F1 2012 – The Viewing Experience

It’s been a thrilling start to the 2012 Formula 1 season, but actually witnessing all the action is not as straightforward as was previously the case. Thanks to Sky and the BBC’s joint coverage arrangement, and due to not having Sky myself, I’ve only seen two of the first four races of the season live and in full. Bearing in mind that the last time I missed seeing a full Grand Prix (either live or re-run) was Germany in 1997 and you’ll get some idea of how keen I am on the sport. I therefore expected horrific withdrawal symptoms to have taken hold by now, but actually being Sky-less hasn’t been too bad.

I have (in part) been consoled by how poor the limited amount of Sky coverage I have witnessed thus far has been. I should add that such experience is limited to the Season Preview (thanks to little known available-on-Freeview-Sky-programming-repeater Pick TV) and coverage of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Credit for that goes to a Sky-owning friend who organised an excellent F1 breakfast, with thanks to the Co-operative for the edible meat-based breakfast supplies (they are “good with fudd”, apparently). But this brief taste of mediocrity (the programme, not the sausages) was enough to convince me that Sky’s coverage simply isn’t worth the asking price. For starters, everything has been so completely (and predictably) ‘Americanised’ (or at least ‘football-ised’) –  since when has the off-season been known as the F1 “transfer window”?

In terms of presenters, lead anchor Simon Lazenby came across as professional, if a little dull and vacant. ‘Vacant’ doesn’t even begin to describe Georgie Thompson, who appears to spend her time locked in a shoebox with poor Anthony Davidson and a giant iPad (hence it being called the ‘Skypad’ I suppose). The two of them only appeared on screen once during and after the Malaysian Grand Prix - surely the long red-flag stoppage was as good a time as any to introduce the orange one and her orange-haired accomplice. The only use the giant iPad has is seemingly to allow Davidson to touch the screen to show a replay of the start of the race – wow, cutting edge use of technology there. And as for pit lane reporter Natalie Pinkham, her ineptitude reached new levels after the race when she had to be corrected by Kimi Raikkonen after she told him he had finished where he’d started the race (the Finn having originally qualified, and finished, 5th but actually lining up 10th on the grid after a gearbox change).

The actual race coverage was better, largely because the race is shown in full and commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle are both more than competent. But even those two joined in with the most singularly frustrating aspect of the coverage – the constant self-promotion of Sky’s own features. Every time we went onboard with a driver, we were reminded of the ‘Sky Race Control’ gimmick, whereby we could watch the progress of our favourite driver (or should that be ‘Most Valuable Player’?) from inside their car. Indeed, every time something happened in the race off-camera, the commentators excitedly referred to having ‘seen’ said event using ‘Sky Race Control’, rather than using the myriad of timing screens in the commentary box (which have presumably been made redundant by Sky’s amazing technology). And during every break we were reminded about how to subscribe to Sky Sports F1 HD. Again.

Even the never-ending post-race coverage wasn’t very good. As well as Pinkham’s error, Sky somehow failed to run an interview with Sebastian Vettel – the first time I heard his disparaging comments towards Narain Karthikeyan was on the BBC website. And they saved the very worst for last – having failed to get an interview with man-of-the-moment Peter Sauber (which the BBC managed while he was still on the pit wall at the end of the race), Sky cut short their interview with Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn to bring us (exclusively no doubt) their “Sounds Of The Weekend” – a short sequence featuring such classic race-defining moments as a paddock pass being swiped (and accompanying beep) and Jean-Eric Vergne playing boules. It made ITV’s misguided Beverley Turner-fronted lifestyle features of the mid-2000s look positively inspired.

So that leaves me with the BBC’s coverage. The Australian Grand Prix highlights were fine – while I used to take a masochistic pleasure in waking at 4am to watch the race live, I won’t lie and claim that I wasn’t slightly glad not to do so this year. I watched the Malaysian highlights after witnessing Sky’s live coverage, and must say that hardly anything was missed (bar the red flag period which wasn’t exactly action-packed). The Chinese race was of course live on the BBC, and the programme seemed near-identical to last year’s coverage. But (and it’s a big one), the Bahrain highlights simply weren’t long enough.

