Daily Update Formula1 News

Following his dominant win at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has spoken about his sense of relief after scoring his first points of 2008 at the Sakhir circuit. Massa, who won from second on the grid on Sunday, had retired from the first two rounds in Australia and Malaysia.

“It was a nice feeling to win, especially after my bad start to the season,” he told Ferrari’s official website. “The win came at just the right time and getting my name on the scoreboard at last. For the team also it was a perfect weekend as Kimi (Raikkonen) came second to give us maximum points.”

Massa also won the Sakhir race in 2007, but unlike last year, on Sunday the 26 year-old did not claim victory from pole. During Saturday’s qualifying, he was soundly beaten by BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, who clinched the top grid slot with an impressive lap. But Massa, it seems, was not worried about Kubica’s pace.

“It was clear that he was running fairly light in terms of fuel, or at least lighter than us,” explained the Ferrari driver. “I knew I would have around five laps more fuel than him. But thanks to a good start, even this wasn't necessary. So I was never really racing Kubica, as I knew we had a better car and a better strategy.”

Despite his confidence in the F2008, Massa is under no illusions about the strength of his rivals. While McLaren didn’t enjoy the best of races, with Heikki Kovalainen finishing in fifth and Lewis Hamilton in 13th, the Brazilian remains on his guard, especially as BMW Sauber now lead the constructors' standings.

“It seems that at the moment McLaren and BMW are at the same level and we will have to watch both of them closely,” he added. “Let's wait and see what happens in the next race. However, our own focus has to be on ourselves and on our car; improving it all the time and that will bring its own rewards.”

Massa is currently enjoying a brief break in Dubai, but will be back in action in Spain next week for the multi-team test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya from Monday.
ref [formual1.com]
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The Brazillian Massa repeat his succes last year in Bahrain, 1 - 2 post place by Scuderia. In 3th place BMW Kubica which show good perform in this season.
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1h31:06.970
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 3.339
3. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 4.998
4. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 8.409
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 26.789
6. Trulli Toyota (B) + 41.314
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 45.473
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 55.889
9. Glock Toyota (B) + 1:09.500
10. Alonso Renault (B) + 1:17.181
11. Barrichello Honda (B) + 1:17.862
12. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
16. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
17. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
18. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1 lap
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) + 2 laps

Out:
Nelson Piquet (Renault)
Jenson Button (Honda)
Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Torro Rosso)

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Qualification GP Bahrain
1. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:32.893 1:31.745 1:33.096 12
2. Massa Ferrari 1:31.937 1:31.188 1:33.123 12
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.750 1:31.922 1:33.292 13
4. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:32.652 1:31.933 1:33.418 12
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.057 1:31.718 1:33.488 12
6. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:33.137 1:31.909 1:33.737 15
7. Trulli Toyota 1:32.493 1:32.159 1:33.994 19
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:32.903 1:32.185 1:34.015 22
9. Button Honda 1:32.793 1:32.362 1:35.057 17
10. Alonso Renault 1:32.947 1:32.345 1:35.115 17
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:33.194 1:32.371 12
12. Barrichello Honda 1:32.944 1:32.508 12
13. Glock Toyota 1:32.800 1:32.528 15
14. Piquet Renault 1:32.975 1:32.790 15
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:33.415 1:32.915 15
16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:33.386 1:32.943 15
17. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:33.433 7
18. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:33.501 5
19. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:33.562 9
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:33.845 6
21. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:34.140 9
22. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:35.725 5

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Drivers: 1st Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), 1m33.096s; 2nd Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1m33.123s; 3rd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1m33.292s.
Q: Congratulations, a fantastic day for you and quick too in Q2, third fastest without fuel on board, so a great day for you.
Robert Kubica: Yeah, I think after yesterday’s good work in free practice two we have developed quite a lot. Qualifying went pretty well: Q1 and Q2 but Q3 I managed to do quite a good lap and got on pole position for the first time.

Q: I’m sure it was more than quite a good lap. Let’s talk about that lap and also your emotions as you heard it was your first pole.
RK: Well, I started the lap pretty well, then in corner nine I locked the front wheels and unfortunately I flat-spotted the tyres, so it was not easy. I had a very big vibration and in the last three corners which are right-handers, it was very difficult but I managed not to make a mistake. The car was pulling to one side under braking but still it was enough for pole and I’m very happy.

