Sepang: The Drivers’ Perspective on the Race

At a Grand Prix plagued by heavy downpours, a red flag just nine laps into the race, and a re-start under the first “official” Safety Car in Malaysia in a decade, it was Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari F2012 with the surprise win at Sepang today, holding off the charge of a relentless drive from Sergio Perez in his Sauber C31.

With a somewhat perfect race strategy and blindingly quick, and impressive, pit stops from the Ferrari team, Fernando Alonso drove a near perfect race giving himself the Ferrari team their first race win of the 2012 season, just a week after the team was facing the prospect of a tough year ahead.

Sergio Perez, who looked to challenge for the race win, ran wide with just six laps left in the race, and had to settle for second place. This is the best result achieved by the Sauber team since they were a works BMW team, when Heinz-Harald Frentzen placed third at the 2003 United States Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton, who claimed pole position for the race in qualifying yesterday, had to settle with third overall for the day in his McLaren when a busy pit lane delayed his exit from the box.

However, in a race filled with different events and action, I once again take the words directly from the Drivers, and teams’ mouths, to give you the best insight into the 2012 Formula 1 Malaysia Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso, with his first win since the British Grand Prix in 2011, was ecstatic with the performance of the Ferrari today, but was quick to reiterate the fact that the team had a long way to go to become regular champions in 2012:

“It changes nothing to be honest. We are in a position that we don’t want to be in by fighting to go into Q3 and then fighting to score some points; we want to be fighting for pole positions and victories.”

“[It was] a big surprise today to win. We were not competitive in Australia, not competitive here and our goal for these first races is to score as many points as possible and we got as many as possible today with 25.”

“Unbelievable result, great result for the team and trackside I think we maximised the potential we had. We had a good qualifying getting into Q3 and today we kept calm in some extreme conditions - switching to the inters at the beginning with a lot of water and then switching to the dry tyres at the right moment with perfect pit stops. Congratulations to the team. They deserve this victory and it’s tough times for us at the moment. We will remember this Sunday for a long time.”

Under a lot of pressure from the world media as rumours once again start to circulate about his future with the team, Felipe Massa would finish today’s race in just fifteenth place, 97.3 seconds off the pace set by his winning team-mate, and only just in front of the Caterham F1 of Vitaly Petrov:

“First of all, I want to congratulate Fernando on this great win, which came thanks to him driving a fantastic race. It is a very important victory for the team, although it must not let us forget that our car is not yet at the level of the best. Obviously I am disappointed with my result. Things were going well at the start and I was able to fight with the drivers directly ahead of me. When the track was drying, I suffered more and more with tyre degradation and I could not maintain a good pace. We opted to follow what Rosberg was doing ahead of me, as he too was apparently struggling with his tyres, but it did not work out and we lost a lot of time with this extra stop, given also that the others stayed on track for around a dozen laps more before switching to the dry tyres. It is important for us to try and understand why there is such a strong difference in the way our cars perform, but ultimately, our aim is to have a more competitive car in as short a time as possible.”

Finishing second on the podium, Sergio Perez of Sauber F1 Team had plenty of praise for his team:

“It is a great day for me. The team did a very good job and I feel very happy for them. It is a really nice feeling to have been on the podium here, but I think victory was also within reach. Twice in the race I was catching Fernando (Alonso). On the final stint, when I was on the hard tyre compound, my tyres had degraded quite a lot. It wasn’t easy and I went wide and touched a curb. I actually was lucky not to go off. Before that Fernando had just pitted on the perfect lap for dry tyres, just one lap before me, and I lost a bit of ground to him. It was very difficult to make the right calls today and I want to thank my team. They always called me in at the right time, the first stop after lap one was especially important and it was also good to take the hard compound in the end, as the medium compound was not working too well for us. It is only our second race in 2012 and I think we have a great season ahead of us. I knew we had potential to fight today, our car is not far away from the top cars and a good crew and a driver can also make a difference in such conditions.”

