The two WIlliams driver tested the blood pressure of their team in the final
few laps of the race when Massa refused to let Bottas past, despite team
orders to do so. Would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall in that
team debrief.
But it is Mercedes that has dominated all weekend and take the deserved
victory to go top of the Constructor’s Championship.
And to seal the afternoon Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch is doing the
podium interviews. Not entirely sure why. Does seem a bit random.
Here’s the final rundown:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault)
3 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
4 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
5 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing-Renault)
6 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes)
8 Kevin Magnussen (McLaren-Mercedes)
9 Jean-Eric Vergne (STR-Renault)
10 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes)
11 Daniil Kvyat (STR-Renault)
12 Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber-Ferrari)
13 Felipe Massa (Williams-Mercedes)
14 Sergio Perez (Force India-Mercedes)
15 Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Mercedes)
16 Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault)
10.48 A different tone of message from third-place Vettel:
“Thanks boys. Well executed race. Not yet there where we want to be.
There is still a lot to improve but we will get there.”
10.46 Vettel finishes in third place to complete the podium.
The two WIlliams so both finish – with Massa ahead in seventh and Bottas in
eighth.
Hamilton’s engineer on the radio: “Awesome race Lewis. Faultless weekend.
Done the job there pal.”
Hamilton responds: “Really grateful for the job guys. Thank you so much.”
Lap 56 as Lewis Hamilton starts the last lap he is told to take it
carefully.
And Lewis Hamilton takes the chequered flag to win the Malaysian Grand
Prix.
Rosberg caps a perfect weekend for Mercedes to finish second – the first 1-21
for the team since the Italian Grand Prix in 1955.
Lap 55 Gap between Rosberg and Vettel has widened now to 9 seconds.
Hamilton told on the radio he is the fastest man in the track so back off the
pace a bit and look after the car.
“Okay man, I hear you,” he replies very very calmly.
Meanwhile, the two WIlliams are side by side. This is very aggressive driving
between the two team mates. They must not hit each other or there will be a
lot of trouble for them. Massa seems to have no interest in letting his team
mate past.
Lap 54 Massa not letting Bottas past yet. His engineer comes on the
radio again to say Bottas has fresher tyres and he has to let him place.
Still not budging.
Lap 53 Alonso all over the back of Hulkenberg now. Bit of DRS should be
enough to get the Ferrari driver past the Force India Driver.
In the pits Ricciardo adds his name to the list of retirees.
Deja Vu – Massa is told that his team Bottas “is faster than you”.
Almost identical to the message the Brazilian receievd a few years ago in
Hockenheim when he was told Alonso was faster than him – back in the day
before team orders were allowed.
Massa told today not to hold Bottas up.
Lap 52 Perfect pitstop for Hamilton who returns to the track still at
the front.
Don’t want to jinx him but he does look set to take his first win since
Hungary last year.
Lap 51 Another quick pit stop for Mercedes. A 1-2 for the team? Never
had one since they returned in the modern era to the pinnacle of motorsport.
Had a few back in the 1950s.
Hamilton now told to box for his final pitstop of the day. He’ll go on to the
hard tyres.
Lap 50 Alonso has got it down to 4 seconds now and is lapping two
seconds a lap faster than Hulkenberg. Can’t be long before he catches him
Vettel told to box – he’ll go on to the prime tyres for the last few laps.
Rosberg also being told to box. Would expect Rosberg to keep that second spot.
The two Mercedes seem totally in control.
Lap 49 The BBC have been off to find out what happened to Ricciardo’s
front wing. Red Bull say they don’t know.
Informative.
Lap 48 Alonso clocks up the fastest lap. He’s in fifth, some five
seconds behind Hulkenberg.
Lap 47 With 10 laps to go and quick run down of the top ten – Hamilton
leads from Rosberg, then Vettel, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Button, Massa, Bottas,
Magnussen and Kyvat.
Lap 46 Indeed it is a 10 second stop/go penalty for Ricciardo for an
unsafe release.
