FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Sepang exposes tyre degradation as a weakness in Mercedes armoury

Heavy tyre degradation caused by the searing Sepang temperatures has limited Mercedes’ advantage over their Formula 1 rivals at the Malaysian Grand Prix, according to championship leader Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg was still quickest in practice but only 0.2 seconds separated the top six at the Sepang circuit on Friday where track temperatures peaked at over 50 Celsius causing havoc with the tyres and leading to a number of uncharacteristic spins.

Hamilton, who was quickest in the opening session, spun in both 90 minute runs and compared the circuit to “driving on marbles”, while the normally unflappable Fernando Alonso also had trouble controlling his Ferrari.

Rosberg said that the team had been taken by surprise at how much the tyres had suffered on the demanding circuit, where heavy breaking areas and long straights played their part in his best time of one minute, 39.909 seconds.

“It was a decent day, tough conditions out there really, very, very hot and tough for the car, tough for the tyres even, we never expected so much tyre degradation,” the Australian Grand Prix winner told reporters.

“Its just massive degradation out there which is a big challenge.”

Rosberg had sauntered to a 25 second win in the opening race in Melbourne two weeks ago and although he was again quickest in Malaysia practice, the difference was a mere 0.035 seconds over Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Asked if the amount of wear on the tyres could lead to a different race in Sepang on Sunday, the German said that the field had been helped by the degradation issues and that he still expected a close fight with his team mate for a key pole.

“For sure there will be lots of different strategies and with the tyre anything can happen,” he said. ”It will always be close, just need to try and stay ahead.”

“Being on pole as important as it was, just getting that clean start away from the front is always a big advantage at the beginning of the race.”

By contrast, Melbourne pole-sitter Hamilton said the tyre troubles had not come as a surprise to him.

In a guarded discussion with reporters, the 2008 world champion said he was more focussed on getting his car around all 56 laps of Sunday’s race after having been forced to quit after only three at Albert Park.

“Its the same every time I come here, its to be expected. Its too hot for the tyres, they are not working very well in these conditions,” he told reporters.

“Even though we have got the hard tyre, the tyres do not feel great but that’s the same for everyone.”

Hamilton was fourth quickest overall on Friday with world champion Sebastian Vettel ahead of him after completing 30 laps, despite concerns about a faulty fuel sensor and requiring a new electronic power supply for the weekend.

Alonso was fifth and his former team mate Felipe Massa was sixth for Williams.

“I never do [look at Friday's times], it’s good that everyone is close, what matters is what happens tomorrow,” Hamilton said, grateful that his repaired engine from Melbourne made it through unscathed.

“It saves us perhaps the grid penalty further along the way, so it’s good, I’m glad that I had that less mileage on the engine so I hopefully I can push it a bit more.”

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Maldonado looking on the bright side

Despite the lack of quality time on the track, Pasto Maldonado still believes Lotus' E22 car has what it takes to be competitive in the 2014 season.

Maldonado and his teammate Romain Grosjean made it to the starting grid in Melbourne amid concerns that Lotus wouldn't feature on the street circuit at all. They had only combined for only 33 laps in the free practice Down Under.

"The preseason, it was quite tough for us," said the 29-year-old, a former GP2 Series champion.

"We've been working very hard and trying to push to solve all of the problems. These kinds of problems, when you get at the bottom of the problem, you see that they are not huge problems; easy to fix, but it took so much time from the test.

"In the first race again, we missed free practice, even on Saturday, qualifying, so we've not been able to do proper long runs and to see our real potential of the car because of this kind of issues we've had. And now I hope to have a better weekend. We've been working hard again to try to improve.

"We improved quite a lot for the race. We had never been able to run for more than 10 laps together, and during the race, we did more than 30 laps with both cars, which is a step forward. Now we are fully focused on finishing the race, and I think if we finish the race, we will be in a good position to fight for good places."

With all the pre-season difficulties the team has had, the Venezuelan reveals that it is hard to judge exactly how they are faring against the opposition.

"It is very difficult to say just because everything is new for us. We will need some more time in the car, especially to explore the potential of the car. It's very difficult to say. The feeling is not bad, but against the other teams, we need some more time on the track and try to do our best to catch them.

"I think it's going to be a very tough beginning of the season, but, again, things are changing quickly in F1. We've been working very hard, the team is quite good on reacting and hopefully this race will be much better for us," concluded a positive Maldonado

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Sepang Qualifying: Hamilton smokes them on the water

Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix after a tense, rain delayed Qualifying session at Sepang International Circuit, but it was a close call as world champion Sebastian Vettel gave Mercedes a run for their money.

Shortly after FP3 the clouds dumped their load on Sepang, as it tends to do this time of the year every afternoon and apparently more so when the Formula 1 rain magnet is in town. For most, bar Mercedes, this was a gift, because there is no way the Silver Arrows were going to be troubled in the dry, where their outright pace was at least a second faster than the next best.

Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are clearly going to be slugging it out this year, and as a result we have scenes reminiscent of the Hamilton-Alonso days at McLaren back in 2007, where they even raced each other to the pit exit. Fast forward to 2014 and Hamilton-Rosberg are pretty much in the same zone, albeit with no animosity present for now, as they dart for top spot in the pit lane exit..

From the outset of the session Hamilton appeared to have a slight edge on Rosberg, and it so transpired in Q3 as Hamilton set the best time on Wets which was over half a second up on his teammate Rosberg , whose best was only good enough for third on the grid.

Hamilton, who equalled Jim Clark’s British record of 33 pole positions in Formula 1, said afterwards, “I’m all over the place at the moment. I’m really happy with how well we’ve done over the weekend, but today was incredible – how heavy was the rain? It was tricky out there for everyone because at the end it was almost impossible to see. I couldn’t see where the track went, where the corners were, where to brake. I had to bail out of my final fast lap, so it was very close.”

Rosberg summed up his afternoon in the wet, ”I was a little bit less comfortable on the Full Wets, especially [under] braking. But third is still a decent place to be – who knows what the weather is going to do tomorrow? I’m looking forward to the race now, to try and make the most of third.”

Splitting the Mercedes duo was Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull, which proved to have handy amount of grip in the prevaling conditions. There was a scare early on as the software went on the blink, but a reset appeared to solve the problem and ultimately the quadruple world champion was a mere 0.055 of a second adrift of pole, which suggests that in a wet race he could well take the fight to the Silver Arrows.

Vettel reflected, ”At the beginning of Q1, the heartbeat was rising very quickly when we realised there was an issue. I came in, we restarted the car and that seemed to solve the problem. After that it was fine. It was good to go out and get another feel in the wet conditions. Q3 was not perfect. I would have loved to have a second go. My first attempt, I felt there was time to gain here and there. It was very close, too close. I should be on the good side for tomorrow but it depends on how good the start is. I’m happy with the result.”

Fernando Alonso had an incident packed afternoon, a coming together with Daniil Kvyat in Q2, an incident which broke one of the upper front suspension rods. Remarkably the Ferrari crew repaired the damage and sent their man out again. He promptly delivered, to take fourth place on the grid.

Daniel Ricciardo will head up the third row in his Red Bull, ending the session with the fifth best time, albeit almost a second down on his teammate.

