2008 Bahrain Grand Prix

Felipe Massa finally sees the end of a grand prix in 2008, taking victory at Sakhir ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, for a Ferrari 1-2.

With Lewis Hamilton finishing a dismal 13th after losing his front wing in a first lap coming together with Fernando Alonso, Kimi takes over the lead in the driver's championship.

Heikki Kovalainen salvages some McLaren pride by snatching fast lap late in the race, but his 5th place finish puts a point on a horrendous day for Ron Dennis' boys, as they drop to 3rd in the Constructor's Championship. BMW have vaulted to the top of the WCC charts with their 3-4 finish, clinging to a one point lead over Ferrari, with McLaren another point back. It's early days, but BMW look to have achieved their aim to make it a three-way battle. I can't wait for the rest of the season!

Top Finishers
Felipe Massa	1:31:06.970
Kimi Raikkonen	+3.339
Robert Kubica	+4.998
Nick Heidfeld	+8.409
Heikki Kovalainen	+26.789
Jarno Trulli	+41.314
Mark Webber	+45.473
Nico Rosberg	+55.889

Full Results

2008 Bahrain Grand Prix - Qualifying

This is the sort of shakeup the F1 braintrust was hoping for with the ever-shifting qualy format and rules. Robert Kubica snatches his first pole (no puns please) in the closing moments, relegating Felipe Massa to second spot. The next slots also bounce teammates around so the first lap should be interesting tomorrow.

Top Times
Robert Kubica	1:33.096
Felipe Massa	1:33.123
Lewis Hamilton	1:33.292
Kimi Raikkonen	1:33.418
Heikki Kovalainen	1:33.488
Nick Heidfeld	1:33.737

Qualifying Details

2008 Bahrain Grand Prix - Friday Practice

Friday Practice 1

Friday Practice 2

Although it's always dangerous to read too much into Friday practice, since one never knows exactly what programs the teams are running and how they're attacking the race weekend, Ferrari seem to have a lead on the rest of the field, as they did two weeks ago in Malaysia.

Felipe Massa set a blistering time on a low fuel run, with teammate Kimi Raikkonen nearly a second behind. McLaren came next, with Lewis Hamilton coming in 4th behind Heikki Kovalainen after he crashed heavily about 10 minutes before the session ended. Lewis was thankfully unhurt, though the mechanics will have some work to do.

There's still plenty of reason to tune in for qualy and the race itself, though, since the Sakhir track can change dramatically as rubber is laid down, or dust blows back across it...not to mention the million things that can go right or wrong for any driver at any time. Just ask Felipe Massa about the Malaysian race and how quickly things can turn. Or ask MotoGP 250cc rider Mika Kallio how quickly he went from 3rd to a race win in Spain...on the last lap.

Enjoy.

2008 Malaysian Grand Prix

Ferrari dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix with Kimi Raikkonen cruising to a comfortable victory after Felipe Massa lost the car in a bizarre snap over steer.

	DRIVER	ENTRANT	TIME
1.	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1h31m18.555
2.	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	19.570
3.	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	38.450
4.	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	45.832
5.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	46.548
6.	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	49.833
7.	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1m08.130
8.	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1m10.041
9.	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1m16.220
10.	Jenson Button	Honda	1m26.214
11.	Nelson Piquet	Renault	1m32.202
12.	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1 Lap
13.	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1 Lap
14.	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1 Lap
15.	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	1 Lap
16.	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	2 Laps
17.	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	2 Laps
R	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	Hydraulics
R	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Spin
R	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	Hydraulics
R	Timo Glock	Toyota	Damage
R	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	Spin

2008 Malaysian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Felipe Massa takes his tenth pole position with an absolutely stunning lap that was more than a half second clear of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen.  Heikki Kovalainen takes P3, another half second adrift beating his teammate Lewis Hamilton who was almost one second off the pace of Massa.  If the Ferrari's can stay reliable, they will definitely have the upper hand at tomorrows grand prix.

Top Times
Felipe Massa	1:35.748
Kimi Raikkonen	1:36.230
Heikki Kovalainen	1:36.613
Lewis Hamilton	1:36.709
Jarno Trulli	1:36.711
Robert Kubica	1:36.727

Qualifying Details

Is the BMW the ugliest car ever?

When they show a head-on shot of the F1.08 I don't know whether to laugh, or cringe and avert my eyes. It looks like somebody attacked it with Post-It® Notes. I've been wondering if it's the result of a bizarre hazing of a new aerodynamicist gone wrong, if Nick or Robert pissed off an aero guy--I couldn't decide. I like the team and want to like the car. One of my road cars is a Bimmer, after all. But it's hard to fall in love with something that ugly.

Oh, the team will tell you that it's all about performance. But something that ghastly has to have a good story behind it. A theory just hit me this morning. I think this is why BMW-Sauber put all those Post-It® flaps on:

Imagine with me...

The cars have just finished their final pitstops. McLaren or Ferrari have pipped the BMW at the first corner and they're fighting for position. The Macca or Ferrari driver takes a look in the mirrors to assess the competition and starts laughing. Distracted, they miss an apex and the BMW sails home to its maiden win. Hey, it's as plausible as anything. Discuss.

2008 Malaysian Grand Prix - Friday Practice

Friday Practice 1

Friday Practice 2

Ferrari look like the team to beat so far setting the pace throughout the bulk of both sessions.  Lewis Hamilton went out on fumes to set his fastest lap in session two and had to slow down so much on his cool down lap that he balked Massa a lot completely destroying his flyer.  Peter Windsor continued his bid to be Lewis Hamilton's lover boy.  In smoothing over the fact that Lewis tends to put more wear on his rear tires than his teammates, Peter claims that they are "beautifully worn" while the others are more inconsistently worn.  The fact is, Lewis drives more with his feet and less with his hands,  hence he has more rear tire wear...can't hide that one.  Good try though Peter.