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2008 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix
Team Quotes - Sunday 23 March
A win and a retirement is the final outcome of the Malaysian Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Kimi Raikkonen took the sixteenth win of his career, bringing Ferrari's total to 202 from 760 Grand Prix participations. Felipe Massa retired on lap 31 because of an off-track excursion, when he was right behind his team-mate.
Stefano Domenicali: This has been a bittersweet Easter day. We are very happy with Kimi's victory, but equally disappointed with Felipe's retirement as it robbed us of a possible one-two. This weekend, we have shown what the team can do after our very bad weekend in Melbourne. So, we were not cart horses in Australia and we did not become phenomenons today. We know we still have much to do to improve in terms of performance and, above all, reliability. The team carried out its tasks well, showing in style that it knows how to react. Congratulations to Kimi, who drove a superb race and thanks to our commercial and technical partners, first and foremost, Philip Morris and Shell.
Luca Baldisserri: Today we showed we had a clear advantage over the opposition, but obviously there a slightly bitter feeling that we did not manage to bring home maximum points today. It's a real shame, because we could have made up for the bad start in Melbourne in fine style, but there's no point in crying over spilt milk. Incidents such as the one that befell Felipe are part of racing. We now have to prepare as well as possible for the next round in Bahrain: our rivals will not be twiddling their thumbs and we have to improve, especially in terms of overall reliability.
In the humid heat of Sepang the BMW Sauber F1 Team scored 11 championship points – the best result for the young crew so far. Robert Kubica finished second after a strong performance at the PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld was sixth, having lost ground right after the start. For the statistic books there were eight laps in the lead for Kubica, and Heidfeld set the first fastest lap of the race for the team and himself. After two of 18 races the BMW Sauber F1 Team is second in the Constructors' Championship with 19 points.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): This was another good performance for our team. Robert was able to establish himself behind the Ferrari right after the start. He drove a very strong race and claimed not only his second podium, but also his best result in F1. Nick had no luck in the first corner and lost some positions. I regard it as a success that he still managed to finish sixth and also clocked up the fastest race lap. Of course we are very pleased with the early days of the season – two podiums in two races, 19 nice points to our account and 11 points in one go is a new record for us. That's all very positive and a good basis for the next races.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): The second second place in a row, fastest race lap, thanks to Nick, and eleven points – we are very pleased how this season has started for us. It was another fantastic race for us. Only the Ferrari was faster than Robert today, and I am especially happy for him that all went so well after he had a lot of bad luck in Australia. While Robert was able to gain a place at the start, Nick unfortunately lost a few. Later he managed to come back and executed a very fine overtaking manoeuvre by catching two cars at once. We had no technical problems on either car, the performance was again very strong. Now highly motivated we fly back to Hinwil and Munich and look forward to the coming races.
The ING Renault F1 Team experienced a difficult afternoon at a hot and humid Sepang circuit, with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet finishing the Malaysian Grand Prix in 8th and 11th places respectively. After qualifying in 7th and 13th, the team had high hopes for the race and targeted points finishes for both cars, but such was the competitiveness of the midfield pack that the team was left to fight in the lower reaches of the top ten. Fernando lost ground at the start during a frantic opening lap but recovered to claim the final point. Nelson reached the finish of his second Grand Prix, bringing his Renault R28 home just outside the top ten. The young Brazilian will look to build on the valuable experience he has gained as the team travel to Bahrain for the next Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: Unfortunately we did not make the most of the strong grid position with Fernando and this left us down the field, in spite of both Fernando and Nelson doing their best. The only point we bring home is no consolation and now we have to work hard to pinpoint our problems so that we can come back stronger in two weeks time in Bahrain.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: A relatively straightforward race, which gives us a much clearer picture of where we all stand. There is not much to report with either car as both drivers had uneventful races and there were not many strategic opportunities. It is clear we need to work hard on the car and improve it, as there is a big gap to the front.
After a poor qualifying session on Saturday in Sepang, the AT&T Williams team was not able to score points in today's Malaysian Grand Prix as various events compromised the team's ability to follow their planned strategies. Nico Rosberg had to make an unscheduled stop after the race start following damage to his front wing and a problem with his fuel system meant a second alteration to his planned strategy. Kazuki Nakajima made a strong start from the back of the grid, claiming four places in the first sector and by lap three had climbed seven positions. He too, however, was unable to stick to plan following a puncture and an excursion off the track which prevented him from capitalising on his strong start. Nico finished the race in P14 and Kazuki in P17.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: This was a race weekend to move on from. After a poor qualifying, we tried two different strategies on the cars, Nico on a one stop and Kazuki on a two stop. The plan didn't work out because Nico lost his front wing on the first lap and Kazuki had a puncture. We later had a problem with the fuel system on Nico's car, meaning we had to pit earlier than planned and run some extra fuel. Kazuki made good progress during the first stint and it looked like the strategy was working, but then he had a puncture in the second stint, so we had to pit him earlier than scheduled too. Kazuki then went off the road and flat spotted the tyres. We need to learn from all the mistakes we made this weekend, look forward to Bahrain and have a good recovery.
