THE second weekend of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship took the teams and drivers to the heat and humidity of Malaysia. Melbourne had left a lot of questions unanswered, rather than answers being given. In Sepang, we got a taste of the exciting season we are set to have, and optimism that Red Bull aren’t going to have it all their own way, despite Sebastian Vettel’s formidable start.
Sure, Vettel won the race and he had enough in reserve if he came under severe pressure I felt. However, the KERS issues that the team have seem to be a plaguing matter. It definitely seems that Adrian Newey hates the device and doesn’t want it around. However, if Red Bull doesn’t run it, then they will be at the mercy of others by nearly half a second a lap. I personally think KERS is an expensive failure and always have that belief. McLaren were the only team to make it work in 2009 and I honestly don’t see any benefit this year, except the environmental impact it is supposed to have. The reliability of the device has been questioned by some, and it is clear this is a problem that needs sorting out for Red Bull. With the device not working, Mark Webber was made to look like a granny pushing a supermarket trolley around Sainsbury’s at the start! True, he did bog down off the line, but through little fault of his own, the Aussie was down to tenth from third on the grid by the end of lap one. Midway through the race, Vettel’s race engineer gave him a message which stated ‘DO NOT USE KERS!’ Although the system restored itself and Sebastian could partially use it in the closing stages, Newey and his designers need to get on top of KERS. It will certainly cause some problems for them in Shanghai this weekend, especially with the longest straight on the Grand Prix calendar to contend with.
The other main talking point to come out of Malaysia was the contentious clash between arch rivals Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. The flashpoint moment of an action-packed race came with ten laps to go. Hamilton was struggling on his harder compound Pirelli tyres and the Ferrari was faster. Allegedly, Hamilton used aggressive defending tactics to keep Alonso behind, although the evidence doesn’t seem to support this. Out of turn three and Alonso got too close to the back of the McLaren and ploughed into the back of Lewis. The damage to Alonso’s car (a new front wing required) wrecked his chances of getting on the podium. However, the Spaniard was his own enemy in this, as he completely misread and misjudged the situation, probably more surprised with Hamilton’s lack of speed off turn two. It had echoes of an incident between the pair in Bahrain in 2008 and Ferrari clearly had feelings, although they didn’t express them publicly, that Hamilton had brake-tested their no.1. The stewards, advised by former Benetton and Dallara driver and multiple Le Mans winner Emmanuelle Pirro elected to give Alonso and Hamilton both 20 second penalties after the race. The penalties are totally unjustified and unnecessary and it disappointed me that such action was taken. Maybe Pirro and the stewards had evidence, like telemetry traces etc that suggested such a penalty was required. However, to the viewer’s naked eye, it was no more than a racing incident and at worst, Alonso should have received a reprimand. To make matters worse, Hamilton loses a place, but Alonso kept his sixth place. Why was Hamilton exactly penalised boggles my mind totally!
After an unsuccessful start in Australia, the DRS system, which is such a horrible word by the way to describe the movable rear wing, came into its own in Malaysia. We saw some tremendous battles down the field, and enough overtaking opportunities to last a season. What pleases me is that DRS will allow drivers the chance to pass, without making it a simple overtake. With the KERS effect, we do see some easy overtaking, but that can’t be helped, especially if a faster car is miles quicker than a backmarker for example. The Pirelli tyres also played their part in Malaysia. Hamilton and Webber both had to make four stops and everyone else had to make at least three visits for tyres. The tyres are doing the job required and it is making the racing far more exciting.
