***2005 Malaysian Grand Prix ***

[Toronto]

Sorry Guys I Have alot of work to do this Week Didn't have time to make this early

Friday 18 Mar 2005
Practice 1 11:00 - 12:00
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:00
Saturday 19 Mar 2005
Practice 1 09:00 - 09:45
Practice 2 10:15 - 11:00
Qualifying 13:00

Sunday 20 Mar 2005
Qualifying 11:00
Race 15:00

Race
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired
1 5 Fernando Alonso Renault Winner
2 16 Jarno Trulli Toyota +24.3 secs
3 8 Nick Heidfeld Williams-BMW +32.1 secs
4 10 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes +41.6 secs
5 17 Ralf Schumacher Toyota +51.8 secs
6 14 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing +72.5 secs
7 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari +79.9 secs
8 15 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing +80.8 secs
9 9 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes +81.5 secs
10 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas +1 Lap
11 19 Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota +2 Lap
12 18 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota +3 Lap
13 21 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth +4 Lap
Ret 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari +7 Lap
Ret 6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault +20 Laps
Ret 7 Mark Webber Williams-BMW +20 Laps
Ret 11 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas +30 Laps
Ret 3 Jenson Button BAR-Honda +54 Laps
Ret 4 Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda +54 Laps
Ret 20 Patrick Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth +54 Laps


Report
Fernando Alonso claimed his second career victory and Renault’s second in succession at Sepang on Sunday afternoon.

The Spaniard put on a dominant display to win the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position.

The result marked an impressive run of form for Renault who have now secured two pole positions and two wins from two races this season.

Following up Alonso, some 24 seconds behind, was Jarno Trulli who scored Toyota’s first ever podium finish, which he dedicated to his best friend who passed away earlier this weekend.

The Italian did however manage to clear his head and focus on the race, putting pressure on his Renault rival for the opening two stints of the race. In the end he did have the speed required to battle for the win.

Second place was a nonetheless impressive result for the mega-rich Japanese squad who, even two weeks ago, looked a world away from F1 success.

Following up in third position was Williams Nick Heidfeld who claimed his first podium finish since the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The German drove a solid race to move up from 10th on the grid, aided by the high-level retirements of his team-mate Mark Webber and Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella.

In a fierce battle for third place, Fisichella, who seemed to be having problems with his car, collided with Webber - an action which cost the Renault driver the lead in the championship.

McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya yet again drove an anonymous race but managed to finish fourth ahead of Ralf Schumacher.

The German rounded out a double points finish for Toyota, but could have done better if he hadn't hit Webbers Williams while trying to overtake the Australian.

Red Bull Racing also had a double points finish with David Coulthard and Christian Klien finishing sixth and eighth respectively.

In between the British-based racers was Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher who struggled in the Malaysian heat.

Once again the F2004M was no match for their rivals new cars, therefor feeding rumours of an early Bahrain debut for the new car.


RACE SHORTS

* Looking for a chequered flag. Mark Webber arrived in Malaysia looking to finish after failing to manage the feat in his first three attempts.

Midway through the race the Williams ace looked on for a podium finish but a tangle with Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella saw him make another early exit.

The incident occurred when Webber attempted to pass Fisichella around the outside heading into the final turn but the Italian locked his brakes and took out both drivers.

* Worn out. The first causality of Formula One’s new long-life tyres was Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello.

The Scuderia’s Bridgestone rubber struggled to adapt to the soaring temperatures at Sepang and Barrichello was forced to retire with excessive wear six laps from the end of the race.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen suffered a left-rear puncture but he stopped for a replacement and was able to continue.

* Smoking. Honda have a few questions to answer after both BARs retired in the opening laps of the race.

Jenson Button was first to go on the first flying lap before Anthony Davidson followed suit just one circuit later.

Both Britons stormed back to the garage demanding answers to why their engines only lasted two laps.

* Tough start. Christijan Albers’ tough start to his Formula One career continued in Malaysia.

After being comfortably beaten by his young team-mate Patrick Friesacher in qualifying, Albers was lapped twice during the race by Narain Karthikeyan’s Jordan.

On a positive note, the Dutchman did manage to finish the race despite the difficulties of his Minardi.

Written: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:38:02
© Copyright 2005 UpdateSport

[mindgam3]

Takuma's ill so Davidson had to take his place

Qualifying show's just started, gonna be a good one i reckon

[HeilSvenska]

Wow. If the 2005 season will be like it has been so far, it'll be amazing.
Takuma has a viral infection, eh? I wonder how Anthony Davidson, F! Racing's "Test Driver of 2004" will do.

[5vz-fe]

Ross Brawn is suggesting that the F2005 is 0.5 to 1 second faster than the F2004-M but lookiing at the qualifying times, even if they are 1 second faster they are still no pole sitter. Damn does that wheel of fortune in F1 turns fast.

