2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Review

Yet another exciting race. But what a shame it was ruined by the time they chose to start the race. I think greed got the better of the sport. TV channels wanted to show the race at a better time supposedly for viewers but no doubt more to do with advertising. So the race was shifted to a 5 in the evening start in Malaysia. However as every local would tell you when the sun starts to go in the temperature drops slightly and the heavens open… This usually happens around five in the evening. So it came as no surprise when just before six the rain became too heavy and the race was stopped. Now usually a bit of rain makes things exciting but in Malaysia the rain is torrential monsoon weather. There is no English summer rain in Malaysia. Interestingly since the race the Malaysian Officials have stated they will look into the race start time. Let’s hope they move it back a couple of hours.

This rain though caused nearly all the talking points of the race. Not just the stupid starting time. The first incident of note was Nico Rosberg making the most amazing start. He got such a run down the outside it was quite impressive. It was interesting to see the KERS cars not making much use of the KERS at the beginning of the race. The long run up to turn one was meant to give them an advantage but didn’t appear to. Kimi used his boost to good effect but was left out on the outside of turn one and the three places he gained he lost two on the inside so only made up one spot. Using the KERS helped him get past but the only place to get past was the outside which meant it left him open to be taken straight away on the inside. Soon after that his KERS broke and it wasn’t clear if KERS was being much help to anyone in the field.

Places were traded in the same fashion we had at Melbourne and hopefully this will continue for the rest of the season. That was until that the heavens opened. Then in traditional F1 style all hell broke loose. These cars are simply not designed to race in these conditions and it showed in Malaysia. No one seemed to be able to keep it on the island. Most noticeably Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel had trouble. All three of them bad weather experts were unable to control the new cars in rain.

There were winners and losers in the rain and more importantly the choices made by the teams and drivers on which tyres to be on. The best choice was Timo Glock to run the intermediates. He made an excellent choice as the rain didn’t come as quickly as expected. The big loser was Kimi Raikonnen. Having put in an excellent qualifying lap in an off form Ferrari with heavy fuel he then fought well to be in 5th with no KERS. Then when pitting at the first round of stops why oh why did Ferrari put him on full wets when the track was dry? It was a major mistake and left him trailing 40 seconds off the pace for lap after lap. When the rain finally came it was too late and his tyres were burnt out. The team made the decision and Kimi didn’t appear too happy in a post race interview about the decision. Without this error he may well have got some points. As it stands Ferrari only have 1 point. They have a long way to go to get back on terms with BMW Sauber, Red Bull and Brawn GP.

The rain came down and the race was stopped. About 45 minutes had to be killed while the clock counted down to 2hrs and the end of the race. It was obvious they couldn’t race and that it wouldn’t start in time. This left the BBC furiously busking for the remainder of the show. They did a good job and their own cameras in the pit lane were excellent. Something we didn’t have much of with ITV. However David Coulthard continued to irritate me and pretty much be useless. His insight is next to useless. His words of wisdom little more than a casual fan could pass on. Eddie Jordan was OK and the rest of the team did a good job. But Coulthard? Can he not go and do after dinner talks?

There were two interesting moments in the pits the BBC cameras did pick up. One was of Kimi having an ice cream in his shorts while everyone else sat in the rain waiting for a restart. Kimi obviously felt the race wasn’t going to restart and had given up. Whereas other drivers were still psyching themselves up, staying focused, talking tactics and preparing the cars etc. I think it shows how little Kimi takes things seriously. He knew he would be given the 10 minute warning to restart but had already figured things were too bad. Is he just really cool about it all and already figured it was a waste of time or does he not care? I suppose when your plum last and annoyed at the team what else can you do. He certainly was a far cry from Mark Webber anxiously talking to all the drivers about the conditions.

The other interesting moment was when Hamilton was interviewed and thought he was 5th and was actually 7th. It shows the level of confusion in a team as to what’s going on and the fact the team member off screen told Hamilton not to worry and that they were in ‘discussion’ about it. It gives off the impression McLaren question everything. You must wonder if that affects the attitude the stewards and FIA take towards the team.

Another incidental thing which happened while watching the race was at the end my girlfriend asked what the results were. When I said Timo Glock was third she asked how can a team be third? She thought the commentators had been saying team O’Glock… Easy mistake to make but it tickled me.

It now remains to be seen if the April the 14th FIA meeting deems the diffusers legal or not. Personally I think they will be deemed legal because the other teams have already started designing and manufacturing their own diffusers. Which would suggest everyone is expecting them to be. This in a way is good news for those not running them, most noticeably Ferrari and BMW Sauber. As when they run them they should be on a par with the Brawn GP or at least a lot closer to their pace. The rain today also played into the hands of Ferrari as only half points were awarded as the race was under three quarters distance. This means the advantage is limited after the first two races to 15 points for Button and not 20 as it would have been.

There are two weeks now until the Chinese Grand Prix and it remains to be seen if the other teams can catch up with the Brawn GP car. If the diffuser is deemed legal I think they will. If it is found to be illegal they will probably be a little closer. So we wait until the 14th of April with baited breath.