Lap 45 Vettel told to avoid coming in too early for the hard tyres and
is told to stay out and keep his pace.
This is probably in case of a late rain shower. There is a dark cloud looming
in the background.
Lap 44 Ricciardo in. Front wing changed. Tyres changed.
Ricciardo left part of his front wing on the track – potentially another
penalty for Red Bull?
Lap 43 Alonso moved up to fourth courtesy of the Australian’s lose
wheel but the Italian has now boxed – much better stop from Ferrari than Red
Bull’s.
O dear, it goes from bad to worse for Ricciardo. Not sure what happened but
his front wing is damaged and is dragging on the floor.
Ricciardo on the radio asking what he should do. Pressure is okay he’s told,
but the Aussie says there’s a big cut in the front right so back to the pits
for him.
Lap 42 Indeed it was an issue with the front left which was not put on
properly.
Red Bull could be in danger of a penalty for an unsafe release.
Lap 41 Disaster for Ricciardo who has had a good afternoon so far. He
has stopped at the end of the pit lane after he boxed.
Reports he was weaving the steering wheel so maybe an issue with a wheel nut.
His engineers run down to him to retrieve him, but it’s a long way back to
his pit box, but the engine is still running which is good.
Lap 40 16 laps to go and soon we will start to see the drivers coming
in for their third pit stops.
Grumpy Vettel comes on the radio to ask his engineer Rocky to speak up when he
talks.
Rocky advises him that there is rain in the air with drops of rain in turn 14
now but the track is still dry.
Time to do a rain dance me thinks – let’s get those heavens open.
Lap 39 Reports of some drops of rain in the pit lane now.
Lap 38 Vettel on the radio to say Rosberg has been losing oil or water
for last couple of laps.
Engineer comes back on the radio to tell him it is raining in turn 9 and 10 so
maybe that’s what he’s seeing.
Lap 37 Gutierrez is in the pits and smoke from the front of that car
sees the Mexican become the sixth driver to retire.
Lap 36 Hamilton is told rain on the radar is lght but his race engineer
asks to be kept informed is the Brit goes through any.
Lap 35 It’s raining on the back of the track. That is the message from
Raikkonen.
Marshalls on the track to recover Sutil’s car with the other racing cars
flying past. Brave, brave people.
Lap 34 Another quick pitstop for Hamilton who comes out in front as
Vettel sets the fastest lap.
Hulkenberg on the radio to say he is losing the rear. He looks like Plan A
might be a two-stopper which might have to be reviewed. Indeed he is told to
put this lap.
Yellow flag – Sutil stopped on track out of final turn – strange place
to stop – right on the side of the track and Vettel gets very close to the
car as he comes round the corner.
Lap 33 Rosberg comes out on another set of medium tyres so he’ll have
to put the hard tyres on in his third pit. He’s out in third place behind
Hulkenberg, who hasn’t pitted for the second time yet.
Hamilton told to box at the end of this lap.
O and Grosjean did indeed win the 12th place form Kobayashi.
Lap 32 Hamilton now told that they are going to stretch the stints on
tyres to “protect against the rain”.
Rosberg told to “box box box” for the second time at the end of this
lap. Not sure why he has to be told three times.
Lap 31 Hamilton now told that clours are forming away from the circuit
and there is a “possible threat of rain towards the end of the race”.
Lap 30 There’s a good battle for 12th between Kamui Kobayashi and
Romain Grosjean. Grosjean right in the dirty air and I would imagine that in
DRS the Frenchman will take the place.
Lap 29 First mention rain. Rosberg told is not imminent but it is on
the radar.
This time yesterday the heavens had already opened. But weather changes
quickly so rule nothing out.
Lap 28 Half way through now and Mercedes totally in control. And at
half way Hamilton has used 48.2pc of fuel compared with Rosberg who has used
49.8pc. Very nifty that new fuel monitor.
Lap 27 Some bad news from the Red Bull garage – the fuel flow sensor on
Ricciardo’s car has completely failed. They are now using a back up system
as agreed with the FIA.
