be asked at BMW, but they'll be hoping that's just a one-off glitch. Sure, that's one more than Ferrari will have this season, but it might be acceptable.
Renault: Flashes of good, mixed with dashes of bad. Alonso would have had a much better finish if he hadn't pushed too hard in qualifying and ended up 19th on the grid. Trulli put in his usual few laps of really fast driving and then faded to anonymity. 5th and 7th would have been a good result for them last year, but not anymore, and they'll be looking over their shoulders at BAR.
Jaguar: Just about an average race because of Webber's 2nd on the grid, but they'd have been happier if the race itself never happened. Webber just seemed to have one of those days (like Montoya at Indianapolis last year) where nothing went right, but hopefully the true potential of Jaguar was shown in qualifying rather than the race. Klien continues to not embarrass himself in the midfield, and that's about all that's required of him.
Toyota: From backfield nightmare to midfield anonymity would have been their aim for this weekend, and they managed it. Da Matta came close to a point, but Panis will not relish his entry into the The Worst F1 Pit Stops...Ever! Calling your driver in when the crew's not ready for him is one thing, but said driver then picking up a speeding penalty while gesturing at the team bosses is not what Toyota's corporate bosses want to see for their investment.
Bad Race:
McLaren: Well, not as bad as Australia, but well below what they would have wanted. The only silver lining for Ron Dennis is that it looks as though he can blame Mercedes for giving him dodgy engines.
Jordan: Were they in the race? I noticed a flash of yellow a couple of times, but that could have been the light bouncing off the screen.
Minardi: Look, I've got no objection to Minardi being in F1, even if their car is relying on the 2002 Arrows, but can anyone provide a justification for Zsolt Baumgartner being in F1 - besides the ?5m and the great racing driver name? The official timing records him as finishing just under 85 seconds behind...his own team mate. So, not only was he the slowest driver in the field, he was 1.5 seconds a lap slower than someone in the same car. Unless Bruni's faster than Alonso or Schumacher would be in a Minardi, the only service Baumgartner's providing is to serve as a good counter-example to the bloke-in-the-pub 'anyone could drive as fast as Schumacher in one of them cars' argument.
Next time: It's our first time in the desert. Bahrain welcomes its first Grand Prix in two weeks time...and now they start at a reasonable time in the day.
There's still worries about how the season is going to progress, but they've been allayed somewhat as Ferrari now seem potentially (if not actually) beatable with Montoya keeping Schumacher honest throughout the race, and Barrichello proving that they don't always make the best tactical choices. McLaren have bounced back from their Australian disaster, and Renault are still up there, but Jenson Button and BAR are showing they could be the dark horses of the season.
So, here's the good/average/bad ratings:
Good Race:
Ferrari: Another easy afternoon's driving for Michael Schumacher, who doesn't seem to have broken a sweat in the 30-degree heat. They'll be concerned that they don't have the same advantage as they had in Australia, but there's nothing too much to panic about seeing that they've picked up 33 out of a potential 36 points in the first two races.
BAR: Watching Jenson Button getting the traitional soaking of champagne that marks his initiation into the podium club, it must be easy for Dave Richards to forget the five years of strife that BAR have experienced prior to this season. Suddenly, the pieces have fallen into place and they're looking like a truly competitive team. The only black cloud was Sato's engine failure that lost him his chance of eighth place, but given the rapid development of this team he's going to have more chances for points throughout the season, so they'll hopefully be able to shrug it off.
Sauber: They got a point! Someone will notice them! The people of Switzerland will rejoice! Maybe not, but the average race category was getting full, and Massa getting a point was more than they'd have expected this week.
Average Race:
Williams: It could have been good, but Montoya never seemed to be able to get close enough to Michael Schumacher to try anything. Ralf's failure to score is going to be causing some questions to be asked at BMW, but they'll be hoping that's just a one-off glitch. Sure, that's one more than Ferrari will have this season, but it might be acceptable.
Renault: Flashes of good, mixed with dashes of bad. Alonso would have had a much better finish if he hadn't pushed too hard in qualifying and ended up 19th on the grid. Trulli put in his usual few laps of really fast driving and then faded to anonymity. 5th and 7th would have been a good result for them last year, but not anymore, and they'll be looking over their shoulders at BAR.
Jaguar: Just about an average race because of Webber's 2nd on the grid, but they'd have been happier if the race itself never happened. Webber just seemed to have one of those days (like Montoya at Indianapolis last year) where nothing went right, but hopefully the true potential of Jaguar was shown in qualifying rather than the race. Klien continues to not embarrass himself in the midfield, and that's about all that's required of him.
Toyota: From backfield nightmare to midfield anonymity would have been their aim for this weekend, and they managed it. Da Matta came close to a point, but Panis will not relish his entry into the The Worst F1 Pit Stops...Ever! Calling your driver in when the crew's not ready for him is one thing, but said driver then picking up a speeding penalty while gesturing at the team bosses is not what Toyota's corporate bosses want to see for their investment.
Bad Race:
McLaren: Well, not as bad as Australia, but well below what they would have wanted. The only silver lining for Ron Dennis is that it looks as though he can blame Mercedes for giving him dodgy engines.
Jordan: Were they in the race? I noticed a flash of yellow a couple of times, but that could have been the light bouncing off the screen.
Minardi: Look, I've got no objection to Minardi being in F1, even if their car is relying on the 2002 Arrows, but can anyone provide a justification for Zsolt Baumgartner being in F1 - besides the ?5m and the great racing driver name? The official timing records him as finishing just under 85 seconds behind...his own team mate. So, not only was he the slowest driver in the field, he was 1.5 seconds a lap slower than someone in the same car. Unless Bruni's faster than Alonso or Schumacher would be in a Minardi, the only service Baumgartner's providing is to serve as a good counter-example to the bloke-in-the-pub 'anyone could drive as fast as Schumacher in one of them cars' argument.
Next time: It's our first time in the desert. Bahrain welcomes its first Grand Prix in two weeks time...and now they start at a reasonable time in the day.
Nick got away with this at 9:24 AM
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