chonkoa
Aerodynamic Artisan
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I think Massa is a better driver than Kimi.
F1 2008 Malaysian GP
- Thread starter Bartek S.
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Formula 1 news, races, teams, drivers, technology, strategy, and discussion.
I think Massa is a better driver than Kimi.
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I seriously doubt it. 
chonkoa
Aerodynamic Artisan
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Between Hamilton and Kimi, I believe Hamilton is a better driver. Kimi is yet to convince me he is better than Massa.
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McLaren Drivers have to be punished.
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After setting their final laps, they cruised at extremly reduced speed on the clean side and destryed heidfeld & alonso's fast lap.
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Imhotep Evil
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Alonso and Heidfeld complain to stewards
By Jonathan Noble and Simon Strang Saturday, March 22nd 2008, 08:19 GMT
Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld have complained to the stewards after they encountered slowing cars on their final qualifying attempts.
Heidfeld was forced to jink off line to avoid a collision after he encountered several cars on their slowing down laps in the final moments of qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. The German claims that the incident cost him at least 0.2 seconds, the difference between third and seventh on the grid.
"That's the disappointing part," he told UK broadcaster ITV. "Q1 and Q2 went pretty smooth and then in Q3 most of the cars were already very, very slow when I was on my flying lap.
"They were just like parked on the circuit, I think it was both of the McLarens in front of Turn 4, being in the middle of the racing line. I could not be on the line I wanted, especially for braking. I have lost some time there, I think I lost two tenths, and if you look at the times they were very, very close.
"I would have been third, but what can you do now? Very clearly [it needs to be looked at] and I reported that on the radio. From my point of view it is not correct what they did."
BMW team principal Mario Theissen also told autosport.com that he wanted clarification over the situation.
"I am not happy because it was so tight," he said. "Five cars within 15 hundredths so instead of P7 we could have in P3, and especially Nick wasn't happy because on his final fast lap there were a few other cars on the racing line on their in-lap so he certainly lost a few hundredths and maybe even P3
"I think nick is talking to the stewards right now"
Double world champion Alonso also went to visit the stewards with Renault engineer Steve Nielsen, with the team's principal Flavio Briatore telling autosport.com that 'it looks like' he encountered similar problems.
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McLaren drivers summoned by stewards
By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer Saturday, March 22nd 2008, 09:11 GMT
McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have been called to see the race stewards at Sepang after Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso complained that they had been blocked at the end of qualifying.
Many of the front-runners completed their Q3 laps earlier than normal because of the threat of rain, and then slowed down on their in-laps to conserve fuel for the first stint of the race.
But other drivers were still completing their flying laps as the leading pole contenders backed off, and both Alonso and Heidfeld felt they had been impeded.
Heidfeld singled out the two McLarens for particular criticism.
"The first corners of my last lap went smoothly, but then there were several cars driving very slowly on their in-laps," said the BMW driver.
"Apparently they had no information that the qualifying was still going on. Before Turn 4 I lost a lot of time because both McLarens were cruising on the racing line.
"I think this has cost me about two tenths of a second, which would have meant being third instead of seventh. I just couldn't drive on the line I wanted and, even more importantly, could not brake were I wanted."
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Q3 is incredibly tight and I believe we'll see more of these "traffic" incidents in the future. Even Hamilton was slighty disturbed by Trulli right before stepping over the finish line to start his final lap. The very limited time means that everyone will be out at the same time leaving very little space for those who want to set a fast lap without any stress. I hope that Bernie and Max are looking at this closely.
Congrats to Ferrari for taking pole they must have traveled very light today, sucks that Hamilton wasn't at his best today. Mclaren tend not to good with race strategies to let's hope that have cooked up something good for Hamilton, or we can hope that Ferrari mess up for themselves like last week.
Look at hos cold the Ferrari drivers are, no hugs, no smiles or cheers for their pole lock down.
Peep the Green Giant by the Honda.
Congrats to Ferrari for taking pole they must have traveled very light today, sucks that Hamilton wasn't at his best today. Mclaren tend not to good with race strategies to let's hope that have cooked up something good for Hamilton, or we can hope that Ferrari mess up for themselves like last week.
Look at hos cold the Ferrari drivers are, no hugs, no smiles or cheers for their pole lock down.
