F1 News

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen gave the perfect response to Lewis Hamilton’s easy win last week with an equally dominant victory in Sepang this morning.

But the biggest winner of the weekend was the neutral fan, as it is now clear that we have a real fight on our hands for this year’s World Championship.

Raikkonen led from the first pitstop and never looked back. His team-mate, Felipe Massa, returned to his 2007 ways with a good qualifying performance followed by a silly mistakes in the race. He spun out and leaves the first two races with no points.

McLaren’s weekend was nearly as bad as Ferrari’s was last week. Though Heikki Kovalainen did salvage a podium, Lewis Hamilton was left languishing in fifth place after a problematic pitstop.

Kubica took a career-best second place, making it two podiums in two races for the BMW team. Jarno Trulli impressed with fourth for Toyota, his best performance since the US GP of 2006. Nick Heidfeld (BMW), Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Fernando Alonso (Renault) took sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

The title race is now very close, with just three points separating the top three. And, interestingly, we still haven’t seen a straight fight between the two top teams.

It had been apparent in testing that the Ferraris and the McLarens had different strengths, so it is not surprising that we have had a dominant performance from each team in the first two races.

But the gap has been exaggerated by Raikkonen’s qualifying woes in Australia, McLaren’s grid penalty in Malaysia and Hamilton’s pitstop catastrophe. Let’s hope we can see the first proper fight between the two teams in two weeks’ time in Dubai.

Malaysian Grand Prix Result

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari

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

McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have received a five-place grid penalty by stewards after holding up Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The drivers had finished their laps early due to the threat of rain and had been cruising into the pits to conserve fuel. It was on these in-laps that they were judged to have impeded BMW’s Heidfeld and Renault’s Alonso.

Read more about Hamilton and Kovalainen’s grid penalty

Those who feared this year’s F1 season would be dominated by one man will have been relieved to see the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen take the top two positions on the grid for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished the day a second behind the Italian team and a tenth down on team mate Heikki Kovalainen.

Following complains by Heidfeld and Alonso, the McLaren drivers have been summoned before the stewards.

Malaysian GP Qualifying - driver by driver

Felipe Massa

Massa returned to the kind of qualifying performances he showed last year. He declared himself ‘very happy’ after qualifying. More from Felipe Massa

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi admits to not being happy with his run in Q3. More from Kimi Raikkonen

Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki says he has improved throughout the weekend and is pleased with a second consecutive third spot. More from Heikki Kovalainen

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton admits to doing a less than ‘perfect job’ in qualifying, complaining of a lack of grip in Q3. More from Lewis Hamilton

Jarno Trulli

Qualifying position proves progress, claims the Italian. More from Jarno Trulli

Robert Kubica

The Pole is ‘very disappointed’ with the outcome of qualifying. More from Robert Kubica

Nick Heidfeld

The German complained about drivers on their in-laps slowing him down. More from Nick Heidfeld

Mark Webber

Ever the optimist, the Australian states matters went ‘better than expected’. More from Mark Webber

Fernando Alonso

Alonso declares that his objectives were achieved. More from Fernando Alonso

Timo Glock

Timo is happy, but found the session difficult. More from Timo Glock

Jenson Button

Despite missing out on Q3, Button is happy. More from Jenson Button

David Coulthard

Surprised to be slower than in morning practice. More from David Coulthard

Nelson Piquet

Up where he should be after last week’s poor performance, but he is only ‘relatively satisfied’. More from Nelson Piquet

Rubens Barrichello

The team are impressed that Rubens made it to Q2. More from Rubens Barrichello

Sebastian Vettel

The circuit doesn’t suit the Toro Rosso, says Vettel. More from Sebastian Vettel

Nico Rosberg

The new surface hurt the Williams, claims Nico. More from Nico Rosberg

Giancarlo Fisichella

So close to Q2, but he didn’t quite make it. More from Giancarlo Fisichella

Kazuki Nakajima

The Japanese driver is looking for a consistent race. More from Kazuki Nakajima

Sebastien Bourdais

Bourdais hopes that ‘crazy weather’ will create the kind of carnage that allowed him to impress on his debut last week More from Sebastien Bourdais

Takuma Sato

The Japanese driver declares himself ‘pleased’ with his performance. More from Takuma Sato

Adrian Sutil

Car is not behaving like it should be. More from Adrian Sutil

Anthony Davidson

Despite coming last, Davidson feels the car has improved since last week. More from Anthony Davidson

The news this morning that coverage of F1 in the UK is to return to the BBC after 12 years on ITV came as a big surprise to most observers.

