Alonso sets the standard

Can you not post the results next to the live feed please - Some of us want to find out who wins by watching. Had to restart my browser and 'More from Formula 1 - Alonso sails to victory appears. Thanks BBC.

Is it just me or did VETTELL CALL ANOTHER DRIVER AN IDIOT and i bbc team just went past it like nothing happened?

Button clips another car and its "confusing and unusual", Hamilton does exactly the same thing last year and its malicious and poor driving!!

Good drive by Perez, Senna and Kimi, if i were Massa i would be worried for my seat...

It was a brilliant race for Alonso. I thought Perez was also amazing, should have been his day.
Rate the Kuala Lumpur GP
[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]

Alonso outdrove the car today but it still doesn't change the position that Ferrari find themselves in. Nearly beaten by a Sauber. Still a LOT of work to do boys..

Yes to sky

What is the point of the full wet tyres?
In recent years it seems as their only purpose is to follow the safety cars.
Its getting a bit silly now where if most cars are on full wets the safety car comes out or the red flag.
Are proper wet races slowly being forced out?

Anyways totally bizare race today. Arguably only 5 of the drivers of the biggest 5 teams finished in the top 10.
Great too see competition across the field and that the gap between 1st and 10th is very small.

Have to say the highlights package exceed expectations.
We didnt have to sit thought the 50mins of red flag or the safetly car procession and it did cover all the events as with australia. I only forsee a problem with maybe the singapore GP when the race itself is usually just short of 2 hours.

But agree with post #1 and probably others that it is iritating that its plastered all over the sport page.
The only way around it is to go to the iplayer website and to click watch live instead as i figured today. Its the same problem most of us football fans suffer with MOTD. The 10 o'clock news ending with the sports results just as we tune into bbc.

@deleted
Are you serious? Not have the result pop up on the live feed? It's news. People want to know it WHEN it happens and not after a few hours. How about you talk about the race instead of complaining about BBC publishing the news!!!!! WOW!

great race, nice coverage by the Beeb. the presenters did the best they could under the circumstances. lewis was unlucky again with the stops but his luck will change. he just needs to keep knocking on the door. guys and girls can we stop knocking the beeb for their coverage as its a waste of time and will change nothing. if you want live coverage and cant afford sky then use your pc and tune into the coverage provided by rtl.... mute the voice and use 5 live. its not gr8 but at least its better than moaning.......

Didn't think it was that remarkable a race or victory.

What could be telling is if at some point Ferrari get their act together, what these valuable points could do to Alonso's title chances.

Very unlucky again for Hamilton to end up third. Very bad luck to only be second in the Championship with two thirds from two poles but he'll surely be up the top of the grid more often than not and will have a great chance of winning 'normal' races.

Sepang has always been very predictable with rain, making the race very unpredictable, so to not win from pole isn't that big a story.

One saving grace for Jenson Button is the fact that Vettel also finished outside the points.

@ Hau5fly wrote:

Button clips another car and its "confusing and unusual", Hamilton does exactly the same thing last year and its malicious and poor driving!!

yep i agree with you mate!!
and vettell insults another driver and it s called fustration, to me that was unproffessional.
especially with the fact that it was vettel's fault. JUST IMAGINE IF THAT HAD BEEN HAMILTON lool hell wuld have broken lose

Great race and I don't have to pay Sky for the privilege of watching Formula 1 live lol!! Ferrari may not have the fastest car but strategy was spot on and the pit crew were superb. Loads of overtaking and looking good for a very open year.

Very eventful race to say the least.
Does anyone know why Vettel’s team was telling him to “STOP EMERGENCY STOP” over the radio on the last lap?
He said he did not have comms for the latter part of the race.
Could it be that his engine was about to blow up like Maldando’s?

Win!! Win!! Win!!
Saw it live on Sky on a live stream which was great...

Great to see a Ferrari 1-2 with team orders playing a crucial part ;)

Amazing drive by Alonso in what is considered to be a street pig of a car, and Perez has done himself absolutely no favours in quelling the rumours as a soon to be prancing horse driver.

REF 2

Totally agree, and almost refreshing to see the dark side of Vettel. Karthakeyen was clearly blameless for either of the incidences involving Button and a very cantankerous German...

Alonso...that was beautiful...

Button hits an HRT and admits its his own fault, Vettel does it and its the HRT's fault - tantrums starting?

Today proved why Alonso is the best in F1, in my opinion. Supreme driving skill and control in tricky conditions. Even when Perez was catching him hand over fist, he kept it calm and on the road. Talking of Perez, what a drive from him today. Surely he's nailed his place at Ferrari? Whether it's the next race or next season, I'm certain he'll be the man that replaces Massa.

There were great performances throughout the field. Senna was very impressive, and it's great to see Williams competitive again. Webber and Kimi put in a couple of experienced drives to grab a decent haul of points each, and great performances from Di Resta and Vergne as well. Nine constructors in the top 10 today shows how competitive the midfield is this season. Long may it continue!

Perez should have won

i totally agree with carmine72 a great race. i for one cant wait to see what happens in china. with the field so closely bunched up (probably with the McLaren's as the exception) it promises wheel to wheel racing as Murray used to enthuse over... perez for Ferrari might be a bit premature but i agree he is a real prospect. not only fast but he drives with his head and looks after his car. a real future champion in the making. Not unlike a certain current Mercedes driver i might add....