Peep the Green Giant by the Honda.
McLaren drivers docked five places
By Jonathan NobleSaturday, March 22nd 2008, 11:33 GMT
Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have each been moved five places down the grid for blocking rival drivers in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The McLaren pair were investigated by the stewards after qualifying following claims that they had impeded Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso in the closing stages of the session.
The two drivers were driving slowly back to the pits, having completed their final qualifying efforts, while other drivers were still on their fast laps.
Following several hours of deliberation by the stewards about whether or not the McLaren pair had done anything wrong, it was eventually decided that the duo should be punished.
A McLaren spokesman confirmed that the two drivers had been moved back five places each. He also said the team would not appeal the decision.
Hamilton was penalised for blocking Heidfeld, while Kovalainen got his penalty for blocking both the German and Alonso.
It means Kovalainen will now start from eighth place on the grid, with Hamilton one place behind him.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who was lapping on the track close to the McLarens, said he felt Alonso was hurt more than Heidfeld by the blocking.
"I saw clearly that Alonso's lap was screwed because of, I think, Kovalainen staying on the racing line," he said. "Nick was a bit more lucky because his incident was before braking, so he could rejoin the good line.
"But Alonso, he had to brake inside and he lost for sure there a lot of time. It was quite dangerous."
Revised grid:
1. Massa Ferrari 2. Raikkonen Ferrari 3. Trulli Toyota 4. Kubica BMW Sauber 5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 7. Alonso Renault 8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes * 9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes *10. Glock Toyota 11. Button Honda 12. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 13. Piquet Renault 14. Barrichello Honda 15. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari21. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 22. Nakajima Williams-Toyota *** Penalised for blocking** Penalised for his crash his Australia
By Jonathan NobleSaturday, March 22nd 2008, 11:33 GMT
The McLaren pair were investigated by the stewards after qualifying following claims that they had impeded Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso in the closing stages of the session.
The two drivers were driving slowly back to the pits, having completed their final qualifying efforts, while other drivers were still on their fast laps.
Following several hours of deliberation by the stewards about whether or not the McLaren pair had done anything wrong, it was eventually decided that the duo should be punished.
A McLaren spokesman confirmed that the two drivers had been moved back five places each. He also said the team would not appeal the decision.
Hamilton was penalised for blocking Heidfeld, while Kovalainen got his penalty for blocking both the German and Alonso.
It means Kovalainen will now start from eighth place on the grid, with Hamilton one place behind him.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who was lapping on the track close to the McLarens, said he felt Alonso was hurt more than Heidfeld by the blocking.
"I saw clearly that Alonso's lap was screwed because of, I think, Kovalainen staying on the racing line," he said. "Nick was a bit more lucky because his incident was before braking, so he could rejoin the good line.
"But Alonso, he had to brake inside and he lost for sure there a lot of time. It was quite dangerous."
Revised grid:
1. Massa Ferrari 2. Raikkonen Ferrari 3. Trulli Toyota 4. Kubica BMW Sauber 5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 7. Alonso Renault 8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes * 9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes *10. Glock Toyota 11. Button Honda 12. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 13. Piquet Renault 14. Barrichello Honda 15. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari21. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 22. Nakajima Williams-Toyota *** Penalised for blocking** Penalised for his crash his Australia
Heidfeld welcomes stewards' ruling
Nick Heidfeld has welcomed the Malaysian Grand Prix race stewards' ruling to penalise the McLaren drivers following qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were docked five places on the grid after the stewards found they had slowed down Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso when going too slowly on the racing line in the dying moments of qualifying.
BMW's Heidfeld felt the incident cost him third place, but the German only qualified in seventh. He will now start from fifth and he admitted it was a consolation for the time lost.
"Yeah, of course. I gain two position - it is better than seventh," he said.
"I felt that I was hampered on my fast lap and obviously the stewards felt the same way. I was impeded and I lost laptime, so did Fernando."
The German insisted the rules need to be looked at in order to avoid drivers going too slowly once they have crossed the finish line.
"Definitely," he told autosport.com when asked if the rules needed to be changed. "I am sure they didn't do it on purpose but unfortunately that doesn't matter.
"I think one option would be to do something similar that we have do on the laps to the grid, where we have seen dangerous things in the past. There is a minimum time there and maybe something similar can be done."
BMW boss Mario Theissen also welcomed the stewards' decision, as he reckons the McLaren drivers caused a a dangerous situation.
"For me, the decision is important because of another fact – the difference in speed between Nick and two slow cars was more than 200 km/h – which was a very dangerous situation."
Nick Heidfeld has welcomed the Malaysian Grand Prix race stewards' ruling to penalise the McLaren drivers following qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were docked five places on the grid after the stewards found they had slowed down Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso when going too slowly on the racing line in the dying moments of qualifying.
BMW's Heidfeld felt the incident cost him third place, but the German only qualified in seventh. He will now start from fifth and he admitted it was a consolation for the time lost.
"Yeah, of course. I gain two position - it is better than seventh," he said.
"I felt that I was hampered on my fast lap and obviously the stewards felt the same way. I was impeded and I lost laptime, so did Fernando."
The German insisted the rules need to be looked at in order to avoid drivers going too slowly once they have crossed the finish line.
"Definitely," he told autosport.com when asked if the rules needed to be changed. "I am sure they didn't do it on purpose but unfortunately that doesn't matter.
"I think one option would be to do something similar that we have do on the laps to the grid, where we have seen dangerous things in the past. There is a minimum time there and maybe something similar can be done."
BMW boss Mario Theissen also welcomed the stewards' decision, as he reckons the McLaren drivers caused a a dangerous situation.
"For me, the decision is important because of another fact – the difference in speed between Nick and two slow cars was more than 200 km/h – which was a very dangerous situation."
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Deleted member 25
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You are kidding Luw, if it wasn't for maclaren, their times would have been automaticaly deleted and then P9 & P10.
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The Macca driver were simply unfortunate to be at the same place at the wrong time. They weren't really the only ones cruising at low speeds in that specific area. But I'll let my guard down for this one, watching a recap of Q3 one can see that Heidfeldt's pace was clearly disrupted by the low moving congestion.
Either way, with Mclaren as the meat of the sandwich there will be some very nice action in the midfield. Now will be the time for Heikki and Hamilton to put their ego and overtaking skills to practice. We will witness a good rematch between Alonso and Heikki, like a Family feud
1st row:
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)
2nd row:
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota)
Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber)
3rd row:
Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull Renault)
4th row:
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren Mercedes)
5th row:
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren Mercedes)
Timo Glock (GER/Toyota)
6th row:
Jenson Button (GBR/Honda)
David Coulthard (GBR/Red Bull Renault)
7th row:
Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Honda)
8th row:
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Toro Rosso Ferrari)
Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams Toyota)
9th row:
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India Ferrari)
Sébastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso Ferrari)
10th row:
Takuma Sato (JPN/Super Aguri Honda)
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India Ferrari)
11th row:
Anthony Davidson (GBR/Super Aguri Honda)
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams Toyota)
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Deleted member 25
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The thing is that they were the only ones on the ideal line.
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Reasonable ruling but bit harsh since it wasn't really intentional. 3 places would have been enough.
Now a one stopper is the only choice the Mclaren if they want to score some killer points this weekend.
Historical day because Hamilton actually got a penalty. Why do you think a one stopper is his only hope to score big points? Neither Heikki or Lewis will be stuck behind a slower car for 18 laps! Also, I expect one of the Ferrari engines to go kaboom and another strategy snafu along the way! Wouldn't surprise me if Heikki or Lewis won the race. That's how much confidence this Ferrari team inspires in me.
I don't know that Ferrari are extremely light. Judging by the Q2 or Q3 times, it looks like they do have some speed here. The reliability may still be a bit dodgy.
I think Kimi is marginally better than Massa, but the difference is tiny, tiny, tiny. He certainly doesn't deserve to get $30-million-a-year more in salary than Massa. It's not like the skill difference between Michael and Irvine or Barrichello. Bottom line is that I think Kimi does not give good value for his salary.
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My guess is Ferrari gambled on a dry set up while McLaren and probably BMW has a compromise set up in case it rains for the race. This would explain the almost 1 sec gap between Massa and Kova. It would be really interesting how the race pans out if it starts raining.
