Hamilton fifth as Kimi leads Ferrari fightback
KIMI Raikkonen insisted Ferrari
never doubted they would
bounce back from a terrible start
to the season after the Finn
cruised to victory in the
Malaysian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen took the chequered
flag 19.5 seconds ahead of BMW
Sauber driver Robert Kubica
with Heikki Kovalainen claiming
an impressive third for McLaren.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton
made the best of a bad weekend
by finishing fifth.
A problem with a wheel nut
during Hamilton's first pit stop
cost the championship leader a
tilt at the podium after he initially
lined up ninth on the grid,
having incurred a five-place
penalty in qualifying.
He still leads the drivers' standings
by three points from Raikkonen
and BMW driver
Nick Heidfeld but
it was a welcome
result for Ferrari,
although
Felipe Massa
failed to finish
after he ended
up in the
gravel, having
completed
30 laps.
The Italian
team proved
strong throughout
the weekend
and, after the debacle
in Melbourne
when both drivers retired
with engine failures,
Raikkonen felt it
was the perfect way to
answer the detractors.
We never lost confidence
in our team,'' he
said. We had quite a difficult
race in Australia but the whole
winter the car has been working
well. It's been quick.
We had some problems which
we didn't really expect at the first
race and hopefully we can get rid
of them, like here, where we didn't
have any issues.
But you never know, we're
still not 100 per cent happy with
things.
We're still trying to improve
them but we have confidence in
the team, in the car, in the people
and hopefully we can be fast
again in the next race.''
Pole-sitter Massa had led the
field into the first corner after
holding off Raikkonen, only for
the Finn to leapfrog his teammate
during the first round of pit
stops.
The 28-year-old acknowledged
his route to victory became
much easier
once Massa's afternoon
came to a premature
end, echoing
Hamilton's
comments after his
win in Australia.
We could have
gone much
faster if we had
pushed but we
had already
turned the engines
down before
the first
pit stop, after the first laps,'' he
added.
So it was quite easy for us.
I think I had enough space at
the start. He (Massa) was pushing
me a little bit on the right side
but that's racing. It was OK.''
Kubica enjoyed a fairly low-key
afternoon en route to his best finish
in Formula One, crossing the
line almost 19 seconds ahead of
Kovalainen after benefiting from
Massa's misfortune.
At the beginning of the race I
had a close fight with Jarno
(Trulli) and Nick (Heidfeld) into
the first corner,'' he said.
Afterwards I was trying to increase
the gap to the drivers behind.
I was expecting McLaren to
come on strong. It didn't happen,
luckily for us, and we had quite
good pace for the whole race.
After a disappointing race in
Australia when I qualified second,
we worked mainly on the
race pace here.
I knew with what we chose in
qualifying we would suffer a bit,
but then in the race it paid off, so
I'm very happy for myself and for
the team.''
Kovalainen had begun the race
in eighth after he, like Hamilton,
had been penalised five places on
the grid for impeding Heidfeld
and Fernando Alonso at the end
of Saturday's qualifying session.
However, a solid drive combined
with sound race strategy
saw the Finn claim a first podium
for his new employers, albeit in
unspectacular fashion.
But while Kovalainen acknowledged
Ferrari were the
dominant force this weekend, he
insisted he was still hampered
from the outset.
I think there was no way we
could match Ferrari,'' he said.
BMW also seemed to be very
strong on race day but then
again, when you start further
down on the grid, it's always
going to be a compromise.
You initially lose quite a lot of
time. The first few laps you can
lose a couple of seconds a lap if
you get stuck in traffic and you're
fighting for position.
So by the time I got going in
the race, the gap to Robert was
17 seconds.
It's impossible to say what
would have happened had we
started where we qualified, but in
any case, I think we did the maximum
that was possible and third
place for me was more than
enough.''
10:19am Sunday 23rd March 2008
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