Great result for sauber, Perez should be in that Ferrari, but the team messed him up, he choked because of that call when he had the race win in an iron grip because he would have passed Alonso eventually. Another fantastic win by Alonso super pit stops, McLaren can learn a lot from Ferrari,but ultimately very fortunate and lucky but he is by a mile imo the best driver on the grid, the consistency, relentless, opportunistic although he isn’t the fastest but with those 3 things on your side anything is possible. Congrats but I think it will be a long time until they win another, the weather was like a light switch. Fantastic race 8/10
On McLaren, what can you say? I don’t want to sound bitter or point the finger but they are determined to ruin Hamilton in any way they can .the 1st stops Hamilton had a 2,6 second advantage, they pit button 1st(so the rule about 1st in the race 1st choice of pit goes out the window then?).Hamiltons stop was around 4/10 of a second slower and button come out ½ a second behind. Then as I heard (I missed the restart I had things to do) they messed up Hamiltons 2nd stop letting button coast past, his 3rd stop it was 8 seconds long the man apparently couldn’t get tape of a wheel (hint, hint).and the most worrying thing for me ,why wasn’t he able to catch a sauber and a Ferrari on slick tyres, actually falling behind them. Something stinks there. I said last year that they needed to get rid of their mechanics, they are the slowest of the top 10 for stops, there always seems to be an issue. You can actually see the effort compared to say the Mercedes or the RB pit crews and it is massive. Plus Whitmarsh must be crying his eyes out that precious Jenson failed in his favourite conditions (unlucky jb),lol at seb not the index finger he is famous for but they have themselves solely to blame, if it was Hamilton the haters will be bearing down in force).strategically McLaren are the worst team from the big boys. If I was Lewis I would go down to my local “quick” fit and get some tyre fitters and replace the lazy ones he has now, on his payroll he can afford it.
Overall great weekend of racing on a good track, Hamilton looks like getting that consistency that me and everyone included prayed for him to have. Congrats to Kimi, senna, and the rest of the top10. China in 3 weeks’ time Hamilton is mighty around there, he will lock pole and probably win the race if McLaren don’t sabotage him, Mercedes will be strong on that monster back straight.
Yes I love the late starting race in KL but they need to push it back an hour or 2, it is just stupid, Bernie I’m looking at you grave dodger.skys coverage was a big improvement (internet, hell no I’m not paying for it) from the opening race but they will destroyed in china in terms of quality, humour, interesting facts and overall better coverage. bbc got a max of 6+million,sky 1.2 million, average of 520,000 for sky and the bbc got 3.2 million up 100,000 from last year’s live race, people who watch f1 on sky are football fans, wanting a cure for a hangover by listening to Simon lazenby, the man will bring you to tears or lol. For me the highlights are better than the live event, just the best bits plus the good bits. Shame the bbc want to waste our money on a x-factor impersonator (I hate x factor) and pointless sports; like swimming or equestrian or gymnastics etc, etc.
What do you think? I happily have a discussion,great piece andrew

So true that if Hamilton had done what Vettel had signaled to Kartikeyan there would have been a media outcry at how unprofessional he was, double standards clearly in operation. At least Button was man enough to take his incident on the chin, Vettel is not the nice guy people make him out to be when things do not go his way he is just as mardy as Hamilton.

Anyway stunning drives from Alonso, Perez, Senna and some solid points for Kimi and Lewis. Its all shaping up rather nicely isn't it?

Calling Karthikeyan an idiot is going too far but he is the worst driver I've seen in an F1 car in a good few years, he is awful.

For the couple of people pulling out the "if that was Lewis it would've been ..." card. Button has done it ONCE and held his hand up and said that one was my fault. If Button keeps running into Karthikeyan and ruining his race then it'll be news.

The safety car seems to come out for any sort of weather conditions these days, and that brings me back to my next point, why does Bernie insist on F1 going to Malaysia at their wettest time of year, the races have become farcical. You can pretty much guarantee a boat race at some point. If they went in May or June the rain might actually hold off.

#8 - Yes I am serious.

@13 TaliF1

Yes, I'd like to know about that emergency stop. The whole thing seemed suspicious to me. RedBull initially told him to come into the pits and abandon the race, presumably as a strategic decision so they could get a free gearbox change. I was under the impression that such strategic DNFs were illegal, so Redbull changed their minds and had an "emergency" that may just prove advantageous to them. I may be wrong though. I would also like to know what the "emergency" actaually was.

Chad, why is Karthikeyan the worst driver? There is nothing wrong with his speed he beat Ricciardo last year in his one race despite not knowing the car and has similar speed to De La Rosa. He even had the HRT in 10th. Vettel acted like a spoilt brat. Its all very well being charming when you have the best car by miles, now we are seeing a rather unpleasant side to him.

Hi all,

It's been ages since I ran away in terror from the mud slinging 606 forum, but I really am frustrated with today's coverage, and want to offer constructive feedback. (Warning: I will complain about any politically fueled savaging, as I am on tax credits and have no affordable choice.)

I got up early. The radio (please put the link at the top of the page with the live text feed) and the online text feed were a shambles. Yes it was a chaotic race, with fast changes.

Jaime Algesuari sounded like he needed to be woken up to make each comment, and James Allen did a much fairer job than Ben ? dunno his last name, despite begging for additional commentary. Can somebody please save some BBC money and put the same pair, who can have a good conversation and are quick enough to keep up, as both the radio and TV commentators please?

The web site needs to hire a quick typist for data entry, so that the live leaderboard, which was horribly out of sync, can catch up.

It was a patch job, but I'm a fan and I wanted to hear it live. But what was more disappointing were the images weren't much clearer. This is a long term F1 tradition to roll eyes and curse at cameramen and directors around the world... I realised something today, which there is no constructive feedback about: rainy races make more sense when the delays are included - valuable brain rest time!

But the MOST annoying thing is I just found out by fluke there is still a lforum online afterwards -- I have read many posts about coverage, and geez if I didn't want to look at some articles on the bbc site after TV stream (I have no tv) highlights, I'd still be clueless.

Please BBC, don't make it harder than it already is to get, or to know there is a good chunk of time in coverage.

Many thanks

PS Anyone else think that the ghost of Simoncelli had some fun with the race today? Alonso drove well, but more than a bit sad to hear the Italian anthem, too.

Very refreshing to see some of last years 'also rans' in the points this year.

Having ranted about the Beebs decision, I'll admit that so far the hightlights have been watchable (and good to miss the 50 minute delay). DC has come into his own, BE is OK, but Gary Anderson is a hidden gem. His pre-race verdict on Mercedes was spot on. More of him please.
Excellent result for Sauber, Perez is surely a cert for Massa's seat. Got to feel sorry for Grosjean, hopefully third time lucky for him in China. And just how grumpy can Vettel get?

hahaha !! had a good laugh this morning seeing mr consistency be consistent at the back of the race... keep it up andrew ckeep it up... you are making a fool of yourselves ... whitmarsh/button 1-1 lewis :)

Vettel's engineer's comments: Horner just said (on new to me this year) online forum broadcast that some tyre fragments got caught in the cooling duct of his rear tyre and they had serious concerns as the temp spiked. It then dropped as he slowed, but then got much worse again. Horner said it was irrelevant because Vettel couldn't hear a thing from lap 10 onwards.

Very poor show in press and on track by Vettel, who does have a history of trying to bump cars off track...I am curious to see how he uses his other fingers so emphatically to communicate...and the idiot comment was made worse by Horner's comments on same forum.

PS (again) is there a link after it's broadcasted to watch the forum online?

@jingle

gary anderson is great,better than kravitz who went because i get a feeling that he craves attention and sky offered it to him in the form of his own show,he wants to be the star of the show.plus anderson has knowledge and expertise in the technical area,designing race winners.jh,dc and ej are the best imo sky cannot touch that

adrenilenepotato: FANTASTIC COMMENT. You just described my sentiment and augmented it by astute observations I did not consider.

Indeed the Hamilton of this year is a mature 27 yo and his receeding hair shows it. Judging by his demeanor and attitude in Australia, and today in Maylaysia, I say he has grown up. And that is great. But his killer instinct and penchant for speed is still there as exemplifed by 2/2 pole positions. What is new is that he is showing controlled aggressive speed and immense poise, as opposed to the wanton and reckless speed and aggression that landed him in too much trouble last year.

I too was incensed by the innptitude of the the pit crew that erased all his hard won seconds at the start of the race and they cost him dearly. I worry how much more of this innptitude Hamilton will experience in the months to come. I might be stretching too far by stating that someone at McLaren is trying to sabotage him. But it sure feels that way.

And everyone else outside McLarren is playing head games with him by trying to annoint Button as the Formula 1 champion of 2012. I reckon this might be getting the Button's head, who must have felt like an invincible darling after his Australia win. I wonder if today's disaster will change that. I too sense the favoritism that Button is receiving. I say Button's Steaddy Eddy reputation has suffered immensely today caused by that amteurish self-induced collision that clipped his wing. This Button needs to be resewen.

Hamilton looks like he is pacing himself and looking at the long term end result. He seems to have paced himself for all the races of 2012. Judgding by today's performance, he seems to appreciate the fact that it is not important to win every race. He is the leader in podium finishes for 2012 so far 2/2.

I was actually delighted by the patience he showed when he realized his car was not going to give him much today. The Hamilton of last year would have ruined his car, or caused an accident while trying to catch both Perez and especially Alonso. Knowing all the standing leaders, Button and Vettel, were behind him, way behind, he chose to stay the course and not drive his car to ruin. Gone seems to be the hasty and impatient Hamilton, who raced with knee jerk reaction. Now we see a careful, deliberate, well-prepared Hamilton, patient and purposeful in his races.

Kudos to Hamilton. I say keep steady. Stay the course and do not rush. Sunny days are ahead of you mate and you have proved that you are uncatchable in any given Sunday. And forget not that you are the most feared and exciting driver in F1.

So the dominant McLaren has no race pace? Can anyone explain that? The Sauber was so much faster and Hamilton couldn't even make up time on the woeful Ferrari. I'm truly confused.

As for people comparing Vettel speaking out to Hamilton. If we think back to Monacco, Hamilton caused all the collisions he was involved in then blamed others- where as I don't think Vettel caused this collision, Karthikyan was the one who moved across the track while Vettel was taking a normal line. Although I agree he should have bitten his tongue.

I don't see much purpose in the full wet tyre if every time it's wet enough to use the tyre they stop the race, then make the cars drive behind the safety car until it's inter conditions. It's also pretty amazing how long all the cars went on the inter tyre, I was expecting more stops.

Great drive by Perez, I love Alonso but I was willing Perez on to win, I got a bit mad at Sauber for not pitting Perez on the same lap as Alonso! The Williams were impressive too, unlucky not to get a double points finish. As for Button, he must have thought he was lapping the HRT and that the car would jump out of his way, clumsy and a poor error. Red Bull were pretty anonymous for most of the race while Mercedes faded away again due to tyre degridation- I can't see them ever challenging for podiums with a car that chews up tyres like theirs.

It's very interesting that Ferrari are picking up big points in the part of the season where they are struggling the most, and McLaren aren't picking up as many as they should when they have the fastest car. Will this come back to haunt McLaren? We'll see. Red Bull, Ferrari and co should be relived that McLaren haven't turned their pace into points like Vettel did last year. The same actually goes for Force India, they are one of the slowest teams in the midfield right now but picking up nice points, good job by them.

Overall nice article, although you maybe flatter Alonso a little bit. Always makes me laugh to read the completely biased comments whether it's a good article or not. It seems everyone is either "LEWIS IS GOD, EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET HIM" or "LEWIS IS THE DEVIL, RUDE AND ALWAYS CRASHING INTO PEOPLE".

You can obviously tell which Lewis Hamilton category Comment #31 fits into. Made me laugh out loud.

Fantastic Fernando!
You have truly underlined your credentials today to all those that doubt you are the best of the current generation. Nobody else can make the most of the tools that they have available quite like you.
Even the most stalwart of Ferrari fans must be rubbing their eyes in disbelief after this result. Not only is it the ugliest Ferrari I have seen for a long long time but it appears to be the most difficult to drive, especially in dry conditions. Just look how Massa has struggled in it compared to Alonso - he is nowhere.
And what a superb drive by young Sergio Perez. If this hasn't sealed his seat in a Ferrari for next season the only reason will be that Mark Webber is taking a massive pay cut to go there.
But what has made me smile even more than this astonishing victory is the massive outpouring of conspiracy theories that have ensued following the end of the race. Sauber's best ever finish before today was 4th, so why not ask their young and experienced driver to be a little circumspect and bring it home in 2nd? That said, he might easily have won the race for an even more astounding result. But the fact that he nearly did ditch it in the gravel surely justifies the team's approach.
As for adrenilenepotato's assertion that McLaren deliberately sabotaged Hamilton's pit stops to prevent him from winning the race - I don't think I have EVER read anything so patently ridiculous in all the time I have been following these message boards. Where on earth does all your anger - about McLaren and everything else - come from?
Great to hear Jenson admit he made a mistake, and very, very disappointing to see and hear that kind of reaction to another driver from a reigning double World Champion when the fault can clearly be lain at your own door.
All in all a simply superb race, and there's a lot to be said for only having the highlights to watch on the BBC and not having to sit through the tedium of the red flag period. Can't wait for China. Let's hope it rains there too!

