GP – Race: Räikkönen returns to victory!

Kimi Räikkönen on Ferrari won the second Grand Prix of the season this Sunday. The Finnish driver dominated the race from the 18th lap to the final lap by overtaking his teammate Felipe Massa after his first pit stop. He is ahead of Robert Kubica (BMW) and Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren). [See the race result by clicking here]

The red lights go out: The Ferraris at the front make a very good start. Räikkönen even manages to get up to Massa’s position in pole position, but the Brazilian doesn’t give in. He pushes him to the right side of the track, and Räikkönen doesn’t insist. He leaves Massa in the lead, supposedly lighter than him on fuel.

The two Ferraris are pushing hard, alone at the front and are followed by Kubica, who made a very good start just like the McLarens, 8th and 9th on the grid, moving up to 4th and 7th place. Nakajima, who started from the last position due to his penalty received last week in Australia, also makes a very good start and passes the first corner in 17th position. That’s 5 places gained.

Alonso, for his part, tries to overtake everyone on the outside, moves up to 6th place before being hindered by the Kubica/Trulli battle and falls back behind Coulthard in 9th position.

No issues to report during the start, except for a major mistake by Sébastien Bourdais in his Toro Rosso at the third corner. The Frenchman was on the outside and braked far too late. He spun out and ended up in a spin on the grass. The race was over for the sole Frenchman.

A turn further, it’s Timo Glock who makes the same mistake. The ten or so drivers behind him pass without a hitch, and the German abandons his Toyota a few laps later.

The positions are starting to settle before the 6th lap. Coulthard is under pressure from Fernando Alonso in ninth position just as the Spaniard is being challenged by Heidfeld. On the 7th lap, Alonso manages to move to the side. At the same time, Heidfeld takes advantage of the slipstream from both drivers to gain a lot of speed. He manages to overtake Coulthard and Alonso in one go… Alonso will overtake the Scot a few laps later.

Mark Webber is the first to pit. He makes his tire change on the 16th lap while under pressure from Lewis Hamilton and Jarno Trulli.

One lap later, Massa still in the lead makes his stop. He stops for 8.5 seconds and will have to push to the maximum to maintain his first position. Räikkönen refuels one lap later. The Finnish driver completes a very fast lap before entering the pits, stops for 7.9 seconds, and manages to gain an advantage over his teammate. He will only leave the first position for his second refueling.

The other protagonist, Hamilton, refuels on the 19th lap. He experiences a frustrating issue with his front right wheel. The tire won’t come off and he loses twenty seconds in the process.

All the drivers are on a two-stop strategy and there are no issues to report. Kubica makes his first pit stop last. He leads the Grand Prix for 7 laps before giving up his position to Räikkönen. Massa remains second until the 26th lap where he spins and gets stuck in the gravel. The Brazilian retires in the worst possible way.

At mid-race, Räikkönen is first, 15 seconds ahead of Kubica and 30 ahead of Kovalainen. Like many, they make a few small mistakes by sliding very slightly. With traction control no longer there, errors are more frequent, but the mistakes are often controlled. Takuma Sato gets caught on lap 35. The Japanese driver goes straight at turn 6 and goes through the grass.

Vettel will retire 17 laps from the finish. Gloomy outcome for Toro Rosso with two retirements.

With 10 laps remaining, Rubens Barrichello receives a penalty, forcing the Brazilian to pass through the pits without stopping, for not respecting the speed limit in the pit lane. The Brazilian was in 12th place, giving up his position to Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India.

The end of the race will be primarily marked by the battle between Lewis Hamilton (5th) and Jarno Trulli (4th). After his 2nd pit stop on lap 45, the McLaren driver puts on hard tires and begins to gain a few tenths on the Toyota. He completes an impressive series of laps, gaining more than a second on the Italian driver in the last 6 laps.

Unfortunately for the young world vice-champion, his efforts will not be enough, and he remains 1 second behind the Toyota driver.

At the same time, Webber tries to resist as best he can against Fernando Alonso’s attacks to reclaim the points for 7th place, but the Renault driver loses a few tenths with small mistakes and will not manage to double his points.

Malaysian GP – Race Result:

[See the race results by clicking here]