An Armchair Perspective Of The Malaysian GP

Note: As the Malaysian GP has transcended normal F1 races these days, the blog owner has invited an F1 fan to write the review. It was just not a race to be narrowed down to one driver's perspective, it warranted more.

I will admit it. I am a hardcore Kimster, and sometimes the only thing that matters to me is how well he performs in the race. But being a Kimi fan, you have to sometimes bow to that ugly bitch called luck. 2010, 2011 and 2014 seasons have taught me how to keep my head down and keep the fire kindled, despite my favourite struggling or rallying. It has changed my perspective, and now I also crave for those oddball race winners, skies opening up on circuits, team squabbles and a general respite from the monotony of the sport. I have started to love races with good scraps for positions all through the field, even though Kimi languishes at the wrong end of the field. Malaysian GP 2015 was one such race, and Kimi did not waste away at the back too.

A spectacle like this rarely comes to light in the highly regulated and formularized world of F1. The domination of one team and the presence (or preferment?) of an ‘alpha’ car has been the case for far too many years. Even if you go way back in history, to the 1960s, you will come across grainy photographs of that ONE team and that ONE driver who will have triumphed over all his compatriots. If you take the recent seasons into account, you need not even go back so much. Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and recently Lewis Hamilton have managed to stay seconds and laps ahead of the rest of the field.

Honestly, I did not expect Mercedes to be challenged so early on after the utterly intimidating shit they pulled off last season. And the fact that the team to put up some resistance would be Ferrari was beyond my wildest dreams. 2014 was the worst season the Maranello-based outfit has had post its resurgence during the Schumacher era. It was a year full of disappointing finishes for Kimi Raikkonen, and only two podiums for team leader Alonso. The team experienced its worst political upheaval, resulting in the ousting of long-standing patriarch Luca de Montezemelo (and Stefano Domenicali with him). After testing and the opening race, it was clear that Ferrari had worked their asses off over the winter, to make a better engine and a suitable car for the new incoming driver Sebastian Vettel, who first appeared to critics as making a grievous mistake by leaving Redbull. Nonetheless, Ferrari’s podium courtesy of Vettel at Albert Park was what could best be described as ‘the best of the rest’, with the Mercs in a class of their own. Vettel finished third behind them, with a gigantic 34.5-second gap to race winner Hamilton.

As I write this, I am scouting for torrents of Sky F1’s coverage of the race, to add it to the personal archives. The last time I remember being so elated with a race was in Abu Dhabi 2012, for obvious reasons. (If it is not obvious, Kimi won.) It did not even feature enough scraps to be excited about, but then watching your driver win a race after a comeback is kind of a big deal. Even the two races I have seen live at Buddh International Circuit don’t come close. (They were plain boring actually.) So, without further ado, let us dig in and find out what has made this race transcend the normal levels of F1 epic.

Malaysian GP

Held at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysian GP has always had some amazing races. I have a special reason to love it all the more: Kimi won his first grand prix here in 2003 with McLaren. It is unpredictable in terms of the weather, with rains butting in unannounced at any moment. While this is much to the chagrin of drivers and teams - who like to keep it sorted with predetermined strategies – it gives fans some action and upheavals to cheer about. It is a taxing race for the drivers, right at the top with Singapore, with the sweltering humidity causing enormous fluid loss.

The track itself features two long straights joined by a hairpin, which constitutes the last corner of the lap. Striking the balance for the Herman Tilke-designed circuit are a combination of low, medium and high speed corners, which need teams to develop a setup with the right amount of downforce to take the corners, and the right amount of drag to negotiate the straights. It is a firm favourite amongst drivers, the unpredictability of the outcome notwithstanding. Pirelli have brought their medium and hard compound tires to the race, along with the intermediates and full wet tires in case of a shower.

Friday & Saturday practice sessions

Practice sessions are mostly skipped by the TV audience, but I make it a point to catch them because that is where I get all my predictions from. They are mostly about teams doing qualifying, start and race simulations, but as the data about fuel load or tire age is withheld, there is no way to find out what exactly goes on. Marussia finally returned to F1 as Manor F1 team, much to the relief of Ron Dennis and co. at McLaren, as they will no longer be the last cars on the grid. FP1 (Free Practice 1) mainly revolved around Lewis Hamilton encountering reliability issues on his Mercedes very early on in the 90-minute session, preventing him from posting any time. Kimi ending up second on the charts just 0.4 seconds off pace-setter Rosberg was a personal highlight for me. Also, Carlos Sainz Jr. posted a sixth best time and appeared to do better than senior team Redbull on similar Renault engines.