@25 Kartikheyan beat Ricciardo at his home race, plus he had raced the first 8 races of the season in the car that you claim he didn't know, and was a Friday driver for a few of the races he didn't race in.

Having spent most of Q1 getting in people's way, he was nearly three quarters of a second off De La Rosa in qualifying for Malaysia, Pedro De la Rosa isn't exactly a ball of fire.

Karthikeyan got to tenth Today through having wet tyres on before everyone else, he still managed to finish last of all. He's a poor driver

Not a great blog given it does not contain any real analysis of the race.
The blog just shows plain favouritism towards Alonso when driver of the day was clearly Perez with a stunning drive.
More than that the blog requires some analysis into why Mclaren's race pace seemed to desert them in the wet conditions whilst the Ferrari excelled. Was this due to set-up? Is this proof the Ferrari is fundamentally a good car that uses its tyres too aggressively in dry conditions?
What about Mercedes and their great qualifying pace which disappears in the race?

@ Chad Secksington
Calling Karthikeyan an idiot is going too far but he is the worst driver I've seen in an F1 car in a good few years, he is awful.


it doesnt matter if he is awfull, it werent his fault vettel run into him

Alonso has now won the Malaysian Grand Prix in a Renault, McLaren and a Ferrari - true class, and the cream of a super-talented crop.

Live coverage on French TF1 was good. Didn't need radio 5 commentary as I have eyes. On screen info all in English.

Alonso and Perez had fantastic Drives but the biggest story of this race i, the fall from Grace for Sebastian Vettel, he pulled the same stunt as in 2010, turkey against Mark Webber, where as today, the driver who did nothing wrong is an idiot. im afraid to say it but i dont believe that Red Bull will correct their blue eyed boy over this.

@34 ScuderiaHarryPotter, well said and thankfully well-reasoned post.

Can't resist asking someone with your tag name what you thought of Ferrari's pit board after the race ;-)

@ OilBurns

Kuldnt have written it better myself :)

@ Negaduck

watch the incident 1st plz mate, then comment

Here we go again, getting carried away about a race where a lot of incidents combined to give Alonso his win and will likely never happen again.
Watching the few 'pace car' laps after the race resumed, It was obvous that Button was going to get stuffed by Perez who was crawling all over him (I wouldn't have been surprised had he caused an accident there) and then he was gifted his opportunity by Hamilton dragging his tail on the re-start, which held back Button, so he couldn't get the start he needed.
The real surprise was that Hamilton made little or no attempt to catch Perez, which he was (and is) more than capable of doing but seemed content to drift home in 3rd.
Couldn't have imagined him doing that a couple of years ago.
As for the whole result, Alonso used the right words when he said, "it changes nothing"

hahaha!! and what about that fake world best f1 driver sebastian vettel... haha last year you called "best ever" haha...
whitmarsh needs to win something or else he will feel the heat like last year... he looks like hes finally feeling the pressure going by his face in the interviews :) he looks very uncomfortable in front of skysports journalists...
hopefully for him the other teams wont catch mclaren up otherwise i can see him get booted out of the team... more and more people are seeing what hes trying to do... unfortunately hes doing it very badly... see u in 3 three weeks andrew have a good sunday man :)

Great race but shame about the coverage. When Alonso came out of the pits to a close battle with Perez, the cameras were elsewhere. I presume this is Bernie Ecclestone's company providing the feed, the Director shot be fired!!

The BBC coverage is OK, but everything seems a bit down-beat now. DC is good but the new lead commentator is not great. A little less starry eyed enthusiasm and some more real commentary would be better, no real substance. Algesuari on 5live didn't want to be there, he wanted to be in the car and it showed.

@41 lalakaka
Thanks for the positive comments.
I can only assume that the team also thought Alonso was truly magical to conjure up a victory with the car he currently has at his disposal.
It does appear to me as though it is, contrary to most opinions, a fast car. And just like last year's, it seems to be a lot better in the race than qualifying. But it also looks as if it's far too inconsistent at the moment and even harder on the tyres than in 2011.
It is encouraging that Ferrari (or at least Alonso) are accumulating a lot of points in very trying circumstances, which bodes well for the championship IF they can quickly get the problems sorted.
As a Scuderia fan of more than 40 years standing I sincerely hope so.

@ScuderiaHarryPotter

you clearly arent 100% right in the head with that name,but how do you explain a 8 second pitstop trying to get some duck tape of the car,constsnt pitstops that are slower than is team mate and his competition.i havent got anger with mclaren it is disappointment and frustration as it is clear that they are favouring jb,and i dont know what else am i "angry" about can you specify your comment please if it isnt too much trouble.

@negaduck
are you alright there mate,past bed time is it,yes the hour has gone forward and it is still bright but go back to sleep

Fernando, P.E.R.E.Z is faster than you!
But we will make sure Sauber remember who supplies their engines ;)

Great race, and good highlights show, BBC are doing a great job. Gary Anderson is excellent by the way (much better than Ted) but still really miss Martin Brundle.

Brilliant from Alonso as usual. It's really hard to tell how fast that Ferrari is, with Alonso doing as he always does, and Massa finishing back in 15th after another awful race. I'm not a Ferrari fan, but it's good to see them getting the occasional win, given their importance and passion for the sport.

Perez was brilliant. I know Sauber wanted 2nd, but I thought they should have told him to go for the win. Didn't matter in the end though with his mistake, but still an awesome result for Sauber.

Hamilton did well to get 3rd. Went about his business, didn't do anything silly, and got a valuable podium when Vettel and Button were having pretty poor races. Thought he was let down by his pitcrew on multiple occasions today, so well done to him.