Though failing to finish the race due to a brake problem which forced him to retire, Kamui Kobayashi also had nothing but good things to say about the race, but reflected deeply on his own personal drive:

“It is great for our team to have scored so well today, but for me personally, of course, it was a very disappointing race. Technically I struggled with the brakes and that was then also why I had to give up after 47 laps. Besides that for me the strategy didn’t work out, which, of course, is always easy to realise in hindsight. I had a good start but then it was a long time before I changed from intermediates to rain tyres. It was not easy to keep the car on track, and almost as soon as I had changed the red flag came out. But nobody can know this in advance. Later in the race then it was the other way round. I would have loved to get dry tyres, but we were expecting more rain so, again, I could not get rid of the intermediate tyres.”

With a second consecutive third place on the podium, Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was happy with his end result. Starting on pole for the race, Hamilton now sits second in the World Drivers’ Championship just five points behind Fernando Alonso:

“First of all, congratulations to Fernando and also to Sergio, they both drove fantastically well and it was very tough to catch them. I would have liked more points this weekend, but I can’t really complain because I’m on the podium for the second race in a row. I’m pretty happy and I feel pretty fortunate that I was able to stay out of trouble in changing conditions. I think we did a great job.”

“It was just a very eventful race, trying to find the right time to change from extreme [wet] tyres to intermediates, we were probably a bit late with that, and then going on to slicks ... making that call, it’s [about] whether you take the risk or not. The others went a bit earlier and we lost a bit of time through our pit stops with a couple of problems, I think I had a problem with my right rear on one of the pit stops and then a right front [on another pit stop]. I was kind of out of the fight, and trying to close a 15 second or 12 second gap was pretty tough.”

“But I can’t complain. I think the car has been good all weekend and the team continue to do a good job and I’m on the podium again, which is my target, to have consistency. I can’t for the life of me figure out how I did it in 2007 so I’m trying to repeat that.”

Jenson Button endured a somewhat different Sunday to that compared of his race win in Australia just last week. Earlier contact with the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan, admitted by Button to be entirely his own fault, fell to the back of the grid, and would place fourteenth as the race finished:

“It was totally my fault, I hit the brakes and locked the rears, but I couldn’t do anything but hit him really. It broke my front wing and I had to do an extra pit stop which took quite a while. I just couldn’t get heat in any of the tyres and everything that could have gone wrong in terms of strategy just went wrong. It was one of those tough afternoons where everything spiralled out of control.”

“All I could do is laugh really because it was so bad today. I’m sorry for the guys, they did a great job all weekend, and obviously we expected more from the front row. It was one of those days and I’m hopeful things will be back to normal in China.”

Red Bull Racing, coming off back to back Championships for their driver and team, had yet another frustrating race in Sepang. Mark Webber finished just fourth overall:

“It was busy with a lot of calls going on at the re-start and with the tyres. My stint on the intermediates after the red flag was tricky and I didn’t have much confidence. When I went onto the dry tyres, I felt much more confident, but it was a little bit too late then. You’ve got to take your hat off to Fernando and Perez today, there were some good calls made at the front. It was a mixed-up race and it was good to get some points. There were some great strengths to take from this weekend. The team has been working really hard, so thanks to them. We know there will be more opportunities in the future.”

Double, and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel failing to score any points today after a race which saw failed pit stop strategies and an unusual late run in with the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan:

“Most crucially we lost radio communication and that makes it very difficult in these conditions to know what’s going on. Nonetheless we did our maximum today and got up to fourth. To then lose the race how I did is very frustrating. Some people need to look more where they are going. Today it was crucial to come in at the right time. Having no radio meant we were delayed getting the messages and I didn’t hear anything from the team at the end. There were problems with the car after the incident, but I wanted to see the chequered flag. There were no points for me today. Before the incident with HRT the way the race had unfolded was good for us I think, so it’s frustrating to lose the race like that.”