Q: How much have you expected this kind of performance this year?
RK: We were all expecting to be strong. Looking at the numbers in the wind tunnel during the winter and simulations of the new car, I was expecting it to be a very strong car but at the beginning of the winter testing we faced some problems but the guys worked very hard and I think this is an example of never giving up, even if there are problems, pushing as hard as possible and we managed to be ready in Australia with what was nearly the full potential of the car but of course there is still work to do. We will try to do our best and improve the car even more.

Q: Last year’s pole man, Felipe Massa, sitting alongside. You’ve been so quick all weekend, you were fastest this morning by over 0.7s, were you a bit disappointed to be second on the grid?
FM: Well, in a way I’m happy with second, looking at how we look in the race, but for sure, I think even in Q3, looking at what we did in Q2, it was really possible to be in front. I was a little bit unlucky with traffic in Q3, I was always behind cars and I couldn’t do very clean laps but it’s good to be second, good to start in the front and I think we can be very strong tomorrow as we have shown all weekend.

Q: What was the tyre choice like? It was interesting in qualifying that most drivers seemed to go out on mediums and then on softs at the end?
FM: Well, for sure soft in qualifying is always the best and for the race we need to analyse tonight the best situation, how the track is going to be, how the grid is going to be, even taking the data from today but I don’t think we have a lot of problems with the tyres here. Both seem pretty reasonable.

Q: Lewis, disappointed to be third after second last year?
LH: No, I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing but for sure we would prefer to be on pole, but I still think we… The team have done a great job to recover from the accident I had yesterday, the team stayed up all night, so a big thank you to them for preparing the car. It was great today. As Robert was saying, we all knew we were going to be very close this weekend. Felipe was extremely quick, but we knew that we would be competing for a top three place for sure and I think these guys both did a great job. I was quite happy with my lap but there are always improvements that you can make but we’re in a good position for the start tomorrow, so I am quite happy.

Q: Both of the Finns including your team-mate behind you, of course.
LH: Yes. What can I say really? It’s good for me and I just need to make sure we get off to a good start tomorrow and we can try and pace ourselves from there.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Panos Seitanidis – Drive Magazine) Question for Robert. First of all, do you think there’s going to be a big party back home in Poland, and secondly, do you think that BMW has the race pace to have the same position tomorrow?
RK: I think that after the second place in Malaysia there were high expectations in Poland and I’m confident about the race as well. Yesterday we did some long runs and they went pretty OK and I think Ferrari was clearly the fastest but in the race anything can happen and we will now try to analyse the data and prepare for tomorrow’s race as much as possible.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Felipe, you had been the fastest all the time in the first sector but it seemed that you lost time in Q3 in the second sector in both outings. Any problem there?
FM: No, no problem. I think on the first attempt I was pretty slow in the second and third sector because I was behind Rosberg during the whole lap, and on the last attempt I passed Fernando just before turn nine, but I don’t think he held me up. I don’t think there was any problem.

Q: (Ottavio Daviddi – Tuttosport) Robert, you undertook a slimming programme before the start of the season. Why did you decide to go on a diet and what kind of diet did you do?
LH: Stop having KFC and everything.
RK: We decided for some technical reasons to reduce the weight as much as possible and I tried to do my best in February and March and it was not easy because in the end, now I think I am weighing much less than normal, even for the average of 1.85m driver but still, it produces quite a good gain in the performance and I think this was in some way also the key to be so strong at the beginning of the season.

Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Question for all of you: is it a big advantage to start on the clean side of the track here?
RK: This year it’s more difficult to get a perfect start because without all the electronic systems there is more benefit to do everything perfectly than from side to side. Even if you are on the clean side, if something goes wrong, you lose much more than someone who is on the dirty side and makes a good start.
FM: Well, it depends what sort of start you can make. For sure, if I need to chose, I always prefer the clean side but if you look at last year, I think you can see a good start as well. He (Lewis) almost passed me in turn one but I think you can also be strong on the dirty side, so let’s wait and see tomorrow.
LH: For me I think last year starting second I got a slightly worse start than Felipe but I think it’s going to be quite equal but I’m happy with being on the clean side, that’s for sure.
ref [formula1.com]
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Double world champion Fernando Alonso says he is committed to bringing Renault back to the top step of the podium and has denied he has a performance clause in his contract allowing him to leave the team at the end of the season.