I thought both Button and Vettel were at fault for their respective collisions with Karthikeyan. Was interesting to see their different reactions to the incidents, but also interesting to note how they both showed moments of weakness. Button made a stupid mistake, and ended up finishing no higher than he deserved. Vettel's petulance shone through, showing he perhaps isn't as perfect as he's made out to be, on or off the track.

your all missing the point about Karthikeyan, its not that he's awfull or an idiot, he doesnt seem to understand blue flags. Remember Massa in canada 2011 or webber in Valencia 2011 and today with Vettel (he has done it other time I just cant remember off the top of my head) but he slows people down so much when being lapped! The other backmarkers seem to let people past fine, prehaps he just needs the blue flag rule explaining to him?

I really don't see much purpose in the full wet tyres if every time it's wet enough to use the tyre they stop the race, then make the cars drive behind the safety car until it's inter conditions. It's also pretty amazing how long all the cars went on the intermedia tyres.

Looking at replays of the Vettel and Karthikeyan incident, in my opinion, it is Karthikeyan's fault as Vettel keeps his line on the exit and the HRT moves back on him. While I don't agree with Vettel's comments, my understanding is that backmarkers must move over and let the leaders through, even if the must run of track.

It was simply Karthikeyan's misjudgement therefore his fault but the penalty is pointless. Anyway, this altercation aside, great race today and fantastic to see Alonso at his and I quote "brilliant best". Superlative drive from Perez to second place.

i was astounded that following the finger pointing of Vettel, nobody mentioned it and after Vettel, called Karthikeyan an idiot, still no mention of his petulance, given everything that the BBC (and everyone in F1, inc. Christian Horner), slated Hamilton for during his career, but Seb is just showing his frustration.

he shows that he cracks under (very little) pressure, when he doesnt have the best car, just remember Canada and germany last year, and many times during 2010.

Anyone see how embarrassing Martin Brundle was on the pit walk? Oh dear.

'he shows that he cracks under (very little) pressure, when he doesnt have the best car'

Spain 2011?

The blatant Jenson Button anti Hamilton bias continues from the BBC. Note that Benson could not bring himself to write a single word about the self made disaster that was Jenson's race.

This will be a long season and Lewis will have a race like Jensons at some point. Just watch the magnifying glasses come out when that happens (instead of the sweeping under the carpet we all saw today).

Difference is that Button admits it when he's in the wrong while Hamilton tries to blame everybody else.

OK 1 time, but i seem to remember that there was no real chance for Lewis to pass given the DRS zone at Barcelona. and the car was superior in the traction zones.

it doesnt change the fact that more times than not Seb has thrown away points when battling other drivers, when those other drivers, can battle with each other without crashing.

correct?

FIX! Perez was going to take Alonso before the Sauber mechs got on the radio. Somebody had reminded them that without Ferrari's help they wouldn't have got a car on the grid this year. Perez, rather than pretending that he couldn't get past Alonso, faked a mistake. He had driven a spotless race until that point. I didn't buy it for a second, and I doubt anyone in the pit lane did either, but it's in their collective interest not to kick up. Congratulations to Perez for both a peerless drive and a sublime 'mistake'.

I seem to disagree with most here in that Hamilton wasn't unlucky - given the dominance of the McLaren and the superb skill he has displayed in the wet he was left for dust by the skill of Alonso and Perez today, not because he had to wait a few seconds more for Massa. The long brake duct stop isn't luck, its poorer performance by the McLaren pit crew. They are part of his team and today Ferrari showed every crew on the straight how its done.

After 2 races pretty happy with the coverage from the rump of BBC contract. Perhaps because I watched my first Grand Prix on TV in 1971 I have grown up with v patchy F1 over the years. Most enjoyable was the Walker/Hunt period, no great analysis but both hilarious - Murray only seemed to have vaguest grasp of what was happening, always mis-identifying cars/drivers, and even which part of the circuit they were on, James trying to settle old scores. Worst was ITV years, sweating through the ad breaks, so the current set up seems just fine. I think there is an optimum length to which you can truncate a GP and the two so far have been about right. In the old days the highlights were sometimes incomprehensible at 45 mins but in a two hour show you just loose some of the dull stuff. I can't see how they can maintain the same standard with a 1 1/2 hour show tho'.

Never been a fan of Brundle so not sorry to see him follow the shilling like he has done every year. DC & Ben Edwards fine but Gary Anderson, as several people have said, is a real gem - an authentic voice from the pit lane who doesn't seem to be bringing any baggage with him and is very fair and interesting to listen to - his 'analysis' sequence from the preview yesterday was just too short, I would rather have more of him that endless speculative interviews with drivers. I am so pleased to see the back of Ted Kravitz whose aimless ramble around the pits after the races last year was painful, no one wanted to talk to him and he had nothing to say, grammatically challenged and completely devoid of any insight. You only had to see Gary talking to Peter Sauber at their pit the instant the race was finished to see the advantage Gary has - Sauber obviously felt he was talking to an old pal. I noticed Gary was also in the back of shot at the Ferrari pit with a crew talking to Stefano Domenicalli, but I haven't seen that interview played.

I would never willingly give the criminal Murdoch Empire a penny, so Sky is not an option for me, but I can't imagine I would enjoy the kind of coverage they are offering.

As to the race, I can only endorse ScuderiaHarryPotter, good drive by Alonso, great drive by Perez. Everyone has their favourites but two things I cannot stand are the cry babies and the drivers who think they have a God given right to be in front and consequently drive into other people who don't get out of their way. Today I think we have seen, as so often in 2010, that Vettel falls into both these categories, and though Alonso is clearly a great driver but I can't get out of my head the miserable moaning git from 2007 who couldn't cope with being outpaced by Lewis. Jensen is the best driver for me because as well as being fast he is fair and puts his hands up when he cocks up - he has the best attitude in the sport.

I subscribed to sky and watched F1 on Sky. I have to say wow... Sky has done a very good job. They got good analysis and they really got A team out there. BBC is definitely B team. I'm very happy to ditch BBC. Good bye BBC and Hello Sky!

Quote "Alonso has produced some stunning races in his career, and the one in Malaysia on Sunday ranks up there with the very best"

Nonesense, it wasn't his driving or team strategy, it was primarily down to factors outside the control of Alonso and the custard horse....