After around 75 minutes of highlights for the first two races (easily enough to show all the action) the racing from Sakhir was brutally cut down to just 50 minutes. In any other season this wouldn’t really be a problem, but given the closeness of the field this year it quickly became difficult to follow the action. After every pit stop cars change position and get stuck behind slower runners due to the lack of field spread compared to the past. This in turn made it rather tricky to spot who was running where, and what their ‘real’ position was - it’s much easier to keep track of pit stops when you see the majority of them happen in front of your eyes. The other thing I missed was the little, less significant events that make F1 so interesting to watch, such as the progress of the smaller teams (I don’t remember seeing a Caterham during the Bahrain coverage, and was unaware of Charles Pic’s retirement until he dropped off the running order at the bottom of the screen). Unfortunately, it seems that all European races (which in terms of start time, Bahrain was lumped in with) will have the same shorter highlights. It’s particularly annoying to see pre-race features intrude on coverage of the actual race, but I guess the BBC are contractually bound to only show a certain, limited amount of race footage.

On the presenting front, the loss of Brundle is obviously a blow, but the enthusiastic Ben Edwards has made a good start to life in the commentary box alongside David Coulthard, who also seems to have livened up a bit this year. Eddie Jordan only seems to be attending selected races, which is no bad thing, and his former designer Gary Anderson has improved somewhat after a nervous start. Anderson is hardly a natural in front of the camera but he does have some enlightening things to say, if you can make them out over the noise of the engines when he’s in pit lane (I find his heavy accent slightly difficult to interpret when competing with background noise). Jake Humphrey remains an irritation, but he will be taking time out of his busy schedule of patronising Formula 1 drivers and team bosses alike to present coverage of both Euro 2012 and the Olympics later in the year. This is not so much a blessing in disguise as rapture in an unconvincing wig, but nevertheless indicative of how far F1 has fallen down the BBC’s sporting pecking order given that Humphrey is inexplicably one of their favourite presenting sons. Equally inexplicable was the decision to hire James Allen as Radio Five Live’s commentator, and as expected he’s picked up where he left off at ITV by being utterly awful. Luckily I’ve only sat through his drivel for one practice session this season, and I won’t be doing so again (as a tip, Edwards seems to do the first practice session at each race, so that’s the one to watch/listen to). But Allen’s inclusion does make Five Live’s previously decent race previews and Chequered Flag podcasts almost un-listenable these days.

But, despite all the negatives, I’ll be sticking to the BBC free-to-air coverage for the time being (even though they stole my idea for their MotoGP trailer…). Sky’s corporate, technology-heavy and Americanised coverage cannot compete at present, and as long as the BBC continues to show at least half the races a Sky subscription simply isn’t worth the money (unless you already have one, of course). For the remaining European races on Sky, a trip to the pub may be in order (no bad thing) as a few local establishments are now promising live F1 coverage, a promise which is more likely to be met now the football season is almost over. But failing that (and this is probably the single worst thing about relying on the BBC coverage), I’ll be spending every fourth Sunday trying to avoid the news, and therefore the sodding race result, for a few crucial hours…

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Taking the above into account, it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to join Twitter, but I’ve gone and done it anyway. Expect comments on breaking F1 news and events (at least for those races appearing on the BBC). Why not* follow me @PitsTakeF1?

* Because I’ll probably tweet even less rarely than I update this blog (at least until I get the hang of this new-fangled technology), that's why not…

Australia and Malaysia Round-Up and Driver Ratings

What a fabulous start to the season it’s been. Australia set the tone with a typical Albert Park GP – crashes, overtaking and general mayhem, featuring some excellent performances from Button, Alonso and Maldonado (well, until the last lap anyway). But Malaysia was even better, with a fascinating battle for the lead, surprise podium finishers, and even an attractive arrangement of awnings which resembled the first ever Formula 1 farmer’s market.

Brilliantly, the 2012 form guide remains relatively unwritten given that we haven’t seen a ‘normal’ dry race on a conventional circuit yet. But with nine teams already having scored points, it’s clearly going to be a close season and the performance of individual drivers could be more important than ever. Which leads me nicely on to the driver ratings.