In almost a complete reversal of what happened 12 years ago, it was Bernie Ecclestone who approached the BBC about the deal and not the other way around. Last time, the BBC was informed that ITV was paying £60m (as opposed to the BBC’s £6m) and that they would get no opportunity to counter the bid.

So why was Bernie courting the BBC? Is it normal for Bernie to do the chasing? It certainly isn’t the perception Ecclestone likes us to have of the way F1 works.

Is Bernie unhappy with ITV’s coverage? The channel’s F1 presentation has come under fire before, not least from Ross Brawn. “It’s a very frustrating business to watch F1 on British TV,” he said after watching races on his sabbatical year. His comment that “our commentators don’t seem very good at conveying what is going on” was most probably aimed at James Allen, who has proven unpopular with fans.

Maybe the “innovative ideas” the BBC has in the pipeline will make the coverage better in the eyes of Ross Brawn and other fans. It is interesting to note that ITV have put a lot of effort into providing live TV coverage from their website - and surprising too, considering they’re losing the rights at the end of the year. Were they fighting to keep F1 with the company? It seems unlikely that ITV, with all their millions, couldn’t pull some technical wizardry out of their hat to keep the BBC at bay.

Then there’s the financial conundrums. Back when ITV took over the coverage, they were able to offer ten times what the BBC had previously been paying, but the BBC wasn’t allowed a counter bid, so we don’t know how much the BBC had been willing to pay. But it seems impossible that they could afford to beat ITV in an all-out bidding war.

So, maybe ITV just didn’t want it anymore.

This would be surprising, considering the buzz around F1 that Lewis Hamilton has brought to the UK. But television advertising is a shrinking business and it is possible that ITV simply couldn’t afford it. They may have put in a lower offer to Ecclestone and Bernie - almost out of spite - then offered it the BBC, probably at a lower rate than ITV had been paying.

Still, at least the UK can return to watching uninterrupted coverage (no more bleeding car ads). And we’ll get Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain back on our screens.

For those of you who don’t remember the iconic BBC theme tune, here it is:

Some things just look written in the stars. Just as Red Bull announces it is selling Toro Rosso, we have Paul Stoddart - the former owner of Minardi - saying he is looking at a return to F1.

Stoddart sold the Minardi team to Red Bull at the end of 2005. Red Bull changed the name of the team - much to Minardi supporters’ horror - to Scuderia Toro Rosso. But rule changes for the 2010 season make the junior Red Bull team less of a good investment for Red Bull’s owner, Dietrich Mateschitz.

Names that have been linked to the team include A1GP chairman Tony Teixeira and Russian businessman Roustam Tariko.

Could Stoddart afford Toro Rosso? The backmarker Minardi team that Stoddart sold was a far cry from the midfield runner that is Toro Rosso - and therefore the market value will have gone up considerably. But the world of F1 finance is a complicated business and it is quite possible that Stoddart may have collected a bit more cash this time round.

If Stoddart does buy back the team, you heard it here first…

Lewis Hamilton wins the Australian Grand Prix, ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton had a perfect start to his season. And with both Massa and Raikkonen retiring (and his team mate Heikki down in fifth), Lewis couldn’t have asked for more.

Not only did Ferrari not score, they also looked very uncompetitive - nothing like how they’d looked in testing. Raikkonen also made some uncharacteristic mistakes.

Kovalainen had looked set for second, but the timing of the Safety Car made it difficult for him to pit when he wanted. Similarly, Kubica looked in line for a podium until problems beset him too.

Sebastian Bourdais joins one of the elite few that scores points on his debut, despite retiring from the race. There were only seven finishers, which left Bourdais as the last retiree to take the last point. He had been riding in fourth.

Williams and McLaren are the only teams to get both their cars to the finish. Not only did both Ferraris retire, but two Ferrari engines (including Bourdais’s Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso) also failed. Not good for Raikkonen’s title defence.

Result

1 Hamilton

2 Heidfeld

3 Rosberg

4 Alonso

5 Kovalainen

6 Nakajima*

7 Bourdais*

8 Raikkonen*

*Rubens Barichello disqualified for ignoring a red light. Other drivers move up.