Alongside the Australian on the grid will be Kimi Raikkonen who again was out-qualified by teammate Alonso, although only by 0.176 of a second.

As is his trademark, Nico Hulkenberg reveled in the tricky conditions and ended best of the rest of the Mercedes powered brigade. He will start from seventh on the grid, alongside McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen who again outqualified his far more experienced teammate Jenson Button.

Magnussen survived an excursion over the grass and gravel , to keep himself in contention for Q3 where he delivered another strong performance on a track that he has never driven on, under extremely challenging conditions.

Magnussen said, ”It was not easy to get it right – we should have gone out on the Wets in the beginning, but I’m still learning about the conditions and the tyres. It’s all good experience for me. Position eight is not bad, though it’s not good either. I do feel the car is quite good in those conditions – we just got the timing a bit wrong. The car is behaving well.”

Button was tenth fastest, victim of a dubious call to run Q3 on Pirelli Intermediate tyres, while everyone else was on the Wets. A gamble that backfired.

“When you’re probably going to be eighth on Wets it’s worth a punt to put on Intermediates. It is what it is. I, we, didn’t think it was going to rain again so it was worth a go, but it was pretty wet out at the back of the track. I chose to go on inters – I normally make the call and get it right, but I didn’t today,” admitted Button.

Splitting the McLaren duo on the timing sheets in ninth place was Jean Eric Vergne who scored Toro Rosso’s best ever starting position at Sepang.

The wrecked Caterham of Marcus Ericsson

Q1 came to an end with less than a minute to go when Caterham rookie Marcus Ericsson got caught out by the slippery kerbs exiting Turn 3, slithered into the barriers, then bounced off them across the track before coming to a stop just before Turn 4.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, and disappointment to many, was the below par performance by Williams in conditions that clearly did not suit their car and as a result Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas will start 13th and 15th on the grid.

Massa said, “We’re missing some downforce on the car. Again, we’ve not qualified where we should be but we’ll see tomorrow what happens in the race.”

The weather will be a major factor in the race, with Mercedes not enjoying such a big advantage in wet conditions. But also reason for optimism among their rivals is the possibility that the Mercedes W05 may not be too kind to its tyres in race mode at Sepang…

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Alonso: It’s probably the biggest smile for a fourth position in my career

Fernando Alonso, a three times winner in Malaysia, was happy with fourth place on the starting grid on Saturday after steering his battered Ferrari through the rain.

The double Formula One world champion, winner of 32 races in his career, felt fortunate just to be on the second row after earlier colliding with Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso.

The crash in the second phase brought out a red flag and looked like it could be the end of qualifying for the Spaniard but his team managed to fix a broken left steering arm on his car in five minutes and get him back on the track.

“I’m so happy with this qualifying, it’s probably the biggest smile for a fourth position in my career,” Alonso told reporters.

“It was so chaotic, especially at the end with a car that was damaged.

“In the right hand corners I could move the steering wheel with one finger and in the lefts I could not even move it with two hands. In wet conditions was not the easiest way to drive the car.

“We managed to put the car out on the track to complete the laps and those laps were enough for fourth so we need to be very happy.”

The incident with Russian rookie Kvyat was investigated by stewards after the Spaniard turned into the Toro Rosso driver who appeared to lock his wheels and slide into Alonso.

The ever increasing rain had made visibility difficult in the final stages on Saturday with Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes holding on for pole despite abandoning a final flying lap because he couldn’t see in his mirrors.

Alonso said he didn’t see Kvyat, who qualified 11th, and the two shook hands after the incident.

“Obviously it was an unfortunate situation, wrong place at the wrong moment,” said Alonso.

“I didn’t see him, that’s the truth. I turned in and I only felt the hit, I didn’t even see him before he hit my car.

“I didn’t see a replay so I don’t know where he was coming from, if he was late braking I don’t know. For sure it was a surprise on the out-lap with these visibility conditions to have these kind of attacks.”

The rain played havoc with Alonso’s Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who had showed good pace in the three dry practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.

The Finn, though, struggled in the wet qualifying sessions and could be heard complaining about being given the wrong intermediate tyres as the rain became heavier as he only managed to qualify in sixth.

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Vettel shows champion qualities despite early scare to make front row

Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel overcame more reliability problems to steer his struggling Red Bull onto the front row of the grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Second place in qualifying at a wet Sepang raised the German’s spirits after he was forced to retire early in the Australian season-opener two weeks ago following dismal pre-season testing.

The problems followed the quadruple champion to Malaysia, with a new electronic power control unit required after issues during Friday practice and the German then suffering a fault with the energy store after three laps of qualifying on Saturday.

A simple reset solved the problem and he revelled in the wet conditions to slice away at the advantage of the pace-setting Mercedes, missing out on pole to Lewis Hamilton by just 0.055 seconds.

“At the beginning of Q1 (the first phase), the heartbeat was rising very quickly when we realised there was an issue. I came in, we restarted the car and that seemed to solve the problem,” Vettel, last year’s winner in Malaysia from pole, told reporters.

“After that it was fine. It was good to go out and get another feel in the wet conditions. Q3 was not perfect. I would have loved to have a second go. My first attempt, I felt there was time to gain here and there. It was very close, too close.

“But to split the Mercedes was very good for us. All-in-all we can be happy, after a tough winter we’re getting stronger.”

Red Bull principal Christian Horner said engineers would investigate what went wrong with Vettel’s car, which he said fixed itself and remained stable for the remainder of the session, which had been delayed by 50 minutes because of rain.

Despite the early problems, Vettel almost snatched an unlikely pole but missed out on crossing the line for a final flying lap by a fraction of a second.

“If Seb would have had a clean last lap, he just got traffic, we would have had a crack at it,” Horner told the BBC.

“But overall, it’s better than we expected coming here.”

Vettel was way off the early pace set by Hamilton and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg who had been 1.5 seconds quicker than the world champion in the first stage of qualifying when the track was drying out after an initial heavy downpour.

But as the rain returned, so did Vettel’s competitiveness as he moved closer and closer to the top of the timesheets before settling for second.

Although he acknowledged it would be difficult to challenge the Mercedes duo in Sunday’s race, the fighter in him refused to rule it out.

“Mercedes has the best package,” the 26-year-old said. ”Its difficult to beat them on the day but its not impossible. It would be quite sad to wake up in the morning thinking that you can only finish second or fifth or eighth. We’re here to win.

“We know that in the rain anything is possible. There is not so much rain forecast (for Sunday) but there’s always a chance around here.

“Obviously I haven’t done a race since Brazil last year so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

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Button: The decision to run on inters in Q3 was my choice

A gamble on tyres failed to pay off for McLaren’s Jenson Button but the former Formula One world champion remained positive he could still threaten from 10th if the rain persisted at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

As most of his rivals went for wet tyres, the British driver opted to run on intermediates in the final qualifying phase after just making it into the top 10 qualifying shootout at a rain soaked Sepang Circuit.

“The decision to run on inters in Q3 was my choice. I usually make those kinds of calls, and tend to get them right, but I got it wrong today,” the 2009 world champion told reporters.

“When you’re quick enough to be fastest on full wets, then choosing to run on inters isn’t worth the gamble; but, when you’re fighting at the back of the top 10, it’s worth giving it a go to see what happens.”