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| FLYING: Petrov auditioned to be a Red Bull driver, but he failed! |
He had a frankly embarrassing start in Melbourne, but Nick Heidfeld came to form in Malaysia and recorded a fine podium finish for the Lotus Renault team. Off the back of Vitaly Petrov’s successful podium in Australia, this proves that the team have overtaken Mercedes GP to be the fourth fastest team in F1. In fact, some would argue that they are quicker than Ferrari too at the moment. The starts of Heidfeld and Petrov were simply fantastic. Whilst the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s diced on the inside of turn one, the Renault’s flew past the lot of them on the outside line. Heidfeld showed some feisty aggression against Hamilton in the first corner, which was pleasing to see. Nick is a very consistent driver, but has been criticised for not having ‘that’ cutting edge in the past. In Malaysia, he showed a lot of grit, determination and panache in his driving. He deserved his podium and it must make Robert Kubica partially sick. Of course, Kubica, who still must be in such intense physical pain, will be delighted to see Renault doing so well, but I bet he’s wishing he would be there getting the results for himself. Saying that, Lotus Renault still need to put together an error-strewn weekend for both drivers. Petrov had a tough race and made a dramatic exit with four laps to go. The Russian ran wide in Turn 8, hit the grass, then rather stupidly kept his foot firmly on the accelerator pedal, which led to his car going airborne spectacularly. To add to this, the impact was so severe that it snapped his steering column. Petrov has already a lot more maturity this season, but he does need to cut out the basic elementary errors such as this and it was a clumsy error to say the least.
Hispania Racing were a total disgrace in Australia, but I was pleased to see them race creditably in Malaysia. There is still a load of work to do and both cars failed to finish, but Vitantonio Liuzzi kept in sight of the two Virgin cars, which shows they can actually build a proper racing car. However, Narain Karthikeyan looks terrible. He is simply out of his depth in the sport and is simply there at Hispania to pay the bills. Considering no team found him employable for five years after his Jordan excursions in 2005, it feels odd to see Colin Kolles pick him over the likes of Christian Klien and Bruno Senna amongst others. In fact, I think Sakon Yamamoto could do a better job than Karthikeyan!
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| ROLLING: Mercedes seems to be going backwards, not forwards |
Heads will be rolling very soon at Mercedes GP after another dire weekend. Michael Schumacher did muster a couple of championship points together, but even Schumacher is struggling to cope with the chassis he has on his hands. Mercedes GP produced a poor car last year, and stopped developing mid-season. How have they managed to produce an even worse car this time around! To see drivers like Schumacher and Nico Rosberg struggle around in a terrible car is a sorry sight. If anyone can turn it around, it is Ross Brawn for sure. However, the board at Mercedes will not accept this underachievement again, and managerial changes may have to be made, to make sure that they don’t go down the route of other underachievers, Honda and Toyota in recent years. At least Williams are independent and don’t have to worry about this, but a Morris Minor seems to have more chance to finish a Grand Prix at the moment than a Williams. Rubens Barrichello’s body language says it all. Of course, he will work extremely hard to turn around this depressing situation, but 15th and 18th on the grid was not what the team were expecting, especially after a very strong pre-season. Barrichello picked up an early puncture and then retired with a hydraulics failure. Pastor Maldonado is lacking race distance and only managed eight laps in Malaysia before an engine problem forced the rookie onto the sidelines. Perhaps the money problems Williams are suffering is starting to harm their on track performance and reliability.
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| CLASSY: Vettel was Mr. Cool in Malaysia |
My driver of the weekend in Sepang was the winner, Sebastian Vettel. Nick Heidfeld, Paul di Resta and Jenson Button all put in very notable performances, whilst Webber’s race effort, considering he was being hampered by no KERS and a four stop race was pretty impressive. However, Vettel was once again in a class of one. In qualifying, the pressure was on, especially against a fired-up Hamilton. Once again, he produced the perfect lap to snatch pole position in a dramatic and nail-biting qualifying session. In the race, he did brilliantly to handle the issues he had with KERS and the degrading tyres to handle Button and Hamilton from a fairly safe distance. With 50 points out of 50 in the bag, Sebastian Vettel has already set the solid foundations down for a world class season. He looks so relaxed and calm and it will take a lot to beat him this season. Can the opposition respond positively in China? I hope so, but Vettel turns up as the formidable favourite.
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