On another point, i'm looking for Button negativity in the same way negativity was thrown at LH

Lastly, LH over the last two weeks has been brilliant. Two oustanding qualifiers only to be let down by Oz a clutch issue and in Malay the weather, and yet he is dignified to a point where I question whether he has last his passion.... The media shaping LH isn't a great thing for F1

can all the people saying it was Karthikeyan's fault, please watch the video, vettel unhappy with Karthikeyan, it clearly shows Karthikeyan, kept his car straight, and vettel moved left stightly.

should Karthikeyan have stopped his car completely, when Vettel is trying to lap him?

'OK 1 time, but i seem to remember that there was no real chance for Lewis to pass given the DRS zone at Barcelona. and the car was superior in the traction zones.

it doesnt change the fact that more times than not Seb has thrown away points when battling other drivers, when those other drivers, can battle with each other without crashing.

correct?'

There is no doubt has thrown away points before when under pressure but i think people exaggerate how often he does this. Canada is a perfect example of people being a little harsh, vettel HAD to push so hard (too hard in this case) that he was bound to make a mistake, had he not pushed that hard jenson would have easily flown passed in the double drs zone as he had done to schumi a few laps previously.

Time will tell though weather he can cope under pressure, he is only 24 i think, so maybe he will improve in that department. But seriously as a Mercedes fan you want to watch rosberg when someone is behind him, he might as well be being blue flagged!

62.
At 19:47 25th Mar 2012, thepowerofnone wrote:


I seem to disagree with most here in that Hamilton wasn't unlucky - given the dominance of the McLaren and the superb skill he has displayed in the wet he was left for dust by the skill of Alonso and Perez today, not because he had to wait a few seconds more for Massa. The long brake duct stop isn't luck, its poorer performance by the McLaren pit crew. They are part of his team and today Ferrari showed every crew on the straight how its done.
---------------------------
Lewis has suffered a lot last year with the pit crew bungles which have largely been ignored by the media and blamed on Lewis. Looks like we will get a repeat of that this year.

Hamilton one of the greatest wet weather driver in history???????

Id love to know where that came from. Hamilton has had two wins in the wet both where luck played a huge factor. Silverstone 08 was the better of the two tho he still went off the road 4 times.

Apart from this he has been really quite terrible and or average at best in the wet. Spinning 6 times in one race at China, made to look stupid by Vettel at Brazil and Spin in the lead when in rained at Hungary. Never has he shown great pace in the wet and today Button wouldve beaten him again on pure pace.

One of the greatest wet weather drivers in history...Andrew...when will your love affair stop? He wouldnt make the top 25

61.At 19:47 25th Mar 2012, Jim Bly wrote:
"FIX! Perez was going to take Alonso before the Sauber mechs got on the radio. Somebody had reminded them that without Ferrari's help they wouldn't have got a car on the grid this year. Perez, rather than pretending that he couldn't get past Alonso, faked a mistake. He had driven a spotless race until that point. I didn't buy it for a second, and I doubt anyone in the pit lane did either, but it's in their collective interest not to kick up. Congratulations to Perez for both a peerless drive and a sublime 'mistake'."

Mate, you have completely lost it!

I am a Jb fan for various reasons but he was poor today. I am hating all the Hamilton fans saying JB is favoured though. It is far fetched and I am guessing none of you have an inside knowledge on the McLaren team to prove your points?

Fab job from Perez today, he was hugely quick.

Not an Alonso fan but he drove well and is clearly one of the top 3/4 drivers. He did get a bit of luck today though, but you need luck sometimes. Massa, awful again.

Di Resta did a decent job as did Mark Webber who went about his job quietly and picked up more valuable points. Also big respect for Senna and the Ice Man!

On the Vettel incident, looked as though he has got onto his line a tad early and Karthikeyan has turned in a little early so both to blame in my view. Poor temperament from Vettel after the race though. Pressure on but he will comeback.

Where can you find the viewing figures for the BBC and sky race coverage?

vettel HAD to push so hard (too hard in this case) that he was bound to make a mistake? that make it sounds like you know Vettel is too prone to making mistakes. this also says that Vettel doesn't know when to give up on a win, if he is going to risk crashing

also on Rosberg, last weekend Vettel was lauded as a brilliant overtaker because he over took him in the DRS zone.

did you agree with that?

i just want everyone to be judged on the same set of standards, for some reason, whatever Vettel does, he is brilliant, while Hamilton cant do no right, the same can be said about button, at some times too.

the problem is that while some drivers get hammered when they make a mistake, others, are constantly being told its not their fault, when, it clearly is. like today wit Vettel.

Poor mistakes from both Button & Vettel cost them dearly today. However it could have been worse for them but Hamilton & Webber were unable to maximise the points gap over their team mates, despite their respective "bad" days.

Impressive from Button that he had the fortitude to admit his fault, something certain others could learn from.

I'm sure they'll both bounce back & Vettel, particularly, will come on strong once Red Bull get over their early season problems.

Well done to Alonso on his victory & to Perez in running him close. However, I wonder how much Perez will regret his own mistake that potentially cost him a maiden victory? Because if he is to be the replacement for Massa, either later this or next season, it's likely he'll have to get used to playing second fiddle to Alonso. Victory today for Perez could have really laid down a marker for that potential future battle.

Well done Bruno Senna on 6th place. Appears to suggests Maldonado's strong showing in Melbourne, pre-crash, was no fluke. Hope they can keep up the revival.

55.
At 19:18 25th Mar 2012, dude wrote:

i was astounded that following the finger pointing of Vettel, nobody mentioned it and after Vettel, called Karthikeyan an idiot, still no mention of his petulance, given everything that the BBC (and everyone in F1, inc. Christian Horner), slated Hamilton for during his career, but Seb is just showing his frustration.
------------------------------
Absolutely spot on!!!! the doulble standards in the media for Hamilton compared to other drivers is already proven beyond any doubt.

It's no surprise Benson can't find anything to say about Jenson now he's had a bad day but just watch the complete reverse happen when Hamilton has a bad race.

