Weekly Formula 1 Race Coverage

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

FORMULA ONE

Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang Circuit - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The season-opener in Australia was one of the most entertaining in recent memory, not because there was a great battle for the win, but because of the number of cars that fell by the wayside during the race.

To be sure, Lewis Hamilton drove a nearly perfect race, dominated from start to finish and easily collected the 10 points for winning the event. But the fact that only seven of the 22 cars were running at the finish made this race so interesting.

The first thing we learned from the season opener, is that you better not miss the start of the race. With the elimination of "launch control" (a computer program that was used by pushing a button on the steering wheel giving the driver a perfect start without wheel spin) every race start will be fascinating. Varying driver reaction times and ability to control their cars at the start will make for exciting and sometimes catastrophic beginnings. Four cars were involved in a lap one accident at the race's first corner.

Without computer traction control, driving is back in the driver's hands, which can sometimes be very good or very bad. Twice last Sunday morning defending World Champion Kimi Raikkonen spun his Ferrari off the track. He was trying too hard to get back into the race and lost it both times without any help from anyone else. Last year, the on-board computer "brain" would have over-ridden the driver and kept the car on track.

The heat of Melbourne also took its toll on man and machine leaving just five cars on the lead lap when the checkered flag flew.

The races in Malaysia are usually run in even hotter, wetter weather than what is normally seen in Australia. Add to that the recent rules changes requiring engine and gearboxes to last multiple races and it is a recipe for more trouble.

McLaren's first effort was excellent with Hamilton winning and second-year driver Heikki Kovalainen running a solid fifth.

But for McLaren's main championship rival Ferrari, the race was a disaster right from the start. In qualifying, Raikkonen's F2008 failed him and he started 16th. He spun twice in the race and finished in ninth-place after he pulled his ill-sounding engine off the track, out of a points position. Only after former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello was disqualified for leaving pit road against a red light, did the defending champion earn even one championship point.

And Raikkonen's weekend was better than teammate Felipe Massa's weekend after his Ferrari engine died on lap 29.

BMW looks like it has made vast improvements over the winter. Both Nick Heidfeld, who finished second and Robert Kubica, who was running in the top- five for most of the day before an accident left him in ninth place were strong contenders.

Fernando Alonso, the two-time World Champion, who returned to Renault over the off-season, finished fourth through persistence, but the French manufacturer still has much work to do to compete with McLaren and Ferrari. The Renault was definitely slower than the top cars.

Rookie Sebastien Bourdais deserves some praise after his effort in Melbourne. In his first F1 start Bourdais was in line for a fourth-place finish before his Scuderia Toro Rosso failed him in the waning laps.

Now it's on to the Sepang Circuit where Alonso is the defending race champion, when he beat then McLaren teammate Hamilton by 17 seconds. It should be different this time around. Expect a Hamilton victory.