Malaysian Grand Prix 2012

Der Regenmeister Schumacher was hit from behind or so it seems. He finished 10th, but at least ahead of Vettel. The only thing in his favor right now is that he is consistently faster than his younger teammate who finished 13th.

Another seat on the edge is that of Filipe Masa. He finished a miserable 15th while the guy who is looking to take his seat at the Scuderia, Sergio Perez, not only finished second but very nearly won the race. From out of nowhere, we have a new comingman.

Could it be that last year’s comingman has come and gone? All year long we speculated on what made Vettel run. Was he really that good? If nothing else he was consistent. Too early in the season to tell yet, as Red Bull has yet to come together, but it would be both sad and amazing if Vettel did not resume at least a good bit of his winning ways. But already a third in a row world championship looks grim.

We have grids full of ex and current world champions. We have cars that are very closely matched in terms of speed, handling and reliability. We have safe if not artificially-boring race courses, of which none of the current crop are true driver’s circuits like Monaco or Spa. Presumably that should make racing close, exciting, varied and with a chance for a different winner in every event.

But, that was also the case last year and the year before. It was the case when Button and Hamilton ran away with their world championships. Somehow, every year, one team, one combination of car and driver, create, develop, or inherit, a unique set of skills that put them on top. Clearly, it is the special combination of car, engineering, teamwork and driver that creates this winning force.
No one has any idea of what that formula is or how to get exactly the right ingredients but when the magic potion works, it only works for a year or two. This is why there are only two drivers who have won the championship three years in a row; Fangio and Schumacher. The hat trick does not come easy. (The term ‘hat trick’ was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson’s feat of taking three wickets in three balls.)

That combination of elements is due to change at Scuderia, for if Perez does take Massa’s place, it will upset the balance of what has been clearly but unsaid first string and second string positions on the team. One wonders what Perez could accomplish with a Ferrari/Ferrari. Or, perhaps his performance at Malaysia was a flash in the pan. Certainly others, such as Maldanado and Kobayashi, have been more consistent and deserve a shot in a Ferrari, Renault or McLaren.

Kimi Räikkönen’s resurgence has made the F1 circus even more entertaining. It is truly rare when an F1 driver returns after an absence of two years. No one aside from Kimi would have expected him to do so well. He finished sixth and set fastest lap. His dramatic encore has probably given others hope, others who have been dashed to obscurity driving (Yes!) rally cars and perhaps even worse, NASCAR trucks. His comeback so far has made Schumacher’s look futile.

One wonders too, how long it will be before F1 no longer allows races to be run in full rain. No one else does so and once the full wets are on an F1 car, there is really precious little racing, just a parade of rooster tails, red lights and drivers trying to keep their expensive race cars from becoming so much junk. Once it separated the men from the boys and F1 from the rest, but one wonders if it is worthwhile. As it is, once the track is flooded the race is red-lighted anyway, as was the case in Malaysia. So why bother with four different types of tires?

Lack of surety makes F1 interesting to watch, at least until one of the teams finds that magic set of ingredients and again makes the race a procession.

The circus reconvenes on April 15th in China.

Race Results

1	ALONSO	Ferrari	2h44m51.812s
2	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 2.2s
3	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 14.5s
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 17.6s
5	Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	+ 29.4s
6	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 37.6s
7	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 44.4s
8	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 46.9s
9	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 47.8s
10	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 49.9s
11	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	+ 75.5s
12	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 76.8s
13	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 78.5s
14	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 79.7s
15	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 97.3s
16	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
17	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ lap
18	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
19	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 2 laps, engine
20	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
21	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
22	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
23	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 10 laps, brakes
24	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 53 laps, spin
Fastest Lap	Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1m40.722s

Note – Kovalainen penalised five grid spots for safety-car infringement at previous round. Raikkonen penalised five grid spots for unscheduled gearbox change. Karthikeyan finished 21st, but 20s added to race time for causing a collision.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	ALONSO	Ferrrari	35 Points
2	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	30 Points
3	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	25 Points
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	24 Points
5	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	22 Points
6	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	18 Points
7	Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	16 Points
8	SENNA	Williams-Renault	8 Points
9	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	8 Points
10	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	7 Points
11	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	4 Points
12	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	2 Points
13	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	2 Points
14	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	1 Point

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	McLAREN-MERCEDES	55 Points
2	RBR-RENAULT	42 Points
3	FERRARI	35 Points
4	SAUBER-FERRARI	30 Points
5	LOTUS-RENAULT	16 Points
6	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	9 Points
7	WILLIAMS-REAULT	8 Points
8	STR-FERRARI	6 Points
9	MERCEDES	1 Point