The scary thing is the huge gulf between some of the teams. It was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton that provided us with the best example of this. He left the pits, after his first stop, and steamed past Hulkenberg, in the Force India. We can only hope that the lagging teams can draw closer, in the wake of the technical developments that always come before the European stint of the season. Last season I championed the Force India team, however this season I have a new team to keep an eye on. We're only two races in, but it is clear that Caterham have come on in leaps and bounds. It was hugely impressive watching the Ferrari of Kimi Raikonnen struggling to overpower Ericsson's Caterham. Even the Caterham drivers must have been questioning their great pace, as the trackside marshals erroneously waved blue flags at them. I really hope they can keep the pressure on the teams in the middle of the field, in the coming races.This week it was Ricciardo's turn to shoulder the weight of disappointment in the Red Bull team. He was looking strong, albeit behind his teammate Vettel, when a mistake during his pit stop left him sitting forlornly, waiting for the pit crew to roll him back to his pit box. It seemed that, after seating his left front wheel correctly and actually attaching it to his car, he might salvage something from the race. However, it wasn't to be, as he suffered a front wing failure, which resulted in him being more than a lap down on the rest of the field and destined to retire. It was unclear whether his retirement was down to a car issue or simply the total loss of motivation, but it really didn't matter to the fans.
McLaren were surprisingly far off the pace throughout the race. It's a little confusing when you consider that they have the same engine as the Mercedes team. Much like monkeys with typewriters, McLaren just don't seem to know what to do with the Mercedes engine. Perhaps with an infinite number of staff McLaren could pull something off, but then they would need an infinite number engines and that just wouldn't be feasible for Mercedes.
In retrospect, the Malaysian Grand Prix wasn't much to write home about this year. I found myself praying for the Mercedes pit crew to make a mistake, during Lewis' pit stop. Unfortunately, it all went smoothly. There was talk of rain, as we approached the half way point. I prayed to the Gods for that to transpire, but the God's, it seems, are Mercedes fans and were happy for the Grand Prix to be a foregone conclusion. In all fairness, if it had rained, we'd all still be waiting for this race to start.
Check out The F1 Spectator Malaysian GP podcast and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.
The Result:
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