A top 10 finish looked beyond Button, who finished third in the season opener in Australia two weeks ago, after he recorded the slowest lap time in the final practice before qualifying.

Team mate Kevin Magnussen faired even worse and was unable to set a time after he complained to his team over the radio about a lack of power.

But the issues were fixed in time for the qualifying session, with the 34-year-old Button refusing to be disappointed that his ploy was hit by a further deluge of rain.

“Into that final qualifying session, just as it looked as though the conditions were heading back towards favouring the inter, it went and rained again,” he bemoaned.

“Funnily enough, though, I’m not too disappointed that I made the wrong call. We might have qualified only a couple of places higher if we’d called it differently, and that’s not what we’re aiming for, so it was worth a gamble.

“Besides, if it’s wet tomorrow, it’ll be tough for everyone. The tyres give us no grip in these conditions, since all the cars are obviously running lower downforce than last year. No one knows what’ll happen tomorrow but one thing everyone knows is that, if it rains, it’ll be tricky.”

Danish rookie Magnussen will start Sunday’s race in eighth behind pole sitter Lewis Hamilton after gaining more valuable experience in the testing Malaysian conditions.

He feared he may have hurt his chances of a better starting place by running into the gravel in the second phase

“Eighth isn’t too bad, but it isn’t too good either. It’s certainly not satisfying, because it’s not where we want to be,” the Dane, who finished second in Australia, told reporters.

“It’s a shame I went off near the end of Q2 – the trip into the gravel caused some damage to the floor – I don’t know how much performance we lost, but I think we could have done a little bit more in Q3 if the car had been in one piece.

“Our car feels good, and it definitely has untapped potential. I think we can do a better job tomorrow. The pace probably isn’t quite there yet for us to be able to fight for outright victory but we’ll be in the mix.”

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Bottas handed grid penalty and first F1 driver to get penalty points

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas on Saturday became the first Formula One driver to pick up penalty points under a new driving licence-style system introduced this season.

The Finn was also handed a three place grid penalty for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix after stewards ruled he impeded the Red Bull of Australian Daniel Ricciardo in a rain-hit qualifying session.

It was the second time in two races that Bottas had been handed a grid penalty, the one in the Australian season-opener resulting from a gearbox change, and he will start 18th at Sepang.

Under the new system, any driver collecting 12 penalty points in the space of a year will be given a one race ban.

The stewards ruled that Bottas had not paid attention to the approaching car and impeded Ricciardo through turns 14 and 15.

The Finn, who finished fifth in Melbourne after Ricciardo was disqualified from second, was disappointed with the decision: “I thought it would be OK and there would be no penalties,” he said.

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Kvyat blames rain for Alonso collision

Daniil Kvyat insists Fernando Alonso turned in on him but says it was "quite normal" given the poor visibility.

Qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix was delayed by 50 minutes as the rain began to bucket down in the build-up to the session.

Once underway, the conditions were still tricky as visibility was poor in the spray.

This, Kvyat reckons, is what resulted in Alonso closing the door on him as he took the inside line to get around the slower Ferrari.

"As for the incident with Alonso, the visibility was very poor for everyone and I think he didn't see me and in the end, he turned into me," he said.

"I think it was quite normal that he didn't see me because there was so much spray."

The Toro Rosso rookie pitted for a new front wing and went onto finish in 11th place while his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne qualified P9.

"It was a shame to be knocked out of Q3 right at the end by my team-mate, but Jev was faster than me today and I was too conservative on my last lap.

"Let's see what happens tomorrow, as it really depends on the conditions out there.

"Q3 could have been possible today, but all the same P11 is a good starting point."

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Maldonado hails 'clear step forward'

On the up side, this time around Pastor Maldonado posted a time; on the down side it was only good enough for 17th place on the Malaysian GP grid.

Having failed to set a time in qualifying for the Australian GP and then retiring on lap 29, Maldonado has been keen to spot any sign of improvement from Lotus this weekend in Malaysia. And, thankfully for the Venezuelan, there were some.

Unlike in Australia, the 29-year-old put his name on the board in qualifying at the Sepang circuit, posting a 2:02.074 to finish 17th, one position behind team-mate Romain Grosjean.

"I think it was much better than last weekend," he told the BBC. "It was a clear step forward. We had so many issues yesterday on both cars, but today was much better."

And even without Lotus' car and engine troubles, qualifying on Saturday was no easy feat as the rain came down heavily forcing the FIA to delay Q1 by 50 minutes.

Once underway, conditions were still difficult for the drivers while a red flag with 35 seconds on the clock put paid to Maldonado's chances of improving.

"It was a bit of a lottery in qualifying. We stopped too late so we weren't able to finish lap because of the red flag. I'm a bit disappointed but there are positive things for the team."

He now enters Sunday's Malaysian GP hoping to once again see signs of improvement.

He added: "Hopefully tomorrow will be good for the team."

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Malaysian GP: Adrian Sutil seeks Formula 1 wet tyre improvements

Adrian Sutil has called for Pirelli to revise its wet tyre compounds, after describing the current rubber as "the worst I have driven" in Formula 1.

The German failed to make it past the first segment of qualifying for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, and told BBC Radio 5 Live immediately after the session that the wet Pirelli was "the worst tyre I've driven in the wet".

The Sauber driver blamed the red flag caused by Marcus Ericsson's crash for his early exit from qualifying, but said the Pirelli tyres were too hard given the amount of downforce removed from the cars by the 2014 regulations.

"Not only have we lost 20-30 per cent downforce due to the regulation, they also give us the hardest compound available," Sutil told AUTOSPORT.

"They've made the tyres harder, they've got rid of the downforce and now we have no grip. And in the rain you have no grip anyway and a bad rain tyre.

"It's all over the place. It's not only us, you can see the on-board [videos] of other cars; it's like rally driving."

Williams driver Felipe Massa agreed with Sutil's assessment and reckons Pirelli should revise its compounds.

"I don't like them as well," he told AUTOSPORT. "You go out on the first lap and it's the best, then you get slower because you lose grip.

"The degradation in the wet, the way the wet behaves, is not good."

NEW CARS DELIVER FRESH WET TYRE CHALLENGE

Other drivers said they could not feel much of a difference between this season's wet tyre and last year's.

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Lotus driver Romain Grosjean reckon the struggles for grip are more to do with the way the engines deliver power, rather than the tyres.

"It is not such a big difference from my point of view," said Rosberg. "It is just that having more torque available, it is a bit more difficult to put the power down on the exits."

"It is one of those tracks where it is tricky and there is a lot of standing water," added Grosjean, who spun on his final lap in Q2.

"We know that they are certainly not the best of wet tyres that we have driven, but I have not felt any big difference from the past.

"We drove inters and extreme, and didn't have any big aquaplaning or anything, so they are safe."

PIRELLI HAPPY WITH WET TYRE PROGRESS

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has dismissed Sutil's complaints, and reckons the fact that most drivers were happy with the wets shows that progress has been made.

Speaking to AUTOSPORT he said: "Overall we are happy with the situation regarding our new wet tyres.

"There were no wear issues, and the tyres are better when it comes to dealing with aquaplaning.

"We've closed the gap between the inter and the wet too, which led to some interesting strategic choices."

