Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: April 8 2007
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Date: April 8 2007
Time: 1500 + 0700 BST
Track: Sepang International F1 Circuit, Selangor
Circuit length: 5350m
Number of laps: 56
Past winners:
Giancarlo Fisichella (2006 with Renault)
Fernando Alonso (2005 with Renault)
Michael Schumacher (2000, 2001, 2004 with Ferrari)
Kimi Räikkönen (2003)
Ralf Schumacher (2002 with Williams-BMW)
Eddie Irvine (1999 with Ferrari)
* Sepang was built at huge cost, offset by a massive government subsidy, and opened in March 1999 by the Malaysian prime minister.
* The Hermann Tilke-designed Sepang circuit is one of the hardest grand prix tracks on engines. The cars are at full throttle for 72% of the lap, while ambient temperatures can exceed 40°C, making cooling difficult particularly in these days of two-race engines.
* It is the only circuit in the world to be allowed to use the F1 logo in its official name.
* The track has a unique double-fronted grandstand which seats over 30,000 fans when full. The shape of the roof resembles a banana leaf, with a three-tier canopy at the end whose roof is shaped like a hibiscus, Malaysia's national flower.
* The Malaysian Grand Prix venue is infested by natural hazards. The poisonous cobra snake has become commonplace after it was introduced to the region to combat the even more problematic rat population. And a leopard was spotted on the circuit infield during practice for the first race in 1999!
* The verdant appearance of SepangÂ’s surroundings is something of an illusion. Astroturf and green paint is deployed tactically to make the track look nice for TV.
* Two thousand workers were used in building the track and over 9,000,000m³ of soil was moved in its construction. Ten thousand palm trees were also planted around the track.
* The track is 25 metres across at its widest point at the final corner.
* Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver in the history of the race with three wins (2000, 2001 and 2004). The now retired legend also boasted a 100 per cent finishing record in the event.
* Eddie Irvine won the inaugural race in 1999, but owed his win to team-mate Schumacher as the German made a stunning comeback from a broken leg. Schumacher took pole by almost a second from Irvine, before handing the Ulsterman the lead of the race on two different occasions to help him in his title battle with McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.
* Ralf Schumacher's victory for Williams in 2002 was the first time Ferrari had been beaten at Sepang.
* The 2003 race was notable for a number of firsts. Fernando Alonso took his maiden pole position on Saturday (becoming the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history) and Kimi Raikkonen claimed his first grand prix win the following day - however the Finn has yet to finish in the points in any other of his five race starts.
* Juan Pablo Montoya was given F1's first ever drive-through penalty in 2004 following a first-corner collision with Michael Schumacher.
* Jenson Button scored his first F1 podium at Sepang in 2004. He took another third-place finish last year
* Renault has won from pole position for the past two years. Fernando Alonso took pole and victory in 2005, with team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella repeating the feat last year. Renault's 1-2 in 2006 was its first since 1982.
* Double world champion Alonso has finished in all of his five Malaysian outings, finishing on the podium in three of the last four.
* Toyota scored its first ever F1 podium finish here in 2005 when Jarno Trulli came home second.
* Mark Webber has yet to finish a Malaysian GP in five attempts, despite qualifying no lower than fifth over the past three seasons.
* Only Michael Schumacher has more than one win at Sepang. Five different drivers have won the race in the past five years.
* Juan Pablo Montoya holds the lap record at Sepang, with his best time of 1m34.223s set in 2004.
(Facts courtesy of ITV-F1.com) -
Friday free practice 1 times from Sepang
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m34.972s
2. ALONSO McLaren 1m35.220s
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1m35.712s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m35.779s
5. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.308s
6. WEBBER Red Bull 1m36.522s
7. TRULLI Toyota 1m36.597s
8. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m36.885s
9. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m37.052s
10. KUBICA BMW 1m37.121s
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m37.484s
12. VETTEL BMW 1m37.837s
13. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m37.882s
14. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m38.143s
15. FISICHELLA Renault 1m38.300s
16. SUTIL Spyker 1m38.720s
17. SATO Super Aguri 1m38.966s
18. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m39.130s
19. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m39.234s
20. BUTTON Honda 1m39.331s
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m39.357s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m40.074s -
Malaysian Grand Prix race stewards have rejected SpykerÂ’s protest against Scuderia Toro Rosso after concluding that the matter falls outside their jurisdiction.
The Dutch-owned team lodged an official protest following scrutineering on Thursday afternoon, despite having recently launched arbitration proceedings against STR and Super Aguri over the customer cars controversy.
