The Complete 2006 Malaysian GP Review

Melbourne victory aside, 2005 was a crushing disappointment for Giancarlo Fisichella. He had a car quick enough to win the championship, yet a combination of technical problems, the vagaries of a flawed qualifying system, and occasional underperformances meant that 'Fisico' stood on the podium only three times all year.

Bahrain last week looked like another chapter in this miserable story, as a down-on-power engine handicapped Fisichella in qualifying, and turned him into a roadblock in the race until a hydraulic failure brought the frustration to an end. All this was rendered insignificant by the death of his childhood friend and karting buddy Pietro Saitta in an accident on the same day.

Prior to Malaysia, Fisichella optimistically suggested that maybe 2006 would prove to be an inversion of 2005. Rather than a superb opening race preceding a year of tribulations, perhaps this time he would get all the infelicity out of the way in the first round and then get on with winning races.

It seemed like a cute soundbite rather than a genuine prediction. But in the event, Fisichella's Malaysian weekend was indeed the absolute opposite of his Sakhir experience.

Nothing went wrong for the Italian in Sepang. He cruised through the knockout elements of qualifying, stuck the Renault on pole in the session that mattered, pulled out a crucial advantage early in the race, and had an answer for Alonso's challenge later on.

This was clearly the most satisfying of Fisichella's three Grand Prix wins. His shock triumph for Jordan in Brazil three years ago was as bizarre as it was heroic, and his 2005 Melbourne victory was aided by the qualifying downpour that disadvantaged all his likely challengers.

Despite Kimi Raikkonen's early exit and Alonso's compromised strategy, there was absolutely nothing inherited about Fisichella's Sepang win. It was a gloriously straightforward case of the fastest man on the day making it to the chequered flag first and picking up ten fully deserved points.

The result was only Renault's second ever 1-2 finish. The 'wrong' man won on the previous occasion too, as Rene Arnoux ignored team orders to beat teammate Alain Prost to the flag at Paul Ricard in 1982.

But Sepang 2006 was a very different story. For one thing, the fraternal celebrations between Fisichella and Alonso in parc ferme were much more cordial than the frosty post-race scenes 24 years earlier.

Plus, back then Renault interspersed dominant performances with enough inconsistency and unreliability to preclude a meaningful title challenge. Whereas the modern, imperturbable, Renault team looks like it has edged ahead of the competition again after the tension of Bahrain.

Having staged a welcome resurgence a week ago, Ferrari seemed to revisit their 2005 form in Malaysia. Their engine dramas were the big story of the opening days, with three of the four Ferrari V8 runners forced to take engine-change penalties. There were no further problems in the race, but by then attention had shifted to Ferrari's wings, with eight of their rivals urging the FIA to clarify whether the team's flexing devices are within the regulations.

To top it all, Ferrari were not particularly competitive around Sepang and finished a distant fifth and sixth, with Felipe Massa genuinely outperforming Michael Schumacher. The only consolation was Schumacher's suggestion that the 248 F1 was simply ill-suited to the Sepang track and would be back on the pace elsewhere.

Comfortably faster than the Ferraris, but not fast enough for his liking, third placed Jenson Button ended the race both pleased and frustrated. "That was the maximum there was in the car," he said after vainly chasing the Renaults.

Once again, he dominated new teammate Rubens Barrichello. A driver who sometimes upstaged Schumacher in equal cars clearly should not be 1.5 seconds slower than Button, but until Barrichello gets properly settled, Honda are effectively a one-car team.

Both Williams and McLaren had an eye on challenging for victory after qualifying strongly, but Kimi Raikkonen crashed out almost immediately, and mechanical problems ended Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber's races before we really saw their capabilities. Juan Pablo Montoya had a curious afternoon, sometimes up to two seconds off the pace, but often matching the Renaults. He blamed this inconsistency on tyre graining.

Ron Dennis suggested that McLaren's true pace was yet to be revealed.

"We know what's coming in Australia and we know what's planned for the Nurburging," he said. "We are taking some quantum steps over the next races."

They will need to. After Bahrain, the impression was that four or five teams all had a good chance of winning races in 2006. Now that picture has been slightly altered. Honda, McLaren, Williams and Ferrari have to get back on terms with, and beat, Renault, who now have two drivers capable of fending off the pack. Can the other teams close the gap, or is this year's title battle set to be an all-Renault affair?