Hembery also pointed out that Pirelli is always facing compromises when it comes to producing tyres that will work in the variety of different conditions that are experienced during the season.

"We also must not forget that Malaysia has a unique situation in terms of the temperature when it rains, and the abrasive track surface - so that obviously leads to some overheating," he added.

"But we have to prepare tyres that can be used at all different circuits."

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Raikkonen: I said in my first time at Ferrari this will be my last team, I have kept my word

Kimi Raikkonen believes his second stint at Ferrari will be his last with a team in Formula 1.

“I am glad to be here again and I am sure that I will not change again,” the Finn told Sport Bild in Malaysia.

Raikkonen, now the oldest driver on the grid, made his debut for Sauber as a highly-inexperienced 21-year-old, going on to win races for McLaren and the title for Ferrari in 2007.

His mid-contract split from Ferrari at the end of 2009 was partly acrimonious, as he left Formula 1 altogether and enjoyed a two-year sabbatical with rallying and NASCAR exploits.

Raikkonen returned to the grid with Lotus in 2012 and, with his pace intact and achieving highly consistent results, he was re-signed by Ferrari to be Fernando Alonso’s teammate in 2014 and beyond.

But, now 34, he told Sport Bild, “I will not drive in Formula 1 for ever. I already said in my first time at Ferrari that this will be my last team. As you can see, I have kept my word.”

At one point during his Lotus years he told reporters that he did not miss a single thing about the Maranello outfit, but then changed his tune when things at Lotus wen sour and Ferrari cam e knocking.

With Ferrari focusing on winning titles again (particularly the constructors’ title) the team ditched stalwart Felipe Massa, as Stefano Domenicali lobbied successfully to have the Iceman return to the Prancing Horse stable joining Fernando Alonso in the team.

Ironically the Raikkonen was paid handsomely ($15 million reportedly) to allow for the Spaniard to join the team in 2009.

However, four years later the return of the ‘prodigal son’ Raikkonen was completed in September 2013.

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Marko accuses Rosberg of not using his mirrors in qualifying

A spat between Red Bull and Mercedes broke out on Saturday afternoon after the battle for Malaysian Grand Prix pole position at Sepang.

“Rosberg apparently forgot to look in his mirror,” Red Bull’s Helmut Marko told German television Sky.

He claims Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, not on a flying lap, and blocked Sebastian Vettel – preventing him for doing one more final lap – as the reigning world champion pursued Lewis Hamilton’s pole position in wet Malaysia.

In the end, Vettel’s deficit to pole was a mere five hundredths of a second.

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda hit back at Marko, claiming picking out a Formula 1 car some few seconds behind amid plumes of rain spray is “not like when you’re driving on the highway”.

“I think there is traffic all over the roads, even in Austria,” Lauda added. ”Such things can just happen,” said Lauda.

Seated next to Rosberg in the post-qualifying press conference, Vettel said: “Nico couldn’t see much in his mirrors, I guess.

“Obviously I was pissed off – sorry, angry – at the time because although it was a two or three second gap it was enough that the next corner was completely blind.”

Rosberg, however, immediately professed his innocence, ”I don’t think that was me. I never had anybody behind me.”

Shortly after, when polesitter Lewis Hamilton was discussing his session with reporters, the 2008 world champion became frustrated because teammate Rosberg and Vettel were still privately debating the ‘block’.

“Hey guys, I can’t even hear myself talk,” said Hamilton.

Later, Auto Motor und Sport quoted Rosberg as explaining: “Sebastian was two and a half seconds behind me, so I couldn’t see him at all in the spray. Besides, I was too far in front of him to be in his way.”

Nonetheless, it emerges that Red Bull’s team manager Jonathan Wheatley took the matter to the stewards, who promptly dismissed the complaint.

Lauda shook his head: “Why would Helmut get in a bad mood about this rather than rejoice that Vettel is next to a Mercedes on the front row?”

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F1 driver reportedly passes out as extreme dieting takes its toll

It has emerged that Formula 1 drivers’ extreme dieting to make the stringent 2014 weight limits may have caused one as yet unnamed driver to pass out in Malaysia.

We reported on Saturday that some drivers are deliberately dehydrating, even at sweltering Sepang, in order to get the weight of their car below the legal 692kg limit.

“That is what I was going to do,” admitted Jenson Button. “Go in a sauna, steam room, not drink or eat until after qualifying.

“It is a shame for the guys who have to do it.”

It appears, in fact, that Button has been toying with dehydration strategies in Malaysia.

“Morning run for Jenson,” his trainer, Mikey Collier, said on Twitter on Saturday, “with pre and post weight measurements to guide hydration strategies, taking driver weight loss to the extreme.”

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton agreed that he has also heard that some drivers’ dieting has become hardcore.

“I heard someone was doing that, exhausting themselves,” said the Briton.

Now, The Times correspondent Kevin Eason has reported that one unnamed Formula 1 driver “passed out at a function in Malaysia, underlining fears that some are starving themselves to meet new weight limits”.

Martin Brundle, the commentator for British television Sky, said on Saturday that he has heard the very same story.

Among the very heaviest drivers on the grid is the tall Adrian Sutil, who reportedly weighs a whopping 12 kilograms more than his teammate Esteban Gutierrez.

Worse still, the Ferrari-powered C33 is believed to be well over the 692kg minimum weight, whether the featherweight Gutierrez or Sutil is at the wheel.

The Swiss newspaper Blick reports that Sauber is working on “a new lightweight chassis” to introduce at the Spanish Grand Prix in mid May.

“We are planning an ambitious weight loss programme,” a team source confirmed.

MIKA: Is this Formula 1 or Horse racing!?

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Ecclestone continues on a mission to make F1 louder

Formula 1 circus master Bernie Ecclestone has been on a mission in Malaysia this weekend to turn up the volume on the all new Formula 1 V6 turbo engine era.

Apparently alarmed that the sport’s new, quieter tones will drive away promoters, sponsors and fans, the Formula 1 chief executive has been hard at work trying to come up with a way to make the turbo V6s louder.

“We think there’s a way,” Ecclestone told the BBC late on Saturday. ”They’re working on it and I think we’re going to get it done.”

However, not everyone likes the sound of all the bleating about Formula 1′s new ‘power units’.

After Sebastian Vettel denounced the sound as “shit”, McLaren’s Jenson Button was quoted as telling the reigning world champion to “go and race somewhere else”.

“My criticism was not directed at Sebastian, but more generally,” the 2009 world champion is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild.

“I think that if we (Formula 1) are criticising ourselves, that cannot be good for the sport and the sponsors,” Button added.

“Of course we have to listen to the opinion of the fans, but at the moment we can’t change the sound anyway. So there’s no point for us to be saying bad things about Formula 1,” he said.

Similarly, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was quoted by Italy’s La Repubblica as likening those who are complaining to “children”.

“Do they not understand that Formula 1 has to be contemporary?” the German added.

“We’re going into emerging markets and new economies and it’s right that we are raising awareness about the issue of clean energy. As drivers we’re responsible for that too,” said Rosberg.

Actually, the debate about the sound of the engines is drowning out some of the sport’s deeper issues.

Lauda told the Independent on Saturday that the teams are “fighting like you wouldn’t believe”, involving not only spats between the big players but also at the rear of the grid.