Any issue with fuel will be unwelcome after the Australian Grand Prix when
Ricciardo was disqualified from second place in his first appearance for the
team in front of his home crowd. It was judged that Red Bull had “consistently
exceeded” the maximum allowed fuel-flow of 100 kilogrammes per hour.
Lap 26 Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado talking about his retirement – says it
was not connected to the contact between him and Bianchi but is about saving
the engine which was losing a lot of power.
They have already lost one engine so imperative they don’t lose another so
early on in the season.
Lap 25 Mercedes tell Rosberg they want at least a five second gap
between him and Vettel, so he needs to get a wriggle on.
Lap 24 Rosberg is getting the job down and he has increased the gap to
Vettel to more than 3 seconds now.
Lap 23 Hamilton now told to turn his engine down. Mercedes obviously
feeling like they are in control of this race.
Hamilton does as asked and comes back on the radio to ask if there is any more
he can do.
“No mate, you’re doing a very good job” is the response he gets.
Hamilton also advised that Rosberg half a second quicker on the last lap as he
is trying to pull away from Vettel.
Lap 22 Perez speaking about his disappointment about not starting
today. He says it was a software problem, but the team is not quite sure
what the problem is. Seems to be an issue with downshift.
He says it’s been a frustrating weekend, from the first practice session on
Friday, right the way through.
Lap 21 Rosberg told ont he radio to increase the 2.5 second gap to
Vettel and once he has done that they will go to more saving mode.
Lap 20 Day is over for Jean-Eric Vergne.
But it is getting better for Hamilton who is continuing to open up that lead
from Rosber. Now more than 9 seconds.
Lap 19 Vettel now told to keep the gap behind Rosberg – maybe he is
having problems with tyres in the dirty air.
Raikkonen in to the pit and he is on to the hard tyres. First of the top team
drivers to move off the soft tyres. Don’t forget he had to stop at the end
of the first lap for new tyres after that contact with Magnussen.
Lap 18 On the radio Ricciardo is told to keep a two second gap to team
mate Vettel, to which he replies “no, I want to be a part of it if
something happens”.
The Australian is referring to the fact that the German is closing in on
Rosberg.
Lap 17 Hamilkton 8.7 seconds ahead of Rosberg now, who is more than two
seconds ahead of Vettel.
Raikkonen down in 17th fighting with the Caterham of Marcus Ericcson.
Lap 16 Flawless stop from Mercedes to get Hamilton back out in front.
From Dan Johnson trackside in Sepang:
Ten laps in, and it’s been a story of battles between team-mates thus far.
After he tried to squeeze Rosberg at the start, Vettel lost another place
to Ricciardo, who is driving a very composed race. Within a few laps,
however, Vettel had made a straightforward pass into turn one. None of the
‘multi21’ drama of last year.
Further down the field, Button got ahead of Magnussen, away from the
cameras, but the best emerging row has been at Williams.
Massa sounded irrate as Bottas ducked and dived around behind, but when the
Finn was told to back off, he sternly replied: “I have more pace.”
A fight to watch throughout the season.
Lap 15 Hamilton told on the radio that he is good on fuel and “it
won’t be long” – which I’m guessing means he will be pitting in the
next few laps.
In fact, he has just been told to pit at the end of this lap.
Lap 14 Vettel pits and it is super quick by the Red Bull team. He
rejoins behind Bottas but it only take a few corners and the German takes
the place.
Button in to the pits. Rosberg the first of the Mercedes told to box.
Lap 13 Ricciardo pitted and comes out right as Alonso is passing the
end of the pit lane and the cars get close but Alonso two wide on turn one
and the Australian takes full advantage to pass him.
Lap 12 Alonso in to the pits – three-stop territory for the Ferrari
driver. Staying on the soft tyres. Quick pit from the Italian team.
Engineer on the radio to Hamilton to tell him he was two-tenths faster on the
last lap than his team mate. Team is waiting for a window to open.
He is not pitting on this lap.