Practice

The conservative ethos of modern day Formula One meant another slow burning start to the weekend.

None of the Renault, Williams, BMW or Honda race drivers attempted a flying lap on Friday morning, while Kimi Raikkonen abandoned plans to do so after his McLaren-Mercedes developed a data logging issue.

Juan Pablo Montoya did venture out for the final moments of the session and hinted at his team's potential by setting the 'restricted' pace in fourth place, behind Friday testers Alex Wurz (Williams-Cosworth), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) and Anthony Davidson (Honda).

Wurz's 1:34.496 lap was quickest by some margin, although Kubica was impressive again in second place. The World Series by Renault champion has not attracted a great deal of attention on his rise through the junior single-seater ranks, but his Friday performances for BMW have been very accomplished so far.

Kubica's practice sparring partners might like to remind him what a mixed blessing the reserve driver role can be, though. Few doubt Wurz and Davidson's talent, but in half a decade of testing they have only amassed four Grand Prix starts between them...

Despite beaching himself on the turn 14 kerbs after spinning early in the afternoon session, Davidson was ultimately fastest in the hotter conditions of practice two, usurping Wurz with a 1:35.041 effort just as the chequered flag came out.

Fernando Alonso was a relaxed third, ahead of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Montoya had a more adventurous time - stalling in the pitlane and pushing his car back into the garage himself, and then spinning off when he did make it onto the track.

Massa, Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella all had a go at setting the early pace in the Saturday morning session, before Michael Schumacher signalled the start of the day's serious business with a 1:35.7 lap.

But within a few seconds that was comfortably beaten by Ralf Schumacher's 1:35.040 for the beleaguered Toyota team, who had reconciled themselves to using Sepang as a test session, as their struggle to make the TF106 work in harmony with its Bridgestone tyres continued.

Red Bull looked like potential top ten contenders throughout practice, and Christian Klien was fastest of all for five minutes in the middle of the final session, before Michael Schumacher produced the 1:34.126 lap that would stand as the practice benchmark.

But Ferrari's joy was short-lived, as a post-session examination of the pistons in Schumacher's engine revealed that a new unit would be required for the rest of the weekend.

The former champion was the third Ferrari V8 user to encounter such problems this week, as David Coulthard had suffered an engine failure on the slowing down lap in Bahrain, and flaws had been discovered in Massa's V8 prior to Malaysia. Indeed, the Brazilian would require a second engine change before qualifying.

Rubens Barrichello was yet another driver heading into qualifying with a ten-place penalty hanging over him. An engine problem late on Saturday morning only added to the Brazilian's woe, as he had continued to struggle with the Honda's set-up throughout practice. He switched to the T-car for the remainder of the weekend.

Not for the first time, Renault remained serene while their peers were busy dodging bullets. Alonso came within 0.054 seconds of beating Schumacher late in final practice, while Fisichella ended the morning third quickest.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

After the early upsets of Bahrain, the natural order was re-established in the first part of Sepang qualifying, as the three teams at the bottom of the F1 pecking order were summarily eliminated after 15 minutes.

But with a host of engine-change penalties set to come into effect following the session, the Toro Rosso, MF1 and Super Aguri drivers knew that they were unlikely to actually start from 17th to 22nd positions.

Inevitably, the Super Aguris were slowest. Yuji Ide complained about the car's handling but at least managed to close the gap to teammate Takuma Sato to 1.709 seconds this weekend.

Tiago Monteiro initially held the upper hand in MF1's internecine battle, before Christijan Albers' second flier took the Dutchman ahead by 0.4 seconds. Simply reaching qualifying was a triumph of sorts for Monteiro, as a trapped spinal nerve had left him in agony on Friday.

With two minutes remaining in the session, the quartet of Red Bull-owned cars occupied the critical 15-18th positions. The 'senior' drivers leapt out of trouble with seconds to spare - Christian Klien taking seventh and David Coulthard advancing to third. That left Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi to miss the cut, although the latter felt his final lap (curtailed by the chequered flag) might have been sufficient.