But the 26-year-old Spaniard, who has been linked to switch to Ferrari in 2009, hinted to reporters in Bahrain that it was too early in the season for him to make firm decisions about his future.

"I don't remember that clause and I signed for two years with Renault," said Alonso. "But as we saw last year the contracts are always very flexible."

Alonso's best result so far this season was fourth, in Australia, but then finished 70 seconds behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Malaysia.

Asked if he was committed to staying at Renault and turning the team's fortunes around, Alonso replied: "At the moment yes, because we have just started the championship.

"And okay, we are disappointed with our performances in the first two races, but it is not time to give up now, it is time to keep working as hard as we can," he added.

"And then we will see at the middle of the season or the end of the season where we are and for next year there is a big change of rules it seems, so aerodynamically there will be a big change with very little wings and we will have slick tyres again probably.

"So all this can change the picture again in F1, at the moment I am really convinced that we can do a good job, Renault and me together."

Formula One's regulation changes are likely to be the most far-reaching for more than two decades in the sport, and Alonso believes that with the resources at Renault's disposal, the team will be well-placed to take advantage of the opportunity.

"I think when rules change this dramatically it is like throwing a coin in the air," he said.

"Any team can have a good car and fight for the championship. At the moment the teams that we are behind now, this is the thing that we are hoping, a big change in rules and we can recover the gap quickly.

"If the rules stay the same for the next ten years or whatever, we know that Ferrari and McLaren will fight for the next ten championships. So hopefully next year everything will change a little bit and maybe we can see the benefit of it."
ref : [as]
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Max Mosley has apologised to members of the FIA for any embarrassment caused by the recent revelations about his private life, but made it clear he remains fully committed to his role as president of motor racing's governing body.

In a letter sent on Tuesday to all presidents of the national FIA clubs, all members of the FIA Senate, the World Motor Sport Council and the World Council for Mobility and the Automobile, Mosley blames the allegations about his sexual conduct on a 'covert' operation to discredit him.

The FIA head also denied claims from the newspaper that there were Nazi connotations in his actions.

He also reveals that he intends to take legal action against the News of the World newspaper for the article.

In the letter, Mosley writes: "From information provided to me by an impeccable high-level source close to the UK police and security services, I understand that over the last two weeks or so, a covert investigation of my private life and background has been undertaken by a group specialising in such things, for reasons and clients as yet unknown. I have had similar but less well-sourced information from France.

"Regrettably you are now familiar with the results of this covert investigation and I am very sorry if this has embarrassed you or the club. Not content with publicising highly personal and private activities, which are, to say the least, embarrassing, a British tabloid newspaper published the story with the claim that there was some sort of Nazi connotation to the matter. This is entirely false.

"It is against the law in most countries to publish details of a person's private life without good reason. The publications by The News of the World are a wholly unwarranted invasion of my privacy and I intend to issue legal proceedings against the Newspaper in the UK and other jurisdictions."

Although there have been calls by some for Mosley to resign in the wake of the scandal, in the letter he claims that he has received support from a number of parties who wish him to stand firm in light of the controversy.

"I have received a very large number of messages of sympathy and support from those within the FIA and the motor sport and motoring communities generally, suggesting that my private life is not relevant to my work and that I should continue in my role," wrote Mosley. "I am grateful and with your support I intend to follow this advice.

"I shall now devote some time to those responsible for putting this into the public domain but above all I need to repair the damage to my immediate family who are the innocent and unsuspecting victims of this deliberate and calculated personal attack.

"You can, however be certain that I will not allow any of this to impede my commitment to the work of the FIA."

The letter is the first public statement from Mosley since the story broke in Sunday's News of the World newspaper.

Although Mosley is scheduled to attend this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, it is looking increasingly likely that he will choose to skip the event.

Although the news of Mosley's antics has generated a lot of coverage and reaction in the media, so far Formula One teams and manufacturers have remained silent over the matter.
ref [as]
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Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA
reference : formula1.com

1st Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 1h31m18.555s; 2nd Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), 1h31m38.125s; 3rd Heikki Kovlainen (McLaren), 1h31m57.005s.