Lotus F1 Team kicked off the weekend with a strong qualifying result for both drivers on Saturday, and once again proving that the team good pace matched with a quick, and well balanced car. Kimi Raikkonen, who started the race from P10 on the grid after taking a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change in Australia, finished the race fifth overall, scoring another valuable ten points for the Enstone based outfit:

“It was a bit difficult today. It was my first time on the wet weather Pirellis and I didn’t know how the intermediate or wet tyres would react - I had only completed one installation lap on them before. I just tried to stay on the road and push as much as I felt comfortable with. When I changed to the dry tyres it took a couple of laps to get heat into them, and my visor was pretty dirty so seeing the dry line was difficult. Once I found my way I could push much harder. It was difficult to have another mixed weather weekend. The conditions changed a lot today so it was always a case of adapting and looking for grip. Overall, we seemed to have a pretty strong package again this weekend, so I’m relatively happy. A fifth today was okay, but we’re always looking for better results.”

Romain Grosjean experienced yet another turbulent start to a race, and ultimately his F1 season. Coming into contact on just the first lap with Michael Schumacher with limited vision from the rain, he would spin off and into the gravel track just a couple of laps later, once again forcing the Frenchman to retire and fail to convert strong qualifying place into world championship points:

“It felt like a perfect start off the line; I got a good jump on the others and with the KERS I managed to weave through the cars in front without touching anybody. Coming out of the first two corners I was up to third, which was an amazing feeling. In turn four Mark (Webber) managed to carry a bit more speed through the corner and edged in front. Michael (Schumacher) tried to follow him through but there was not enough space so we touched and I spun. From there things became really tough. The visibility was so poor I couldn’t see anything in front of me. We made the decision to stay out on the intermediate tyres but the rain got heavier and there was far too much water. I had massive aquaplaning into turn five and unfortunately ended up going backwards into the gravel.”

Starting third on the grid this morning, Michael Schumacher had a run in with the Lotus F1 E20 of Romain Grosjean on the first lap, dropping him quickly to the near back of the pack. After a series of pit stops, Michael Schumacher would place tenth to end the race, scoring the last available point for himself and the Mercedes AMG F1 Team.

“From where I started the race, it’s a real shame to grab just one point at the end today, and of course I would have wished for a better finish for our team after their hard work. However I was touched at the back soon after the start and the car spun which really decided my afternoon. During the first part of the race, I just tried to stay on track as you couldn’t see anything, and it was the right decision to halt the race. After the re-start, the pace wasn´t that far off but it was the same for a lot of teams so there was no way to gain positions. It’s clear from today that there is still a lot of work for us to do to take our pace from qualifying into the race, and I am sure the guys are already thinking very hard about finding a solution. But this will not be done from one race to another, it will take some time, and we need to give it that time. Still it is a fact that we have improved, so I can fly home now being sure about this and looking forward to fighting in the races to come.”

Team-mate Nico Rosberg struggled to get grip from the tyres after the restart, and after a series of overtakes by others behind him, he would finish thirteenth:

“That was an unlucky day for me after an eventful race. I had a good restart and because of a good strategy I was in fourth position. But then I had problems with my intermediate tyres; the degradation was very high which forced me to do another pit stop for a new set. The positive thing is that on my last stint with the slicks, I had good pace and because of my tyre management, I was able to beat Jenson. We are strong in qualifying but not yet in the race, and we need to work on that before the next race in China.”

Williams F1 Team had a much more successful race weekend than that experienced in Australia last week. Bruno Senna would drive his car to sixth place, scoring himself, and the team 8 points – 3 more than achieved by the team for the entire 2011 season:

“I am really excited about the result today. I’m so happy that I have scored points for the team after a very tough race. It’s on days like to today that you can show what you can do in difficult conditions. I knew we had to attack after the restart, so it was very satisfying to push hard, not make any mistakes and to make my way up through the field. I’m so happy for everyone in the team.”