If Liuzzi had made it through, his progress would have been at the expense of no lesser figure than Michael Schumacher, who ended the session 16th after a very conservative lap.

Having cut things very fine in Bahrain, Renault opted for early banker laps in Malaysia, but these were rapidly beaten by the other front-runners, leaving Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso 11th and 12th.

At the front, Juan Pablo Montoya led a McLaren 1-2, ahead of Coulthard, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, who surprisingly decided to take part in the session even though his double engine change had already consigned him to the back of the grid.

Part two

The identity of the second segment's first casualty was quickly established, as Massa settled himself on the pitwall to watch the action rather than venturing out. He therefore had a perfect view of Ralf Schumacher's engine erupting moments after the Toyota had gone second fastest. The lap was actually good enough to keep Schumacher in the top ten at the end of the 15 minute shoot-out, which gave Toyota some consolation after their abject Bahrain performance.

Jarno Trulli had less cause for optimism as he understeered to 13th, ahead of the very unhappy BMW Sauber duo. "Somehow we could not really get the tyres to work on a low fuel load," said Jacques Villeneuve, while Nick Heidfeld claimed he had been baulked by David Coulthard, who also missed the cut thanks to the small error on his final lap that left the Red Bull in 11th.

The margin between qualification and elimination was as slight as it had been in Bahrain, with just 0.246 seconds separating sixth placed Klien and Heidfeld in 15th.

The Honda duo continued to experience wildly divergent fortunes, with Button topping the session on 1:33.527, while Barrichello was 1.136 seconds slower in 12th and still struggling to acclimatise to the car's handling, particularly under braking.

Renault played with fire once again. Fisichella and Alonso's banker laps in the high 1:35s soon proved insufficient, and they tumbled down to 11th and 14th before rallying to second and third as the clock neared zero.

Part three

After 13 interminable minutes of fuel-heavy trundling, Button kick-started the serious business with a 1:34.504 lap, almost matched a few seconds later by Nico Rosberg's 1:34.626.

Some wondered if Rosberg would be able to replicate his Bahrain heroics on an unfamiliar track. They got their answer in the handful of practice laps it took the GP2 champion to master Sepang. Now he set about making up for a somewhat scruffy Sakhir qualifying performance by challenging strongly for pole position in Malaysia.

Fastest sector times on Rosberg's second flying lap suggested that a major upset might be on the cards, but he couldn't quite improve and remained second.

Then in the final minute Fisichella moved the goalposts with a 1:33.840, 0.664 seconds faster than Button's provisional benchmark. The Honda driver also improved on his last flier, but came up short by 0.126 seconds. Second was still something of a relief for Button, who had not been totally happy in practice.

"We didn't expect this," he said. "The car suddenly came alive in the first qualifying session. We had a few issues with the set-up yesterday - we were quite a long way off."

No such 'issues' for Fisichella: "I was comfortable with the car, the set-up was fantastic and it's a great result."

Although Michael Schumacher carried a heavy fuel load to fourth, when his penalty kicked in the second row would be an all-Williams affair, with Rosberg 0.046 seconds quicker than Webber. Could they fight for victory? "Absolutely," reckoned technical director Sam Michael. "We were worried about qualifying. Tomorrow is where we'll be strong."

McLaren were reasonably happy with sixth and seventh for Montoya and Raikkonen, suggesting that they too were carrying an ample amount of fuel.

Alonso was in the same position, but more by accident than design. A fuel rig malfunction left the Renault saddled with far more fuel than intended. Contrary to initial assumptions, the champion's eighth place - almost two seconds slower than Fisichella - was a minor disaster rather than a canny strategic ploy.

Klien decided that he probably couldn't beat the Renaults, Williamses, McLarens and Schumacher, so chose to save fuel and tyres and settle for ninth, while the sidelined Ralf Schumacher was classified 10th but would clearly start rather lower down the order.

Qualifying results

The grid

For all its undeniable positive qualities, the latest F1 qualifying method remains potentially confusing - especially when nearly a quarter of the field has incurred an engine change penalty.

A number of teams had to hastily re-issue press releases after miscalculating the effects of the various demotions, and it was not until the FIA issued a definitive grid on Sunday morning that everyone was sure of their starting positions.