Q: Kimi, that was a fantastic win and from the start it looked like a very close race between you and your team-mate Felipe Massa.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, I think so. We were pretty similar speed-wise. Once he went into the pits my car got much better because when you are one or two seconds behind it is a massive difference. I was able to go much quicker on my in-lap and I could pass him. After that when you are in free air the car was handling perfectly and I was able to pull away. After a few laps I don’t know what happened to him but it was a pretty easy race after that first pit stop.


Q: You were obviously outqualified by him by a small margin. In retrospect did that reflect the fuel load or was the car a lot better on race day than it had been on Saturday?
KR: I think sometimes that we still have some difficulties to get the qualifying right. It was good in Q2 but then in qualifying two we could not find the grip with the tyres. But we knew we were running one lap longer, so I was not really panicking. The car usually has been much stronger in the race for us than in the qualifying, so as long as we kept close I thought we would have a good chance to pass him and it worked out in the first pit stop already. The car was very good all weekend but sometimes with new tyres it is difficult to get the best out of it. The team did a great job this weekend.

Q: You seemed to make a pretty good start. Talk us through the first corner as it was pretty close there and for a moment it looked as if perhaps you might have a go.
KR: Yeah, I got alongside Felipe. I got a bit better start but in the situation I knew that we would run one lap longer, so we didn’t want to risk it between the team-mates in the first corner. Maybe if I had pushed harder I could have made it past, but I decided to stay behind and try my move at the pit stop. I think that was better for everybody and it worked out perfectly.

Q: The Malaysian Grand Prix, traditionally, is a very tough race particularly in terms of the heat. But you jumped out of the car and looked pretty fresh when you got out.
KR: It wasn’t too bad really. Of course it is hotter than any other race. Australia was hot but in here it is so humid but for me it was okay. There was a small issue on the podium.

Q: There was champagne under the eye-lid there.
KR: Yeah, we should put it in the mouth not in the eye. Things go wrong sometimes. Anyway it has been a perfect weekend.

Q: Robert, congratulations to you. Your team-mate Nick Heidfeld finished sixth and set fastest race lap. A great day for the BMW Sauber team.
Robert Kubica: I think it is a fantastic result for the team - second time we have second place in a grand prix in a row. After an unlucky Australian Grand Prix finally a podium after Monza 2006, so I am very happy for myself and for the team.

Q: Simple words, but of course a very tough race and you did drive beautifully. Talk us through the race in terms of your tyre choice and perhaps the effect of the heat and strategy and what it was like in the closing stages?
RK: I didn’t have a good start. There was some wheel-spin at the start which compromised my acceleration, so it was quite close with (Jarno) Trulli and Nick. I nearly lost the car on the braking into the first corner as I was inside on the dirty side but I think they touched, so I managed to overtake them. I was trying to keep a consistent pace. We know we cannot keep behind Ferrari but I was trying to make up time as I thought McLaren would be a bit stronger. I saw after the second pit stop that Heikki was around 17 seconds behind me and didn’t close the gap. We did the last pit stop and then just pulled down the revs to keep the engine a bit fresh for the next grand prix which is very important. For the heat it was a tough race and I didn’t feel well all weekend. I was a bit sick and especially our new car is very hot inside. The last 10 laps were pretty tough to keep concentration as 20 seconds in front was Kimi and 20 seconds behind was Heikki, so I was just cruising to the end.

Q: The drink in the car. How was that towards the end of the ace?
RK: Our drink is already hot at the beginning of the race – extremely hot as in the cockpit we have massive temperatures, so I didn’t drink a lot as the drink was too hot. Next time I try to use hot tea inside the bottle.

Q: You were behind the Ferraris early on. Where were they quicker and where are you going to be working on improving the car in the upcoming weeks?
RK: First of all I think we have to be happy with our pace already now because at the start of the season it did not look so well. It is very difficult to say where they are quicker. For sure on the top speed we are lacking a bit and it makes for tough racing because you have to push really hard in the corners knowing that in the straight you will be losing a bit of a gap. Especially on the long distance race it is not easy with tyre degradation and with the new tarmac and the new asphalt here in Sepang we were lacking traction compared to last year, so we will have to work on this.

Q: Heikki, congratulations to you. P3 in qualifying but in fact starting eighth on the grid. But finishing third on the podium – what a fantastic day for you.
Heikki Kovalainen: We have to be pleased with the result. Obviously after yesterday’s penalty it was going to be hard day for us. My strategy worked out very well and I was able to be in the clean air almost all the time. There was a little trouble in the first stint with a bit of graining but after that the car worked pretty well and then on the last stint I also had a gap to the front and to the back, so we turned the engines down and we just brought it home. For me a pretty good day, although we still would have liked to have been a couple of positions higher but today this was the maximum we could do.

