Malaysian GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

The Malaysian GP is now finished and done for the year. Thousands of people showed up despite the sadness looming over the country due to the recent Malaysian Airlines missing plane, which had hundreds of people aboard. May I just start by saying my thoughts and prayers are with the people affected by the situation. It is a true tragedy and I'm hoping they will soon recover the plane.

So, now, where shall I begin? Before the race even started there was problems. The Force India of Sergio Perez was having problems and then it was said he'd start from the pit lane. However, as things were about to get underway, Sergio climbed out the car, stuck in 4th gear and having no way to fix the problem, he was forced to retire before he'd even begun. People, (Including me) were absolutely shocked and saddened by this. One of the most disappointing things is when a driver can't even start the race and this unfortunately does happen.

The lights then went out and at the first turn, Kevin Magnussen tried to pass Kimi Raikkonen and in result, ended up hitting the World Champion Fin, damaging his car and his own McLaren as well. Around the same time, Jules Bianchi made contact with Pastor Maldonado and they both did a little spin. Luckily, both were able to continue for a bit, but after awhile, Maldonado had to retire as did Bianchi.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole, was now leading, with Vettel, Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Alonso all somewhere close behind him. The biggest battle during the whole race was that of Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. It was really quite the show.

Later on it was Jean-Eric Vergne who had issues with the Turbo and was forced to retire from the race, while his team-mate, 19-Year-Old Daniil Kvyat was in the top 10 and gaining on the Williams' drivers. Both Saubers had to retire as well a bit later on, the first double retirement for the Sauber team in years. 

Daniel Ricciardo, who was called in for a pit-stop, had horrible luck when one of the mechanics was not done fastening his front-left tyre, and the crew released him, not noticing what was going on. Daniel had to be pushed back to get the wheel fastened before he could head back out, but due to all the commotion, when the Aussie got back out on the circuit, his front wing came loose and fell in a slanted position, cutting into his front-right tyre, making a deep cut, all around. He was called back into the pit-lane and had things fixed, but retired only a few laps later.

On the last few laps, there was BIG drama between the two Williams' drivers, when the team radioed Massa, telling him that Bottas was faster and to not hold him up. He was told multiple times to let Bottas pass, but did not obey orders. Something identical to what happened between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber last year. Another case of Multi-21 disobeyed.

It was Lewis Hamilton who brought home the win of the Malaysian GP and dedicated his win to everyone affected by the flight MH370 tragedy. His Team-Mate, Nico Rosberg finished in Second while Defending-4-Time-World-Champion, Sebastian Vettel, came in Third. Here are the rest of the results.

RACE RESULTS:

1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes / Great Britain - +25 Points
2. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes / Germany - +18 Points
3. Sebastian Vettel / Redbull / Germany - +15 Points
4. Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / Spain / - +12 Points
5. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India / Germany - +10 Points
6. Jenson Button / McLaren / Great Britain - +8 Points
7. Felipe Massa / Williams / Brazil -  +6 Points
8. Valtteri Bottas / Williams / Finland - +4 Points
9. Kevin Magnussen / McLaren / Denmark - +2 Points
10. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso / Russia - +1 Point
11. Romain Grosjean / Lotus / France - +0 Points
12. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari / Finland - +0 Points
13. Kamui Kobayashi / Caterham / Japan - +0 Points
14. Marcus Ericsson / Caterham / Sweden - +0 Points
15. Max Chilton / Marussia / Great Britain - +0 Points
16. Daniel Ricciardo / Redbull / Australia / RETIRED - Multiple Problems - =0 Points
17. Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber / Mexico / RETIRED - Gearbox - +0 Points
18. Adrian Sutil / Sauber / Germany / RETIRED - Power Unit -+ 0 Points
19. Jean-Eric Vergne / Toro Rosso / France / RETIRED - Engine - +0 Points
20. Jules Bianchi / Marussia / France / RETIRED - Collision - +0 Points
21. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus / Venezuela / RETIRED - Power Unit - +0 Points
22. Sergio Perez / Force India / Mexico / DID NOT START - Gearbox - +0 Points

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.