For the small teams, the big issue is the stonewalling over the issue of cost-cutting, with Force India’s Bob Fernley warning that “all the smaller teams could fall by the wayside” if nothing is done.

But Ecclestone is warning that even billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz could quit, so frustrated is he with the ‘new’ and quiet Formula 1.

“I wouldn’t bet my money he won’t leave the sport,” the 83-year-old Briton warned, amid wild reports he and Mateschitz could actually be preparing an audacious bid to take over control of the sport.

As ever in Formula 1, deep and mysterious political machinations are buried underneath all the noise.

Ecclestone was spotted in an hour-long meeting on Saturday not only with Donald Mackenzie, the CVC chief who is rarely seen at grands prix, but none other than Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

None of the parties would comment on the topic of their conversation, but Horner has often been mentioned as the ideal successor should CVC be forced to oust Ecclestone over the Gerhard Gribkowsky corruption affair.

Not only that, a week after the Bahrain Grand Prix, the governing FIA will hear Red Bull’s appeal against the Daniel Ricciardo disqualification, with the outcome tipped to have dramatic consequences.

“It’s always a big few weeks for Formula 1,” 1996 world champion turned television pundit Damon Hill wryly told the Daily Mail newspaper at Sepang.

“It creates its own dramas around the relatively simple task of making cars go round the race track.

“But what makes this more important than normal is that the sport is in transition but nobody is sure where it is transitioning to,” he added.

[MIKA27]

Race: Hamilton Claims Commanding Sepang Win

Lewis Hamilton claimed an unchallenged lights-to-flag victory in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, easily beating his team-mate Nico Rosberg.

On a dry Sepang circuit, Hamilton started from pole position - his fourth in Malaysia - and led off the line ahead of Rosberg and the chasing Red Bull racers.

Unchallenged, Hamilton easily began to etch out an advantage over the chasing pack and held it through both his pit stops.

Such was Mercedes' advantage over the chasing pack that Hamilton's race engineer told the race leader that they would turn down his engine by switching to a different mode midway through the 56-lap grand prix. They did the same for Rosberg.

With 20 laps to go the rain fell lightly for just a few laps. This, though, did little to halt Hamilton's charge and he coasted to a 17s victory over Rosberg.

It was a tense battle between the two Red Bull drivers to join the Mercedes duo on the podium.

Fighting one another off the line, Daniel Ricciardo was not willing to play second fiddle to his reigning World Champion team-mate and took third. Vettel kept the pressure on until he was able to use his DRS and shot by his team-mate on lap 3.

The German maintained the advantage to claim his first podium finish - and first points - of the 2014 Championship while Ricciardo's race was undone when, on his second stop, his team did not put the left front on securely.

He stopped in the pit lane, was pushed back for the team to redo it, and came back out a full lap behind the leaders. Back on track, though, the Aussie suffered a broken front wing and limped back to the pits where he got a new wring and returned to the action as the very last driver still running. He was then hit with a stop-go penalty for an unsafe release. He eventually retired with four laps to go.

Fernando Alonso brought his F14T home in fourth place as he once again lacked the grunt needed to challenge those ahead while Nico Hulkenberg, whose two-stop plan back fired as he was caught late in the race by Alonso, was fifth for Force India.

Jenson Button was sixth for McLaren, beating the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

There was a bit of argy-bargy between the Williams drivers at the start as Massa yelled "did you see what he did? He touched me." Bottas was then told "not to attack Massa" and responded "I have more pace than him."

In the end Massa was told with three to go that Bottas was quicker than him and to let his team-mate take the position. A lap later he was told Bottas "had better tyres, do not hold him up." Massa, however, did nothing to help his team-mate and held on to seventh ahead of him.

Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat continued their fantastic debuts as the F1 rookies completed the top ten in ninth and tenth places.

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen's race was undone on lap 2 when he limped back into the pits having suffered a puncture in his battle on lap 1 with Kevin Magnussen. He recovered to finish P12.

Magnussen was penalised for the accident, a 5-second stop-go penalty. It was the second handed out on the day as earlier Jules Bianchi has received a similar punishment for colliding with Pastor Maldonado on the opening lap.

Maldonado's day went from bad to worse after that as he parked his E22 on lap 7, told "we need to retire the car, box this lap" by his Lotus team. Bianchi later retired as well.

Jean-Eric Vergne, Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez also failed to see the chequered flag while it was a dismal afternoon for Sergio Perez as the Force India never even made it to the grid due to a hydraulic problem with his Force India.

Results

01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.25.974

02 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +17.3

03 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +24.5

04 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +35.9

05 Nico Hulkenberg Force India +47.0

06 Jenson Button McLaren +83.4

07 Felipe Massa Williams +84.7

08 Valtteri Bottas Williams +85.1

09 Kevin Magnussen McLaren +108.8

10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +

11 Romain Grosjean Lotus +

12 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +

13 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham +9

14 Marcus Ericsson Caterham +2

15 Max Chilton Marussia +

DNF Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 51 laps

R Esteban Gutierrez Sauber

R Adrian Sutil Sauber

R Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso

R Jules Bianchi Marussia

R Pastor Maldonado Lotus

R Sergio Perez Force India

[MIKA27]

Hamilton: I would like to offer this victory in tribute to all those affected by the tragedy of MH370

Sepang has not been Lewis Hamilton’s most successful hunting ground in Formula 1, although in his previous seven visits he had been on the podium three time, yet had never stood on the top step at the venue – this all changed at the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix as he stormed from pole position to the chequered flag unhindered, scoring a dominant victory for Mercedes. He spoke after his 23rd grand prix triumph.

Your first win this year and you got the hat trick – pole position, the best lap time, on lap 54 I think, and now you’re here. How does it feel?

Lewis Hamilton: Incredible, incredible. After such a difficult weekend and such a long winter. We have a great crowd here today. For Petronas, who worked so hard with Mercedes to give us this win, I just feel so grateful, particularly after such a tragedy three weeks ago. I would like to offer this victory in tribute to all those affected by the tragedy of MH370.

Tell us a bit about what it’s like to drive in Malaysia. What do you have to consider when you’re driving?

LH: Yeah, you’re sweating even before you get in the car. It’s trying to keep your body as cool as possible and then just keep you focus. Fortunately, the team were just spot on with all the pit stops and the calling, the timing. Also the info I was getting was just spot on.

It seems much clearer these days. You can hear the radio a bit more. Is that to do with the cars being a little bit quieter?

LH: It is. The cars are quieter. The most noise is the wind, the buffeting. Otherwise, what a great car, what a great job from everyone.

The 23rd win of your career. The first 1-2 for Mercedes of the modern era, your first win in Malaysia. You weren’t wanting to celebrate yesterday after that pole but I guess you will allow yourself a celebration tonight.

LH: Yeah. Definitely. Incredibly happy. My first time. It’s my eighth year here and finally got that win. I really just owe it all to the team…did a fantastic job, the guys back at the factory pushing non-stop to get the car to where it is, and of course to do it on Petronas…on our home ground…almost, to get a one-two, I mean it’s quite special when you get a one-two. I’ve not had many in my career and so that makes it even more special. I’m really grateful for all the work that’s done and…yeah, great day.

Was there any difficulty during the race for you or was it an easy trip?