Regular readers of this blog (many of whom are known to me by name…) will know how this works. Basically, after each race each driver gets a rating out of 10 based on their performance across the whole weekend. Yes I know Autosport do something similar, but unlike them I don’t insist on giving all the British drivers at least 6 every race… and mine’s free, so there. Anyway, each rating is then added up at the end of the year to crown a Pits Take Driver of the Season. I’ve added a full chart of last year’s scores to the 2011 Season Review if you fancy revisiting that. So, off we go…

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – AUS 8, MAL 6

Mark Webber – AUS 7, MAL 7

It hasn’t really gone the reigning world champion driver or team’s way so far this year. Vettel has been outqualified twice by team mate Webber and appears under pressure to perform, as evidenced by his petty post-Malaysia outburst against a mostly-innocent Narain Karthikeyan. After qualifying only 6th Vettel actually drove very well in the race in Australia, assertively passing Nico Rosberg on his way to a (slightly safety car-assisted) 2nd place. But Malaysia was mildly disastrous – his gamble to qualify on hard tyres was rendered futile by the wet conditions, and after being tagged by Karthikeyan he could only finish 11th. His post-race comments betrayed his frustration at not hitherto being able to run at the very front. Webber has been consistent in finishing 4th in both races so far, and he drove particularly well in the tricky Malaysian rain. The Australian has generally shown better form than in 2011, in spite of running behind Vettel for most of both races and despite the Red Bull not longer being the car to beat.

McLaren

Jenson Button – AUS 9, MAL 5

Lewis Hamilton – AUS 7, MAL 8

Despite the confusing nature of both the Australian and Malaysian races, it’s clear that McLaren have an extremely competitive car. They’re the only team to have mounted the podium more than once and Hamilton and Button are 2nd and 3rd in the championship respectively. Button will probably be the happier of the two men after a great victory in Melbourne which owed much to his continued ability to look after the tyres. Hamilton took pole but then lost out at the start, and from then on never looked like beating his team mate. Another front row lock out in Malaysia boded well, but when the rain came Button’s alleged wet-weather abilities deserted him. A clumsy collision with the seemingly-magnetic HRT of Karthikeyan was one thing, but even after pitting for repairs Button never really looked like a contender, and had to make an extra pit stop after struggling on intermediate tyres. Hamilton’s 3rd place, while useful for the championship, was a little disappointing after another pole, but at least he’s showing much-needed (and apparently intentional) consistency.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – AUS 8, MAL 10

Felipe Massa – AUS 3, MAL 4

Pre-season fears that Ferrari would be off the pace have been largely proven correct, with only one Q3 appearance so far this season. And yet Alonso leads the driver’s championship after two quite brilliant performances where he extracted more than seemed possible out of the F2012. The Spaniard admittedly blotted his copybook with an off in qualifying in Melbourne, but his drive in the race was admirable as he fended off faster cars to take an excellent 5th. Felipe Massa meanwhile was a second off his team mate in qualifying (despite Alonso’s spin) and endured one of his worst ever Grand Prix which ended after an unnecessary collision with Bruno Senna. In Malaysia, after the heavens opened, Alonso proved once again that he is the most complete driver on the grid. Massa meanwhile was busy proving he’s not the driver he once was - despite driving reasonably well in the wet he lost nearly a lap to Alonso in around 30 laps of dry running. Sergio Perez’s podium heaps the pressure on the hapless Brazilian.

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher - AUS 9, MAL 7

Nico Rosberg – AUS 5, MAL 4

Mercedes have had a bizarre start to the season; they have arguably the second-best car in terms of one-lap pace but only have a single point to show for it. Michael Schumacher has led the charge, qualifying 4th in Australia and running 3rd before gearbox problems spoiled his day. This at least spared the veteran from the acute tyre wear which afflicted Rosberg, with the younger German holding up a train of cars in the closing stages and then sustaining a puncture after a collision with Perez. Malaysia started well, with Schumacher a second-career best 3rd on the grid, again ahead of Rosberg. An unfortunate collision with Grosjean restricted Schumi to 10th in the race, but Rosberg fared even worse and toiled to 14th. The younger German needs to raise his game, as do the team - the M03 only appears quick in qualifying due to its clever DRS system giving it an advantage against closely-matched rivals. In race conditions, with limited DRS use and tyre management problems, the Mercedes seem destined to always go backwards.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – AUS 8, MAL 8

Romain Grosjean – AUS 8, MAL 5

Lotus have complained that the first two races of the season haven’t allowed them to show their true form. In fact, the 7th and 5th places secured so far probably represent the best results the team can realistically hope for in dry conditions at present. Raikkonen has achieved both finishes, despite the handicap in Melbourne of being knocked out in Q1 and lining up 18th on the grid. It was left to Grosjean to uphold qualifying honour with a fantastic 3rd place, but an aggressive Maldonado pass-cum-nudge put paid to his race hopes. Kimi took a useful 7th place finish though, and followed that up with 5th in qualifying (later relegated to 10th by a gearbox penalty) and in the race in Malaysia. Despite responding in his usual monotone in interviews, Raikkonen has also managed to show he’s enjoying himself though his self-mocking gesture of sending ice creams to journalists in the Sepang paddock. Grosjean made two major mistakes in the Malaysian rain, colliding with Schumacher and then spinning off all on his own. The speed is there if he can iron out the errors.

Force India

Paul Di Resta – AUS 6, MAL 8

Nico Hulkenberg – AUS 7, MAL 7

Despite three points finishes so far, it’s been a slightly underwhelming start to the season for the Silverstone-based squad, who ended last year so well. The team are certainly there or thereabouts relative to the midfield pack, but haven’t yet made the step forward needed to challenge the front runners. Qualifying in Australia provided the first evidence of this, with di Resta failing to progress beyond Q2. Hulkenberg was slightly the quicker driver all weekend and made Q3, but retired early as a result of first-corner contact. Meanwhile, di Resta never looked like scoring until the very last corner, when some smart driving allowed him to catch and pass Vergne’s Toro Rosso. The Malaysian rain served to mask the team’s slight lack of dry pace, with both drivers performing extremely well to finish in the points. In fact, the two drivers have generally been evenly matched so far – this is unsurprising, given that they have similar levels of experience, although it does make some of the hype from British media outlets around di Resta’s debut season look a bit silly.

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi – AUS 9, MAL 5

Sergio Perez – AUS 9, MAL 10

In my season preview, I accused Sauber of being dull and anonymous, but also referenced their gifted drivers. Well, the sublime talents of Sergio Perez have well and truly catapulted the midfield team into prominence. Melbourne was a good start –despite a poor qualifying showing both drivers finished in the points, with Kobayashi showing his usual fighting spirit to take 6th and Perez hanging on with fading tyres to finish 8th. But of course, Perez’s drive in Malaysia is the one which the team’s whole season will probably be remembered for. The Mexican should really have won but for his late race error, but nevertheless drove brilliantly throughout and catapulted himself into contention for a Ferrari drive next season (or even this season, according to some observers). The team’s Swiss sensibleness was still evident, with a cautious late second pit stop and a radio message to Perez not to throw away the points for second place with an attempt to take the lead, but the car looks good enough for regular points finishes - at least until the inevitable late-season performance drop-off.

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – AUS 8, MAL 6

Jean-Eric Vergne – AUS 7, MAL 9

Red Bull will be delighted at the form shown thus far by their latest batch of young guns, after the controversial and oft-discussed decision to remove Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari from their drives at the end of 2011. The new Toro Rosso continued its promising testing form in Melbourne as Ricciardo and Vergne qualified 10th and 11th. The last lap of the race turned into a lottery as a pack of cars jostled behind Rosberg’s hobbled Mercedes, and while Ricciardo profited to steal 9th, Vergne lost out to his team mate and di Resta on the run to the line to finish where he started. The team seemed to take a step back during qualifying in Sepang, but come the wet race Vergne performed magnificently to maintain position on intermediate tyres when the track was at its wettest – a sure sign of a potential star in the making. His eventual 7th place overshadowed a solid drive to 12th by Ricciardo, and the Frenchman has no doubt already caught the eye of the Red Bull hierarchy for all the right reasons.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – AUS 8, MAL 6