Malaysian GP: Qualifying - Re-Cap & Results

When Qualifying got underway, so did the rain! Originally scheduled for 11 PM my time, it did not actually start for around 45 minutes as the rain was coming down pretty hard and there was a lot of sitting water on the track that had to be cleared before the cars could come out and set times.

So, for those of you who are not familiar with how Qualifying works, let me take you through it! There is 3 rounds of Qualifying and they're all done within an hour or so. The first round, all 22 cars go out and set lap times, the 6 slowest are knocked out and start the race on their grid positions according to the speed of their times. In round 2, the rest of the cars go out and another 6 get knocked out, and they'll start where there times put them as well. That leaves the last 10 cars to go around for Round 3, those ten battle for pole position, which is the very front of the Grid. It's the starting position everyone wants. So, here's how it played out.

Round 1: Knocked out -Marcu Ericsson (Caterham), Max Chilton (Marussia), Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham), Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Adrian Sutil (Sauber) & Pastor Maldonado (Lotus).

Round 2: Knocked out - Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Sergio Perez (Force India), Felipe Massa (Williams), Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), & Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)

Results After Round 3:

1. (Pole Position) - Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes / Great Britain
2. Sebastian Vettel / Redbull / Germany
3. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes / Germany
4. Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / Spain
5. Daniel Ricciardo / Redbull / Australia
6. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari / Finland
7. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India / Germany
8. Kevin Magnussen / McLaren / Denmark 
9. Jean-Eric Vergne / Toro Rosso / France
10. Jenson Button / McLaren / Great Britain
11. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso / Russia
12. Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber / Mexico
13. Felipe Massa / Williams / Brazil
14. Sergio Perez / Force India / Mexico
15. Valtteri Bottas / Williams / Finland
16. Romain Grosjean / Lotus / France
17. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus / Venezuela 
18. Adrian Sutil / Sauber / Germany
19. Jules Bianchi / Marussia / France
20. Kamui Kobayashi / Caterham / Japan
21. Max Chilton / Marussia / Great Britain
22. Marcus Ericsson / Caterham / Sweden

After qualifying, Valtteri Bottas was given a 3-Place-Grid-Penalty for impeding Daniel Ricciardo during Qualifying, in turn Bottas was demoted to 18th, moving Grosjean, Maldonado and Sutil each up a spot on the grid.

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended. 

Malaysian GP: Free Practice 3 - Re-Cap & Results

So, during Free Practice 3, we saw The Mclaren-Mercedes team have issues with their Power Units and Kevin Magnussen was unable to set a time, meanwhile the Mercedes AMG Petronas team managed to get the top 2 spots on the times sheets. Not too much action going on in this round, as it's usually when teams make final set-up changes and make sure things are running smoothly. There's not too much want to go crazy and accidently mess up the car before Qualifying, so teams try to keep things calm. Here are the times from Session #3.

TIMES:
 
1. Nico Rosberg - 1:39.008 / Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:39.240 / Mercedes
3. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:40.156 / Ferrari
4. Sebastian Vettel - 1:40.387 / Redbull
5. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:40.523 / Force India
6. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:40.686 / Redbull
7. Fernando Alonso - 1:40.736 / Ferrari
8. Felipe Massa - 1:40.781 / Williams
9. Valtteri Bottas - 1:40.891 / Williams
10. Sergio Perez - 1:41.029 / Force India
11. Daniil Kvyat - 1:41.182 / Toro Rosso
12. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:41.441 / Toro Rosso
13. Adrian Sutil - 1:41.552 / Sauber
14. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:42.041 / Sauber
15. Romain Grosjean - 1:42.749 / Lotus
16. Pastor Maldonado - 1:43.539 / Lotus
17. Max Chilton - 1:43.977 / Marussia
18. Jules Bianchi - 1:44.170 / Marussia
19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:44.457 / Caterham
20. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:46.015 / Caterham
21. Jenson Button - 2:05.555 / McLaren
22. Kevin Magnussen - No Time Set / McLaren

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended

Malaysian GP: Free Practice 2 - Re-Cap & Results

As session 2 of Free Practice just finished up about a half hour ago, I am back with a quick Re-Cap and the Time Results of the session. Unfortunately both Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado were unable to get out there and do any laps. Sergio Perez, however, was able to get out on the track in this Session and get in some good laps. 

