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Raikkonen storms to Malaysian GP win

Sunday, 23 March 2008

If Australia was a nightmare for Ferrari, Malaysia was a dream.

Kimi Raikkonen toyed initially with polesitting team mate Felipe Massa, took the lead after their first pit stops, and sauntered into the distance to a victory that puts him back into contention for a second world title.

Massa blotted his copybook by spinning out of an easy second place on the 31st lap, leaving Robert Kubica to take an excellent runner-up result for BMW Sauber. In the closing laps, though 22 seconds adrift, the Pole set a similar pace to Raikkonen.

Heikki Kovalainen was McLaren’s leading runner in a distant third place, a similar distance in arrears.

For Lewis Hamilton, it was a race spent playing catch-up. He made a great start to jump from ninth up to fifth place behind the Ferraris, Kubica and similarly fast-starting Mark Webber in the Red Bull. But then a problem with the right-front wheel during his first pit stop dropped him down to 11th place, and he lost time hand over fist in the traffic.

That enabled Jarno Trulli to come through to a good fourth place for Toyota, with Hamilton dogging his wheel tracks after a great recovery drive. The truth, however, was that this time out Ferrari were stronger, and the pace of BMW Sauber will have both top teams keeping a close eye on the white and blue cars.

Nick Heidfeld set fastest lap in the closing stages as he thirsted after Hamilton, while Webber was able to hold off a challenging Fernando Alonso in the Renault as they wrapped up the final points.

David Coulthard had a relatively quiet race to ninth in the second Red Bull ahead of fellow Briton, Jenson Button, who survived a late off-track moment in his Honda to lead home Renault’s Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian rookie recording his first Grand Prix finish.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 12th for Force India, a lap down, taking the place after Honda’s Rubens Barrichello had to serve a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding.

The final finishers were Nico Rosberg, who had a most unhappy time in his Williams, the Super Aguris of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, and Kazuki Nakajima who, like Rosberg, could not generate decent tyre temperatures in his Williams FW30.

Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais was the first retirement, falling off on the opening lap. Rosberg clobbered Timo Glock then, too, necessitating a pit stop for a new nose cone. The Williams continued, the Toyota was through for the day. Adrian Sutil suffered a mechanical problem that stopped his Force India out on the track, while Sebastian Vettel suffered either engine or transmission failure that brought him to a smoky halt.

The result leaves Hamilton still leading the world championship for drivers with 14 points, ahead of Raikkonen and Heidfeld on 11 apiece. In the constructors’ chase, McLaren lead with 24, ahead of BMW Sauber on 19 and Ferrari on 11.

Classified:



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

Discuss (3 posts)

Raikkonen storms to Malaysian GP win
Mar 23 2008 16:27:01

** This thread discusses the Content article: Raikkonen storms to Malaysian GP win **

If Australia was a nightmare for Ferrari, Malaysia was a dream. 
 
Kimi
Raikkonen toyed initially with polesitting team mate Felipe Massa, took
the lead after their first pit stops, and sauntered into the distance
to a victory that puts him back into contention for a second world
title. 
 

Massa blotted his copybook by spinning out of an easy second place on
the 31st lap, leaving Robert Kubica to take an excellent runner-up
result for BMW Sauber. In the closing laps, though 22 seconds adrift,
the Pole set a similar pace to Raikkonen. 
 
Heikki Kovalainen was McLaren’s leading runner in a distant third place, a similar distance in arrears. 
 
For
Lewis Hamilton, it was a race spent playing catch-up. He made a great
start to jump from ninth up to fifth place behind the Ferraris, Kubica
and similarly fast-starting Mark Webber in the Red Bull. But then a
problem with the right-front wheel during his first pit stop dropped
him down to 11th place, and he lost time hand over fist in the traffic. 
 
That
enabled Jarno Trulli to come through to a good fourth place for Toyota,
with Hamilton dogging his wheel tracks after a great recovery drive.
The truth, however, was that this time out Ferrari were stronger, and
the pace of BMW Sauber will have both top teams keeping a close eye on
the white and blue cars. 
 
Nick Heidfeld set fastest lap in the
closing stages as he thirsted after Hamilton, while Webber was able to
hold off a challenging Fernando Alonso in the Renault as they wrapped
up the final points. 
 
David Coulthard had a relatively quiet race
to ninth in the second Red Bull ahead of fellow Briton, Jenson Button,
who survived a late off-track moment in his Honda to lead home
Renault’s Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian rookie recording his first Grand
Prix finish. 
 
Giancarlo Fisichella was 12th for Force India, a
lap down, taking the place after Honda’s Rubens Barrichello had to
serve a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding. 
 
The final
finishers were Nico Rosberg, who had a most unhappy time in his
Williams, the Super Aguris of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, and
Kazuki Nakajima who, like Rosberg, could not generate decent tyre
temperatures in his Williams FW30. 
 
Toro Rosso’s Sebastien
Bourdais was the first retirement, falling off on the opening lap.
Rosberg clobbered Timo Glock then, too, necessitating a pit stop for a
new nose cone. The Williams continued, the Toyota was through for the
day. Adrian Sutil suffered a mechanical problem that stopped his Force
India out on the track, while Sebastian Vettel suffered either engine
or transmission failure that brought him to a smoky halt. 
 
The
result leaves Hamilton still leading the world championship for drivers
with 14 points, ahead of Raikkonen and Heidfeld on 11 apiece. In the
constructors’ chase, McLaren lead with 24, ahead of BMW Sauber on 19
and Ferrari on 11. 
 

<pre>
Classified: 
 
Pos Driver Team Time 
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (