2010 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix (Kuala Lumpur)
The Malaysian Grand Prix had it all, and gave us another reassurance that Formula 1 is still the heart-stopping, adrenalin-pumping, thrilling spectacle that it has always been. The thunderstorms which were threatening to spoil the fun stayed away on Sunday, as we had a full length dry Malaysian Grand Prix. Saturday’s qualifiers were, however, hit by rain. Some early showers before the start of Q1 meant that Ferrari and McLaren got it all wrong, as they chose to wait for the track to dry-up before sending their cars out. However, the unpredictable weather at Malaysia played havoc with their plans, as came down some more rain drenching the track. Even with the best efforts from Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Felippe Massa, all they could manage were 19th, 20th, 17th and 21st respectively. But, this made for some fantastic racing on Sunday as the best drivers in the best cars were left at the back of the grid. There was however, no change at the front end of the grid, occupied by a Red Bull Racing car, although this time it was Mark Webber.
Vettel snatched the lead at the start from his Australian team mate, and apart from a time when McLaren’s Lewis
Hamilton ran second for a while before his tyre stop, they were never seriously challenged. They, thus, recorded a 1-2 finish and strongly came back into the championship hunt. Nico Rosberg, who had started P2 came home 3rd, for the first podium finish for the Petronas Mercedes team. Robert Kubica came home in P4, but it is not certain whether is it the car which has improved or is it because of the man driving it. Adrian Sutil scored his first points of the season to finish 5th, and ensure that Force India maintain their record of point-finishes in all the races so far. But, for me the stars of the day were Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Both had contrasting races, as Hamiton blasted his way up the field and eventually finished 6th. He pulled off many an overtaking move, until switching to soft tyres towards the end of the race. His heroics can’t only be attributed to the McLaren F-duct – this was a man out to prove a point. Alonso’s race panned out completely differently. His Ferrari had a faulty gearbox, and it was sounding horrible. The Spaniard was muscling a car which clearly lacked a gear, as we could pick-up the car falling into a neutral somewhere in between the change of gears. He almost brought the car home in P9, but retired within 1.5 laps of the finish when a blast of smoke from his Ferrari signalled the end of his race. This happened immediately after his attempt to pass Jenson Button – though he managed to do it, with minimal engine breaking, he couldn’t hold on to the position.
Jaime Alguersuari again drove an excellent race for Toro Rosso and was rewarded with two points for ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg taking the final one for Williams thanks to Alonso’s misfortune. Thus, here were two drivers collecting the first points of their Formula 1 careers. Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi was 11th from Rubens Barrichello, whose Williams bogged down so badly at the start that Alonso had to make a phenomenal avoidance. The battle at the back of the grid was no less fierce. Virgin recorded their first finish, as Lucas di Grassi finished 14th and was the best of the new comers. The HRT took both their cars to the chequered flag, with Karun Chandhok finishing ahead of Bruno Senna. Jarno Trulli was 17th as Lotus’ sole finisher. Thus, luck finally favored Sebastian Vettel who got his head down and drove an error-free race. The result dramatically closes the championship points battle. Massa now leads with 39 from Alonso and Vettel on 37, Button on 35, Hamilton on 31 and Kubica on 30. In the constructors’ stakes Ferrari still lead with 76, but McLaren now have 66, Red Bull 61, Mercedes 44 and Renault 30. It’s over to Shanghai now, for Round 4 of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship.
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