But with the issue now in the hands of the International Chamber of Commerce in Lausanne, Switzerland, the stewards said it would be “entirely inappropriate” for them to get involved.
They added that SpykerÂ’s decision to resort to arbitration showed that it accepted the customer cars dispute was a Concorde Agreement matter rather than one relating to F1Â’s rulebook.
A statement issued by the FIA on Friday said: “Spyker have made an application for arbitration and must by definition therefore be deemed to accept that a dispute such as this (the grounds of the protest being effectively the same as that matter to be determined in arbitration) does not fall within the range of disputes to be settled under the FIA 2007 Formula One Sporting Code.
“It is considered therefore that it would be entirely inappropriate for the Stewards to involve themselves in a matter being dealt with at the instigation and election of the Protestor, Spyker, in an entirely different forum.
“It follows that this Protest is inadmissible and the Protest fee is accordingly returned.” -
Friday free practice session 2 times from Sepang
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m35.780s
2. FISICHELLA Renault 1m35.910s
3. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m36.106s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m36.160s
5. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.523s
6. WURZ Williams 1m36.621s
7. KUBICA BMW 1m36.717s
8. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m36.760s
9. HAMILTON McLaren 1m36.797s
10. HEIDFELD BMW 1m36.862s
11. WEBBER Red Bull 1m36.906s
12. ALONSO McLaren 1m37.041s
13. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m37.203s
14. SATO Super Aguri 1m37.282s
15. BUTTON Honda 1m37.578s
16. TRULLI Toyota 1m37.712s
17. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m37.855s
18. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m38.334s
19. SUTIL Spyker 1m38.419s
20. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m38.650s
21. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m38.713s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m39.807s -
Lewis is on top! Qualifying begins in 8 minutes!
Saturday final practice times from Sepang
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m34.811s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m34.953s
3. ALONSO McLaren 1m35.311s
4. KUBICA BMW 1m35.385s
5. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m35.498s
6. ROSBERG Williams 1m35.770s
7. HEIDFELD BMW 1m36.160s
8. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m36.195s
9. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m36.245s
10. WEBBER Red Bull 1m36.257s
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m36.273s
12. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m36.297s
13. FISICHELLA Renault 1m36.434s
14. WURZ Williams 1m36.473s
15. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m36.501s
16. SATO Super Aguri 1m36.545s
17. BUTTON Honda 1m36.658s
18. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m36.876s
19. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m36.972s
20. TRULLI Toyota 1m37.473s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m38.018s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m38.225s -
go raikky go! and hamilton's like, woah.
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Er, isit typo??
This year 07 not 06 leh.. -
Results for Qualifying (7/4/2007):
Positions 1 - 10
1st: Car 5 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Q1: 1:35.340
Q2: 1:34.454
Q3: 1:35.043
2nd: Car 1 - Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes)
Q1: 1:34.942
Q2: 1:34.057
Q3: 1:35.310
3rd: Car 6 - Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)
Q1: 1:35.138
Q2: 1:34.687
Q3: 1:35.479
4th: Car 2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
O1: 1:35.028
Q2: 1:34.650
Q3: 1:36.045
5th: Car 9 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
Q1: 1:35.617
Q2: 1:35.203
Q3: 1:36.543
6th: Car 16 - Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
Q1: 1:35.755
Q2: 1:35.380
Q3: 1:36.829
7th: Car 10 - Robert Kubica (BMW)
Q1: 1:35.294
Q2: 1:34.739
Q3: 1:36.896
8th: Car 12 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
Q1: 1:35.666
Q2: 1:35.255
Q3: 1:36.902
9th: Car 11 - Ralf Schumacher (Toyota)
Q1: 1:35.736
Q2: 1:35.595
Q3: 1:37.078
10th: Car 15 - Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)
Q1: 1:35.727
Q2: 1:35.579
Q3: 1:37.345
Positions 11 - 16
11th: Car 4 - Heikki Kovalainen (Renault)
Q1: 1:36.092
Q2: 1:35.630
12th: Car 3 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault)
Q1: 1:35.879
Q2: 1:35.706
13th: Car 14 - David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault)
Q1: 1:35.730
Q2: 1:35.766
14th: Car 22 - Takuma Sato (Super Aguri-Honda)
Q1: 1:36.430
Q2: 1:35.945
15th: Car 7 - Jenson Button (Honda)
Q1: 1:35.913
Q2: 1:36.088
16th: Car 18 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (STR-Ferrari)
Q1: 1:36.140
Q2: 1:36.145
Positions 17 - 22
17th: Car 19 - Scott Speed (STR-Ferrari)
Q1: 1:36.578
18th: Car 23 - Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri-Honda)
Q1: 1:36.816
19th: Car 8 - Rubens Barrichello (Honda)
Q1: 1:36.827
20th: Car 17 - Alexander Wurz (Williams-Toyota)
Q1: 1:37.326
21st: Car 21 - Christijan Albers (Spyker-Ferrari)
Q1: 1:38.279
22nd: Car 20 - Adrian Sutil (Spyker-Ferrari)
Q1: 1:38.415
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Kimi Raikkonen was the first to cross the start/finish line, temporarily snatching the coveted pole position with 1m 35.479s for Ferrari. But McLarenÂ’s Fernando Alonso grabbed that away immediately, following him across the line mere feet behind and stopping the clocks in 1m 35.310s. Lewis Hamilton was next across in 1m 36.045s to secure fourth, but then Felipe Massa put things beyond reach with 1m 35.043s to restore FerrariÂ’s supremacy. The closeness of the times, however, and the fact that they were all set on BridgestoneÂ’s softer compound, bodes well for a great race on Sunday.
