Grand Prix Date Tire Compounds
Bahrain Grand Prix April 4-6 Medium/Soft
Chinese Grand Prix April 18-20 Medium/Soft
Grand Prix of Spain May 9-11
Drivers’ championship:
1. Nico Rosberg 43
2. Lewis Hamilton 25
3. Fernando Alonso 24
4. Jenson Button 23
5. Kevin Magnussen 20
6. Nico Hulkenberg 18
7. Sebastian Vettel 15
8. Valtteri Bottas 14
9. Kimi Raikkonen 6
10. Felipe Massa 6
11. Jean-Eric Vergne 4
12. Daniil Kvyat 3
13. Sergio Perez 1
Constructors’ championship:
1. Mercedes 68
2. McLaren 43
3. Ferrari 30
4. Williams 20
5. Force India 19
6. Red Bull 15
6. Toro Rosso 7
Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix
The second round of the Formula 1 Championship is finished and Mercedes again have showed dominant form.
Lewis Hamilton took home the trifecta winning pole position in the rain, dominating the race leading from lights to checkers, and also recording the fastest lap in the race.
Hamilton remarked, “the race was tougher than it perhaps looked today and the conditions here always make it a great challenge. But I was able to look after the car, the tires and the fuel and still keep a bit of pace in hand which made my job that little bit easier. It´s great to see Mercedes leading the championship but we know that we have to make these early races pay.”
Nico Rosberg brought the Silver Arrows a complimentary second place as well. This 1-2 finish has not been accomplished by Mercedes in Formula 1 since Monza in 1955.
Sebastian Vettel placed Red Bull on the podium for the first time this season after Daniel Ricciardo’s podium from Australia has been disallowed. Vettel finally had the strong showing we have expected but never challenged Rosberg or Hamilton so they are certainly lacking pace.
Perhaps more relevant, are the small errors that have been creeping into Red Bulls performance. Daniel Ricciardo, suffered a left front wheel nut that was not properly affixed. He subsequently had a front wing issue, a puncture, a 10 second stop/go penalty and retired after 49 laps. To boot, he was given a 10 place grid penalty for the next race in Bahrain for the unsafe release after the wheel nut episode. Unlucky for the Australian who has looked great in the car when things are going well.
Ferrari had a mixed bag as Fernando Alonso took a 4th place postion. Kimi Raikkonen’s race was essentially finished on the opening lap due to a rear tire puncture suffered after a slight collision with Kevin Magnussen’s front wing. Magnussen recovered to take the McLaren home 8th while Kimi described his race as “destroyed”.
Williams took home two top ten performances but added some drama to the closing laps as Felipe Massa was issued team order 4 times to allow rookie Valtteri Bottas past. Williams felt that Bottas had more pace and could potentially take a position away from Jenson Button. Massa ignored the orders and did not let Bottas past, while Williams explained their plan was to give Bottas a few laps to test Button and then let Massa past if this did not happen. Should be an interesting meeting in the home office with Sir Frank.
Overall, a Mercedes dominant weekend and threse early races are giving Mercedes a cushion that could be hard to defeat by the end of the first 4 fly away races.
Notables from Malaysia
- Lotus finished a race with Romain Grosjean taking home 11th positon. Again progress for the Lotus boys, but slight!
- Rookie Daniil Kvyat again scored points with a 10th place finish for Toro Rosso.
- Penalties
- Ricciardo: 10 Place grid penalty to be served in Bahrian
- Bottas: 2 penalty points awarded for obstructing Daniel Ricciardo during qualifying
- Magnussen: 2 penalty points for his collision with Raikkonen
- Bianchi: 2 points his collision with Pastor Maldonado
**FIA Article 16.2
Penalty Points on Super License
“If a driver accrues 12 penalty points his licence will be suspended for the following Event, following which 12 points will be removed from the licence. Penalty points will remain on a driver’s Super Licence for a period of 12 months after which they will be respectively removed on the 12 month anniversary of their imposition.”
2014 Malaysian Grand Prix – Race result
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 1:40:25.974 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56 +17.3 secs
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 56 +24.5 secs
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 56 +35.9 secs
5 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 56 +47.1 secs
6 Jenson Button McLaren 56 +83.6 secs
7 Felipe Massa Williams 56 +85.0 secs
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams 56 +85.5 secs
9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 55 +1 Lap
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 55 +1 Lap
11 Romain Grosjean Lotus 55 +1 Lap
12 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 55 +1 Lap
13 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 55 +1 Lap
14 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 54 +2 Lap
15 Max Chilton Marussia 54 +2 Lap
Ret Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 49 +7 Lap
Ret Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 35 +21 Laps
Ret Adrian Sutil Sauber 32 +24 Laps
Ret Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 18 +38 Laps
Ret Jules Bianchi Marussia 8 +48 Laps
Ret Pastor Maldonado Lotus 7 +49 Laps
DNS Sergio Perez Force India +6 Laps
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