Race: Button wins a chaotic Malaysian GP

The start of the second Grand Prix of the season has begun on the very wide Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Very nice start by Alonso in the Renault, managing to reach third position at the second corner with the KERS. He gained 5 places. Räikkönen also benefited from the KERS and finished the first lap in 5th position.

Kubica, for his part, said he was a victim of a problem on the warm-up lap and could not start at the departure. The Pole starts slowly from the last position, only to stop the BMW a few corners later. The engine is to blame.

In front, Rosberg in the Williams started 4th and took advantage of a very light car to gain the lead. He is first, ahead of Trulli. The Brawn GP had a bad start and were overtaken by Alonso. The Spaniard is therefore third, ahead of Button, Barrichello, and Glock.

Alonso’s Renault is very heavy with fuel, 20 kilos more, and therefore 8 tenths more per lap. He manages to keep his competitors behind him for 6 laps, with the KERS being very useful in these conditions. Button finally passes the Spaniard, Barrichello does the same two laps later, as does Webber.

In the 8th lap, Vettel puts pressure on Nick Heidfeld’s BMW. The German is very heavy and makes a mistake in turn 9. Vettel takes advantage, and so does Hamilton.

The first pit stop occurs on the 13th lap with Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. The German had managed to climb to ninth position. He comes out in 17th place due to the closely packed field. Rosberg, who was leading the race with the Williams, is the second driver to pit. He takes on a lot of fuel for his second stint.

Trulli is therefore in the lead ahead of Button, Barrichello, and Rosberg. The Toyota driver pits on the 17th lap, coming out behind Rosberg. Only 6 cars have refueled by the 18th lap. Rain is expected, and pit stops should occur at the same time.

Räikkönen also pits. The Finn sees a bit of rain on one side of the circuit and takes the gamble of fitting rain tires, very risky. On the 20th lap, the Brawn team pits.

At the 21st lap, it is still not raining and Button is leading ahead of Rosberg and Trulli. Barrichello is 4th in front of Alonso, Hamilton, Heidfeld, and Massa.

The standings are made to change and that’s what is going to happen. The drivers are getting more and more surprised on the track, it’s raining heavily on one side of the circuit and slick tires are unforgiving. Alonso and Hamilton make mistakes. Everyone is pitting and putting on rain tires even though the circuit is not wet everywhere.

Lap 23: Alonso has lost more than 20 seconds and is now only in 13th position. Button leads ahead of Rosberg, Trulli, Barrichello, Heidfeld, and Webber, who has been battling with Hamilton for two laps. The latter regains the advantage thanks to KERS on the straight, but it’s ultimately the Australian who will come out on top. He is on intermediate (or wet) tires and seems to be outperforming all other drivers along with Timo Glock. The German in the Toyota is also very effective. These two men quickly climb the hierarchy to 4th and 5th place.

Seeing the effectiveness of the intermediate tires, many drivers are opting for them. Barrichello already has them and gains an advantage over Trulli, who’s struggling. Räikkönen has dropped to 14th position with his full wet tires. His gamble didn’t pay off and his tires are already worn.

Alonso finally pits on the 27th lap, while Nick Heidfeld still hasn’t pitted. He is therefore logically and virtually on the podium. By the 29th lap, the intermediate tires are already worn. Webber changes them for full wets, just like Alonso and Barrichello.

On the 30th lap, the rain truly makes its appearance and all the drivers still on intermediate tires come in and put on extreme wet tires. The track is dangerous and visibility is zero, many make mistakes which is the case for Fisichella, Vettel, Buemi: the Safety Car enters the race. The track is flooded.

In the standings, Button is the leader despite the adverse weather. He is followed by Glock and Heidfeld. Trulli is 4th, and a lap later, the race will be interrupted. The red flag is waved by the track marshals, and the cars are parked in their pit or on the starting grid. Officials can access the cars, adjustments can be made to the cars except for refueling.

The panel is questioning, the race under the red flag can resume every 10 minutes until reaching 2 hours of race time. The FIA is being awaited. Webber, current representative of the GPDA (drivers association), gets out of the Red Bull and goes to discuss with his colleagues.

After 26 minutes and milder conditions, the FIA indicates that the race should resume under Safety Car. Ultimately, after 40 minutes and reaching the two-hour mark, the FIA decides to definitively close the Malaysian GP before it is resumed.

Jenson Button, surprisingly, is the big winner, ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock. The ranking considered is that of the 31st lap, which is the penultimate one run before the red flag. The points awarded will be halved, as the distance covered does not represent the 75% necessary for the full allocation of the scale.

The results are still provisional, but Brawn GP and Toyota once again score big points. Alonso, who had a good strategy, is only 11th. Bourdais in the Toro Rosso achieves a minor feat with 10th position. Hamilton scores a point. Ferrari is still at zero after two Grand Prix.

Race Result – Malaysian GP – 05 April 2009: