Räikkönen and Kovalainen enjoy success in Malaysian GP

Drivers' championship race back on track

print this

The Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix on Easter Sunday ended up as a Finnish celebration with Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen winning the race in exhibition style, while McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen secured third place on the podium. From the Finnish success-ratio perspective, this is the best ever result on a Formula One track. Sandwiched between them was Poland's Robert Kubica (BMW), who recovered from drawing a blank in Melbourne to record his best-ever F1 result.
      In Malaysia, Räikkönen delivered what was expected of him already in the season’s opening race in Australia. The Finn overtook his teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil, who started from pole position, during Massa’s pit stop.
      “After that the race was easy”, Räikkönen commented. “When I got to drive freely the car immediately felt much better. I managed to shake Massa off right away.”
     
For Felipe Massa, the Malaysian GP translated to the second belly-flop of the season after his collision in Melbourne. This time the Brazilian made an error while trying to keep up with Räikkönen’s pace and spun his Ferrari into a sand trap on lap 30.
      Räikkönen’s season looks much brighter after Malaysia. The Finn is in a share of second place with 11 points, just three points behind the leader, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) of Great Britain.
     
But more important than the points is the fact that in Malaysia Räikkönen’s Ferrari showed what it can deliver. Now the Australian GP - where the lap times for both of the Ferraris were modest and both vehicles sustained an engine failure causing everyone to fear the worst - seems but a distant bad dream.
      The Malaysian track forms a more reliable picture of the season’s performance potential than Melbourne.
      “I never lost my faith in the team. The car was fast and worked well throughout the winter. I hope we will no longer encounter problems like we faced in Australia”, Räikkönen commented after the race.
     
For Kovalainen, his first podium finish with McLaren was a terrific result, especially after he was given a five-place penalty on the grid for impeding Nick Heidfeld of Germany and Fernando Alonso of Spain in the closing stages of Saturday’s qualifying rounds.
      Kovalainen’s teammate Hamilton was given the same punishment for blocking Heidfeld and started from ninth on the grid. He pulled himself up to 5th by the chequered flag.
      “This result was the best possible today”, Kovalainen said, with his feelings doubtless buoyed by having beaten his much-fancied team-mate both in qualifying and in the race itself.
     
The next Formula One Grand Prix will be raced in Bahrain in two weeks’ time. At least Ferrari’s rivals expect the Italian team to be strong there.
      “Ferrari has tested there. That cannot hurt”, commented Norbert Haug, President in charge of Mercedes-Benz motorsport activity.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nico Rosberg celebrates career-first podium finish in F1 (17.3.2008)

Links:
  Formula One

Helsingin Sanomat