Bruno Senna – AUS 5, MAL 9

Williams have unexpectedly made a massive step forward so far in 2012, and the recent shock departure of CEO Adam Parr (who looked the part and talked the talk but rarely appeared to do anything positive) shouldn’t be too much of an issue in the long term. In Melbourne the FW34 showed great pace but ultimately disappointed, thanks on both counts to Maldonado. His drive up to 6th in the race was at times breathtaking, but so was the loss of concentration that led him to hit the wall on the last lap and spectacularly retire. Senna meanwhile had a difficult weekend, but redeemed himself entirely by performing exceptionally in the wet in Sepang, eventually finishing a magnificent and poetically-just 6th. For his part Maldonado lost another points finish with a late-race engine failure, but remains the faster driver in dry conditions at present. Senna’s result should increase his confidence though and the initiative may well swing between the two drivers for the rest of the year – hopefully the early race collision between them in Malaysia isn’t a portent of things to come...

Caterham

Heikki Kovalainen – AUS 6, MAL 4

Vitaly Petrov – AUS 7, MAL 7

Of all the teams on the grid, perhaps the most disappointed at the moment (Ferrari’s woes notwithstanding) will be the Caterham outfit. While the first two races have been unusual there’s been no real sign that the team have caught up with the midfield, something which they have themselves acknowledged. Indeed, given the relative strength of teams like Toro Rosso and Williams the task for Caterham appears even harder than in 2011. Things haven’t been helped so far by an indifferent couple of races from Kovalainen. In Australia the Finn struggled and later retired with suspension difficulties, while in Sepang he was beaten home by his team mate. Petrov’s solid performances have actually been the team’s highlight so far, and the Russian seems to have settled in well and is already performing at least as capably as Jarno Trulli managed (with some obvious benefits…). The first priority will be to get ahead of Marussia and back to their habitual 10th place in the constructors’ standings; sadly, doing so will likely rely on attrition among the midfielders rather than outright pace.

HRT

Pedro de la Rosa – AUS 7, MAL 6

Narain Karthikeyan – AUS 6, MAL 8

HRT have unsurprisingly had a difficult start to the season. After no testing Melbourne was always going to be a struggle, but while the similarly unprepared Marussias made the grid comfortably, the HRTs missed out by a significant margin. De la Rosa actually deserves some praise for getting within 1.3 seconds of qualification despite hardly any practice laps. Sepang was an improvement in that both cars made the grid, and Karthikeyan amazingly restarted 10th after starting the race on wets. It is to the team’s credit that both cars made it home, despite the team’s novel cooling system which apparently requires it to be raining for the car to continue running. This should be sorted for China, but HRT’s professionalism (or lack thereof) was summed up by the restart in Malaysia – while the other teams sheltered under purpose-built awnings (or a large plastic sheet in Marussia’s case), the Spaniards could only muster a single umbrella to protect each car. And despite the removal of said umbrellas presumably not being a particularly time-consuming job, they still managed to get a penalty for personnel being left on the grid too late…

Marussia

Timo Glock – AUS 9, MAL 7

Charles Pic – AUS 8, MAL 6

Given their lack of pre-season testing, it seemed fanciful to expect Marussia to even finish the opening races. But they have done so with both cars, and despite remaining off the pace of the midfield runners aren’t actually that far away from the Caterhams (and are ahead of them in the championship on countback). Early fears in Melbourne that the cars would struggle to qualify proved unfounded, and Glock drove an excellent race to finish 14th, just one lap down. In Malaysia the German found the wet conditions to his liking, as he often has in the past, and again did extremely well to beat Heikki Kovalainen home. In fact in this early stage of the season Glock is doing a good job of emulating Kovalainen’s 2011 form by regularly outperforming his car. Team mate Pic was also classified in both races and has made a very sensible start to his F1 career. Both men are currently ahead of Felipe Massa in the championship (which says more about Massa’s wretched performances than it does about Marussia) and will hope to continue their relatively good form.

Malaysian GP Driver Ratings

Vettel – 9

Another almost-perfect weekend. Brilliant qualifying lap gave the German pole, and he produced a commanding drive in the race in a car that appears to still be the class of the field, despite KERS problems.