Nick Heidfeld was again quick for BMW Sauber, taking fifth place on 1m 36.543s, but Robert Kubica ran a trifle too late and lost out for sixth to the on-form Nico Rosberg, who pushed his Williams to 1m 36.829s compared to the PoleÂ’s 1m 36.896s.
Once again the two Toyotas made it through to Q3, Jarno Trulli reversing the previous practice trend to beat team mate Ralf Schumacher, 1m 36.902s to 1m 37.078s. Finally, Red BullÂ’s improvement continued as Mark Webber got through to the final stage and will line up 10th on 1m 37.345s.
Extraordinarily, Q2 had weeded out Renault - the winners here for the past two years - as Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella struggled to 1m 35.630s and 1m 35.706s respectively. That left them only on row six, ahead of David CoulthardÂ’s Red Bull (1m 35.766s), Super AguriÂ’s Takuma Sato (1m 35.945s), Jenson Button in the Honda (1m 36.088s) and Toro RossoÂ’s Tonio Liuzzi (1m 36.145s).
The unlucky six in Q1 were Scott Speed in the second Toro Rosso (1m 36.578s), Super AguriÂ’s Anthony Davidson (1m 36.816s after complaints of being blocked by traffic), HondaÂ’s Rubens Barrichello (1m 36.827s in the spare car following gearbox issues with his race car at the start of the hour), Alex Wurz in the Williams (1m 37.326s, before he too encountered gearbox problems), SpykerÂ’s Christijan Albers (1m 38.279s) and team mate Adrian Sutil (1m 38.465s).
Clearly there were some unhappy people out there - notably the Renault and Honda drivers.
But the potential battle between Ferrari and McLaren in what is always a very tough encounter should make for a memorable 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix.
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5902/771.html -
Oops.Originally posted by turbo_drift:Er, isit typo??
This year 07 not 06 leh..
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Originally posted by Kuali Baba:Oops.
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And this is the way it ended. Alonso takes McLaren-Mercedes' first win since Japan 2005, and their first 1-2 since Brazil that year. A very mature drive from Hamilton secured him second place.
1. ALONSO Mclaren 56 laps
2. HAMILTON McLaren +17.5s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +18.3s
4. HEIDFELD BMW +33.7s
5. MASSA Ferrari +36.7s
6. FISICHELLA Renault +1m05.6s
7. TRULLI Toyota +1m10.1s
8. KOVALAINEN Renault +1m12.0s
9. WURZ Williams +1m29.9s
10. WEBBER Red Bull +1m33.5s
11. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap
12. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
13. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap
14. SPEED Toro Rosso +1 lap
15. R SCHUMACHER Toyota +1 lap
16. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +1 lap
17. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +1 lap
18. KUBICA BMW +1 lap
R. ROSBERG Williams +14 laps
R. COULTHARD Red Bull +20 laps
R. SUTIL Spyker +49 laps
R. ALBERS Spyker +56 laps -
McLaren topple Ferrari at Sepang
Alonso supreme as Hamilton plays decisive supporting role
McLaren went into the Malaysian Grand Prix in confident frame of mind, but even Fernando Alonso said it was a surprise as he and Lewis Hamilton turned on a crushing demonstration in which they left Ferrari for dead in the opening stages and swept to the teamÂ’s first one-two result since Brazil 2005.