Also impressive was Redbull's Sebastian Vettel, who finished in the top 3. We saw a few people spin and head into the gravel including Max Chilton and Daniel Ricciardo. Here are the times.

TIMES:

1. Nico Rosberg - 1:39.909 / Mercedes
2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:39.944 / Ferrari
3. Sebastian Vettel - 1:39.970 / Redbull
4. Lewis Hamilton - 1:40.051 / Mercedes
5. Fernando Alonso - 1:40.103 / Ferrari
6. Felipe Massa - 1:40.112 / Williams
7. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:40.276 / Redbull
8. Jenson Button - 1:40.628 / McLaren
9. Valtteri Bottas - 1:40.638 / Williams
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:40.691 / Force India
11. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:40.777 / Toro Rosso
12. Kevin Magnussen - 1:41.014 / McLaren
13. Adrian Sutil - 1:41.257 / Sauber
14. Daniil Kvyat - 1:41.325 / Toro Rosso
15. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:41.507 / Sauber
16. Sergio Perez - 1:41.671 / Force India
17. Romain Grosjean - 1:42.531 / Lotus
18. Max Chilton - 1:43.638 / Marussia
19. Jules Bianchi - 1:43.752 / Marussia
20. Marcus Ericsson - 1:45.703 / Caterham
21. Kamui Kobayashi - No Time Set / Caterham
22. Pastor Maldonado - No Time Set / Lotus

I'll be doing live commentary for Free Practice 3 tomorrow on Twitter, so make sure to stop by and join in on the fun!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended. 

Malaysian GP: Free Practice 1 - Re-Cap & Results

Free Practice 1 just finished up about an hour and a half ago and I have all the times from the session. We had a few cars stopping and/or smoking out on track including Kevin Magnnussen, who lost power and Pastor Maldonado who had to be taken back to the pits when his car started smoking. Romain Grosjean was out for most of the session and neither Lotus ended up setting a time. Another driver to not set a time was Force India's, Sergio Perez, who was having a Fuel issue.

Here are the times:

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:40.691 / Mercedes
2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:40.843 / Ferrari
3. Nico Rosberg - 1:41.028 / Mercedes
4. Jenson Button - 1:41.111 / McLaren
5. Kevin Magnussen - 1:41.274 / McLaren
6. Jean-Eric Vergne - 1:41.402 / Toro Rosso
7. Sebastian Vettel - 1:41.523 / Redbull
8. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:41.642 / Force India
9. Felipe Massa - 1:41.686 / Williams
10. Valtteri Bottas - 1:41.80 / Williams
11. Fernando Alonso - 1:41.923 / Ferrari
12. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:42.117 / Redbull
13. Adrian Sutil - 1:42.365 / Sauber
14. Daniil Kvyat - 1:42.869 / Toro Rosso
15. Esteban Gutierrez - 1:42.902 / Sauber
16. Jules Bianchi - 1:43.825 / Marussia
17. Marcus Ericsson - 1:45.775 / Caterham
18. Max Chilton - 1:46.911 / Marussia
19. Kamui Kobayashi - 1:51.180 / Caterham
20. Sergio Perez / No Time Set / Force India
21. Pastor Maldonado / No Time Set / Lotus
22. Romain Grosjean / No Time Set / Lotus

Stay tuned for Session 2, takng place in about 40 minutes, and I will be doing live-commentary as always on my twitter @F1Insider78 - Come join and send in your Questions & Comments!

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.