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FERRARI BACK ON TOP!
Kimi Raikkonen scored a very convincing victory in the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix at the weekend (23 March 2008), while what should have been a one-two finish for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was not to be, as Felipe Massa spun out of a safe second place on lap 31 of the 55 lap race.
"I am very happy with this win, for me and for the team,” said Kimi Raikkonen at the finish. “It's a shame that Felipe was unable to let us bring home a result that was within our grasp. At the start I came alongside Felipe, but I did not take any risks, knowing I was stopping one lap later than him at the end of the first stint. When that time came, I pushed to the maximum and I managed to come out of my pit stop ahead of him. From then on, with a clear track ahead of me, the car was perfect I was able to control the situation without having to stress the car or the tyres. We are struggling a little bit in qualifying, but in the race we have a very high potential. We have had a very complicated start to the season, but I have certainly not lost faith in the team: we can still do better."
The threat of rain and wind evaporated, unlike the perspiration in the very humid conditions and when the lights went out, the two Ferrari men had quite a fight heading for the first corner, but in the end and with the advantage of starting from pole position, Massa got the upper hand. Raikkonen was in close attendance and the Finn was followed by the BMW-Sauber of Robert Kubica, the Red Bull-Renault of Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli in the Toyota. Sixth and seventh on the opening lap were the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. These unusually low positions came courtesy of the Stewards who, late on Saturday night, decided that the McLaren duo had impeded another driver in the final stages of Qualifying and were thus penalised with a five place drop on the grid.
The gap between the two F2008s expanded, but only slightly, but they were comfortably clear of the field in the early stages. One of the most exciting moves came on lap 5, when Heidfeld's BMW joined Coulthard's Red Bull and Alonso's Renault, all three men running in line abreast on this very wide track. The German and the Spaniard both got ahead of the Scotsman, the last two touching wheels. By this stage, Felipe put in a few fastest laps to lead Kimi by 1.7s on lap 5 and 2 whole seconds a lap later. Nakajima in the Williams-Toyota had gone from 22nd and last to 14th by lap 8, when it was Raikkonen's turn to set a fastest lap. From here onwards the two team-mates traded fastest times, as attention centred on Hamilton's attempts to pass Webber for fourth spot.
Raikkonen inherited the lead when Massa pitted at the end of lap 16, stopping for 8.5 seconds. Next time round the Finn's stop was slightly quicker and this was enough for him to emerge from the pit lane just ahead of the Brazilian, so they were now second and third behind Kubica who had yet to stop. Any chance Hamilton had of a good finish ended when he had a problem in his first pit stop.
As the race moved into its second half, the Ferrari duo seemed to have everything under control, until Felipe spun off at Turn 7 on lap 31 and was unable to get out of the gravel. The Brazilian admitted to clipping the kerb one corner before he went off, so the team is currently checking the car to see if this might have caused his exit from the race.
"On lap 31, I clipped the kerb at the exit to Turn 6 and hit it quite hard and then I lost the rear end going into the next corner,” explained Massa. “We have to check to see if the impact with the kerb damaged the car. It's a real shame because we could have brought home a one-two finish. Obviously this has been a very difficult start to the season for me, but there is still a very long way to go. We have great potential, as was seen today and so I am still confident. Naturally I hope to make up for this soon, starting with the next race in Bahrain."
On lap 35, Kimi's lead over Kubica was over half a minute and he made a trouble free 8.5 second final stop for fuel and tyres on lap 38, which allowed Kubica to lead again until the Pole made his own stop. Hamilton's race long pursuit of Webber paid off in the final stages and then the Australian came under pressure from Alonso, managing to hold him off to the flag. After fifty five laps, Kimi duly buzzed the Ferrari pit wall in celebration of his first win of the year, followed home by Kubika and Kovalainen on the podium, with the remaining points going to Trulli, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber and Alonso. Kimi is now second in the Drivers' Championship on 11 points, three behind Hamilton. In the Constructors' table, McLaren-Mercedes are on 24, with BMW-Sauber second on 19, eight ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.