Pastor Maldonado didn’t have as much luck though, and an engine problem late in the afternoon brought the Venezuelan’s afternoon to a premature end:

“It was very difficult today with conditions changing so quickly at the start. I had poor visibility in the pit lane so missed the pit box entry after the restart which dropped me down the order. I was then just pushing every lap and our pace was very consistent. I had a good race to come through from 20th to tenth with just two laps remaining. Bruno had a great race and we have both been able to show that the car is competitive.”

Surviving the rain thrown at them, and having a somewhat quiet afternoon in a race filled with action, Sahara Force India placed seventh and ninth in Malaysia, picking up a total of eight World Championship points.

Paul Di Resta finished in seventh just ahead of the Toro Rosso of rookie driver Jean-Eric Vergne:

“The start of the race was a bit of a mess and it was all about trying to stay on the track and stay out of trouble. I did pretty well until Maldonado hit me just before the red flag, which spun me around and cost me about three places. At the restart our pace was very good on the intermediate tyres and we were able to get well up the order and stay with the leading group. As it dried out we switched to dry tyres at the same time everyone else did, which was the safe way to play it, and just tried to hold position in the points. We were a bit lucky with some of the issues for cars ahead, but in races like this you need a bit of luck and given where we started I think we can come away from here very happy with this result.”

Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg would also pick up his first championship points of 2012, finishing his first race after an early retirement a week ago in Australia:

“I think today’s performance with two cars in the points is a great team result and I’m very happy to pick up my first points of the season. It was quite a complicated race and the rain certainly helped mix things up, but we made the most of our chances and made good calls on the strategy. I have to say that the wet conditions today were some of the worst I’ve raced in and the visibility was almost zero before the race was stopped. It was much better when the race restarted, but I struggled with the balance of the car on the intermediates, so it was just a case of trying to stay in the points and catch Vergne ahead.”

Toro Rosso had another mixed results race, with Jean-Eric Vergne finishing this time in the points, and Daniel Ricciardo enduring a tougher experience overall.

Pushing the STR7 to well within its limits, Jean-Eric Vergne had a lot to say about his first points scoring race in Formula 1:

“To from eighteenth on the grid to eighth and in the points at the end is great. I stayed out for a long time on the intermediates after the start and then the Red Flag came along to help me so I was able to switch to extreme wets on the grid. If I had to resume behind the Safety Car on the intermediates it would have been very hard to stay on track! As soon as the track was dry enough I came in again for intermediates but I lost a bit of time before I made the switch to slicks. After that I was catching Di Resta, but with the backmarkers in between us I could not get close enough to pass, so I just managed the situation, concentrating on bringing the car home. So I am happy to settle for this eighth place and I plan to keep improving step by step. After these two opening races, the overall performance has been quite good and I feel we can make progress in China starting from this good base line.”

Daniel Ricciardo had somewhat little to comment on after finishing twelfth today, well out of the points.

“Unfortunately, after being delayed in the early stages, when I lost places after the start in the rain, I never managed to fight my way back into the points. I think there were moments in the race when I ran at quite a good pace, but I did not have that extra edge to move up the order. When the track was drying before the pit stops that is when I again lost time, so of course I am a bit disappointed, but there are still eighteen races remaining and I’m sure I will have plenty more opportunities to do well.”

Having started the race on a strong note, and pushing into the mid-field after the re-start, the Caterham F1 cars of Heikki Kovalainen would eventually fall away finishing 16th and 18th respectively. However, with both cars completing the full race length, the team would record to finishes, which were looked on positively by the drivers;

Vitaly Petrov spoke of his finish two places above the more experienced Heikki Kovalainen:

“I am really happy with the performance today. We didn’t show the car’s true potential in qualifying, but today I was able to put in similar lap times to the cars ahead and didn’t make any mistakes in the tricky conditions. The car felt good all afternoon and the team worked really well to help me get the most out of it, both on the pit wall and with the stops, so I’m very pleased I’ve been able to record my first race finish for the team and to start to show what we can do in races. This gives us a good base to work from so it’s been a good Sunday, particularly in front of our home fans.”

Heikki Kovalainen fell short of the field after an initial strong start to the race:

“That was one of those races when we could have had a really good result, but a bit of bad luck and a car I didn’t really have a great balance on meant I’m just pleased to have got it home. I made a small mistake on the inters and had to come in for a new nose, and that dropped me back a few places which basically ended my race. Despite that, it’s good that we got both cars home and we also showed again that we have a car that can race on Sundays. Now we need to focus on getting more out of it in qualifying and pushing on at the next race in China.”

Marussia F1 Team had another successful weekend in the eyes of the team, with both cars once again finishing the entire Grand Prix. With no winter testing on the MR01, the team once again demonstrates they are making significant steps forward in the development of their car.

Placing seventeenth as the chequered flag fell in Sepang, Timo Glock finished just ahead of the Caterham CT01 of Heikki Kovalainen:

“A great weekend again for us. We finished with both cars once more, which is a great achievement for the team and we have to be very happy with that. It was a difficult race but I think we made the right tyre choice and changed at the right time, going from the intermediate to the extreme wets and then after the restart changing back from the extreme wets to the intermediates. Coming in straight away was the right thing to do and I just managed to keep the ‘inters’ on for as long as possible and keep them alive. Again, we were one of the first to switch to slicks and we were able to keep pushing to keep ahead of Kovalainen, so really well done to the team. Everyone kept cool and calm when the red flag came out. Proper job by the team and specifically my car crew, who’ve done a great job in the first two races. Now we concentrate on improving again for China.”

Twentieth was the final position of Charles Pic, who had a somewhat more difficult Sunday afternoon at the back of the field:

“It was a tricky race today in difficult conditions. It was my first time with the extreme wet tyre so it was hard to know the best time to change to the Intermediate at my second pitstop. Then we had a problem with the clutch at the third stop, which is a shame as we lost some time. Overall I am happy with my pace as it was consistent with Timo on the Intermediate and at the end on slicks, which is positive for me. A great job all weekend by everyone in the team as I know it has been very difficult, in many ways. I look forward now to China and even more progress.”

Qualifying once again at the back of the grid for Sundays race, HRT F1 Team were able to compete in, and complete their first entire race of the 2012 Formula 1 season with both drivers clocking all 56 laps at Sepang.

Despite being penalised for having mechanics still on the grid as the race re-started after the Red Flag for rain, Pedro De La Rosa managed to finish today’s race, albeit in last position:

“I must say I really enjoyed myself in that race. It really was the best race to make my debut with HRT. I don’t think anyone could imagine we would finish after starting from the pit lane due to an issue with the fuel pressure that we were dragging over from yesterday, I was penalized with a drive-through penalty, we completed our first real pit stop… to sum up, a lot of things happened but, in the end, the car held out really well given where we were at the beginning. We have to improve many things but this was a perfect test. My teammate also finished so that’s doubly satisfying. I’m very happy for the team, we accomplished our objective. Now we have to go a little bit further.”

Meanwhile, Narain Karthikeyan, labelled a “cucumber” by double World Champion Sebastian Vettel, finished just ahead of his team-mate, whilst enduring a somewhat action packed race with several run-ins with other cars and re-starting the race in tenth position:

“It was a very interesting race in really wet conditions. We were running in 10th at one point, which I think is the best position we’ve ever been in but unfortunately the rain stopped and the track dried out and it was impossible to keep ahead of the rest. I made a mistake, locking up the front, and went off on turn 9 but apart from that it all went pretty well. We finished the race, did some mileage and made up two positions from 23rd so that’s something to smile about. Everyone did a great job and we’re all really happy with the result, now we have to go on from here and try to progress in China.”

The Formula 1 circus now takes a three week break, returning on the weekend of April 13th – 15th to Shanghai for the 2012 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix.

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