Lap 11 Hamilton’s lead now more than 6 seconds over Rosberg. Gradually
easing away and lead conitnues to grow on lap 11 of 56.
Lap 10 Five second stop/go penalty for Magnussen for that incident with
Raikkonen. Shame that only just came through as they have just pitted. He
can wait until his next stop.
Lap 9 Magnussen told to box. AN early stop for him. Tyre change and
front nose change needed after that crash with Raikkonen earlier.
Lap 8 Massa told to box. Day is over for the Brazilian who will retire
from the race.
Pastor Maldonado has also just pulled into the pits and is reversed
into the Lotus garage as his race comes to an end.
They can hook up with Perez who never started the race after those hydraulics
issues.
Lap 7 Massa on the radio to is team getting angry with team mate Valterri
Bottas who looking for the overtake.
Bottas straight back on the radio to say he has more pace that Massa but is
told by his engineer to not attack Massa.
Good rivarly between the Williams drivers.
Lap 6 The incident between Magnussen and Raikkenon – which led to the
FIn coming in to the garage with a flat – is under investigation.
5 second stop/go penalty for Bianchi for causing a crash, which he can wait
until his next pit stop to take.
Lap 5 Hamilton extending lead to more than four seconds. Safely outside
the DRS zone.
Lap 4 Some aggressive driving from Felipe Massa and Kevin
Magnussen who are using their DRS to swap places with each other.
Hamilton’s engineer on the radio to warn him that his team mate Rosberg is
suffering with rear tyres so is told to look after them.
Lap 3 Raikkonen finally makes it back but has lost more than a
minute on the rest of the field.
Vettel is attacking Ricciardo and has used DRS to take third
place back from his team mate.
Lap 2 Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen slowing down after pressure from
McLaren’s Magnussen.
He comes on the radio to say he has a rear flat tyre. It’s a long way back to
the pits for him.
Bianchi in the pits after contact on the first lap.
Hamilton already has more than a 3 second lead over his team mate.
Lap 1 Everyone safely round the first few corners. Hamilton
holds on to the lead, Rosberg holds second, but Vettel has
lost third to team-mate Ricciardo.
Alonso down to fifth. Button up to ninth.
09.03 LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO.
09.02 If it remains dry expect a three-stopper
All lining up now on the grid.
09.00 So quick reminder of how the top ten line up on the grid as they
start the formation lap:
Hamilton takes pole in heavy rain, Vettel 2nd, Rosberg 3rd, Alonso 4th,
Ricciardo 5th, Raikkonen 6th, Hulkenberg 7th, Magnussen 8th, Vergne 9th,
Button 10th
08.57 This hot weather is going to be tough on the tyres at the start
of the race.
All the teams have free-range on the tyres they pick.
Expecting the front teams to be starting on the softer, medium tyre, but we
won’t know until those blankets come off.
08.54 Update on Perez – he is now out of his car in the Force India
garage. Less than 6 minutes until lights out, so this is not looking good
for him at the moment. It looks like the Mexican has got a hydraulics
problem.
08.52 Just a 30pc chance of rain apparently. I’m with Horner – not sure
how much I would trust the forecast.
08.50 Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been chatting to
David Coutlhard on the grid and is asked why Vettel was late on to the
track.
Horner says that after the monsoon rain of yesterday the team wanted to get a
better feel for the car and were making some last minute adjustments.
Horner also has absolutely no faith in the weather forecasts, which he says
have been wrong all weekend.
Horner – a lot of rain yesterday wanted to get better feel for car, just
making some last minute adjustments.
My money would be on some rain at some point in the race. And when it rains in
Sepang the heavens really open.
08.46 The entire paddock is now paying tribute to the missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 with a minute silence.
Well that was the shortest minute I have known, and now it’s time for the
Malaysian national anthem.
08.44 Problems for Force India’s Sergio Perez stalls down at the end of
the pit lane. His mechanics have run down to him and have pushed him back to
the garage.