Race - as it happened

Hamilton wins!

Kovalainen passes Alonso but is repassed.

Top four drivers will all equal and improve on their best ever position. Good performance from Bourdais on his debut. He’ll still score, as there are only 8 cars left!

Bourdais slows…

Raikkonen’s car sounds rough. He’s retired.

Barrichello takes his penalty.

Alonso passes Kovalainen.

Nakajima pits with broken nose, as does Kubica.

Kovalainen and Alonso pit and are now at the back of the pack in 9th and 10th.

Barrichello knocks over his fuel man. Should he even be in the pits yet? He is ‘under investigation’.

Amazingly, despite the debris, Glock’s car didn’t actually collide with anything but the ground after the gravel trap launched him into the air!

Massive crash for Glock. Safety Car out again.

Hamilton pits.

Raikkonen spins.

Alonso still needs to pit again. Likely that Raikkonen does not.

Sato is out too.

Piquet is out. There are now only 12 cars left.

Raikkonen pits

Massa is out.

Raikkonen tries to go aroudn Kovalainen but he goes wide and is off! He doesn’t retire, but he’s at the back of the pack now.

How long can Raikkonen stay out?

Safety Car in on this lap.

Kubica, Piquet, Glock, Nakajima all pit. Raikkonen doesn’t.

Raikkonen will now be able to pit under the safety car.

Massa and Coulthard crash! Coulthard is out, but Massa seems to be ok… So far. Safety Car deployed. Lots of debris.

Hamilton is back at the front, and Raikkonen has managed to sneak up to third! Though of course, he has to pit.

Rosberg, Heidfeld and Kovalainen have all pitted.

Alonso is now just outside the points, in 9th place. This year’s Renault looks no better than last year’s, as the Spaniard struggles to get past Coulthard’s Red Bulll.

Trulli retires in the pits

Raikkonen pushes past Barichello.

Lewis pits for his first of two stops. He rejoins in fourth

Kubica pits. So Hamilton was heavier and still manages to be a second a lap faster. Slots in behind Raikkonen.

Glock passes Sato.

There has been precious little movement since the first lap carnage. Other than Massa passing Piqet for 15th, everyone is holding position.

Hamilton now has 10 seconds on Kubica.

Raikkonen is struggling to get past Barrichello in seventh. He really needs to get on with his race.

With Kovalainen catching Kubica and pulling away from Rosberg, this is definitely a three horse race.

Sutil pits. It looks like he’s out too. Down to 16 runners.

Lewis goes around 1.3 seconds faster than Kubica.

Hamilton is really pulling away. He’s gone 0.6 seconds faster on the last sector alone.

We now have just 17 runners, with Massa at the back (having pitted). Ahead of him is Nakajima, Piquet and Bourdais. The back three in the race have just one race’s experience between them.

Davidson also retired in the first lap melee. Button has stopped too.

Raikkonen had a great start, from 15th up to 8

Webber’s car is in the pit garage.

Hamilton is eeking out a nice lead.

Kubica attacks but Hamilton defends well. Massa drops behind considerably with a damaged nose and pits. Vettel and Fisichella are out.

It is important not to read too much into Friday practice. But we’re going to anyway.

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the afternoon session and so dominated the headlines, but it was Kimi Raikkonen who set the fastest time of the day (in the morning session.

Ferrari were strongest on the short runs in the cooler morning temperatures, but McLaren were stronger in the longer runs in the hot afternoon, as James Allen on ITV-F1 explains.

However, as Joe Saward at GrandPrix.com points out, most drivers were concentrating on race set-ups, so the jury is still out on exactly who is where. Headlines are important, especially at the start of the season - was Lewis trying to steal Ferrari’s thunder by running slightly lighter?

Whatever the situation, Kimi Raikkonen has expressed his disappointment at how the first day panned out.

One of the surprises of the day was from Red Bull, with Mark Webber nearly taking the top spot in the afternoon.

This time last year, a young rookie had a shambolic debut for Renault, as Heikki Kovalainen made a mess of things, embarrassing everyone concerned. Is Nelson Piquet Jnr about to repeat those mistakes this year? He finished the day at the wrong end of the pack - let’s hope he picks things up quickly.