Webber – 7

Couldn’t quite eke out the tenths needed to pip his team mate and Hamilton in qualifying. KERS problems hampered his start and race, but he recovered well to score decent points.

Hamilton – 6

Fabulous qualifying lap still wasn’t enough for pole. Stuck behind Heidfeld for first stint, then suffered botched pit stop and wore out tyres in closing stages. Slightly over-aggressive against Alonso, but 20 second penalty was a little harsh.

Button – 8

Fourth of the four quickest cars in qualifying. Drove a good, consistent race to 2nd, benefiting from Hamilton’s slow pit stop and collision with Alonso. Let the Spaniard through too easily himself though.

Alonso – 6

Eight tenths off the pace in qualifying; worrying as it looked like he got the most out of the car. Race was going well before Hamilton collision, for which he was more to blame than the Briton.

Massa – 7

A decent weekend for Massa, who was respectably close to Alonso throughout qualifying and raced solidly to beat his team mate home. Wasn't forced by team to let Alonso through either, which will help his confidence.

Schumacher – 7

A better performance from the German legend, although he missed Q2 once again. Looked racy on Sunday and picked up two points for 9th. He will be concerned by Mercedes’ lack of pace though.

Rosberg – 5

One of Rosberg’s poorest weekends since joining Mercedes. Made Q3, but that was as good as it got. Thoroughly anonymous come the race, struggling to 12th behind both similarly-powered Force Indias.

Heidfeld – 9

Much improved performance after Australia woes. Outqualified Petrov and made stunning start, before dropping back after first pit stop. Elevated to podium by Alonso-Hamilton clash, and also fended off Webber well in closing stages.

Petrov – 6

Solid qualification and great start put the Russian in with a chance of good points, but undid all his hard work with late-race off which launched the car and broke steering column. Blamed marbles, but it was the same conditions for everyone.

Barrichello – 6

Struggled to get through Q1 and lined up 15th for race, which didn’t last long. Assaulted by Sutil on opening lap just after pit entrance and lost lap recovering to pits with puncture. Then slogged round until lap 22 retirement.

Maldonado – 5

Knocked out in Q1, only three-tenths quicker than Lotuses, after embarrassing crash entering pits on Friday. Energetic battle with Perez at start of race, but managed just 8 laps before mechanical problems hit.

Sutil – 6

Outqualified by Di Resta again after a mis-shift in Q2. Hit Barrichello at start necessitating an extra trip to the pits. Did well to recover and finish just behind Di Resta, but team mate’s form is putting him under pressure.

Di Resta – 8

Another great drive from the rookie, who spent much of the race fighting with Michael Schumacher of all people. Eventually ended up behind the German, but drove maturely and sensibly and richly deserved his point.

Kobayashi – 8

An excellent performance all weekend from the Japanese driver, who is starting to look like the real deal. Made it to Q3 and was towards the front for the whole race, including a fabulous dice with Webber in the opening laps.

Perez – 6

Came crashing back down to earth after his Albert Park heroics. Still looked quick at times, but only 16th on grid. Started race well and could have perhaps nicked a point, but then forced to retire after car struck by debris.

Buemi – 7

Outqualified Alguersuari again, but just missed Q3. Race compromised by speeding in the pit lane, for which he was harshly awarded a stop-and-go penalty. Still beat his team mate home though.

Alguersuari – 5

Just behind Buemi in qualifying, but struggled to 14^th in the race after a thoroughly anonymous performance, only just ahead of Kovalainen, apparently suffering from excessive tyre wear.

Kovalainen – 8

A breakthrough weekend for Lotus, spearheaded by the Finn, who was just four tenths off Maldonado in Q1. Finished the race on the tail of Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso after trouble-free run.

Trulli – 6

Fractionally behind his team mate in qualifying, but respectably close to the midfield pack. Spent race battling with Glock, rather than chasing the midfield as Kovalainen did, before clutch expired.

Glock – 6

Didn’t make much of an impression all weekend. Four tenths quicker than D’Ambrosio in qualifying, as expected, but miles off the pace of Lotus and the midfield runners, and not far ahead of the HRTs. At least he finished.