LH: I don’t think any race is ever easy. Obviously there are opportunities that are presented in front of you and obviously you have to take them with both hands and today that’s what I did but no, looking after the car, looking after fuel, not making any mistakes, it was a massive challenge in that sense. The time…I would hear that Nico had stepped up the speed, reacting to those things without damaging your tyres, so without doubt it was still a great challenge, but one that I was able to do well because the car was spectacular this weekend, so really really happy, with just a great performance by the team.

Do you think that the three contenders [Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg] for the title are sitting up there today?

LH: I would like to think that us, as Mercedes, are the title…at least, at the moment, but there’s such a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of competition out there so I’m sure everyone’s going to be pushing and so we need to stay on it.

We’ve heard an awful lot about some extreme measures that drivers have taken to stay below weight this season with the car. Now Malaysia is always a punishing race because of the heat. Was it more difficult this year, especially as we had no rain, just the physical challenge?

LH: It’s always a great challenge here and today wasn’t as hot as it has been in the past, i would say. Generally, this year, with a lot less downforce, it’s a lot less physical – still really physical but it’s not as much as years and years ago when we had so much downforce and particularly last year when we had a lot of downforce, but it’s still a serious workout. Fortunately I’m just grateful my drink machine worked, even though it’s like drinking hot tea, it did the job. I think the team has done a great job in terms of weight this year. We know we’re not having to cut things off to get to the weight.

NR: Yeah, it’s not nice that everything weight-wise is on the edge but that’s the way it is. It’s always a compromise between being light but still being able to perform at the highest of my abilities and I found my compromise and so I felt absolutely fine today. But of course, it is tough out there always. Malaysia is very, very hot.

SV: It’s always hot, it’s not a walk in the park but I think we’re going slower, tyres are harder, cars are slower, less downforce as Lewis touched on, so it’s probably a little less hard than it was. The fact that we all try to save weight for this year…next year the weight goes up anyway which is good for the heavy drivers but for this year it’s a pain for them. Doesn’t help, because you’re a bit more on the edge but this is probably one of the worst races. I think the most difficult one is probably Singapore later this year.

This is to do with your helmet design: the words that you have chosen for this season on the back of your helmet, Still I Rise, are you thrilled that it’s working your way and it’s matching belief?

LH: It’s what I have tattooed on my back so I just added it to the helmet design and I think the metaphor is just that regardless of what difficulties you go through, you still rise above it. That’s really something my Dad has always enforced in me. We’ve had so many ups and downs throughout our lives and our careers, as everyone has, but he would always ‘say just rise above it’ and do your talking on track. I had a difficult time in the last race and that’s what I did today, so I feel quite good about it.

[MIKA27]

Rosberg: I was trying to chase Lewis but he was a bit too quick today

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg leaves Sepang leading the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship standings after adding second place in the Malaysian grand Prix to his victory two weeks earlier in Australia, nonetheless helping the Silver Arrows to their first 0ne-two since the fifties. He spoke after the race.

That was a fantastically exciting moment at the start. Did you feel Sebastian on your shoulder? Because you took such a hard line on the right, you were like less than a foot away from the side.

Nico Rosberg: Thanks to my engineer we worked together well and we got a great start and that allowed me to go into second place. It was a bit ‘iffy’, Turn Three I got a bit sideways, saw plenty of action there but it worked out well and from then on I was trying to chase Lewis but he was a bit too quick today.

Well, you did fantastically well, it was a superb run…

NR: Just one more thing. Malaysia you can be proud because your company Petronas has taken us to the front of F1, so you can be really proud of that. Petronas has given us the best oil and fuel in F1, it’s brilliant.

You’re not only leading the World Championship but you’ve extended your lead today in the World Championship. But to take you back to earlier in the race, you seemed to have a few problems with the rear tyres, we were hearing over the radio, maybe you could tell us a bit about that – and also maybe a bit about the start as well.…

NR: First of all the start, I had a really good start, so I was happy about that because it’s not so easy this year. The rear tyres are harder and we have more torque. So it’s very difficult to get it right – but it felt great and got away well and then Sebastian, I thought he was going to put me right into the wall, but he stopped just before – so thank you for that! My heartbeat skipped a beat a little bit but I kept right on it, it was OK anyway, it wasn’t that bad. Then I had a bit of a moment in Turn Three, a bit of a tail, tank-slapper and that allowed them all to get another run on me, but it all worked out. And then I was just trying to chase Lewis but he was a bit too quick today. It was a bit difficult out there because the track was really poor, it seemed, sliding so much, and just struggling with the rear tyres especially. That made it a bit difficult out there.

Do you think that the three contenders [Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel] for the title are sitting up there today?

NR: That sounds very good already as it is but there’s a long way to go. I’m not thinking about that at the moment, I’m really just taking it race by race, just enjoying the moment, making the most of it, keeping on it, keeping to push. The best example is now Red Bull. The last day of testing was four weeks ago or something or three weeks ago and they were absolutely nowhere and now he (Vettel) was right in the back of me, pushing me. OK, I had some pace in hand so I could beat him in the end clearly but still, the way they’ve ramped up their pace, very impressive, so we need to keep on it to keep our advantage.

We’ve heard an awful lot about some extreme measures that drivers have taken to stay below weight this season with the car. Now Malaysia is always a punishing race because of the heat. Was it more difficult this year, especially as we had no rain, just the physical challenge?

NR: Yeah, it’s not nice that everything weight-wise is on the edge but that’s the way it is. It’s always a compromise between being light but still being able to perform at the highest of my abilities and I found my compromise and so I felt absolutely fine today. But of course, it is tough out there always. Malaysia is very, very hot.

[MIKA27]

Vettel: We have a long way to go, these guys are bloody quick, congratulations to them

A month ago no one would have bet much on Red Bull finishing races let alone challenging for wins, yet two rounds into the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, Sebastian Vettel ripped up predictions by finishing third in the Malaysian Grand Prix and signalling to his rivals that he and Red Bull are on course for a vigorous defence of their titles. He spoke after the race at Sepang.

Your first time on the podium this year…

SV: It was a really good race. The start was not very good. I was quite surprised when I saw Nico on my right.

Tell us about that…

SV: I don’t know. I thought I had a good start but then I focused on getting in the tow of Lewis to maybe attack him going into the first corner. Then Nico was there on the right and it was quite tight. Daniel was coming as well as I was trying to get past Nico. So I lost a place but fortunately I got it back and then later on I was trying to get as close as I could to Nico. At some stage it looked like we are pretty similar, pretty evenly matched but then it’s like he found another gear, he was pulling away. In the end I was just trying to get the car home. Obviously Daniel didn’t make it for a couple of reasons. All in all it’s good to get another podium after Daniel has been on the podium in Australia. But we still have a long way [to go] these guys are bloody quick, congratulations to them, they did a good job but we are trying to catch-up.

You said over the radio at the end there that you’re pretty pleased, that you’ve got some work to do still but you were on the whole pleased with the outcome – but you were 24.5s behind Lewis at the finish, and that’s a pretty big number still, isn’t it?