*EDIT* What an ugly result for Ferrari.....
Poor Webber got ramped out of the race.
Red Bull is suprisingly strong (DC 6th and Klien 8th), thumbs up for them.
After tons for money pour into F1 by Toyota, it's finally paying off with a 2nd.
Kimi is unlucky with the puncture

[komotar]

I thought red bull was lucky in the first race.....I was wrong. They have a good car.

Ferrari was horrible.

Renault is owns everybody at the moment

Toyota picked up the pace.....congrats to them

Great race overall, some thrilling overtakings.....

If the race lasted 3 more laps shumi would be 9th.

I'm looking forward to the next race.

[ZfrkS62]

Who do you guys think was at fault between Fisi and Webber? Frankly i think it was just hard luck since Webber was on the outside and Fisi had some shitty understeer and ended up sliding up and over him. Apparent;y the FIA is going to look into it, but i think Mark is in the clear. That was a damn good fight up until that point though.

There was alot of overtaking in this race. It was probably the most exciting one in a long time. And for the first time in two years, a Ferrari is NOT on the podium
What a race 8)

[styla21]

Bummer. It's not publicly televised here for about 4 more hours - i couldn't help but see what was happening with Webber after being 4th on the Grid so i ended up checking it out online. Sad that he didn't end up even finishing though . Fortunately Williams got some points though. Also, it's weird w/ Ferrari somewhat struggling atm. Do you think this will turn around when they get the new car ('05)?
What are the predictions now for championship winner / constructors winner?

[maxbg]

This race is all about tyres...

Look at the the Brigdestone runners. Only Schumi is capable of nursing the tyres to finish in the points.

[sikx5]

Wow what a surpise...the race is on at 11 here, a few more hours. Cant wait to see it...even though i had to open this topic and find out the results.

[mike_sayer]

Great race today, and I think a particularly nice result - drivers from 3 different teams on the Podium, Red Bull doing well again to prove that Melbourne wasn't a one off, Toyota FINALLY doing something...plenty of good stuff. I can't believe how off the pace the Ferraris were - 5vz-fe makes a good point in that even if what Ross Brawn says about the new car is true, it's not going to be dominant.

Originally Posted by ZfrkS62 Who do you guys think was at fault between Fisi and Webber?

Racing incident. They both should've done different things - Webber will have known that Fisi was going to be off the line on dirty track, going too quickly, and should've cut in behind him and then re-passed on the exit of the corner (Like Kimi later did to Massa). On the other hand, Fisi knew he would be on dirty track with increasingly shitty tyres and shouldn't have braked so deep. Can't blame either of them directly, I don't think.

Also, does anyone else share my (admittedly quite mean) pleasure in watching Jacques Villeneuve continually prove that he is now shit?

[saadie]

this race was really unpredictable !!

[possessed_beaver]

Originally Posted by saadie this race was really unpredictable !!

exacley! im loving it, no more of these boaring races, they are getting much more exiting - im loving it!

[SFDMALEX]

I just fucking hate these new rules. Whats his name blowing up, Rubinos tires bald as slicks.....you know whats the problem with that? He already could not pass the after race inspection which requires the tires to still have grooves etc...THey cant even drive the cars hard because they need the tires in half decent condition for the after race inspection.

Oh and Im not worried about Ferrari at all. Remeber this is the second race of the season and in Australia Rubino was fast. I think the problem with Ferrari is the Bridgestone tires nothing else.

[mindgam3]

Great race, not suprising that a Renault won, although they still had to nurse their car around at times - still a great run from them.

Toyota's work has paid off, mainly due to Gascoigne and all the money, nice to see them lap the ferrari's

Williams looked strong throughout the entire race which people weren't expecting pre season, webber in particular looked very fast and a shame he didn't finish.

McLaren had a very good strategy, and a fairly fast car, pity Raikenoen got that puncture as he was definately on for a podium.

Ferrari is not going to be dominant this season, their 04 spec car just isn't good enough and their 05 will be as good as, but not better that the top cars at the very best. Bridgestones aren't as good as michelins for the whole race and 1 lap qualifying - this is their achillies heel.

BAR had good pace, but I think some people at Honda are gonna get a kicking

Red Bull - good consistent pace, good driving from both of their drivers - will hopefully be in the mix for the rest of the season

[ZfrkS62]

Also, does anyone else share my (admittedly quite mean) pleasure in watching Jacques Villeneuve continually prove that he is now shit?

You mean he used to be good?

Williams looked strong throughout the entire race which people weren't expecting pre season, webber in particular looked very fast and a shame he didn't finish.

Couldn't agree more. I think BMW/Williams is finally the force that they were hoping for last year.

Bridgestone is going to be scrambling like madmen to figure out what went wrong this weekend and develop a better tire for high temp races. I can only imagine the havoc that will be reeked upon the tires in Bahrain later in the year.

I think BAR is royally fucked off at Honda now. After last year's embarassing string of failures, we now have two engines saying piss off within half a lap of each other. Hopefully this will not be a precurser to a repeat of 2004.