Q: A great strategy stopping as late as lap 20 and in that extended first stint being able to pass for example Jarno Trulli and then consolidating that position with pressure from the Toyota for a while.
HK: It was always going to be the laps at the end of the stint that we felt we would be stronger compared to the others. Like I said, earlier on in the stints there was a bit of graining compromising our pace a little bit. That’s why the team decided to keep me on the track a bit longer. It was absolutely the right thing to do and I was able to jump Jarno. It was in the second stint that I was able to accelerate and bring it home.

Q: A great drive and again difficult conditions in many ways. Perhaps your drive was the hardest of the three here. How was it for you in the cockpit?
HK: It is always tough but I feel fairly good after the race, no big problems. We worked very hard with the team and with my trainer, with my doctor, to make sure that I am in a good shape and in a better shape compared to last year. I think the work has paid off but we will carry on like this and eventually we will arrive in the other position.

Q: Kimi, what a fantastic bounce back for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team after that weekend in Australia?
KR: For sure we had quite a difficult weekend in Australia. We didn’t really expect to have such difficulties and we were 100 per cent sure that it was going to be different here. Speed-wise we knew that we were going to be fine once we were in the right place. Even in Australia the speed should have been okay in the race. Everything worked perfectly here and we took it quite easy in the race to make sure nothing went wrong. We still have a second race with the same engine, so we saved the engine quite well here. It was a perfect job by the team after a difficult first race to come back like this. Overall we would have been happier if Felipe had been on the second place but things go wrong sometimes. This is a good start now for the season for us and we are in a pretty good position.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Kimi, congratulations. It has really looked good all weekend, hasn’t it?
KR: Yeah, I think so. The car has been good all weekend. Of course we had a small problem in first practice on Friday. The car was not exactly what we wanted in qualifying but we knew that we should have a good race pace and it worked out perfectly.

Q: Who have you felt most threatened by during the weekend?
KR: For sure Felipe has been fast but like I said from last year already that the qualifying has not really been the strongest point. Again we had a good Q2, then the tyres didn’t work as well in the final qualifying. That was a bit disappointing but I mean we knew that the car would be strong in the race and we would stop one lap later. We put a lot of effort on that and it worked out good.

Q: Do you think your pace was comparable to Felipe?
KR: We were very close in the first stint. Once he went into the pit my car was much faster. When you do not have anybody in front of you it improves a lot. After the pit stop we were quite easy to pull away from him in the clear air. It is always difficult to follow people close and you need to be very close to be able to pass them at the pit stops so it makes it more difficult.

Q: And after that quite a lonely race, really.
KR: Yeah. For sure we could have gone much faster if we had pushed but we had already turned the engines down before the first pit stop, after the first laps, so it was quite easy for us.

Q: In fact, talking of lonely races, Robert, you had no one anywhere near you: twenty seconds in each direction.
RK: Yeah, that’s true. Only at the beginning of the race I had a close fight with Jarno and Nick, into the first corner. I didn’t manage a good start but afterwards I was trying to increase the gap to the drivers behind. I was expecting McLaren to come on strong. It didn’t happen, luckily for us, and we had quite good pace for the whole race.

Q: It was the best result of your career and also your major sponsor’s home race, so what does this result mean to you?
RK: After a disappointing race in Australia where I qualified second with a small mistake which cost me pole position, the race pace in Australia was not really fantastic, especially in the first stint. Here we worked mainly on the race pace. I knew with some solutions which we chose in qualifying, we would suffer a bit, but then in the race it paid off, so I’m very happy for myself, for the team and for Petronas.

Q: How do you see your pace in comparison to Ferrari?
RK: I think Ferrari was something special because they were not where we were expecting them to be, and here they are exactly where we think that they are. We are lacking a few tenths per lap and this brings the final twenty seconds in the race of sixty laps.

