Kimi Raikkonen proved his mettle today with a stunning victory at the Sepang Race Circuit in Malaysia. He cruised to victory with a comfortable 19 seconds lead over Robert Kubica who came second (a career best for him and this gives BMW its second podium of the season). McLaren rookie Heikki Kovalainen came third which is also his career best and his maiden podium finish.Kimi, in his wonderful Ferrari had a near perfect race winning it comfortably in the end.
The race was completely dominated by Ferrari who maintained a one-two position for most of the race. Felipe Massa was in the lead for 17 laps and looked as if he was set for another victory but a faster pit stop put team-mate Kimi ahead. Massa drove with his usual fire but lost control and skidded out of the track in the 31st lap forcing him to retire early.
Jarno Trulli of Toyota gave a rare performance, carrying forward his form from the second row start and held on to his third position for most of the race before dropping one place. He performed impressively in the last five laps when McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton began chasing him. In a close call, he managed to keep Lewis at bay securing a hard fought fourth place.
McLaren driver, Kovalainen gave a controlled performance, quietly taking third place without much fanfare earning him the first podium of his career. The real surprise was the fate of the other McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton who began in ninth place and was steadily moving up the pack but a forced pit-stop in the 19th lap due to excessive wear-out of his front tyres put him back to 11th place. From then on he fought his way back to finish in fifth place.
Giancarlo Fisichella of Force India came in 12th place, a marked improvement for the team, after their unfortunate start in the Australian GP last week even though Adrian Sutil had to retire early.Vijay Mallya is reportedly very happy with the team's marked improvement in this race.
The race was completely dominated by Ferrari who maintained a one-two position for most of the race. Felipe Massa was in the lead for 17 laps and looked as if he was set for another victory but a faster pit stop put team-mate Kimi ahead. Massa drove with his usual fire but lost control and skidded out of the track in the 31st lap forcing him to retire early.
Jarno Trulli of Toyota gave a rare performance, carrying forward his form from the second row start and held on to his third position for most of the race before dropping one place. He performed impressively in the last five laps when McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton began chasing him. In a close call, he managed to keep Lewis at bay securing a hard fought fourth place.
McLaren driver, Kovalainen gave a controlled performance, quietly taking third place without much fanfare earning him the first podium of his career. The real surprise was the fate of the other McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton who began in ninth place and was steadily moving up the pack but a forced pit-stop in the 19th lap due to excessive wear-out of his front tyres put him back to 11th place. From then on he fought his way back to finish in fifth place.
Giancarlo Fisichella of Force India came in 12th place, a marked improvement for the team, after their unfortunate start in the Australian GP last week even though Adrian Sutil had to retire early.Vijay Mallya is reportedly very happy with the team's marked improvement in this race.