We can all see whats going on. Even the Hamilton haters know it and thier only response is to deny it's happening.

I don't normally comment on little insignificant things a columnist says as it's their opinion and fair enough.

But in this instance I have to say something...

Describing Hamilton as "one of the greatest wet-weather drivers in history" is quite absurd. Yes he is an almost unmatchable talent, and by no means is he average in the wet, but one of the greatest in Formula One's history?!

He's not even in my top three on the grid, letalone of all time. Clearly the McLaren doesn't like the wet, but you'd have expected more from Lewis, especially if he is THAT good in the wet.

@74 Perez today got himself a contract with Ferrari end-of. Massa had better start making friends with HRT because that's the only way he'll be driving an F1 car next year.

@ Ragnarokkr

You dont find anything wrong with vettell attitude? I am sure had it been Hamilton acting like all hell wuld have broken lose!

as for webber and hami no maximizing their advantage, it just seems the mclaren car had no race pace, i mean even button kuldnt pass ppl in 15th with all the new tyres he kept changing, so wat chance did hami have on old tyres. it seems the car can qualify very nicely but has no race pace for some reason

#77. f1fan01 wrote:
@74 Perez today got himself a contract with Ferrari end-of. Massa had better start making friends with HRT because that's the only way he'll be driving an F1 car next year.

---------

So? . Best of luck to Perez. Doesn't take anything away from my point though, particularly about being second fiddle to Alonso.

what i am saying is vettel would have just have been got in the double drs zone so he might as well have pushed like hell and risked making a mistake, in that case the chances of a mistake were very high.
I don’t think if anyone that was leading a race with a lap to go could take it steady knowing they would be overtaken on the last straight, most drivers would have taken the risk, surely?
Vettel’s overtake wasn’t brilliant last week, any overtake on rosberg probably isnt great! His overtaking is suspect at best but there has been the odd good move, one on Alonso last year, in monza and one in brazil 2009 was brilliant around the outside of turn 5 i forget who it was against, but then i am going a long way back here arnt i? Again time will tell he's only 24, we should know by the end of this year weather he can overtake consistently, without drs, as it looks like red bull are good but not the best.
maybe Hamilton is attacked by the media but then some drivers are (that just poor journalism), didn’t Mr Benson call kimi's title fluky? i think that really harsh if not plain untrue. Also pre season Schumacher was being written off before the season had started, and now he seem to be doing ok?

@ScuderiaHarryPotter, #34

As much as I love DC as a commentator and find him very knowledgable, independant Sauber have had podiums before, admittedly back when they had a bit more cash. Last time, I believe, would have been in 2001 in Brazil, a race won by........

With regards to some of the conspiracy theories..... the duct tape on Lewis' brakes being a deliberate error? I'm pretty sure I saw the same issue with another team at this race. Perhaps someone could remind me? And to suggest that Perez' error was a deliberate attempt to gift Alonso the win..... are you insane? There are an number of ways Perez could have dropped back without putting his (and potentially others) bodywork and hence race at risk. I'm not saying there *weren't* shennanigans, but the off was not one of them.

Haven't seen many comments about Massa, who I thought had a(nother) shocking race. Good thing one of his possible replacements didn't have a blinder today...... ah.

76.
At 20:35 25th Mar 2012, Nik wrote:


I don't normally comment on little insignificant things a columnist says as it's their opinion and fair enough.

But in this instance I have to say something...

Describing Hamilton as "one of the greatest wet-weather drivers in history" is quite absurd. Yes he is an almost unmatchable talent, and by no means is he average in the wet, but one of the greatest in Formula One's history?!
--------------------------------------------
Nik you've missed the point. He was only giving that back handed compliment to emphasise the critiscism he was really trying to lay at Hamiltons door by saying those infront still pulled away from him.

79.
At 20:40 25th Mar 2012, Ragnarokkr wrote:


#77. f1fan01 wrote:
@74 Perez today got himself a contract with Ferrari end-of. Massa had better start making friends with HRT because that's the only way he'll be driving an F1 car next year.

---------

So? . Best of luck to Perez. Doesn't take anything away from my point though, particularly about being second fiddle to Alonso.
---------------------------------------------------------------

I think you're right, he may end up playing second fiddle but from what I've seen of Perez so far he's a real talent and may also end up doing to Alonso what Hamilton did when he was at McLaren.

#78. African_king wrote:
@ Ragnarokkr

You dont find anything wrong with vettell attitude? I am sure had it been Hamilton acting like all hell wuld have broken lose!

------------

See my point regarding Button & having the fortitude to admit his fault, something certain others could learn from.

Yes Vettel, on today's performance, probably falls into that category. Many make the excuse that he is young, but though he is a double WDC & two and a half years Hamilton's junior, there isn't really any excuse for petulance. Though they are not the only 2 who have ever been guilty of it.

Button's 5 visits to the pit certainly didn't help his race pace & the differentials between wet & drier sections helped no-one with overtaking. Not so much a criticism of Hamilton & Webber, more a point of fact. Alonso & Perez, certainly made the most of the conditions & tyre strategies today.

so are the bbc now regretting handing over coverage of what could be the most exciting year in a while?

Funny watching the BBC & SKY trying to dodge each other in their camera shots and Brundle and Coultard must have been going toe to toe on the grid.. pmsl. Also you could see Gary 'bothering' Domenicali immediately the race ended.

#83. f1fan01 wrote:

I think you're right, he may end up playing second fiddle but from what I've seen of Perez so far he's a real talent and may also end up doing to Alonso what Hamilton did when he was at McLaren.

------------

Agreed about the talent of Perez.

Unfortunately, the problem is Alonso is numero uno, top dog at Ferrari, without question.

McLaren let Alonso & Hamilton race, it's unlikely Ferrari will afford Perez (or anyone else come to that) such a level playing field.

Hence my comment about the regret Perez may have in not winning today & the marker it could have laid down.

Perez and Senna were great to watch today. It's amazing how easy it is to watch the F1 on the net live now, legal or otherwise.

