Sepang - Michael wins 72nd

[Don K]

Originally posted by colinbond
What happened to Mark Webber???????

Brilliant qualifying.

Probably mechanical problems at the start, made him lose many places.

Came back impressively.
A bit overagrresive while overtaking Ralf (pushing him onto the grass) and Alonso (pushing him into the wall), both on a straight.
Later on, tried to defend against Alonso and Ralf when they tried to overtake him at the inner side of a corner. This time, Alonso and Ralf didn't give way, leaving Webber just outside the points.
While defending against Alonso, Webber ended off drifting to the outside of the corner.
While defending against Ralf, Webbers back right tyre was damaged.

Webber had to drive very slow during the lap with the flat tyre, losing a lot of time.
He combined the changing of the tyre with his first pit stop.
Unfortunately, he drove to hard in the pit lane.

He went on driving a solid race.
Fast enough, especially if you do it in a Jaguar.

Later on he spinned off. Didn't see what happened there.

[Gt_R]

Saturday seem so promising, so bright... Sunday went as bad for him as Saturday went well.

Poor Webber, a race where everything goes wrong.

[Red]

Not sure what happened, but before the formation lap, did you see him jumping a bit then stopping? I actually thought that he's stalled the engine. Might those incidents be related somehow?

[Matthopps]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Did anybody think Mark's defence against Alonso was a bit aggressive? Alonso was nearly into the pit wall.

Not a complaint more an observation.

He was blocking him, your allowed to make one move (per overtaking manouvere) to block an opponent: tough but fair.

[Matthopps]

And not a good day for Mclaren, qualifying was as godd as could be expected but everyone seems to have forgot Kimi's little spin on the formation lap. He didn't make it to the finish, long way to go but to be 20 points behind your main rival whose got a faster and more reliable car is not a good situation.

Nor is 4 points from 2 races for DC but at least he's managed to finsh both races even if it is minutes behind and not wholly quick in the process, and he managed to finish in Malaysia for the first time in 3 years.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Red
Not sure what happened, but before the formation lap, did you see him jumping a bit then stopping? I actually thought that he's stalled the engine. Might those incidents be related somehow?

I noticed that too Red, you could be onto something there! Although, the Jag isn't the best car away from the line usually.

[Wrex]

Ladies and Gentleman, here is the new leader for understatment of the year

Originally posted by Mr V
Although, the Jag isn't the best car away from the line usually.

[/sarcasm]

This would easily the sigle biggest problem the green cars have. Whats worse, is that it is'nt new.

2003 saw some shocking starts from the car, almost negating any good qualifying result Mark had, and making it even tougher for Wilson/Pizzonia back in the pack.

Did anyone notice how Justin 'lost' that amazing great start talent he had. I bet its back now he's not in a Jag.

[BootsOntheSide]

Good observation there Red, I felt pretty sorry for Webber in the early part of the race. It's a shame he made a msitake and spun off later, but he ahd nothing to lose, his frustration was ucderstandable, and he was man enough to admit that he'd made a mistake.

[Attila]

I watched Webber's spin a couple of times. I am pretty sure that he had some kind of mechanical failure. I do not think he that he made any mistakes. His tires started smoking too late, I think he had a brake problem of a transmission problem. Brake seems to be more likely. Or I could be wrong and he just made a mistake. It happens even with the best drivers.

[enemy-ace]

Good race by Michael, really looked in control the whole time. It's amazing to see those onboard shots of him in the Ferrari. There is leterally no hint of any kind of inbalance in the chassis. Perfectly smooth throughout everycorner, certainly doesn't look promising for the competitiion.
Solid job by Button and BAR as well. They really do look like the real deal! This was a podium earned through sheer pace.
Personal bummer for me as my two teams had rather poor races. Mclaren continue to struggle, and I'm beginning to think this season might turn into another development year.
Raikkonen is obviously frustrated.
Jaguar and Webber after such promising beginnings failed to capatilise. It seems both Jags had poor starts so heres hoping that they can get this sorted. Webber drove very aggressively, one can't help but think he had a bit of the red-mist after his bad start. His block on Alonso was quite aggressive, but to Alonso's credit he maintained and completed the move. Alonso isn't exactly known for being a gentleman on the track either so I don't feel particularly bad for him. Ralf on the other hand, really needs to find the racer in himself. He has the talent, he just needs to turn up the aggrression.
Not a bad race in all, rather enjoyed it.

[Gt_R]

One thing that i would like to add is the fitness of the drivers. Compare Michael to Jarno...Jarno's head was being thrown around in the cockpit, leaning left and right a sign of fatigue, while Michael not only had complete control of his car, but also control over his head...he's thirsty but don't look any worse than that but some sweat. Oh..and is he a happy chap inside the building.