Toyota looked good on paper with two top-ten finishes, but neither driver was happy with the cars’ balance.

On the positive side, Force India looked good, especially in the hands of Fisichella.

Each year I take part in the F1 Pick 6 game (now unofficially called F1 Pick 8, though the URL has stayed the same). Select who you think will finish where and they award you points based on how close you came. It’s free to enter - but unfortunately the only prize is pride.

Everyone’s predictions are displayed for all to see. I enter under my name (Damian Corrigan) - so feel free to pit yourself against me.

If you want to play for cash prizes, try this Fantasy F1 game instead.

2007 was the beginning of a new era - post-Schumacher, and the top two drivers left (Raikkonen and Alonso) swapping teams. Nothing happened as expected, particularly the Hamilton Story. It was a fresh start.

This year is about unfinished business. Lewis Hamilton made history in his first year, but didn’t quite get the historic title he came so close to. McLaren want to prove they’re not cheaters. Alonso has to prove he isn’t going to throw his toys out of the pram every year. And Kimi, well, his first year at Ferrari was blighted by not being Schumacher - he’ll be wanting to show he can dominate just like the German could.

Further down the grid, we’ll have a close battle among the midfield teams and an intriguing battle between the two Toro Rosso drivers.

• F1 Preview: Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW
• F1 Preview: Williams, Red Bull, Honda, Toyota
• F1 Preview: Toro Rosso, Force India, Super Aguri

2007 was the beginning of a new era - post-Schumacher, and the top two drivers left (Raikkonen and Alonso) swapping teams. Nothing happened as expected, particularly the Hamilton Story. It was a fresh start.

This year is about unfinished business. Lewis Hamilton made history in his first year, but didn’t quite get the historic title he came so close to. McLaren want to prove they’re not cheaters. Alonso has to prove he isn’t going to throw his toys out of the pram every year. And Kimi, well, his first year at Ferrari was blighted by not being Schumacher - he’ll be wanting to show he can dominate just like the German could.

Ferrari

Last year’s Big Two are this year’s Big One Point Five, as McLaren have lost both a world champion and a Dr Evil-worthy hundred million dollars. Most of the winter has been dominated by Ferrari, who have the continuity of going into this season with the same driver line up as last year. Kimi Raikkonen started off the 2007 struggling to get to grips with the Ferrari, but he ended the year with seven consecutive podiums. There is no reason to believe he won’t start 2008 with seven more.

There was a time in 2007 when Massa looked like Ferrari’s brightest hope, but that faded towards the end of the season. Expect Massa to play second fiddle to Raikkonen again.

McLaren

If Kimi had it difficult in the first half of 2007, at least he knew all the circuits. Lewis Hamilton’s meteoric 2007 season is well documented and was all the more surprising for the fact that he was visiting many tracks for the first time. All things being equal, Hamilton would have an easy time this year and would walk the title. Unfortunately, things aren’t equal and McLaren’s woes will hit Lewis hardest.

Heikki Kovalainen is the only driver of the top four teams coming into a new team (remember, Alonso is returning to an old one). No matter how highly one rates the Finn, the disadvantage this poses are great.

Renault

Renault slipped from first to fourth last year - can the return of Fernando Alonso stem their decline? Yes, it can, but returning them to the front is another matter. Alonso has said he “has a 30% chance of winning the title this year”, no doubt due to pressure from sponsors to get some positive spin in the press, as he had previously admitted he doesn’t expect to be going for the title.

The most interesting driver pairing this year will be Piquet and Alonso. When in GP2, Piquet was the man who regularly out-qualified the man who regularly beat Alonso last year (do I have to spell out who?). Piquet has also never deserted the Renault team (as Alonso did two years ago). He is likely to get considerable support at Renault - and if he manages to beat Alonso on a regular basis, that support will get stronger. Remember what Alonso said the last time he worked for Renault

By allowing a rookie to beat a champion last year, McLaren lost a world title - but they gained a star. Renault’s Flavio Briatore is an intelligent man and if Piquet shows he is capable of beating Alonso, Briatore would be a fool to stop that happening. Alonso has his most difficult year yet ahead of him - if he was to be beaten two years in a row by two different rookies, his stock could never be so low.