Christian Horner: Mark drove a good race. He had the handicap of an air pump issue from very early on, which meant we had to build in quite a large safety margin, fuel wise. This required him to stop earlier than scheduled in order to compensate, which over the course of the race probably cost us between 12 and 15 seconds. Unfortunately Sato didn't move out of the way at a critical point when we were racing with Heidfeld, otherwise I'm sure we would have stayed ahead over the final stop. David put in a very gritty drive, especially after not feeling one hundred percent this morning, and was very competitive in the second half of the race. It's good to go away from here with some points on the board.
Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: For the team it's a good result. We had one finish in the points, and one finish very close to the points. It wasn't a trouble-free race, but we managed it well as a team and it's great to get two points, which we will now look to build on at the next race.
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "This completely makes up for the disappointment of Australia. Everyone at the team is so happy with this result after such a good race. The last stint fight with Hamilton was exactly the kind of battle that I like so I really want to thank Jarno for an excellent performance. He lost ground when he was sandwiched into the first corner but then he was quick throughout and the fuel strategy and pit stops were perfect. Unfortunately Timo's car was hit on the first lap, breaking an element of his rear suspension, but that's racing. Next time he will make it to a better position as well. Now we head to Bahrain looking to keep up this momentum. We will try to get both cars into Q3 and then aim to fight with the top teams again."
Gerhard Berger: Not a great weekend for us and even practice did not go the way we would have liked. Then, on the opening lap we lost Bourdais. On his first set, Vettel had too much understeer, but still showed a reasonable pace until he stopped with a problem we have yet to investigate. On the positive side, the two Red Bull Racing cars finished and obviously we will get the benefit of this later in the season.
The Honda Racing F1 Team achieved a top 10 finish in today's Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Jenson Button brought his RA108 home in 10th place and team-mate Rubens Barrichello ended the race in 13th position.
Both drivers improved on their grid placings during the course of the 56-lap race and lapped consistently with the cars around them, giving the team a valuable indication of the RA108's current level of competitiveness.
The cars ran reliably in the tough conditions and both drivers delivered a solid race performance. In an otherwise fault-free race, the only issue was when Rubens exceeded the pitlane speed limit after his second pitstop and was required to take a drive-through penalty eight laps later.
What is your assessment of the car and team's performance this weekend?
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "This weekend was more straightforward for the whole field compared with Melbourne and we saw fewer drivers making mistakes. Sepang is also a more representative circuit in terms of car performance, as Melbourne can produce unusual results. Therefore to see Jenson finish the race in 10th place with Rubens just behind, in spite of his problems in the third free practice session, is very encouraging and a real indication of the car's pace. There is still a great deal of work to do but we are really starting to make improvements one step at a time."
After an encouraging start to the season, what are your plans for developing the car in preparation for Europe?
RB: "Our next development step will be introduced for Barcelona where we will see another aero update and we also plan to have some new suspension components. Of course every team will have updates but we feel the rate of our own progress is significant and we are hopeful that it will see us take a step up the grid for the start of the European season."
Super Aguri drivers Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato endured extremely hot and humid weather conditions to bring both cars home at the end of the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix in 15th and 16th positions respectively.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: I am very happy to have a two-car finish here in Malaysia because it is a very hot, humid and difficult race. The whole team has done an excellent job and for both cars to finish means that we have finally started the 2008 season.
The Force India Formula One Team has finished the Malaysian Grand Prix with Giancarlo Fisichella in 12th position. The Italian demonstrated the improved race pace of the VJM01, battling throughout with the midfield pack and setting a string of lap times just over one second from the leaders. Unfortunately, after moving from 20th on the grid to 14th in five laps, Adrian Sutil's car developed a hydraulic problem on the fifth lap and the German was unable to finish the race.
