Malaysia Review, now tables turned

So the Malaysian GP is done and dusted. The Finn fan in me is of course ecstatic with two Finns on the podium and was very happy to see Robert Kubica also there.

But what of the race. First, McLaren. They certainly weren't as bad as the end results show, at third and fifth. Both McLarens were punished after qualifying and started the race at midfield, yet 15 laps into the race, as the first pit stops started, Hamilton had climbed up to 5th and Kovalainen to 7th. Out of that, Kovalainen ended up third and onto the podium. What happened to Hamilton was a botched pit stop which cost him 10 seconds directly, and further was hurt by bad traffic when he returned to the track. Before the pit stop Hamilton was 4 sec ahead of Kovalainen. Under "normal" conditions Hamilton would have easily finished ahead of Kovalainen, at the very least McLaren would have had 3rd and 4th places, but very likely, Hamilton's 4 second gap in his first pit stop would have put him ahead of all the traffic that also slowed Kovalainen down, and let Kubica get away. Hamilton, in a faster car, would have caught and probably passed Kubica by the second pit stops, thus it really should have been Hamilton 2nd and Kovalainen 4th. Considering both cars (and drivers) finished, that was their true pace. Hamilton was hurt by the pit stop.

But what of Massa then? This is the second time he threw the race away with a driver error. Very bad indeed. This time a totally unforced error, too much power from the turn, spinning the car and then beaching it. Zero points. And this was after Kimi had overtaken him fair and square on the first pit stops. When Massa saw he was not going to win (again), he lost his focus and made an unforced error. Very poor form. Especially for a driver for the Scuderia. This way Felipe will find himself soon shipped away from the Prancing Horse, possibly even during this season. (For the record, Massa was running 2nd when he spun out of the race).

Kimi - pretty well perfect drive, from second on the start, flawless race, taking over the lead from the first pit stops and then except for the second pit stop window, held the lead to the end.

Kubica. Very good smart drive. He was lucky, first Massa spinning away from him, then the McLaren pit stop taking Hamilton out of contention, and finally the remaining McLaren, Kovalainen, was stuck behind Button and Coulthard and falling so far behind as to not pose a threat to Robert in his BMW. A relatively easy race for him to 2nd place.

Heikki Kovalainen - very good drive from 9th to 3rd. With some luck, could have even made 2nd, but there was no way the McLaren was to catch the Ferrari(s) on this Sunday. Made just about the best he could.

Others worth mentioning?

Heidfeld in the other BMW was very unlucky at the start, fell back to 10th I think. Salvaged 3 points with a 6th place finish.

Webber, solid drive to 7th, 2 points.

Alonso, disappointing finish at 8th with the last point

Best of the rest, certainly Trulli in the Toyota, finishing 4th. He started 3rd (because the McLarens were relegated) and managed 4th (because Massa messed up, Hamilton's pit stop and Heidfeld's bad start) so there was luck in his drive, but a good driver needs also to be lucky. So yes, very good finish for Toyota, considering that they are not as fast as Ferrari, McLaren or BMW. 5 points for Trulli.

A good, exciting race. The lack of traction control seems to be doing a lot of good for better racing, that at least bodes well for an exciting season. But Felipe Massa, ouch. He needs to get his head together real fast or he may become the first driver not to finish the season without traction control...

Next race in Bahrain in 2 weeks. I'll do a separate posting about the form of the teams now that we have two full races to analyze and explore.. Stay tuned.