Brawn GP Wins in Malaysia; Toyota Wins in China?

It was such a shame the Malaysian Grand Prix was stopped at only half distance.  Obviously, there was no way it could continue, but it was shaping up nicely for an amazing finale.

Kimi Raikkonen was at the back, looking to charge through after his strategic woes.  Felipe Massa was lurking at the back of the points.  Lewis Hamilton is always up for a battle to the end, and we shouldn’t expect any less, especially after this past weekend. 

His car was anything but good in these conditions, but he was putting up a challenge to everyone. 

Mark Webber was showing how to pass the same person several times, but once past, he was catching everyone in front.  But then it all came to an untimely end.  Malaysian rain is bigger than normal rain, isn’t it?

Apart from all that, there was also the oddity at the beginning of the race that a Toyota might have actually challenged for the win.

They’ve been on pole position, they’ve finished second, but Toyota have never really battled for a win, but today they battled.

With an extra lap or two, Timo Glock looked ready for a fight with Jenson Button having charged through the field with a gamble on intermediate tyres.

Once they were both on full wets, Glock was staying with Button.  It would have been interesting as Button is a fine wet weather driver, but Glock was holding on well, so it could have been a real wheel-to-wheel battle.

It’s been a long and hard fight for the Toyota team to get anywhere near the front.  They’ve looked like challenging before, but not to this extent. When the Brawn-Button winning machine falters, it might be worth tipping a Toyota-Glock win to follow. 

Although having said that, during the dry running after Jarno Trulli and Nico Rosberg had pitted, Button suddenly went over a second quicker than anyone else, so Brawn obviously still have pace to spare. They look like they could even be using these races to warm up.  Certainly not a good thought for the rest of the teams.

However, it is good to see Toyota up at the front and at least looking like they could challenge. They’re the only manufacturer team with no real success to speak of.  They’ve spent hundreds of millions, if not billions on this sport for no real reward.

This year could be the breakthrough.  They finally seem to have settled their staff and have less interference from Japan. 

They’ve produced a reliable, fast car with an innovative diffuser, which according to the BBC, even has a third layer...not just a double like the other two teams, Williams and Brawn GP.

It certainly has decent qualifying pace judging from the first two races.  It looks like it's being translated to the race.  It's not the ultimate yet in the dry, but it's not too far away and can only get better, presuming these trick diffuser's are allowed to stay. 

Toyota’s driver lineup of Trulli and Glock complements each other well.  In fact, I believe Glock is the future of the team. 

His ability to maximise a strategy, especially with a heavy fuel load, is becoming very impressive; Hungary last year is a prime example.  He also seems to be a consistent racer in all conditions, which is what Toyota have needed.

Now in his second full season, Timo Glock could possibly be the one to take them to their first victory, and if something happens to Brawn, perhaps it could even be in China?