At the start Alonso sprinted alongside polesitter Felipe Massa and was able to take the lead, but in another brilliant display Hamilton dived inside Raikkonen to snatch third place before going round the outside of Massa in Turn Two to move up to second.
The Englishman then contained the Ferrari challenge, earning his spurs with a faultless drive, as his team leader went for the win. Ferrari suddenly faced an afternoon of trying to salvage something from what was beginning to look like a disaster, for Massa failed on both occasions when he tried to oust Hamilton. Each time he was repassed easily by the British driver, and on the second occasion the Brazilian slid into the gravel on the exit to Turn Four and lost a crucial place to Nick HeidfeldÂ’s BMW Sauber.
As Alonso pulled out a 15.6s lead before stopping for fuel on lap 18, Hamilton built an advantage over Raikkonen, who stopped the same lap as Alonso. Hamilton thus led a Grand Prix for the second time in succession, until refuelling on lap 20.
The story was the same in the second stint, both McLaren and Ferrari still running BridgestoneÂ’s soft tyres. But this time Hamilton had the gap down to less than eight seconds before the stops, as he set the raceÂ’s fastest lap. He refuelled first, on lap 38, followed by Alonso on 40 and Raikkonen on 41. Now, however, all three were on the harder tyre, and while that seemed to suit Alonso and really suited Raikkonen, Hamilton was struggling for grip. AlonsoÂ’s 21+s lead was never going to be threatened, but lap by lap the Finn was carving chunks out of the EnglishmanÂ’s second place advantage. Going into the closing laps the race was really coming alive again, but Hamilton kept his head and yet again never put a wheel wrong. Alonso took the flag 17.5s ahead, to score a crucial first victory for McLaren, and Hamilton hung on ahead of Raikkonen by just 0.7s.
HeidfeldÂ’s great day earned BMW Sauber an excellent fourth place in front of an appreciative audience of Petronas representatives, as he held off former team mate Massa all the way to the flag.
Nico Rosberg was headed for an excellent sixth for Williams when his FW29 stopped on the 43rd lap with Toyota engine failure, promoting a grateful Giancarlo Fisichella who thus salvaged three points for Renault. The final points went to Jarno Trulli after a strong run for Toyota, and Renault rookie Heikki Kovalainen. Alex Wurz was ninth for Williams after an up and down run from 19th on the grid, fending off Mark Webber who challenged him hard on soft tyres in his final stint in the Red Bull RB3. They were the final unlapped runners.
Rubens Barrichello headed Honda team mate Jenson Button home in 11th and 12th places, chased by Takuma Sato and Scott Speed who battled all the way through. Ralf Schumacher was 16th, while 17th placed Anthony Davidson had a delayed Tonio Liuzzi thirsting after him all through the second half but held off the Toro Rosso to the flag. Robert Kubica was the final finisher, having run in the top six until his BMW Sauber developed a suspected transmission problem and needed to make a pit stop for attention.
Besides Rosberg, the other non-finishers were the Spykers; Adrian Sutil got shoved off on the outside of Turn 4 on the opening lap, in an incident in which Button was also involved, and then Christijan AlbersÂ’s car lost its engine shortly afterwards.
A great race thus puts Fernando Alonso into the lead of the world championship, with Kimi Raikkonen second from Lewis Hamilton. Roll on Bahrain.
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5911/771.html -
Salute to Lewis... he managed to keep his calm as kimi clawed his butt
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Nice move by Lewis into the first corner. Massa managed to bugger it all up and he never quite recovered from that. Kimi didn't look too happy in the post-race conference. Good measured race from Alonso, but that's to be expected. Kubica's momma obviously didn't teach him any manners, scattering kitty litter all over the track like that.
All in all, the McLarens' pace was surprising, given how the past week's testing went. -
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Drivers' standings:
Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 18
2 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Ferrari 16
3 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 14
4 Nick Heidfeld German BMW 10
5 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 7
5= Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 7
7 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 2
7= Nico Rosberg German Williams-Toyota 2
9 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Renault 1
9= Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 1
Constructors' standings:
Pos Constructor Points
1 McLaren-Mercedes 32
2 Ferrari 23
3 BMW 10
4 Renault 8
5 Toyota 3
6 Williams-Toyota 2
7 Red Bull-Renault 0
7= Honda 0
7= Super Aguri-Honda 0
7= STR-Ferrari 0
7= Spyker-Ferrari 0