SV: Yes, it is – but I don’t think that’s…probably Lewis could have gone faster, I think we could have gone faster at the end of the race but our priority at the end was to make sure we secure the podium. So, I think probably to see the reality, I don’t know where the gaps were, probably 10, 15 laps to the end but no doubt, congratulations to them, they did a very good job, they looked nearly seamless already in winter testing, they are bloody quick, the package they have is very, very strong, we know that but I think, y’know, for us there’s mostly positives that remain. After Australia, Daniel did a fantastic job here again. I think the car was very competitive, it’s a completely different track, different conditions but yeah, we are there and that’s the most important…I think it’s much better than what we expected at some stage during the winter. We know that there’s a lot we can do better – because it doesn’t feel great when we are out there racing. Just if you go out on track and listen and look at how the cars behave, on power I think there’s a big difference, so yeah, we know that. I think it’s a question of time, how soon we manage to catch up. And then we try to give them a harder time.

Do you think that the three contenders {Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel] for the title are sitting up there today?

SV: Well, I think Fernando is missing, Daniel, Kimi and probably one other guy that we don’t know yet. Still early days, but that’s what I would say.

We’ve heard an awful lot about some extreme measures that drivers have taken to stay below weight this season with the car. Now Malaysia is always a punishing race because of the heat. Was it more difficult this year, especially as we had no rain, just the physical challenge?

SV: It’s always hot, it’s not a walk in the park but I think we’re going slower, tyres are harder, cars are slower, less downforce as Lewis touched on, so it’s probably a little less hard than it was. The fact that we all try to save weight for this year…next year the weight goes up anyway which is good for the heavy drivers but for this year it’s a pain for them. Doesn’t help, because you’re a bit more on the edge but this is probably one of the worst races. I think the most difficult one is probably Singapore later this year.

Red Bull made big progress between Bahrain and Melbourne, again progress between Melbourne and here. Are you happy with the speed of development, is that the speed you need in order to catch the Mercedes, let’s say, when the European season starts?

SV: Yeah, we need to make big steps because they are quite far ahead but I’m quite happy with the steps we’re currently making. It’s the first race distance I’ve done this year, since Brazil, it’s the first race distance I’ve done so that’s a big step. Obviously, at some stage during testing, we didn’t expect to finish the first couple of races so well done to all the guys in the team on the reliability front. It’s not a big secret, we know that there’s still a lot to do. In terms of driveability we’re not yet there where we want to be. In terms of power, it’s not a big secret without giving a hammering but the guys at Viry are flat out to work on that front. Renault is pushing very, very hard but at this stage we have to summarise and say that Mercedes did a better job, they’re quicker than us so we know that there’s a lot of things we have to do better but it’s still a bloody good result today, finishing on the podium, right behind them. That’s what we need to do, as long as we can, up to the point where we’re even and we can challenge them and give them a harder time.

[MIKA27]

Massa: I don’t regret what I did, I was fighting to the end, that’s the way I wanted to do it

Sepang is now well and truly the team orders capital of Formula 1, as this last edition of the Malaysian Grand Prix again featured high drama between teammates.

Last year, not only did Red Bull’s infamous ‘Multi 21′ affair make the headlines, Nico Rosberg was also controversially ordered to stay behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The same did not happen in 2014, as Hamilton easily dominated the grand prix ahead of Rosberg.

The new ‘team orders’ storm has been triggered by a tussle over mere seventh place, after Felipe Massa was asked by Williams to move over.

“Okay Felipe, Valtteri [bottas] is faster than you, do not hold him up,” the Brazilian was told over the radio.

The order was eerily similar to the infamous ‘Fernando [Alonso] is faster than you’ issued by Ferrari some years ago, but this time Massa was not listening.

Having ignored the order once, Massa was told again: “Valtteri has better tyres, we need to let him go. Do not hold him up.”

Massa again ignored the order, holding station ahead of his Finnish teammate and failing to pass McLaren’s Jenson Button for sixth by the finish.

“I have nothing to say,” Massa, breaking his silence, told the BBC afterwards. “I was just fighting to the end, that’s the way I wanted to do it and I will fight for my career and for what is right.

“I don’t regret what I did. I have very good respect for the team and I believe they respect me and that is very important,” he added.

Speaking to Britain’s Sky, deputy team boss Claire Williams refused to publicly rebuke Massa, saying only that it had been “a difficult situation”.

“It’s racing. It’s such a difficult situation,” she said. ”You’ve got to do the best job for your team at the end of the day, it’s a team sport, and that’s what we are here to do to maximise the points for our team in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s the way it is. At the end of the day Felipe finished ahead of Valtteri.”

Williams replied to persistent suggestions that Massa ignored team orders, “He didn’t ignore them, but both cars were getting really hot at the end of the race, and they were both told they needed to make sure they got both cars across the lines rather than overheating them. Valtteri was also told to cool it off as well.”

“I’m very happy we are ending the race in P7 and 8, which is a great result for Williams. Much better than anything we did last year so I’m happy,” concluded Williams.

Bottas suggested that he thinks that Massa should have obeyed, ”I was approaching quicker than him. We should speak with the team, look at the data and see if I could have caught Jenson and I thought I could have.”

“We need to learn from today for the future, we always have to keep learning,” added the Finn.

Niki Lauda, the Mercedes Team Chairman and also a triple drivers’ world champion, indicated that he thinks that Massa “did nothing wrong”.

“It is something that could be a problem for us [at Mercedes] in the future,” he said. ”Racing drivers are racing drivers – they race for themselves. I would do exactly the same and my drivers would do the same.”

MIKA: I am so pleased Massa did not give way. This guy deserves to drive and not keep being asked to be a number 2. In this instance it is hard to assume he is being seen as a #2 driver, I don't believe so, but seriously, Bottas didn't look all that quick behind Felipe. If he was right up there behind him, thats another thing, but then again, Bottas could have overtaken Massa the drivers way and raced.

Good on Massa!

[MIKA27]

Ferrari: We cannot be happy with today’s result

Ferrari team and drivers report from the Malaysian Grand Prix, Round 2 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Sepang International Circuit:

Stefano Domenicali: “We cannot be happy with today’s result, because even if, on the one hand we managed to claim a fourth place that sees Fernando stay third in the drivers’ classification, on the other hand, Kimi failed to score points when they were well within his grasp, but for the accident with Magnussen on the opening lap. Even if there have been improvements on the performance front, the gap to Mercedes is still significant and that should motivate the whole team, at the track, but especially back in Maranello, to improve the car in every area. We know what areas we need to work on and we must try and do that as quickly as possible. The championship has only just begun and we know just how quickly things can change in Formula 1.”

Fernando Alonso: “The points scored today are the result of a trouble free weekend, in which the small improvements on the car worked as we had expected and it ran very reliably. We definitely have a lot more work to do, because while we are moving forward, the others are doing the same. Everyone in our team is doing their utmost to close down the gap. There’s still a lot to learn in these early races, but it’s no secret that we definitely need to improve our top speed, as could be seen from my duel with Hulkenberg. I was able to get him thanks to fresher tyres, but we definitely need to up our performance right from the very next race. It will be very hot in Bahrain and the tyre compounds are softer. This might be an advantage to us, because on the harder tyres we are sliding a lot. Also, from the data we gathered there during winter testing, we might be able to extract more of our potential, but that will apply to everyone.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “I am very disappointed with how this race turned out, because I got a good start, but then the collision with Magnussen damaged my right rear tyre, which meant I had to make an extra stop. That wiped out any chance I had of fighting for a good finish. After the accident, the car’s handling was not the same, as the tyre had caused damage to the floor, which led to a loss of downforce. On my first set of tyres, I had some difficulties and it was only after the final stop, when I fitted the Mediums that it went better, but by then it was too late. Hard to say how things might have gone without that problem, because our rivals were very quick, but maybe I could have finished close to Fernando. It was a really unlucky day, but overall we managed to improve our performance and now we must concentrate on the positive aspects of this weekend and work to improve starting already next week in Bahrain.”

