The race lasts 56 laps. The extreme heat and humidity put a lot of strain on both the cars and the drivers. F.Massa did the best in the practice sessions, as, in the last lap, he got even before F.Alonso.
Starting grid of the GP of Malaysia:
| F.Massa |
F.Alonso |
| K.Räikkönen |
L.Hamilton |
| N.Heidfeld |
N.Rosberg |
| R.Kubica |
J.Trulli |
| R.Schumacher |
M. Webber |
| H.Kovalainen |
G.Fisichella |
| D. Couldhartd |
T.Sato |
| J.Button |
V.Liuzzi |
| S.Speed |
A.Davidson |
| A.Wurz |
Ch.Albers |
| A.Sutil |
R.Barrichello |
After the start, F.Alonso's excellent driving takes him to the front with L.Hamilton literally pushing his away around F.Massa. At one moment, both Ferraris were next to each other, Massa a half length ahead. A.Sutil quits as early as the first lap on the grass around the circuit. In the lap 3, F.Alonso gains an advantage of 1s to the second Hamilton. Hamilton passes Massa in the world champion style. Lap by lap, Alonso increases the distance from the other drivers. V.Liuzzi takes the first pit stop in lap 3 to have his front wing changed. In the lap 4 Alonso is 5 s before the others. Massa keeps tackling Hamilton, which results in his brief visit into the gravel and grass, being passed by Räikkönen and Heidfeld. Massa, after the second pit stop will not get better than the 5th place behind Heidfeld. In the lap 8, Albers retires and there is no Spyker in the race any more. In the lap 16, Alonso already is 15 s ahead of Hamilton. N.Rosberg retires from the 7th, point gaining position, thirteen laps to the end with a technical problem. K.Räikkönen gets slowly closer to Hamilton and in the last lap the difference is only 0.8s, but he does not have time to pass. Fernando Alonso crosses the finish line celebrating his first victory for McLaren Mercedes. Hamilton comes the second and McLaren Mercedes wins the double in the GP of Malaysia. Räikkönen comes third, F. Massa, who made several mistakes in the race this time, comes fourth. Hamilton's impressive beginning of the season is a great success. We can look forward to his further steps. At the after race press conference, Alonso praises the team and Hamilton admits his exhaustion, as he ran out of drinking water in the middle of the race. This year's Championship is definitely going to be more viewer interesting than the last year. There is a lot to look forward to.
Classification after 2 races:
| 1. |
Fernando Alonso |
18 |
| 2. |
Kimi Räikkönen |
16 |
| 3. |
Lewis Hamilton |
14 |
| 4. |
Nick Heidfeld |
10 |
| 5. |
Felipe Massa |
7 |
| 6. |
Giancarlo Fisichella |
7 |
| 7. |
Jarno Trulli |
2 |
| 8. |
Nico Rosberg |
2 |
| 9. |
Heikki Kovalainen |
1 |
| 10. |
Ralf Schumacher |
1 |
|