D’Ambrosio – 6

Lost a lot of track time on Friday after suspension failure. Nevertheless made the grid and drove a decent race, hanging on to Glock’s tail and setting a quicker fastest race lap before retiring due to hitting a kerb, which cut the engine.

Liuzzi – 7

Brilliant qualifying performance to get within a second of the Virgins. The race was more of a struggle, but drove sensibly to stay out of the way of the leaders and maintain a reasonable pace before being withdrawn for safety reasons.

Karthikeyan – 5

It can’t be easy for a driver to adapt to single seaters again after racing NASCAR Trucks, and the Indian's struggles prove it. A second off Liuzzi in qualifying, his race didn’t last long before he was withdrawn due to rising water temperatures.

Malaysian GP Race Report

It was an interesting and exciting Malaysian Grand Prix, despite the domination of Sebastien Vettel at the front. Few would have predicted Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld joining him on the podium, or that Lewis Hamilton would finish only 8th having started from the front row. 

Given how tight qualifying was Hamilton could easily have taken pole, but was beaten by a last gasp Vettel flyer. The two McLarens and two Red Bulls were separated by only 0.3 seconds but behind them things looked ominous for Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso almost a second off the pace. Both Renault drivers did well to get into the top 10, and Pastor Maldonado was the Q1 casualty from the established teams. Otherwise, the main talking points were improved form for Lotus, who got within half a second of Q2 on merit, and (miracle of miracles) both HRTs actually qualifying for the race!

The start was a partial disaster for Red Bull – Vettel pulled away in the lead, despite a challenge from the fast-starting Heidfeld’s Renault, but Mark Webber’s KERS did not function and this left him back in 9th. Red Bull must wonder at the wisdom of going their own way with KERS (i.e. not adopting the Renault system), especially since the ‘works’ Renault cars appear to be the class of the field off the line, as has often been the case in the past 10 seasons or so. 

Heidfeld maintained 2nd until his first pit stop, with a frustrated Hamilton unable to pass the German despite using his DRS and KERS devices. Further back, Webber and Kamui Kobayashi engaged in an energetic battle, the cars swapping places once or twice a lap (albeit with some DRS assistance), and Williams’ nightmare weekend was already over with both cars out by lap 22.

After the first pit stops, the race settled down somewhat, although Alonso pulled off a great move on Jenson Button while the Briton was seemingly asleep. But then Vettel started to experience similar KERS problems to team mate Webber, sparking brief hopes of a battle for the lead. It was not to be however, and instead 2nd placed Hamilton started to drop back into the clutches of Button, with Jenson taking the place after Hamilton suffered a botched pit stop. 

Alonso then closed drastically on Hamilton but couldn’t get through, mainly because the Ferrari’s moveable wing wasn’t functioning. The Spaniard soon did manage to make some wing adjustments, but unfortunately these were to his front wing, part of which broke off after a rather clumsy bit of driving led to a brush against the back of Hamilton’s rear tyre, necessitating a trip to the pits for both drivers. Alonso took the lion’s share of the blame for misjudging his closing speed, although Hamilton did edge across the track slightly at the moment of impact. This, combined with earlier weaving from the Briton, meant that Hamilton, as well as Alonso, was given a 20 second post-race penalty – a slightly harsh judgement in Hamilton’s case since it cost him a further position to Kobayashi at race end.

This incident allowed Heidfeld back up to 3rd, although Renault were not entirely happy as Vitaly Petrov then reverted to his 2010 ways by running off the track and launching his car over a bump on the infield. The resulting impact broke the steering column, and the hapless Russian held the severed steering wheel as his car careened into a braking marker, taking the unofficial ‘Taki Inoue* Tribute Comedy Moment of the Race’ trophy (sadly only awarded in my imagination) in the process. 

As a result, Kobayashi and Michael Schumacher moved up and Paul di Resta picked up a well deserved point. At the front it was plain sailing for Vettel though, despite his KERS difficulties, and although Button closed up at the end he appeared to have everything under control. The opposition are getting closer though, which bodes well for China next weekend and the start of the European season at Istanbul Park in May.

* Unaware of the existence of Taki ‘In the Way’? Peruse the brilliant F1 Rejects website and see this video for details of the great man’s exploits!