With a post-qualifying engine swap resulting in an automatic relegation to last place, Ralf Schumacher went from 10th to 22nd. Standard penalties took his elder brother from fourth to 14th, and put Coulthard, Barrichello and Massa down to 19th, 20th and 21st.

Conversely, the Midland and Super Aguri drivers were delighted to have such star names behind them. Other beneficiaries included Trulli and Villeneuve, who moved up from 13th and 14th to ninth and 10th.

 1.  G. FISICHELLA
                     2.  J. BUTTON
 3.  N. ROSBERG
                     4.  M. WEBBER
 5.  J. MONTOYA
                     6.  K. RAIKKONEN
 7.  F. ALONSO
                     8.  C. KLIEN
 9.  J. TRULLI
                    10.  J. VILLENEUVE
11.  N. HEIDFELD
                    12.  S. SPEED
13.  V. LIUZZI
                    14.  M. SCHUMACHER
15.  C. ALBERS
                    16.  T. MONTEIRO
17.  T. SATO
                    18.  Y. IDE
19.  D. COULTHARD
                    20.  R. BARRICHELLO
21.  F. MASSA
                    22.  R. SCHUMACHER

The Race

Before the race, many were tipping Kimi Raikkonen to repeat his 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix triumph. The theory was that if the Finn could come through from 22nd to third in Sakhir, then converting sixth on the grid to victory at Sepang ought to be comparatively straightforward, especially as his qualifying pace suggested he was carrying a very healthy amount of fuel.

The downside of such a strategy was that it left the McLaren slightly more vulnerable in the jostling at the start of the race...

While front row partners Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button got away with minimal drama, Nico Rosberg made a slow start. He squeezed fast-approaching teammate Mark Webber towards the inside, leaving the racing line on the outside free for the flying Fernando Alonso - who had zipped between the two McLarens off the line and then drove right around both Williamses to take third as they braked for turn 1.

Webber then claimed fourth at the apex and left Rosberg at the mercy of the McLarens, who almost touched as they navigated Sepang's serpentine opening complex wheel to wheel. Raikkonen attacked Rosberg through the sweeping turn 3, getting ahead but losing momentum in the process.

This allowed Juan Pablo Montoya to pounce at turn 4, where he squeezed down the dusty inside line to retake his teammate. As Raikkonen gave him room, Rosberg came flying past on the outside, braking optimistically late and lurching over the kerbs, while Christian Klien was thoroughly wrong-footed and clouted the back of Raikkonen's McLaren.

The hit caused terminal damage to both cars. Raikkonen's weakened right rear suspension snapped as he crested the rise into turn 5, firing him into the wall, while Klien was soon limping into the Red Bull garage with a deranged left front corner. His teammate David Coulthard would join him in retirement nine laps later, courtesy of a hydraulic leak.

Up ahead, Fisichella was already stretching out a lead over Button and the fuel-laden Alonso, who had Webber and Montoya on his tail. A great start and a safe passage through the early melee took Nick Heidfeld from 12th to sixth, ahead of the recovering Rosberg. Eighth-placed Jarno Trulli was already falling away from the leaders and had traffic building up behind him.

Raikkonen was not the only front-runner whose victory hopes turned to dust in the opening laps. Rosberg quickly repassed Heidfeld and was closing on Montoya when a shower of sparks and clouds of smoke from the rear of the Williams heralded a Cosworth V8 failure. The star of qualifying was out of the race after just seven laps.

His teammate Webber did not last much longer. The Australian had to sit behind the fuel-heavy Alonso until pitting on lap 14. The champion hinted that he would not have fought Webber too hard had he got alongside, but according to Webber the Renault's superior traction meant that passing was never a realistic option. It was all academic, anyway, as a hydraulic leak brought Webber's race to an end just after his stop.

McLaren were also out of contention by then. Montoya maintained fifth early on, losing up to two seconds per lap to race leader Fisichella. He appeared to be on a one-stop strategy, but that theory was disproved when the McLaren pitted for a relatively brief first stop on lap 23.

In fact, Montoya put his initial lack of pace down to tyre graining, and sure enough fresh Michelins allowed him to match (but rarely beat) the Renaults' times for much of the second part of the race. By then he was already nearly 40 seconds in arrears.