The only action that FP2 offered was a spin by the Manor of Merhi on the right-hander turn onto the back straight, which saw him getting beached and a red flag resulted. Raikkonen was flying again, and got the better of teammate Vettel on both tire compounds. The long runs of the Ferrari looked encouraging enough to warrant a podium n D-day. Hamilton topped the session with a 1m39.790s lap, with Kimi half a second adrift. Williams looked a bit off, with Redbull and Toro Rosso routinely having posted better laptimes than them in both sessions.

FP3 sees the main protagonists Mercedes and Ferrari at the top again, but not without complications. Raikkonen suffered an ominous left rear puncture, which saw him posting a flying lap very late into the session. Rosberg topped the session with a slightly improved lap of 1m39.690, with Hamilton two-tenths off behind him. Verstappen, the youngest bloke in F1 ever, displayed a lot of promise in his Toro Rosso, posting a top 10 lap in all three sessions. Alonso, who returned to racing after his short concussion sabbatical, got the better of teammate Button and posted faster times. Another thing I observed was that many drivers were complaining about “snappy” rears, and we all know who cares more about the front than the rears. I was already looking forward to qualifying.

Qualifying

Let me get the most irritating aspect of qualifying out there, as a Kimi fan. The session was scheduled at 1700 hours local time, while the race was to be held earlier the next day at 1500 hours. The interesting agenda behind this was to shuffle the starting grid up courtesy of thunderstorms which show up in later afternoons in Sepang. The shift was probably done by Bernie Ecclestone in his crusade to make the sport more ‘exciting’. While I welcome exciting, I do not like it when it causes harm to a favourite driver.

There are 20 cars running in qualifying, so the elimination zone will hold five cars. Q1 witnesses everyone except the Manor of Stevens post a laptime, and there are no prices for guessing that the Manors are eliminated along with the ailing McLarens of Alonso and Button. Quite in contrast to the case in practice sessions though, Button gets the better of his new teammate and qualifies ahead in 17^th place. The fifth driver to get relegated is Felipe Nasr of Sauber, whose time in the pits does not allow him to better his time.

Q2 is the most crucial part of the whole qualifying session. The thunderstorms are closing in on the circuit, and flashes of lightning can be seen in the distance. Rosberg is told: “The first lap will be it, so make sure it is all out.” Every single driver in the pits wants to get out as soon as possible and put up a flying lap, which can be the decider if rain starts pouring. Vettel’s Ferrari is the first to line up the pitlane start, with Kimi down in sixth. The lights go green and everyone snakes out to complete the outlap and get ready for the sole decider one. Vettel manages to pull out a lap in clean air at the front and gets through to the with a 1m39.632s. Rosberg goes 0.3s faster, to displace him. Hamilton is on a slow lap, and dives around Raikkonen to scrape through to Q1 with an eighth best time. As a result of the traffic, and probably his own mistake, Kimi gets muscled down to 11^th position. Meanwhile, the rain starts falling, and the drivers can no longer improve on their times. So knocked out of Q2 along with Kimi *heartbreak* are Maldonado, Hulkenberg, Perez and Sainz.

Q3 is delayed by the downpour for more than 30 minutes, during which I nurse my broken heart and will myself into watching the rest of the spectacle. The start sees a mix of tire compounds on different cars; some go out on the faster intermediates while others go full wets. The cars running wets abandon them after the outlap itself. After initial runs, the pecking order at the top is decided: Mercedes and the lone Ferrari, followed by the rest. Vettel is bullied down to third place by the mighty Mercs, and it seems it will stay that way. But wait! Vettel pulls out a surprise and displaces Rosberg to third as the chequered flag draws down on the qualifying session. Verstappen exudes brilliance by taking the sixth spot behind Redbull drivers Ricciardo and Kvyat. Massa and Bottas languish in the rear of the list, to give company to Grosjean and Ericsson.

Raceday

Only 19 cars have lined up for the race, with Will Stevens opting out with a fuel systems issue on his Manor. There is no sign of rains, and the track is dry as a bone. This will be crucial in determining the tire strategy, as a hotter track can eat into the tires quickly. Pirelli have predicted most cars to make three stops, with the more tire-benevolent cars probably stretching it to two stops.

