Malaysian GP Preview
It's supposedly been raining in Sepang every afternoon for the last two weeks, which could be very interesting if it were to continue this weekend.
F1 arrives in Malaysia for its familiar post-Australia sauna, though this time without a two-week gap. The heat and humidity of the Malaysian GP are the ultimate test of an F1 driver's fitness - none of the rookies will have raced for this long, at this temperature. Factor in the lack of engineering recovery time and analysis from last weekend's eventful season opener, add in an abrasive surface that's getting bumpier by the year, a lack of traction control, plus rain, and all the elements are there for a fraught and fantastic race.
Oh and I forgot to say that there is a mile of space on the track to facilitate overtaking and a host of differing lines through corners.
However, the thing that created all the close-running and the incidents in Australia is singularly missing here - barriers close to a narrow track. So although we might get a Safety Car, it's less of a foregone conclusion.
Ferrari have the most to recoup after a disastrous Australian GP where neither car finished. This will give them the benefit of fresh engines for Massa and Raikkonen on what is a power circuit; but the lingering engine problem that remains could be temperature related.
Though the Scuderia's cars were fastest on long runs during winter testing, all that testing was done in low temperature 17C Europe, not 36C Australia or what could be 44C Malaysia. With the next race coming on so quickly there is hardly time to fly the old engine units back to Maranello for some swift analysis.
There's nothing much to worry about yet, even an average performance in Sepang is not going to dent their ambitions in an 18-race season. Since the bad old days of the early 90s, Ferrari don't slump for very long. What's slightly more worrying is both drivers' inability to control their cars in racing situations.
From a driving perspective Melbourne was as bad a drive from Raikkonen as I've ever seen (even though he was typically feisty on the opening lap). Massa hardly did better. Yet we know from Michael Schumacher that the car is immensely drivable, so what's going on there?
For now, let's put it down to a one-off and draw any conclusions after Bahrain.
Lewis Hamilton will remain the man to beat after another sensational Australian GP. Seven poles from 18 starts is a mind-blowing statistic. Lewis made no mistakes in the race and looked like he'd been in a 10-lap kart race when he got out of his McLaren at the end.
Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was close - not as close as Alonso to Hamilton last year - but not so far away. You can see that Heikki's already getting fed up with the "so was your tactic to protect Lewis?" line of questioning.
McLaren did well in Malaysia in 2007 and they will be the team to beat this year.
BMW should have been on pole in Melbourne and are the team that have progressed the most over the winter months. It remains to be seen if they can keep that competitive edge on a balls out power track as opposed to a tightish street course.
The Safety Cars also kept Nick Heidfeld artificially close to the front and it would have been interesting to see how far he had dropped back over the course of an uninterrupted GP distance. But there's no denying that they are a lot closer to Mercedes than last year.
Williams look like the fourth team and Toyota look like the fifth, with Red Bull mixing in there along with Fernando Alonso's Renault. Sepang will show how much or how little these teams have to do to exert dominance on the mid-grid. They will have counted without the interloping of Honda and Toro Rosso who both did well in qualifying and the race last weekend.
On the great wide plains of tarmac that Sepang has to offer there is a much tougher examination of all-out speed, aerodynamics and braking. On Sunday afternoon we will find out if we have a massive mid-grid of six teams, sandwiched by three fast ones and two slow ones.
As for the rookies - Kazuki Nakajima will be aiming to drive a race and keep all his bodywork intact, Glock will be aiming to keep it on the island, and Nelson Piquet will need to be within half a second of Fernando Alonso. The disparity between Alonso and Piquet was one of the most striking things about the opening race. If Nelson was inhibited by the barriers of Albert Park, then he will have no such problem in Sepang.
The Malaysian GP has the potential to be another sensational race. And for Vettel, Button, Fisichella, Webber and Davidson, it will be the chance to complete their first GP lap at full racing speed.
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