Malaysia GP - Same story but well appreciated?

A German national anthem played at the podium, and a driver overlooked the orders of his tea. Its 2014, and one year after the infamous Malaysia Grand Prix, it’s very much the same story as one team literally dominated the competition. There were only eight drivers on the lead lap, and that would explain the domination and the story of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.

It was very tight at the start, and Vettel almost forced Rosberg into the wall, and it was eventually an incident packed opening lap. Pastor Maldonado and Jules Bianchi didn’t have the best of it, and Perez’s luck lasted only for the warm-up lap, as the Force India driver suffered engine related issues, and the team tried desperately hard to get him into the race, but he ended up a spectator.

Force India should be proud of what Hulkenberg did though for his P5, the German was running as high as fourth with his two lap strategy before Alonso on fresher tyres comfortably dispatched him towards the end of the race. Kobayashi was the only other driver to try the two-stop strategy race, and that fetched the Japanese driver a much needed 13th on the grid, and this is a step up for the team after all the issues that Caterham faced in the opening sessions.

Vettel and Red Bull have really shown tremendous progress since pre-season testing, and if Renault gets it’s act behind the team, I’m not sure if Mercedes can respond to this level of progress. Vettel, in the post race press conference, also stated that he’s happy with the progress shown by the team, and that it’s no secret that there’s big work to do in terms of reliability and power, and it was a good result as they finished next to Mercedes and that’s what they need to do right until they challenge Mercedes for the wins.

It’s going to be an interesting stint in Europe, as that’s where the teams are expected to bring in massive upgrades, and taking Red Bull lightly is always going to be foolish with the form they have shown in the last four seasons. Things with Ricciardo though seem to have just continued on from Mark Webber, a botched pit-stop and a front wing failure, neither of which what the team or the fans would have expected. In case the things go wrong at the FIA Appeal that they have made, Ricciardo would be kicking himself for falling to faults that aren’t entirely his own.

Ferrari with Alonso have been the third best team over the weekend, and that’s the best that they could have achieved with the form that they are in at the moment. The battles between Ricciardo and Alonso, and Alonso and Hulkenberg, were one of the highlights of the race. Alonso did his part of attacking Ricciardo but didn’t have the pace to go past him, and with Hulkenberg, he had the upper hand. Kimi Raikkonen was unfortunate ever since the weather gods turned against him, as he was on the pace until then, and his first lap incident with Magnussen wasn’t entirely his fault either, and he just seems to suffer from poor luck at the moment. That said that the performance improvement he showed was impressive when compared to Melbourne.McLaren have pulled off from Qualifying, as they were clueless from the Free Practice sessions. Jenson Button had a well earned P6, and he was involved in a battle with Williams right throughout the race, and these two teams have shown similar form this season, but eventually we have to see who comes out on top, as there can only be one winner. It’s still early in the season though. Magnussen was a poster boy after his Melbourne race, but with the team’s struggles he fell off the radar, and also his mistake, that cost Kimi the race, gave the Danish boy a 5 second stop/go penalty.

Williams have lots to do before their next race. Internal rifts wouldn’t and shouldn’t be entertained in a team that’s trying to lift their name into the elite league. A team with such a rich heritage should surely know how to deal with the rifts, but the biggest test is also to recover the lost ground on Mercedes. This is one team that was thought to be a pre-season favourite to challenge Mercedes, but lack of rear downforce has affected the team to the core, and the update that they bring to China is going to be crucial. Massa ignored team orders to allow Bottas through, as Bottas was itching to get past him all along, and this isn’t the welcome that Massa would have expected in his new team. The Brazilian would have to lift his form to avoid further embarrassment.

Lotus and Grosjean did a solid job of finishing the race which was on their priority list, and their next step would be to show some kind of improvement which the team currently predicts would come at Spain. Getting mileage is a priority for the team, and Maldonado was unlucky with no fault of his own.

The Final Cut

It’s been a Mercedes domination so far, and many fans have appreciated the progress the German team has made and haven’t complained of boredom. This level of biased hatred towards Red Bull is what was being pointed out by journalists across the world – if they are enjoying the Mercedes domination, then Red Bull too should have been shown some love. And for those who called Vettel names for ignoring the team’s strategy, we just hope they’re not the same people who are calling Massa courageous.

The action kicks forward next weekend at Bahrain, and plenty of cars are expected to be the same. So it could be yet another Mercedes domination or maybe someone is waiting to upset them.

by Bala Yogesh