Supply and demand in action, and there is a very real demand from people who want to watch it, without selling out to Sky.

well you would think that, a driver like Vettel, with the best car on the grid would, think about the championship, or at least maybe that Red Bull would tell him not to risk the 18 points for second in such difficult circumstances. maybe you could say Red Bull were at fault for that incident.

but i still have to say, for a driver of such great mental strength(as we are all told, by everyone in F1 every week), i find it strange that he would risk a solid haul of points when Button was so much faster, on the final lap.

yes i agree his overtake against Hamilton on Brazil 2008 i take it that is what you meant? not 2009 as the red bulls wee at the front in 2009), was good, but then again, Hamilton was driving for the title, while Vettel was under no such pressure.

yeah his pass on Alonso 2011 was good, but i dont think that overtakes are as difficult these days given the pirelli tyres.

@thepowerofnone, you have no way of knowing why Hamilton was slow today. Remember during his rookie year and the year he won F1 Championship, Hamilton was considered the best wet condition driver in F1. So, you cannot question his wet condition driving skills. It is just that we don't know why he was unable to catch up to the two front runners of Perez and Alonso today. We know his intermeidate tires were not heating up. Other probelms, if any, he has not disclosed, perhaps for a good reason. Why blabber about your car problems to the beneifit of your oponents? And as if it is not enough to handle the daemons of the car, the pit crew inneptitude piled up on his problems.

I say Hamilton did superbly under the circumstances. The ones who bit the dust are last week's two F1 darlings and front runners: Button and Vettel. Hamilton is now ahead of both of them in driver standing heading to China. I say he is in pretty good shape. Alonso does not have a good car. Doubtful he will repeat today's feat. And it will show throughout the year. As for Perez, well I say he is one hit wonder. But he is young and has a good future. He is now blinking on the radar of other drivers. They are not going to spare him any quarter. I hope he does well. But it remains to be seen if he can race in normal conditions.

One day Hamilton and his fanboys will realise there is no conspiracy against him, but he's either not as good as they were led to believe or that other drivers are just as good if not better. One of the reasons Button is as relaxed as he appears is down to the fact that he spent an awful long time with really bad cars and learnt to deal with disappointment on a regular basis so winning becomes all the more sweeter, and it clearly shows. Hamilton's problem is that he has never experienced the long hard road to the top and therefore doesn't have the tools to cope with failure, again this clearly shows.

@ Ragnarokkr: i was worried for a minute you were about to spout the tripe that Mclaren had favored Hamilton when they were at McLaren together.

@MADONF1: the same can really be said about Vettel, the Toro rosso, was a year old Red Bull, which was no slouch, and then The Reb Bull has the best car for the last 3 seasons, with the exception of the first 7-8 races of 2009, when the Brawn was far and away the best car, and they had no chance of catching it.

in fact Lewis has had at least 2 very poor cars 2009 and first half of 2010.

#91. dude wrote:
@ Ragnarokkr: i was worried for a minute you were about to spout the tripe that Mclaren had favored Hamilton when they were at McLaren together.

---------

Nope.

McLaren let their drivers race,

Hamilton - Alonso,
Hamilton - Button,

remember Senna, Prost?

None of this conspiracy rubbish.

But at Ferrari, as with Schumacher in his time, Alonso is the clear number one.

Great race, but a lotery from start to finish.
But my main point is, at the start, Jens was alongside Lewis. If Jens maintained his position around corner 1, he would have had track position at corner 2, job done.
Anyone else agree?

Well i think Sebastian Vettel has lost a lot of admirers today and Sergio has gained a lot!
Regarding Lewis i tend to think he has matured this year and he is now in the frame of mind of 3rd is better than none and consistency will overall gain the points he seems to be following Fernando where he was always getting points and ended up there at the end without the 3 or 4 wins. As regards the conspiracy theory at Maclaren perhaps its the fact that Maclaren are looking after the driver who has signed to stay there ie Jenson whereas Lewis as yet to sign a long term contract and so can leave at the end of this year so wait and see when contracts are signed!!

Today was a stark reminder of the Vettel who got out of his car after the collision with Mark Webber where he moved over on Mark and said it was Marks fault so we now see the true Vettel AGAIN!!!

With Jenson and his incident i think what he did is called maturity he was wrong and admitted to it so you can't knock the guy

With Fernando winning the race we will never know if he earnt it or he was given the win by a young driver making an error or Maclaren making errors on pit stops or the fact that his pit crew are absolutely awesome either way he won so be it lets move on to the next race


Regarding all those Sky viewers i can not understand why if sky is so good you come to what you think a 2nd rate outfit called the BBC to read the blog and write on it!!!
Does Sky have a blog??? Perhaps you should leave all of us who want to either support the BBC, cannot afford Sky or have a hang up with Murdoch to our lowly place of writing our thoughts of a race on what you obviously think is a 2nd rate blog

it could have been a chance, i dont think the track was damp enough given the fact they were on inters for that to work. and i think Jenson also knew that there was asmuch chance of dropping down the order out there as there was taking the lead.

no no I meant 2009 he wasn’t at the front remember he qualified right down the field, I though he overtook someone round the outside of turn 5 like alonso did to button last year. I Didn’t ever say vettel was a great overtake though i just said that people exaggerate the extent of his apparent lack of mental strength, he has cracked under pressure but i believe there have been a few time when he hasn’t and i thought in Canada he may aswell have gone for it and risked the mistake, something i believe every driver would do, perhaps you could say Perez did it today hunting down Alonso?

"Regarding all those Sky viewers i can not understand why if sky is so good you come to what you think a 2nd rate outfit called the BBC to read the blog and write on it!!!
Does Sky have a blog??? Perhaps you should leave all of us who want to either support the BBC, cannot afford Sky or have a hang up with Murdoch to our lowly place of writing our thoughts of a race on what you obviously think is a 2nd rate blog"

I think you may find that those of us who have SKY also pay our TV licence. Think that entitles us to post here.

it was barrichello vettel overtook in brazil 2009, great move

Have to say that I enjoyed watching the GP live via a internet stream and knowing that I'm not lining the pockets of Murdoch. On the whole a good day for Alonso and yes it was a case of good fortune but thats the weather for you. I will continue to watch the GP's via this source just to avoid the rip off sky charges and the 'Jake the Fake' brag about his paid for holiday