08.42 Ferarri team principal Stefano Domenicali talking on BBC now and
say the engineers have been working overnight to fix Alonso’s suspension
that he busted in a crash in qualifying yesterday.
Domenicali says he is hopeful for a podium today, which is possible with
Alonso starting in fourth.
08.39 The pit lane is open which means drivers can jump in their cars
and drive around to the start to take their place on the grid.
08.36 Earlier this week Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton somewhat
worringly said that drivers
were dehydrating themselves to meet weight limit.
In 30 degree heat, as it is today, this could be cause for concern for those
bigger, taller drivers, who Button said were under enormous pressure to lose
weight for fear of costing lap time.
Although the minimum weight limit for car and driver this year has been
increased by nearly 50kg to 691kg, the significantly heavier engines and
their associated electrical equipment have left drivers under enormous
pressure to lose weight, for fear of costing lap time.
Not sure how optional it will be not to take on fluids given how hot it is.
08.31 Earlier today the drivers did the parade around the track in an
open-top bus, but Fernando Alonso decided to stay down on the bottom live in
the air-conditioning.
Here are the drivers getting ready for parade.
08.26 Mercedes has paid a tribute to the missing Malaysia Airlines
flight MH370 on the side of its car this morning.
08.21 Fact of the day courtesy of the BBC.
That does not look like its going to change this weekend, according to Dan
Johnson, who has predicted a podium finish for the Italian team, namely
Fernando Alonso, who he thinks will finish behind Hamilton and Rosberg – in
that order.
08.15 View from the track ….Dan Johnson is on the track in Sepang and
has sent over his curtain raiser for the day.
Malaysia was one of the most eventful races of 2013, with team orders
affecting both Red Bull and Mercedes, and we can only hope for the same this
year.
There was absolutely torrential rain yesterday before qualifying, but so
far it is absolutely scorching in Sepang. Too hot, if you ask me.
For once I’m hoping for a dry race. Mercedes are still thought to be the
team to beat, so seeing how Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg match up in what
should be a straight fight will be fascinating. We were denied the
opportunity in Melbourne, after Hamilton’s retirement, so bizarrely it is
fingers crossed both Mercedes make it to the finish in decent shape.
Red Bull should also be a factor. They looked amazingly impressive
(considering their pre-season) in Friday practice, and Sebastian Vettel
starts from second.
Away from the racing, all the hubub in Sepang is surrounding Bernie
Ecclestone, and rumours he is planning to launch an attempt to buy back
Formula One. Accordingly to a creditable German motorsport magazine, his
plans are reasonably advanced and gaining legs with each passing day. With
that, his trial in April, as well as the Red Bull hearing over their
disqualification, the next month promises to be a hugely eventful one for
Formula One.
Temperatures hitting 31 degrees at the moment, with a track temperature of 50
degrees. Scorchio!!
08.00 Morning all. Hopefully you have remembered to turn your clocks
forward.
We are off to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix, with lights out at 9am UK
time. At the moment the sun is shining, but the weather can change pretty
quickly, so I wouldn’t rule out the torrential rain saw during qualifying
yesterday.
Lewis Hamilton is slowly clawing his way into the pantheon of British greats
after he grabbed pole yesterday, to join the much-revered Jim Clark on 33
career pole positions; a British record which has stood since 1968.
But the Malaysian Grand Prix is also one Hamilton has so far failed to add to
his bow.
After coming through an “all over the place” qualifying hour, the 29-year-old
will need to be at his sharpest to keep reigning world champion Sebastian
Vettel, who showed further signs of Red Bull’s resurgence, and will join him on
the front row – a vast improvement from the German who couldn’t even make Q3
in Australia.
Meanwhile it was an average qualifying for McLaren, with Kevin Magnussen
eighth and Jenson Button 10th – not what they would have been hoping for
after their double podium in the first race.
Stay with us as we bring you build up and lap-by-lap coverage of the opening
race of the season.
Get in touch with your thoughts. Who will win the title, which team-mates will
fall out first and is this really Lewis Hamilton’s year?