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Raikkonen is now 2 seconds behind Hamilton with 3 laps to go!

Meanwhile Massa isn't able to catch Heidfeld

Gap down to 1 second between Hamilton and Raikkonen! Final lap!!

Alonso wins in Malaysia!

Hamilton holds on to second with Raikkonen in 3rd!

Heidfeld in 4th, Massa in 5th

Fisichella, Trulli, Kovalainen, Wurz and Webber make the top 10

Full results

There are no emoticons for what I'm feeling right now.

Well done Fernando, Outstanding drive Lewis, I am so proud.

Bet you enjoyed that Ed!

It was certainly a surprise that we saw the pace of the McLaren beating the Ferraris but that is great news for the championship!

It's quite a turn around in just one race, you've got to believe that the springing of the undertray did make a difference. Either that or Lewis is the oil that cools the McLaren machine and gets under the tyres of the Ferrari juggernaut!

A McLaren 1-2! That was certainly unexpected. Both Alonso and Hamilton managed to take the lead at the start. Alonso just drove off in the distance while Hamilton impressively managed to sustain the pressure from Massa until Massa made a big mistake and went wide. It was a very exciting few laps. With Massa back in 5th behind Heidfeld, it was expected that Raikkonen - who was now in 3rd - would put pressure on Hamilton but that didn't really happen. The situation pretty much remained the same until the end of the race.
The lack of pace from the Ferrari's was surprising. Were they worried about their engines or were they shocked by the start that they couldn't rework their strategies ?
Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber was impressive and he managed to stay ahead of Massa with relative ease!
Hardluck for Rosberg who retired from the points with his teammate far behind. It was good to see Renault improving (just a bit!) and Toyota making 1 car in the points again.
Webber made the top 10. Encouraging that the car lasted but finishing behind the second Williams would have been frustrating for him.
Even though Honda are arguably the biggest disappointment this season, Barrichello did well starting from the pitlane and finishing 11th ahead of his teammate!

Your thoughts and the driver of the day ?

Tyre choice by team/driver as provided by Bridgestone:

ING Renault F1 Team
Giancarlo Fisichella: Medium – Medium – Hard
Heikki Kovalainen: Medium – Medium – Hard

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Felipe Massa: Medium – Medium – Hard
Kimi Raikkonen: Medium – Medium – Hard

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Fernando Alonso: Medium – Medium – Hard
Lewis Hamilton: Medium – Medium – Hard

Honda Racing F1 Team
Jenson Button: Hard – Medium – Medium
Rubens Barrichello: Medium – Medium – Hard

BMW Sauber F1 Team
Nick Heidfeld: Medium – Medium – Hard
Robert Kubica: Medium – Medium – Hard

Panasonic Toyota Racing
Ralf Schumacher: Medium – Medium – Hard
Jarno Trulli Hard: Medium – Medium

Red Bull Racing
David Coulthard: Hard – Medium
Mark Webber: Hard – Hard - Medium

AT&T Williams Team
Nico Rosberg: Medium – Medium – Hard
Alex Wurz: Medium – Medium – Hard

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Vitantonio Liuzzi: Medium – Medium – Medium - Hard
Scott Speed: Medium – Medium – Hard

Spyker F1 Team
Christijan Albers: Medium
Adrian Sutil: Medium

Super Aguri F1 Team
Takuma Sato: Medium – Medium – Hard
Anthony Davidson: Medium – Medium - Hard

What a great race by the World Champion!

As I watched Peter Windsor chatting with Ron Dennis in the pre-race on the Grid, for the second time this season, I said "Oh Oh. Ron's smiling. Has he tied an anchor to the back axle of the Ferraris? Or has he found more speed?"

So. I should have followed my brain and picked Fernando to win.

In fact, after I posted my picks, I asked myself: 'If you expect Alonso to finish second to Kimi and ahead of Felipe, you must be thinking the McLaren is good enough to win --and if it's good enough to win, what kind of an idiot picks anyone to beat the WDC in it?'

This kind, evidently.

Anyway, for this season we can forget about Flavio B. (except for comic relief) and we can feel sorry for Jean Todt. All that scheming to steal Kimi from Ron ... and then Ron steals Fernando and produces Lewis Hamilton out of his hat!

I still believe Kimi is a great natural talent. But I have to doff me cap to Fernando for his dedication and fitness. After the race he looked like he could go out and do it again. Kimi looked like he needed a nap. Now all those (and I confess to being among them) who thought Fernando was lucky in his choice of car, can swallow hard and admit it: any car is lucky to get Fernando to drive it! And he's loving it, too. Like Michael used to.

I laughed in delight at his big swerve across the line (sort of a mocking echo of Felipe's gross swerve that lost him not merely the race, but any right to be called the 'team leader.') And I liked him waving his fingers like a demented Easter Bunny standing on his car after he parked it.