Pat Fry: “A race of mixed fortunes today, because while Fernando managed yet again to give his all, Kimi’s race was compromised right from the start. With the former, it was a case of managing the traffic and tyre performance: while we were trying to bring forward the stops to pass Ricciardo, at the same time, we had to defend from Hulkenberg, who was behind Fernando but on a different strategy. As for Kimi, he was hit by Magnussen and had to do an entire lap at a very slow pace to get back to the pits and change tyres. Despite the different outcomes, both of them drove at a good pace, reasonably similar to that of the cars grouped behind the Mercedes. The F14 T continues to make progress and has proved to have good reliability, but we know this is not enough. We know we are working in the right direction, but if we want to reduce the gap to the leaders, we need to make a major step forward. Bahrain looks like being one of the hardest races of the season, where managing fuel consumption will definitely play a very important role.”

[MIKA27]

Todt says Williams, Lotus and Sauber are struggling financially

FIA president Jean Todt has named Williams as one of three teams crying out for a Formula 1 budget cap.

Todt was asked by Welt am Sonntag newspaper about the highly controversial cap, opposed by many top teams as unworkable in practice.

But Todt claims: “They all want this limit and it must be in writing. Then it will be binding. The teams came to me and Bernie Ecclestone and implored us to finally introduce a budget limit.”

“Lotus has reportedly not paid [a] driver. I hear that Sauber and also Williams have problems. It can’t go on,” the Frenchman insisted.

“I am worried that we will lose teams. Many are crying out for help, and our job is to listen to these cries.

“Formula 1 is in intensive care and time is running out – by the end of June, a solution to this problem must be found,” said Todt.

[MIKA27]

More bad news for Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo must feel the F1 gods have it in for him after he was handed a 10-place grid penalty following the Malaysian GP.

The Australian certainly seems to have no luck at the moment as he was forced to retire with a front wing problem at Sepang on Sunday. However, his woes started during his second pit stop when he was released from the pits with his left-front wheel not attached properly.

Although he picked up the problem quite early and stopped in the pitlane before being pushed back by his crew, the stewards still decided to hand him a 10-second stop-go penalty for an unsafe release.

Then to add insult to injury, he has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for next week's Bahrain GP following the introduction of new rules for the 2014 season.

"I guess everyone thought the tyres were on. As soon as I left I could feel something wasn't right and the left front was loose," the Australian told Autosport after the race.

His Sepang woes come just two weeks after he was excluded from the Australian GP results for exceeding the fuel flow limit.

MIKA: If the FIA keep changing rules why not change something that actually makes sense?

If a 'Driver' makes a mistake or bad judgement, drives recklessly, give the driver a grid penalty, but if the 'team' screw up and in this case the pit crew did, the team should be fined and the driver left alone. How is a 10 second grid penalty Daniels fault? Was not sitting in the pit lane punishment enough?

[MIKA27]

Magnussen vows to learn from mistake

A contrite Kevin Magnussen has apologised to his McLaren team after "messing" things up in Malaysia.

After the highs of the Australian GP where he produced a flawless display to claim his maiden podium in his debut race, came the lows at Sepang as he started eighth on the grid and ended up ninth.

His problems started on the first lap as he made contact with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and was handed a five-second stop-and-go penalty. He was also handed two penalty points on his licence.

"I'm sorry for the team that I messed it up in the first corner," the Dane said. "I think we could have got some good points today so I'm really disappointed with myself that I did that mistake.

"That stuff happens. You just have to learn from it, I guess. The car was really good and I'm sorry for the team that I did a mistake."

He added: "No excuses. I'm not happy. When you make mistakes is not nice. I take the blame for the bad position that we got.

"Formula 1 races are long and I shouldn't have made a mistake like that in the first corner.

"We could have had a lot more points today. Not much to say. I'm sorry for the team."

Marussia's Jules Bianchi was another driver who received two penalty points on his licence after he made contact with Lotus' Pastor Maldonado on the opening lap.

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo puzzled by wing problem

Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull were left scratching their heads following the Malaysian GP after the Australian suffered a broken front wing.

The 24-year-old had an eventful race at Sepang as he was mixing it at the front during opening few laps, but once the dust settled he was comfortably in fourth place and appeared set for a good haul of points.

However, disaster struck during his second pit stop and two "unfortunate" incidents later he was forced to retire.

First the team didn't attach his left-front wheel properly and he was forced to stop in the pitlane before being pushed back to sort out the problem. Then he suffered damage to his front wing, forcing him to go back to the pits and, although he rejoined the track, he retired not too long after that.

"I guess everyone thought the tyres were on. As soon as I left I could feel something wasn't right and the left front was loose," Ricciardo is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"I stopped and was pushed back, and a lap later I had a broken front wing and a puncture. I don't know how that happened.

"Two unfortunate events spoiled the race."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admits they will have to study video footage first before they will get to the bottom of the Australian's woes.

"It doesn't look like the car has got on the jack properly [at the pit stop]. The front-left then didn't attach. We think the problem with the wing may well have been done on the front jack we need to take a look at the video," he said.

"He got stuck in at the start and he is a real quality act and I have been nothing but impressed with him since he arrived. I think there is a lot to come from him."

[MIKA27]

‘Fernando is…I mean, Valtteri is faster than you’

These may not be the words Williams F1 driver Felipe Massa wanted to hear in just his second outing with his new employer but in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the haunting radio message received by the Brazilian was very familiar indeed:

In the Malaysian Grand Prix, Massa’s teammate was quicker and the Brazilian was ordered to let him through. What a difference a regulation makes. In the first video it was sated for Ferrari’s call and now Mass is being asked why he didn’t obey team orders. My how things changed:

Massa feels he did the right thing and had said earlier in the week that he wasn’t going to be a servant any longer (alluding to the Ferrari team order incident) but the team asked him to move over and he didn’t. Massa told AUTOSPORT:

“I heard everything but it was not clear,” said Massa.

“What I did was correct. I am trying to do my best for the team and that’s the most important thing.

“I’m sure the result would not have changed even if I had let him by, so it’s the same.

“The team respects me 100 per cent and they showed they respect me after the race, so I have no problem at all.

“What’s happened today was maybe not what I expected, but what I did was correct.”

The question remains as to if Bottas could have caught and passed McLaren’s

Jenson Button with both Williams driver of differing opinion on the likelihood of that happening. How did you see the incident? Bottas was told to hold station earlier in the race and countered with a call to the team to tell Massa to pass Magnussen or let him through as he had more pace. I wonder if Eddie Jordan is quite as animated about the lack of obeying the order from Massa as he was in the first video about Ferrari instigating team orders?