Q: You had a bit of a battle with Jarno, Heikki. Were you basically looking to overtake during the pit stops?
HK: Yeah, that was always going to be the case. In my race today I suffered a little bit at the beginning of the first and second stints, with a little bit of graining with my front tyres, so the only time for me really to attack was at the end of the stint. The car was getting better towards the end of the stint and I was able to push more. So I wasn’t too worried when Jarno was behind me, because I knew that I was going very long in the second stint, and I was fairly sure that he wouldn’t be going that long, so I just kept it nice and easy with my tyres, trying to make sure they were in good shape whenever he pitted and I was able to do a few good laps at that point and for the last stint it was relatively easy.

Q: Was there much difference between the tyre performance?
HK: The first stint didn’t feel quite as good with the softer tyre. The second stint felt better with the harder one but then the last stint on the softer tyre felt good again. I think there was a bit of track evolution. So it wasn’t too bad.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi and Heikki, this was the greatest ever Grand Prix result for Finnish drivers. How does it feel to be a Finn and when will we see a one-two result?
KR: It hasn’t changed anything, even the results, for me at least. For sure it was a good day for Finns but it’s still early season. Hopefully at some point we will be one and two, but I will be looking for first place all the time and a best possible overall result. It was a good day for us.
HK: Yeah, pretty much the same for me. It’s good to have Finns here on the podium and in Finland they are talking about the Formula One Finnish championship but let’s see if it carries on like this. There are many other good drivers and it’s not always going to be like this, but I wouldn’t complain if it happened a few more times.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, were you surprised at the start when Felipe was closing on you a little bit?
KR: Not really. I think I had enough space. He was pushing me a little bit on the right side but that’s racing. It was OK.

Q: (Mark Danby – Auto Magazine China) Kimi, did your tyres behave to your expectations at the end of each stint?
KR: No. The first stint was the most difficult because I was quite close to Felipe so, like I said, once he came into the pits, the car suddenly felt much better. It’s always when you’re one or two seconds behind somebody that there’s still a massive effect on the aerodynamics. Apart from that, it was very good, the tyres felt perfect. I think the soft tyre could have been the faster one in the end, but of course we didn’t push any more in the last two stints.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, after the quite disastrous race in Australia, how much more confidence do you take from this race that the rest of the season will be OK?
KR: We never lost confidence in our team. Of course we had quite a difficult race in Australia, but the whole winter the car has been working well, it’s been quick. Unfortunately we had some problems which we didn’t really expect at the first race and hopefully we can get rid of them like here where we didn’t have any issues but you never know, we’re still not one hundred percent happy with things. We still try to improve them but for sure, we have confidence in the team, in the car, in the people, so we will definitely do the best that we can, and hopefully we can be fast again in the next race.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, were you surprised McLaren were so far behind you?
KR: No, I think it’s been the same all weekend. I already said in Australia that our speed should be fine. When you start behind someone, as in Australia, you can never use your own speed. Australia is not exactly a normal circuit, so sometimes you get slightly wrong results there. Last year we were much faster than everybody there, and coming here we were not so happy anymore, so it’s a bit the opposite now. I think the next race can be different again, so we need to wait and see and after a few races we will get a clearer picture where we are exactly.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Kimi, in the lap that you came in for the first pit stop, you did the best T1 and T2 times of the race at that stage. Could you do that with Massa in front of you or did you expect him to go into the pits to do that?
KR: Like I said already, when he went in my car got much better because I was quite close. It always affects the car. I think it needs to be around six seconds in front of you before you don’t feel anything anymore. I was only less than two seconds, so once he pulled in my car just got much quicker and I was able to go more than half a second faster on the in lap. It was enough, we knew that it was going to be close and it worked out perfectly. Once I was in front of him the car was much better in the second stint and I was able to pull away.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Heikki, even in the middle stint, when you couldn’t quite go at the pace of the BMWs, although you said that the tyres were working quite well, do you think you had no chance to beat them today, and how do you see your team in comparison to Ferrari?
HK: I think there was no way we could match Ferrari. BMW also seemed to be very strong on race day, but then again, when you start further down on the grid, it’s always going to be a compromise. You initially lose quite a lot of time, the first few laps you can lose a couple of seconds a lap if you get stuck in traffic and you’re fighting for position, so by the time I sort of got going in the race, the gap to Robert was seventeen seconds. It’s impossible to say what would have happened had we started where we qualified, but in any case, I think we did the maximum today that was possible and third place for me was more than enough today.

