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 Will
be delighted to see Fisichella win for the first time in 12 months,
especially as it secured Renault's first team 1-2 finish since 1982.
Fisichella was faultless throughout the race, pushing when he needed to.
Alonso recovered well from a refuelling error during qualifying which left
him carrying double the amount of fuel he should have been carrying. He made
a blinding start to move up to third at the end of lap one. Fisichella was
untroubled pretty much throughout, and an Alonso charge was halted by the
team to ensure both cars finished.
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 It's
2005 all over again for Raikkonen. Ron Dennis spoke before the race about
his fears of the opening lap. His fears came true when Raikkonen crashed out
on the first lap after being tapped by Christian Klien. Juan Pablo Montoya
drove a quiet race to finish fourth, but will need to impress more to save
his seat for next year. Raikkonen needs luck to fall his way if he is to
mount a serious challenge, and will be gutted to see bad luck fall his way
for the second race in succession.
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|
 Reliability
was a hallmark of Ferrari during the championship years 2000-2004, but
things seem to have gone awry this season. The team had to make a number of
engine changes throughout the weekend, suffered grid penalties and
compromised races as a result. Felipe Massa will be delighted to have
finished ahead of his illustrious teammate after starting much further back.
The pace seems OK, but the mechanical issues must be sorted if Schumacher
& Co are to mount a challenge.
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|
 The
terrible start to the season got worse when Ralf Schumacher's engine blew up
during the top 10 knockout qualifying session. He was forced to start 22nd,
and based on the Bahrain performance, would not have expected to finish 8th
and gain a single point. Teammate Jarno Trulli suffered diffuser damage on
the first lap and was unable to push to the maximum. Still the team will be
delighted to secure a point after a poor start to the season that seemed to promise
much.
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|
||||
 Another
race gone, and the hype over Nico Rosberg grows, after the German GP2 champ
qualified a dazzling 3rd on the grid, ahead of team mate and renowned
qualifying master Mark Webber. Rosberg was reprimanded by the team for
squeezing Webber on the first lap, and also suffered an early engine
failure. Webber compounded the teams woes by retiring with hydraulic
problems on lap 14. The car looks a big step forward from last year, but
better reliability was expected.
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||||
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||||
|
||||
 While
Button goes from strength to strength, Rubens Barrichello seems to be
suffering from the transition from Ferrari to Honda. He has not been on
Button's pace so far this season, and damaged his race hopes by incurring
a stop go for speeding in the pits. Button however drove a strong race,
pushing Fisichella in the early stages, before finishing third. He could
have finished second, but was badly held up by Scott Speed before the
second stops and dropped to third. Not quite on Renault's pace, but strong
nonetheless.
|
||||
 Were
delighted to see both cars finish in Bahrain, but both cars were out of
the race in Malaysia by lap 26. Coulthard had to change an engine before
the weekend started, and lost 10 spots on the grid. A hydraulics problem
saw his race end after 11 laps. Klien damaged his suspension on lap one,
and spent several laps in the pits while it was repaired. He then also
suffered a hydraulics problem and retired from the race on lap 26. Will
need to improve reliability to build on last year's impressive results.
|
||||
 Will
be pleased to see Jacques Villeneuve scoring points after a troubled 2005,
but so much more was on for the German/Swiss collaboration. Nick Heidfeld
had been running in fifth place, but suffered an engine failure with just
8 laps remaining. The team seem to have produced a half decent car, but
the engine reliability is currently letting them down, with successive
failures in races costing them dear.
|
||||
 Largely
unimpressive, the team shows no determination to move up the grid.
However, they will still be disappointed that Sato's Super Aguri was able
to challenge them during the early stages. Both cars finished, 12th and
13th, but two laps behind the leaders. Will need to show more passion and
flare to win over the fanatics.
|
||||
 After
impressing in Bahrain, Toro Rosso will be disappointed with the Malaysian
result. Liuzzi had an issue on the opening lap and had to pit, costing him
time, while Scott Speed had a clutch problem on the steering wheel.
However the cars lacked the sort of pace that was shown in Bahrain. Could
it be that the engines had been further restricted by the FIA, or was the
Bahrain performance a flash in the pan?
|
||||
 Another
race finish by Takuma Sato has began to restore his damaged (oops!)
reputation. Both cars qualified off the back row of the grid, indeed two
rows ahead, due to others engine mishaps. But 17th and 18th on the grid
does not represent the true pace of their ancient cars. The fact that Sato
was 3 laps down at the end is a clearer indication of their current pace.
Yuji Ide suffered a mechanical problem and retired with 23 laps still
remaining. New car is expected some time within the next 2 months.
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| Coming soon to Focus F1 |
| Further updates to the Weird and Wonderful section, and an F1 dictionary! |
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Please remember to check back after every Grand Prix to read our in-depth race reports! |
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