[enemy-ace]

Trulli is one of the fittest drivers out there though. Maybe he is working to hard in the car in comparison to Michael. Michael's onboard shots look very relaxed while some other drivers are definitley working hard in their cockpits. I can't speak for Trulli as i can't recall seeing any of his onboards.

[jj2728]

well done to schumi and ferrari...
excellent job and many kudos to button, his, was for me, the drive of the race.....
hopefully webber got an entire season's worth of mayhem and bad luck out of his system in one race....
what is going on with mclaren?.....
if i were ralf i'd concentrate more on my driving than my quest for the mega $$$$$ with another team...he appeared lacklustre at best....

[Red]

Apparently Mark had a clutch problem and the anti-stll system kicked in, hence his poor start. (haven't read the official statement though)

[GP Racer]

You gotta like this kid, Schummy, he's going to be a real rising star in F1, I can feel it!

All kidding aside, another great race from the master, who just keeps getting better. And when you see him on the podium, you would swear it was his first win!

Great to see Button and BAR come through. After all those down years with that "other" driver, they certainly deserved this. Maybe this will put any future threads about that "other" driver to rest, once and for all!

Tough on Rubens, for that little early mistep, or he could have been up there with Michael.

Great run to the points by Alonso. As for Webber, what can you say, just a terrible outing all around. Massa is the real-deal, again making Fisi look plain bad! Coulthard looked better.

All around, a very good race, and worth staying up all night for. Should be a good season!

[ralf fan]

great drive MS!! all i can think is No.7 is coming up

[jetsetter]

Schumacher was all class today while it was good to see Button finally get to hop up on the podium. On Webber's race it was one of those days where everything that could go wrong did go wrong but i think the way he fought back from the botched start & took the fight to both Ralf & Alonso showed what he can do. It will be interesting to see what happens when they go to Bahrain in a couple of weeks.

[Shoe-maker]

Well done to Michael! It seems he punctured the myth about Ferrari not being good in Malaysia. How this myth came about, considering how good his record is there, I don't know.

[BSchneiderFan]

A typically controlling performance from Schuey - drove as fast as he had to in order to win the race, and made the other drivers look second-rate.

Terrible shame for Webber, but I thought it interesting how gracious he was after the race, saying that he felt sorry for the team and so on. Reminded me of Schuey. If Webber doesn't decamp to Williams in 2005 - or even if he does - what price a Ferrari seat in 2007 or 2008 when they need a new team-leader?

Montoya - sullen and sulky in the post-race conference. Get over it, boy. Jesus, but Colombian grapes must be sour. If Rubens was so slow, why didn't you overtake him? The truth is, though, that JPM simply had no answer to Schumacher today.

[Damon]

But at least he pushed it! Blimey, what does one guy need to do? So he's not happy with second, I'd hope no driver in his position would be happy with second. He's a racer and he wants to win. He was the only one out there able to match Schumacher for pace and at least made him fight for this win! Sorry, but you've got to give credit where it's due. If you want to have a go about someone sulking try Ralf for size...

[BSchneiderFan]

Sure, Ralf is sulky, and I don't expect JPM to be ecstatic to be second, but whining that Barrichello held you up and implying that you lost the race for that reason is hardly an endearing quality. I doubt Sir Frank will find it endearing, anyway...

[Remus]

Delighted both for Button and Michael notching up another win. Did anybody else notice Jenson's move on Trulli? - it gained a standing ovation in the house I watched the race as he went round the outside early on in the race. Didn't hear the commentators mention it, but move of the season so far IMHO.

[Don K]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
Sure, Ralf is sulky, and I don't expect JPM to be ecstatic to be second, but whining that Barrichello held you up and implying that you lost the race for that reason is hardly an endearing quality. I doubt Sir Frank will find it endearing, anyway...

During the first laps there was a big gap between Michael and Rubens.

After Montoya overtook Rubens (when Rubens had lost speed, I guess he had made an error), Montoya closed the gap with Michael within a couple of seconds.

So during that phase of the race, Rubens did hold up Montoya.

In case he's talking about the laps between Montoya's third stop and Rubens' third stop: I don't think that Montoya was close enough to be held up.

[Red]

In lap 2 Rubens was trying to hold his own car on the asphalt, then he worried about holding JPM.. Montoya was specifically talking about his last stint, when he came out behind Rubens. Considering that Rubens was on empty tanks, and JPM on cold tyres, I think that his "in a non-Ferrari, it’s better to back off than try to" decission was a wise one, though the tone wasn't. Let's not forget that he was already some 10 seconds behind Schumacher, and he wouldn't close the gap anyway.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
Montoya - sullen and sulky in the post-race conference. Get over it, boy. Jesus, but Colombian grapes must be sour.

I thought the same thing. But I would also like to put on record that IMHO JPM ran his best race ever. He was totally in control of his environment from start to finish. Whilst he didn't net that win (and I'll ignore excuses) he put a good drive in.

*Gawd, I can't believe I'm writing this*