"This has been a bittersweet Easter day,” said team director, Stefano Domenicali. “We are very happy with Kimi's victory, but equally disappointed with Felipe's retirement as it robbed us of a possible one-two. This weekend, we have shown what the team can do after our very bad weekend in Melbourne. So, we were not cart horses in Australia and we did not become phenomenons today. We know we still have much to do to improve in terms of performance and, above all, reliability. The team carried out its tasks well, showing in style that it knows how to react. Congratulations to Kimi, who drove a superb race and thanks to our commercial and technical partners, first and foremost, Philip Morris and Shell."
Speaking from Italy Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo said "I expected a reaction like this, because I know how strong and competitive our car and also our team is. I am especially happy for Stefano Domenicali, as it was his first win as Team Principal of the Scuderia Ferrari, but also for Kimi Raikkonen, who drove a perfect race. This is the best Easter present we could give to our fans!"
2008 Malaysian Grand Prix
1. Kimi RaikkonenFinlandFerrari-Ferrari 56 01:31:18.555
2. Robert KubicaPolandBMW Sauber +19.5
3. Heikki KovalainenFinlandMcLaren-Mercedes +38.4
4. Jarno TrulliItalyToyota-Toyota +45.8
5. Lewis HamiltonBritainMcLaren-Mercedes +46.5
6. Nick HeidfeldGermanyBMW Sauber +49.8
7. Mark WebberAustraliaRed Bull-Renault +68.1
8. Fernando AlonsoSpainRenault-Renault +70.0
9. David CoulthardBritainRed Bull-Renault +76.2
10. Jenson ButtonBritainHonda-Honda +86.2
11. Nelson Piquet JrBrazilRenault-Renault +92.2
12. Giancarlo FisichellaItalyForce India-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Rubens BarrichelloBrazilHonda-Honda +1 lap
14. Nico RosbergGermanyWilliams-Toyota +1 lap
15. Anthony DavidsonBritainSuper Aguri-Honda +1 lap
16. Takuma SatoJapanSuper Aguri-Honda +2 laps
17. Kazuki NakajimaJapanWilliams-Toyota +2 laps
18. Sebastian VettelGermanyToro Rosso-Ferrari 39 laps completed
19. Felipe MassaBrazilFerrari-Ferrari 30 laps completed
20. Adrian SutilGermanyForce India-Ferrari 5 laps completed
21. Timo GlockGermanyToyota-Toyota 1 lap completed
22. Sebastien BourdaisFranceToro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps completed
F1 DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP (AFTER ROUND 2 OF 18)
POSITION / DRIVER / TEAM / POINTS1. / LEWIS HAMILTON / VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES / 14
2. / NICK HEIDFELD / BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM / 11
= / KIMI RAIKKONEN / SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO / 11
4. / HEIKKI KOVALAINEN / VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES / 10
5. / ROBERT KUBICA / BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM / 8
6. / NICO ROSBERG / AT&T WILLIAMS / 6
= / FERNANDO ALONSO / ING RENAULT F1 TEAM / 6
8. / JARNO TRULLI / PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING / 5
9. / KAZUKI NAKAJIMA / AT&T WILLIAMS / 3
10. / SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS / SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO / 2
= / MARK WEBBER / RED BULL RACING / 2
F1 CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP (AFTER ROUND 2 OF 18)
POSITION / TEAM / POINTS1. / VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES / 24
2. / BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM / 19
3. / SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO / 11
4. / AT&T WILLIAMS / 9
5. / ING RENAULT F1 TEAM / 6
6. / PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING / 5
7. / RED BULL RACING / 2
= / SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO / 2
9. / SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM / 0
= / FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM / 0
= / HONDA RACING F1 TEAM / 0
(ends)
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Release Number: Ferrari_277
Date of Issue: 16 November 2018. Time of Issue: 23:10:30