Alas for the ebullient Felipe. Not only did he make a rookie error; he made it trying to pass a rookie! Who made him look dumb. (As he was, by the by. Lewis was not very diplomatic on the podium to say that he 'tricked' Felipe, but the world knows he was correct to say it.)

So this means that Lewis Hamilton is now, officially, no longer a rookie. in fact the only the only question about L.H. now is how long before he wins?

As Ed said, this is great for the championship. (And even greater for Renault haters, like me! )

Oh yes. Why did I vote for Fernando for drive of the day and not Lewis?

Because Fernando won. For me, drive of the day IS the winner's drive. And anyway, as brilliant as Lewis's move on turn 1 was, it was made possible by Fernando's!

The Spaniard made a total fool out of Felipe. Back up the tape and look again. Not only did Felipe 'open the door' for Fernando with his wide and predictably swooping approach to the right hander (which Fernando brilliantly ducked under) but he ALSO blocked his team-mate Kimi and so made room for Lewis to get under HIM.

Lewis, quite rightly took the spot, yes, but without Felipe's help setting it up, it's hard to believe Kimi would have allowed it! It's hard, that is, to race someone into a corner when you've got an idiot blocking your line.

I haven't read the driver's comments yet, but I expect Felipe to have some kind of handling complaint. Kimi, of course, won't have much to say.

Indeed Massa's mis-handling was so bad today I think he was the reason one of the television commentators said, after the race, that had Michael been driving, Ferrari would have won.

Whatever. Michael wasn't driving. But neither, really, was Felipe. Hell, even Ralphie was better today than Massa!

only a week to go to Bahrain. I can't wait.

Jim Watt

Jim Watt wrote:Indeed Massa's mis-handling was so bad today I think he was the reason one of the television commentators said, after the race, that had Michael been driving, Ferrari would have won.

Whatever. Michael wasn't driving. But neither, really, was Felipe. Hell, even Ralphie was better today than Massa!

only a week to go to Bahrain. I can't wait.

Jim Watt

If Michael was driving, he would have been in the car Raikkonen was in! He may have finished 2nd, but no doubt he wouldn't have beaten Alonso without a Senna-esque performance.

Great comments, Jim!

To all the Alonso haters, Raikkonen has nothing for the world champion when he is on form. I dare say no one else does either save for perhaps Lewis Hamilton in time. That's two podiums in as many races for the rookie who handled the pressure and kept Raikkonen who was supposed to run away with the season behind him for what seems like the entire race. I know I will get challenges on this point, but I've been watching this sport for nearly 30 years. I know what I know, and I told other F1 enthusiasts Alonso was a world champion material when he was driving a Minardi. Well done Team McLaren!!



As for the rest... like I said in another post, Jarno Trulli may still shock everyone. I predict he will give Toyota its first win maybe Monaco, Canada or Hungary.

Love him or hate him, Giancarlo Fisichella is the most consistent points scorer behind only Fernando Alonso in Formula 1 now.

It is nice to see Alex Wurz doing well, and Nick Heidfeld should be well on his way to shutting up his naysayers with his last two performances. He has confirmed himself as the number 1 at BMW (remember F1 pundits were saying Heidfeld was faster than Schumacher when he came into the sport).

Kovalainen did well to finish and be in the top 10.

It is good to see Mark Webber back in the saddle. I believe Mark could be at the top of the sport right now had he made a few better decisions on which team to drive for.

Okay, here it comes...where the heck is Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Honda!!! Both of those guys lack what it takes to turn a team into a winner (like Senna, Prost, Schumacher, or Fernando Alonso!). Without a driver shake up or something else unprecedented happening with that team, its game over for them (yea, I said it after only two races!). They have been "beaten" by Toyota in both races so far, and watching the 2006 season, no one would've taken that bet. Even Super Aguri has finished better!!

Its gonna be a great season!

Okay, bring it on!!!

Yeah great,

after the race every smart a55 has to state FERRARI is nothing special, KIMI is no match for THE CHAMP and FELIPE makes rookie like errors while FERNANDO is the greatest only to be challenged by LEWIS(the greatest greatest greatest ever rookie) in due time.

What a load of b0110cks! A lot is down to the day form of the package, and the MCLAREN was unbeatable today, see fastest laps!! KIMI would have tried had there been the slightest chance and FELIPE certainly did and he can not blamed for that. It was close and also if MICHAEL had been in LEWIS(or FERNANDOs, wouldnt matter..) place, smart a`s on here would have discussed his unfair blocking.....

Nevertheless it was a perfect drive in a perfect package for the 2 MCLAREN drivers, FERNANDO proving his No.1 team position. KIMI, NICK and FELIPE obviously did all they could, FELIPE with small errors overdriving his package but I would like to give credit to him trying.

Next to mention would be NICO and ALEX who did great drives in a decent package, WILLIAMS. RENAULT slightly better, FISICO the clear No.1 and HEIKKI ok.

HONDA makes me cry, how wrong did they get their package? Sorry for both JENSON and RUBENS.

Will BAHRAIN bring yet another change?