Starting order:

1 Hamilton

2 Vettel

3 Rosberg

4 Ricciardo

5 Kvyat

6 Verstappen

7 Massa

8 Bottas

9 Ericsson

10 Grosjean

11 Raikkonen

12 Maldonado

13 Hulkenberg

14 Perez

15 Sainz

16 Nasr

17 Button

18 Alonso

19 Merhi

All the drivers except Button and Alonso are on medium boots. I reconsider watching the race, but my gut says Kimi may somehow recover. The warmup lap gets wrapped up and the cars line up on the grid for race start. Malaysia has a long run to the first corner, and this normally unfolds as an interesting first lap due to the tags and cuts drivers hand out to each other. I chew my lip and hope that Maldonado does not do any harm to Kimi. As Charlie comes on the TV, I sit up. The customary five red lights come on one by one and as they go off simultaneously, the race is GO! Lewis gets a clean start and is already ahead of the rest of the field, as Rosberg tries to overtake Vettel into Turn 1 but remains unsuccessful. Maldonado is already limping to the pits with a puncture on lap 1, and Hamilton leads Vettel by 0.7s and Rosberg by 1.6s. But hey wait! Where is Kimi? He seems to have dropped back and has slowed down considerably. Bummer! It is a puncture for Kimi too, and I start wondering if it was indeed Maldonado who did it. If there is a nomination for the unluckiest driver in F1, Kimi should top it. Our young star Verstappen has been pushed back to ninth place ahead of Grosjean and teammate Sainz, who had a blistering start from 15^th. Grosjean soon overtakes Maxy, and we are poised for a battle between the rookie teammates. 

Lap 3 sees another incident which changes the course of the race quite dramatically. Ericsson spins at Turn 1, and is trapped in the gravel. This forces the safety car to come out while the crane retrieves the stranded car to safety. Safety car period normally sees a mad dash to the pits for drivers, and Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Bottas, Ricciardo and Kvyat duly dive into the pitlane. Hamilton and Rosberg are sporting the prime tires now. Vettel, along with Hulk, Grosjean, Sainz and Perez, stays out and this is extremely crucial. The other important thing, which makes me jump for joy, is that the safety car helps bunch the whole grid up, and Kimi draws closer to the pack. The order at the restart:

1 Vettel

2 Hulkenberg

3 Grosjean

4 Sainz

5 Perez

6 Hamilton

7 Ricciardo

8 Massa

9 Rosberg

10 Kvyat

I am concentrating all my energies on Vettel, Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen and Kimi. Those were the drivers I had singled out after the qualifying. Kimi is 16^th at the restart, and as soon as the safety car goes off, he takes Merhi for 15^th. Hamilton and Rosberg continue to negotiate their way through the traffic, and this is proving to be giving Vettel an advantage. He continues to build up the gap at the front, and is yet to pit. Hamiton passes Perez right after restart, and soon overtakes both Sainz and Grosjean. He builds up on Hulk and passes him on the start straight, to emerge second behind Vettel, 9.9s off. The traffic gets the better of Rosberg and he is still stuck down in seventh place. Lap 13 sees Hamilton chip off two-tenths from the gap to Vettel. Lap 14 sees Rosberg surge ahead from behind the train of cars, and he is now third, 18.4s from Vettel.

Meanwhile, Kimi pits and comes out 17^th behind Sainz. At the end of lap 17, Vettel makes his first pitstop, puts on medium rubber again, and heads out to emerge behind Rosberg in third place. Hamilton and Rosberg are now 12.7s and 4.6s ahead of him respectively. Behind Vettel are the Williams cars, with Massa and Bottas running close together, 6.6s off the Ferrari. By lap 20, while I was thoroughly engrossed in all the action at the front, Kimi has made it to ninth, with some amazeballs overtaking moves on Nasr and Button. Up until this moment, it seemed to me that Vettel had a chance at taking the second spot on the podium, if he makes one stop less than the Mercs. Kimi, at this juncture, did seem to have a shot to feature within the top five, and I was furiously chewing on my nails as he was making steady progress towards the Williams cars. Lap 21 brought my attention back to the front of the pack again, where Vettel took Rosberg on the inside of the last corner to emerge second! I literally screamed, because to see a dominant car being trashed like this is enormous fun. Vettel now takes off after Hamilton, who has older degrading tires and a 7s lead at the front. My attention is again taking to the midfield, where Verstappen pulls off the Overtaking Move of the Race on Ricciardo on the outside of Turn 1, as opposed to the normal inside line, and takes tenth place. Flitting back to the front again, Vettel rapidly gains on Hamilton at more than 2s per lap, and is all over his gearbox, when Hamilton finally bails out and dives into the pits for fresh rubber.

