Raikkonen Wins Sepang - Back In Title Fight.

Ferrari and Kimi delivered the kind of commanding performance at Sepang that many were expecting them to show in Melbourne last weekend. This was a very important race for Kimi as it put him right in the championship hunt and showed that spectacular performance the legendary Ferrari's are capable of when everything is in place. He also reversed Massa's domination over him in qualifying and got the upper hand when it mattered most. Meanwhile, Massa flew off the road on lap 30 into retirement, therefore leaving two races with absolutely no points for himself or the team. Keep it up for the trifecta Felipe and your three year contract you just signed will be torn up for sure.

At the end of the race, on the hard tyre choice and in clear air, Hamilton was running laps in the 1:35 sec range quite comfortably, illustrating that the speed was there for what should have been a third place finish. But having suffered from severe dehydration problems due to a non-working drinks bottle as well as being punished with a grid penalty from a qualifying incident on Saturday, it will be a weekend that Lewis will be quick to put behind him.

All in all it was a good race, if not a little processional in the middle stint.The Red Bull team had a difficult weekend, with an alarming suspension failure on Coulthard's car on Friday, which threatened their participation in the event. From my view, that's two races in a row where David has had an off with his car and upon the slightest contact with anything it seems to disintegrate almost entirely. Anyway, they came through it, were cleared to race, and got two points for their troubles.

See you in Bahrain on April 10th.

Malaysian Grand Prix Results:

1. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31:18:555

2. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber + 19.570s

3. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes + 38.450s

4. Jarno Trulli Toyota + 45.832s

5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes + 46.548s

6. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +49.833s

7. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing + 68.130s

8. Fernando Alonso Renault + 70.041s

Point Standings After Two Races:

Drivers:

1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 14

2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 11

3. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 11

4. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 10

5. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 8

6. Nico Rosberg Williams 6

7. Fernando Alonso Renault 6

8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 5

9. Kazuki Nakajima Williams 3

10. Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 2

11. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 2

Teams:

1. McLaren Mercedes 24

2. BMW Sauber 19

3. Ferrari 11

4. Williams 9

5. Renault 6

6. Toyota 5

7. Red Bull Racing 2

8. Scuderia Toro Rosso 2

Hamilton Wins First F1 Race Of The '08 Season With Ease.

Lewis Hamilton’s win for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix almost went unnoticed - and that tells you how easy it was for him to win. Hamilton dominated an event characterised by safety car interventions following a series of dramatic incidents that all happened behind him.

Meanwhile, it was a disaster for Ferrari. Massa spun on the first lap and was then involved in an incident with David Coulthard before retiring, and Kimi Raikkonen kept overcooking it into the corners trying to pass other cars which would instantly negate all the work he had done catching them. As it turns out, Kimi's car didn't make the end of the race anyway. He pulled off to the side with some 5 laps to go, but as of writing this he has secured a point for Eighth because Reubens was DQ'd for entering the race track while the pit lane track re-entry light was red.

Toyota’s Timo Glock had a big off after catching some air running wide over a curb. Nice to see him walk away from it but you know his spine will be hurting for the next three weeks after taking all that force right up his backside. Renault’s Fernando Alonso finished in the points with an OK drive, but mostly he was there due to attrition throughout the afternoon. It was very nice to see Nico Rosberg finish on the podium and he was genuinely excited to be there.

Sebastien Bourdais had a great drive in his debut race and was running fourth, ahead of Alonso and Kovalainen with three laps to go when his engine failed. He will also benefit from Reubens DQ and get an extra point.

All in all, it was a great race and with no traction control this year it was great to see the guys earning their stipends, Let's also hope that Ferrari got all their DNF's out of the way for the remainder of the season.

1. HAMILTON Mclaren 1h34m50.616s
2. HEIDFELD BMW +5.4s
3. ROSBERG Williams +8.1s
4. ALONSO Renault +17.1s
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren +18.0s
6. NAKAJIMA Williams +1 lap
7. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +3 laps
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +5 laps
DQ. BARRICHELLO Honda

See you next weekend in Kuala Lumpur.

TV times for Toronto are as follows: TSN: Pre-race 2:30am, Race 3:00am Sun March 23. (that's late Saturday night)