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Pos Driver Team Time
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1h31:18.555
2. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 19.570
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 38.450
4. Trulli Toyota (B) + 45.832
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 46.548
6. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 49.833
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1:08.130
8. Alonso Renault (B) + 1:10.041
9. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1:16.220
10. Button Honda (B) + 1:26.214
11. Piquet Renault (B) + 1:32.202
12. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
13. Barrichello Honda (B) + 1 lap
14. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
15. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
16. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 2 laps
17. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 2 laps

Fastest lap: Heidfeld, 1:35.366

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 41
Massa Ferrari (B) 31
Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 7
Glock Toyota (B) 2
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1


World Championship standings, round 2:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Hamilton 14 1. McLaren-Mercedes 24
2. Heidfeld 11 2. BMW Sauber 19
3. Kovalainen 10 3. Ferrari 10
4. Raikkonen 10 4. Williams-Toyota 8
5. Kubica 8 5. Renault 6
6. Rosberg 6 6. Toyota 5
7. Alonso 6 7. Honda 3
8. Trulli 5 8. Red Bull-Renault 2
9. Barrichello 3 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1
10. Webber 2
11. Nakajima 2
12. Bourdais 1

All timing unofficial

reference :
autosport

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Kimi Raikkonen got his title defence back on course with a dominant victory for Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

With Raikkonen's teammate Felipe Massa spinning out of second place at half-distance, and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton only managing third and fifth places following their qualifying penalties, Robert Kubica was able to take a career-best second place for BMW Sauber.

Massa's error spoiled what had looked like a dominant one-two finish for Ferrari.

The Brazilian had led from pole at first, fending off a strong challenge from Raikkonen into the first corner. But he was not able to pull away from the world champion, who remained within two seconds of his teammate throughout the first stint.

Raikkonen then went one lap further before his first pitstop, and a superb in-lap allowed him to emerge from the pits just ahead of Massa.

The Finn subsequently pulled away, and was nearly five seconds clear when Massa lost the rear of his car at Turn 8 on lap 30. The Ferrari slid sideways into the gravel, and its rear wheels bogged down, ending Massa's race.

That handed second place to Kubica. The Pole had jumped to third at the start, then had an extremely lonely race - unable to match the Ferraris but comfortably quicker than the rest of the field, including the delayed McLarens. Running longer than Ferrari also allowed Kubica to lead the race for several laps at both pitstops.

Hamilton made the most progress of the two McLarens at first, moving up from ninth on the grid to fifth by the first corner. But he then became stuck behind Mark Webber's Red Bull throughout the opening stint.

He was set to jump ahead of the Australian in the first pitstops, but a problem removing the right front wheel cost Hamilton over 10 seconds and dropped him back into the traffic again.

Kovalainen had no such troubles when he pitted a lap later, and was able to leap from seventh to fourth during the first stops. Massa's departure then elevated the Finn on to the podium for the first time in his McLaren career, albeit a long way behind Raikkonen and Kubica.

Jarno Trulli resisted a late challenge from Hamilton to secure fourth for Toyota. The Italian had lost ground at the first corner after banging wheels with BMW's Nick Heidfeld, but recovered well and was pushing Kovalainen for third during the middle stint.

He could not maintain that pace later on, though, falling away from the Finn and only just holding off the charging Hamilton at the end - the McLaren having finally cleared Webber's Red Bull at the second stops.

Heidfeld also got ahead of Webber during the final pit sequence, and duly took sixth place - setting fastest lap right at the end. Webber fended off Fernando Alonso (Renault) for seventh. Alonso had run very long stints, but lacked the pace on heavy fuel to make significant progress.

David Coulthard (Red Bull) overcame mid-race pressure from Honda's Jenson Button and Renault's Nelson Piquet to take ninth position.

Further back, Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella beat Rubens Barrichello (Honda) to 12th after the Brazilian received a pit lane speeding penalty.

A week after their Melbourne podium finish, Williams had a very poor race. Nico Rosberg tangled with Timo Glock on the first lap, taking the Toyota out of the race and breaking the Williams' front wing.

The German could only recover to 14th, while his teammate Kazuki Nakajima fell off the pace in the closing laps and dropped to last, behind the two Super Aguris.

Toro Rosso also had a very disappointing day. Sebastien Bourdais crashed out on the opening lap, while his teammate Sebastian Vettel was on course for 12th before a late engine failure.

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