The Storm at Sepang

Well the experiment by Bernie and gang to have the race at a more viewer friendly time was washed out (spectacularly I might add). Well with most teams and drivers looking at the rain and working out their strategy looking at the weather as against what was happening on the track!!! So the half race was a most disappointing result.

So here is what seems obvious after 2 races.

1) The Brawns look awesome, and they look good even in the wet
2) The pecking order has changed. It’s Brawn, Toyota, Williams and the red bulls that are fighting it out in the front.

Well to the race itself and one of the most amazing starts with cars going almost 4 wide into a single corner, without any major incidents to boot! Alonso had probably the best start with Button and Barrichelo not really starting of well. After a few laps it was quite clear that Alonso was quite heavy and he still managed to keep Barichelo behind him for quite a few laps!

Kimi’s race was probably spoiled by the time he spent behind Alonso as the front runners pulled out close to 25 seconds before he could get in front of Alonso and all the front runners were able to pit and come out in front of him.

We got to see the KERS working during Alonso’s battles with Weber , but whether it is a significant advantage is still open to debate!

What were Ferrari thinking?
Well the first two races have certainly shown that the brain trust at Ferrari is no longer what it was. First they screwed up with Barrichelo in qualifying on Saturday and then they decided to send Kimi out in full wets, which needed the rain to fall within the first lap and when it didn’t his race was effectively over. The Barrichelo decision was probably overconfidence and the Kimi decision was probably desperation!

Some of the other teams also made a mess of the tyres choices (Toyota and Truli) but overall no one really gained from the tyre poker. If there was any advantage it was to the lower placed cars who were heavier fuelled and were able to pit later and probably avoid a pit stop as against the cars in the lead and even this was not much of an advantage as the cars in the lead had built up enough of a cushion for the extra pit stop.

Overall a disappointing race, and we must wonder if the timings will change again next year, but if the teams are more concerned about the storm than just plain racing to me there is something wrong and needs to be looked into. Also there was not enough of a run in he wet to give some of the drivers who excel a chance to make up some ground!

So I guess its over to Shanghai and bit more clarity. We should also have the diffuser ruling in by then so we could be a little clearer as to who has the advantage…
As of now its seems that brawn have the brains to rule!