BMW

With all the attention being heaped on Renault, things couldn’t be more different over at their nearest rivals, BMW. Only the German and Polish press care what happens to Heidfeld and Kubica, but that could work to their advantage. BMW have improved steadily since buying out Sauber and, assuming some pre-season issues are resolved quickly, everyone will benefit from the continuity and trouble-free winter the team has had.

More F1 Previews

• F1 Preview: Williams, Red Bull, Honda, Toyota
• F1 Preview: Toro Rosso, Force India, Super Aguri

Mark Webber says he expects a tough fight for P6 to P13 this year. Indeed, winter testing times have been close between these teams, so who exactly will come out as best of the midfield teams?

Williams

Williams have done everything they can to keep Nico Rosberg, one of the revelations of 2007 (no driver trounced his team mate as much as Nico Wurz. The drubbing ended the Austrian’s career.) But Williams know this year they have to do something miraculous to keep him beyond 2009. Thankfully, their pre-season testing suggests they might be doing that. Expect Williams to trouble the big-budget teams of BMW and Renault.

Oh yes, we forgot to mention Williams’ other driver, Kazuki Nakajima. Who? Exactly.

Red Bull

Red Bull, in theory a team of youth and vitality, return with eternal number two David Coulthard and Mark ‘Oh, what might have been’ Webber. Both are solid and reliable, but considering the millions that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz is pouring into the team, something is very wrong here.

Honda

Honda couldn’t have had a worse 2007 - the only way 2008 could be any worse would be if they drove in reverse. Early indications are that, in fact, using the reverse gear may not be such a bad option. Button impressed on the rare occasions that the car allowed him to, but can he keep that motivation up this year? Now that Ross Brawn (the man who took Schumacher to all seven of his world titles) is in charge, expectations are high. Just don’t expect it to be Barrichello that delivers - even members of his own team want him to retire.

Toyota

The arrival of Timo Glock makes it a perfect three-out-of-three GP2 champions to make the step up to F1 (though he has actually already tasted F1 during a poor performance at Jordan in 2004). Will his second attempt have the same impact his predecessors Rosberg and Hamilton have had? Toyota certainly think so, as they went to the courts to free him from his BMW contract. Certainly, some young blood is what Toyota needs after having plumbed for experience over youthful energy in recent years.

Though the Toyota car must fit Jarno Trulli, now entering his fourth year with Toyota, like a well-worn shoe, many still expect Glock to surprise the veteran Italian. If he does, Trulli may find this to be his final year in F1.

More F1 Previews

• F1 Preview: Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW
• F1 Preview: Toro Rosso, Force India, Super Aguri

Despite all the attempts at cost cutting, the teams at the back of the grid will still have a difficult time of it this year. Though Toro Rosso will probably mix it with the bigger boys a bit, Force India and Super Aguri will be this year’s backmarkers once again.

Toro Rosso

The fact that it will take place largely outside of the points means that many will overlook what is probably the second most interesting team battle this year (after Renault’s Alonso and Piquet). The arrival of four-times Champ Car champion Sebastian Bourdais has caused much excitement. Described at times as the best driver in the world today to never have taken part in an F1 race (yet), he has a lot to prove this year. He has to beat the young Sebastien Vettel if he is to maintain this image. Similarly, Vettel needs to beat Bourdais too. He has (in the words of Dietrich Mateschitz) “extraordinary potential” and, though he didn’t always match the more experienced Liuzzi last year, as the more experienced driver in the team now, Vettel is the de facto team leader and should therefore beat his rookie team mate.

Force India

Force India has been passed around like a hot potato in recent years - it was Jordan, then it was Midland, then Spyker and now it’s trying to sell Kingfisher beer (remember, kids, don’t drink and drive). The cash injection that that the team has received from squillionaire Vijay Mallya will ensure they beat the cash-strapped Super Aguri team, but expect them to be miles behind Toro Rosso.

Super Aguri

For perennial backmarkers, Super Aguri have lots of fans. Maybe it’s the superhero connotations in the name, or maybe it’s the fact that the team was cobbled together from old Arrows, fairy liquid bottles and double sided sticky tape and went on to give the works Honda team a run for its money in only their second year in F1. Unfortunately, the David-and-Goliath heroics may be coming to an end, as financial difficulties make it quite possible Super Aguri won’t even last the season.

More F1 Previews

• F1 Preview: Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW
• F1 Preview: Williams, Red Bull, Honda, Toyota