The most famous name in motorsport will feel like the weight has been lifted off their shoulders today after a shock win in Malaysia gave Ferrari a much needed boost to morale.
A shocking pre-season has been followed up by displays of a distinct lack of pace in the opening races, leaving Ferrari under incredible pressure from the Tifosi back in Italy. However, in Fernando Alonso they have a man capable of switching on even the most un-responsive of cars.
The former double World Champion held off a ferocious charge from Sauber driver Sergio Perez, a man on the young Ferrari drivers program, to secure all 25 points and leave Malaysia as a surprise World Championship leader.
The race began with an all McLaren front row hoping to maintain their positions and show the kind of dominance they have all weekend. Instead the rain in the air in the humid conditions of Sepang caused all drivers at the front of the grid to begin the race on Intermediate tyres. Hamilton started far better than last week and managed to lead team-mate Jenson Button into the first few laps. Third place Michael Schumacher, a master in wet-conditions, was dumped right at the back of the field after colliding with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. The rain began to come heavily and the Intermediate tyres were no longer an option as all bar Jean-Eric-Vergne pitted to fit the extreme wet tyres. However the visibility and the amount of standing water, coupled with bolts of lightning were enough to convince race director Charlie Whiting that a red flag must be waved and the race suspended.
After 30-40 minutes of standing on the grid, the race restarted behind the safety car, with all cars instructed that wet tyres were mandatory. As always in wet-dry conditions, being on the right tyres at the right time is the key part of team strategy. At the re-start, Hamilton held off Button, while Saubers Sergio Perez found himself in third, ahead of Mark Webbers Red Bull and eventual winner Fernando Alonso. Alonso quickly passed Webber and all drivers realised that the track had dried sufficiently to make the move back to the Intermediate tyres. This was a pivotal stage of the race as Ferrari attempted to double stop their cars, causing Lewis Hamilton, who pitted ahead of Alonso to be held while Alonso’s team-mate Massa approached down the pit-lane. Hamilton’s pit-crew had trouble with the rear tyres and the Spaniard came out ahead of both Hamilton and Button, with the latter also jumping his team-mate during the pit-stops.
This stage of the race was full of drama as Button lost his front wing in a clash with Karthikeyan, forcing him to pit and thus drop himself to the back of the pack. Alonso overtook Perez on track to leave the prancing horse at the front. After pulling out a significant lead over the Sauber driver, the Mexican began to find incredible grip and speed in the fast-drying conditions and was reducing the gap at nearly a second a lap. Once again, tyre strategy was key, as teams were forced to ignore the forecasts of more showers and yield to the fact that the track was dry enough for slick tyres Alonso pitted one lap earlier than Perez, who’s team were over-cautious and ultimately lost time at this stage. However, when on the dry tyres, Perez came back again and drew to within a second of the Ferrari. He would surely have won, but ran wide and cost himself five or six seconds of time, allowing Alonso and Ferrari to stand on the top step of the podium.
The win lifts the pressure on a massively under-performing team, but Alonso insisted that it changes nothing and the team know that they have to improve.
The McLaren team will be quite disappointed with their race weekend, after qualifying 1 & 2 they finished with Hamilton in third and Button out of the points down in 14th.
Constructors champions Red Bull continue to struggle in 2012. World Champion Sebastien Vettel seems to be having difficulties when the car is not as good as he would like, which will soon lead to questions about his own individual ability. His team-mate Mark Webber fared better this weekend with a hard earned fourth place, with Vettel finishing outside the points in 11th, after puncturing his rear wing by clashing with Karthikeyan. They will need to improve drastically by the time the F1 season moves into China in a fort-night.
The Mercedes team will also be feeling thoroughly depressed by their start to the season. They are a team with great straight-line speed, leading to strong qualifying performances, but fail to translate that into strong points scoring race days. One point from two races for a team hoping to challenge for the title is simply not good enough.
So that brings us to where we started this article… Ferrari. They will be the first to admit that their car is well below par. In Fernando Alonso however, they have a man who can rescue their races singlehandedly. While he seems to be able to drag the prancing horse around the track, his teammate Felipe Massa seems to have banana skins strapped to his tyres. The Brazilian is slow, shaky and can’t seem to keep his car on the track. His performances since his return from the accident that kept him out of the sport fro a few races have left a lot to be desired, and the gap between him and Alonso will be a serious concern for Massa. It is to be questioned, how long Ferrari’s patience will last and probably when, rather than if, he will be replaced. The performance of Ferrari prospect Perez will only have increased this pressure.
Malaysia produced a dramatic race from start to finish and as always separates the top drivers from the rest. Fernando Alonso is undoubtedly in the top bracket of drivers in the F1 field and he demonstrated today that the fiery Spaniard is a force to be reckoned with, even in what is more of a limping horse, than a prancing one.
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