Malaysian Grand Prix: Ferrari's Revenge Sabotaged by Filipe Massa.

 

The second leg of the 2008 Formula One championship was run today on the Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Both McLaren-Mercedes cars were penalized by the FIA after the qualifying session for running at a very slow pace after registering their qualifying time. They both were backed up by five positions on the starting grid.

The Ferrari cars occupied the first row on the starting grid. Without any doubt, the Scuderia possessed the best setup for this race. Felipe Massa was on pole while Kimi Raikkonen was second on the grid.

After a clean start, the two Ferraris were flying ahead, untouchable for their competitors. Then, Kimi Raikkonen managed to pass Felipe Massa during the first pitstop. Everything was running smoothly for Ferrari up to that point. We were already expecting a perfect one-two finish for them.

But Felipe Massa sabotaged the perfect weekend for Ferrari when he lost control of his car. Massa exceeded the limits of his race car in a curve and spun into the gravel, unable to get out of it by his own power. A catastrophic second DNF for him this season.

Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren-Mercedes had his share of problems during this race. Starting from the ninth position after the penalty, he managed to squeeze himself up to the fifth position during the first lap. But a problem with his right front wheel during his first pitstop ruined a part of his comeback. Hamilton managed to finish in fifth position.

Robert Kubica in his BMW-Sauber has run a perfect race behind the leaders, registering a second podium finish for his team. If the BMW-Sauber can avoid the DNF this season, they could play troublemakers in the constructors championship.

Here is the top ten finish of the Malaysian Grand Prix:

Winner: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2-Robert Kubica (BMW-Sauber)
3-Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren)
4-Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
5-Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
6-Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber)
7-Mark Webber (Red Bull)
8-Fernando Alonso (Renault)
9-David Coulthard (Red Bull)
10-Jenson Button (Honda)

Drivers championship after 2/18 races:

1-Lewis Hamilton 14 points
2-Kimi Raikkonen 11 points
3-Nick Heidfeld 11 points
4-Heikki Kovalainen 10 points
5-Robert Kubica 8 points
6-Fernando Alonso 6 points
7-Nico Rosberg 6 points
8-Jarno Trulli 5 points
9-Kazuki Nakajima 3 points
10-Sebastien Bourdais 2 points
11-Mark Webber 2 points

Constructors championship:

1-McLaren-Mercedes 24 points
2-BMW-Sauber 19 points
3-Ferrari 11 points
4-Williams 9 points
5-Renault 6 points
6-Toyota 5 points
7-Red Bull 2 points
8-Toro Rosso 2 points