At this juncture, it is quite clear that the Ferrari cars are kinder on the tires, as compared to the Mercs, and Vettel can actually pull off a two-stopper to challenge for the win. After Massa makes his second pitstop from fourth and is relegated to the back, Kimi overtakes Bottas for fourth behind Rosberg. I cannot describe the feeling of seeing him at the front after all the shit he has been through. Game on! Rosberg too makes his stop, which further pushes Kimi to third position. Vettel and Hamilton are now 23s apart, with both having to make a stop each. Lap 27 sees Rosberg overtake Kimi easily under DRS on fresher tires. By lap 30, Vettel is 20.2s ahead of Hamilton and 33.7s off Rosberg.  In all the confusion, we also see spectacular spin by Kvyat’s car courtesy of a tag by Hulkenberg. Hamilton has realised that the win is out of contention this time and asks his engineer what they can aim for. He is asked to overtake Vettel if he wants to win (Mission Impossible VI). He gets to work nonetheless, and chips off the gap to Vettel lap after lap. With 20 laps remaining, he has managed to cut the gap to 14.7s. Vettel pits on lap 38, and Ferrari puts him on the hard compound that he has to now use mandatorily. He rejoins the track inches ahead of Rosberg, and scoots away easily on his fresher tires. The next lap sees the reigning world champion come in for his final pitstop, and we see the team putting on the prime tires on him instead of the options. Strange. But the confusion is cleared next moment when Hamilton barks into the radio: “This is the wrong tyre, man!" The engineer tells him there were no fresh mediums left. Vettel now leads Rosberg by 3.6s, and he is yet to pit. His delta to Hamilton is 10.9s.

The Mclarens also need a mention here, with both of the cars having retired with power train problems. Kimi meanwhile has recovered to fifth after his final pitstop, and has Bottas ahead of him. Bottas then pits from fourth on lap 41, which promotes Kimi to fourth position. With 12 laps left, Vettel has built up the gap to Hamilton to 13.6s. Vettel also entertains us to some live music on the team radio, when he sings “blue flag, blue flag, blue flag” for the lapped cars of Grosjean and Hulk, who are squabbling for position ahead of him. Hamilton continues to chip off the gap to Vettel, but not nearly much to make a difference. Vettel makes a statement for all the critics who question driver decisions by lapping his ex-teammate’s Redbull. With three laps left, Vettel is still 9.              9s ahead of Hamilton, and we smell a squabble between the Williams cars. Bottas is 0.6s behind Massa, and he tries to overtake him. Massa resists and stays ahead. Bottas completes the move on the penultimate lap, with a beautiful move on the outside of turn 5. Last lap comes on for Vettel; the TV depicts Ferrari mechanics waiting with baited breath for their first win since Spain 2013. Vettel crosses the finish line to an ecstatic team lining the wall and screaming fans on the circuit and behind TVs around the world. I am personally excited for Kimi too, with his stellar drive. Carlos Sainz Jr. also put in a great performance for a rookie, settling for eighth place after losing out seventh to feisty teammate Verstappen in the last laps.

Concluding thoughts:

•   I don’t care if you brand me as partial, but I vote Kimi Raikkonen as Driver of the Day. He was definitely helped by the safety car at the start, but that just cancelled out his puncture disadvantage. He was stellar, period.
• I still think Mercedes has the edge over Ferrari in pace, with the weather and strategy in Malaysia acting in Ferrari’s favour. Merc also could’ve delayed their first pitstop under the safety car, given more time to the cars on the quali tires.
•  Nico Rosberg is Nostradamus. He had ‘hoped’ that Ferrari get closer to Mercs in races in Australia. Vettel had laughed him off, but turns out it came to light sooner rather than later.
• Verstappen displayed amazing overtaking and defending capabilities for a 17-year-old throughout the race.
• Lewis Hamilton should take defeat in his stride, and grin openly. Instead, he chooses to remain sombre and generally pissed when he loses. Not cool, bro!