Giancarlo had a bad start off the line, which pushed him back to 20th but by his first stop had graduated to 15th overall behind Barrichello. A switch to the harder Bridgestone Potenza tyre option however gave Giancarlo opportunity to attack and he was soon pushing hard to catch the Brazilian, putting in lap times similar to the top three. Giancarlo got within one second before his second stop, but he was ultimately able to overhaul the Honda driver in the closing stages of the race when the latter was handed a drivethrough penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
The team will now return to its UK base to regroup for the third event of the year, the Bahrain Grand Prix, in just two weeks' time.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'Some real positives from the weekend, but also some very bad luck for Adrian. He had had a difficult weekend until the race but then made a great start and his race pace was looking really strong, so it's a real shame we had a hydraulic issue on his car very early on. Giancarlo made a bad start, but after the first stop he showed a really competitive race pace. Ultimately it was disappointing not to get two cars to the finish but overall I think we can look forward to a much better season than the team has had over the last few years.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'Overall we have shown a genuine improvement in pace in Malaysia from last season. In 2007 this team was at the back of the grid, this year we were just 0.05secs from getting into Q2. We have bettered our fastest lap by over two seconds, more than any other team on the grid, but more importantly we showed that we are now able to race and are no longer the team bringing up the rear of the field. Unfortunately Adrian once again went out in the early stages through no fault of his own, which sadly denied him the chance to show how he could do under race conditions, but Giancarlo drove an excellent race, setting some very promising times and was able to fight for position. I feel this is highly promising for the rest of the season.'
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton finished the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit in third and fifth positions respectively. After 56 laps (310.408 km's), Heikki came home 38.4 seconds behind winner Kimi Raikkonen whilst Lewis was fifth, 46.5 seconds behind. Both drivers were on two-stop strategies. Lewis came in on laps 19 (19.9 seconds) and 44 (8.9 seconds) whilst Heikki made his pit stops on laps 20 (10.2 seconds) and 45 (7.2 seconds). During Lewis' first stop there was a failure of the wheel nut locking mechanism on his front right tyre causing almost a 10 second delay. After the second of 18 Grands Prix, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes maintains the lead in the Constructors' Championship with 24 points ahead of BMW Sauber with 19 points and Ferrari with 11 points. Lewis leads the drivers' ranking with 14 points ahead of Kimi and Nick Heidfeld (tied on 11 points) and Heikki, who is fourth with 10 points.
Ron Dennis: "Two very strong performances from both Heikki and Lewis following an eventful weekend, which despite the problems yielded sufficient points to keep us ahead in both Championships. Heikki had a great race dealing well with the traffic and achieving a well deserved first podium position with the team. Lewis's race was hampered when a wheel nut locking mechanism failed during his first stop, costing him valuable time at a critical part in his race. The true pace of our cars was masked today by the inherent understeer that comes when driving in traffic. We now look forward to the Bahrain Grand Prix in two weeks' time."
Norbert Haug: "Heikki and Lewis did a good job following yesterday's relegation to eighth and ninth on the grid and after the wheel nut problem during Lewis's first pitstop. With third and fifth place we scored 10 valuable points. Heikki made the best out of his strategy and achieved his first podium for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - well done for him and the team. Today Lewis obviously had two handicaps starting ninth and losing more than 10 seconds in the pits, but still we finished in the points with both cars in both races of the season so far. We all will now continue to work hard to further improve our performance."
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) has won the second round of the FIA Formula One World Championship after using a hard-hard-medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
Raikkonen was joined on the podium by BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica, who registered his best ever Formula One finish with second place, finishing just under 20 seconds behind Raikkonen. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren Mercedes) finished third whilst Jarno Trulli (Toyota) finished in fourth, holding off a charging fifth-finishing Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) at the end of the race.
Sixth spot went to Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), who set the race's fastest lap with a 1min 35.366secs on lap 55 with Bridgestone's medium compound. Seventh was Mark Webber (Red Bull) who held off eighth-finishing Fernando Alonso (Renault) at the end of the race.
There were a variety of tyre strategies used in Malaysia. Every driver that finished the race made two stops for fuel and tyres, but the order they used the two compounds differed according to individual competitor performance and preference.
Temperatures soared, but tyre performance was strong from both compounds. Despite the threat of seasonal rainfall there was none and Bridgestone's wet and extreme wet tyres were unused in this race.
Hamilton remains in the lead of the drivers' championship with 14 points from Raikkonen on 11 whilst McLaren Mercedes leads the constructors' championship on 24 points with BMW Sauber in second place with 19 points.
Formula one will next be in action with the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit on April 4-6 where Bridgestone's medium and soft compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: This was another hot race for us and another race where our tyre performance was very good. Today was very interesting in terms of tyre wear, especially with the front tyres. For cars with better balance the tyre appearance was favourable, however, for those cars without such agreeable balance there was significant graining. With the new surface this circuit shows the balance of the cars very well. The track is more severe than before which is why we saw different tyre strategies compared to last year and this suited our tyre compound allocation very well. We saw a range of strategies from different competitors and this made for an interesting strategic race. Congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari on their successful strategy. They maximised tyre performance today. Also, Robert Kubica and BMW Sauber did very well and got very close to maximising the potential of our tyres.
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