So the battle for victory distilled into a straight fight between Fisichella, Button and Alonso. Determined to make a break while his teammate was still weighed down, Fisichella produced a relentless series of fastest laps in the opening stages, earning himself a 7.1-second lead over Button and a 20.2-second advantage over Alonso before pitting for the first time on lap 17.

Button made up a little ground in the two laps before his own stop, but then found himself losing time behind Montoya (yet to pit) for the second time in seven days. Even when both were in clear air, Fisichella was still able to edge away from the Honda and establish a 10-second lead before Button got into his stride later in the stint and started matching the Renault's pace.

Alonso actually had enough fuel for a one-stop strategy, but he was concerned that his tyres would fade too badly over such long stints. He therefore opted to make a relatively short first stop on lap 26.

Having rejoined 16 seconds behind Fisichella and eight behind Button, Alonso announced his return to competitiveness with fastest sector times on his out lap and a new fastest lap of 1:35.010 next time around. Suddenly Button looked vulnerable.

The gap had already dwindled to 3.6 seconds when lapped traffic (specifically Scott Speed - who was concentrating on lapping Takuma Sato rather than letting Button through) cost him yet more time immediately prior to his final stop on lap 38.

Just to reinforce the point that this was not going to be Button's afternoon, he then found himself trapped behind Montoya yet again, this time for the four laps that Alonso needed to pull out a 23.9 second advantage, make his final pitstop, and rejoin comfortably clear of the Honda.

Fisichella had made his own second stop at the same time as Button, and now led by 11.784 seconds from Alonso. For a few moments it looked like a grandstand finish might be in prospect, as Alonso chipped a couple more tenths off his fastest lap and gained 3.2 seconds on Fisichella in two laps.

But then the Spaniard backed off, aware that Renault had short-fuelled his car to ensure that he jumped Button, and responding to some disconcerting readings from his fuel pump currents and alternator output.

Seven days earlier, Alonso had spent the closing stages of the Bahrain GP fending off Michael Schumacher. There was no need to worry about the Ferrari in Malaysia, though, as Schumacher never really recovered from his engine change penalty.

He started well, passing Villeneuve and Trulli to run seventh by lap 14. Schumacher's next target was Heidfeld, six seconds up the road, but the gap between the BMW and the Ferrari would remain virtually the same until Heidfeld's engine expired 34 laps later.

This was a poor reward for a fine drive by Heidfeld, who seemed set for a well deserved fifth place before his fiery departure. Surprisingly, it was not Schumacher who inherited his top five position, but Massa, who had belied his reputation for wildness (enhanced rather by his Sakhir adventures) with a sensible and consistent drive from 21st on the grid.

The one-stopping Brazilian advanced to 14th on the opening lap and then, as others hit trouble or pitted, he coolly maintained his pace and progressed to fourth before pitting on lap 28. He rejoined 11 seconds behind Schumacher, who couldn't quite extend his advantage sufficiently before pitting on 45. The superstar rejoined right behind his understudy, and that is where he would stay.

Villeneuve took seventh for BMW. He lost ground behind Trulli's slow Toyota at first, and could not match teammate Heidfeld's speed in the middle stint. Then he had to up his pace right at the very end, as Ralf Schumacher started closing in. D

Despite starting last and having to switch to an unpopular three-stop strategy so that his leaky pneumatic system could be regularly replenished, Schumacher cheered his troubled team by not only charging into the points, but setting some eye-opening laptimes (occasionally on a par with the leaders) along the way.

His teammate Trulli had a less promising day. Contact with Liuzzi at the second corner mangled his diffuser and consigned him to a long afternoon of handling problems and frustration.

Barrichello's early progress was not as rapid as his fellow engine penalty sufferers and one stoppers' efforts, and he spent most of the first half of the race staring at the back of Speed's Toro Rosso.

Barrichello's strategy might just have brought him into the points had he not been caught speeding in the pitlane. The resultant 10-second drive-through penalty left Barrichello back behind Speed, until the Toro Rosso had a clutch system failure on lap 41. After that, the Honda driver had a lonely run to 10th at the flag.

As in Bahrain, Sato's Super Aguri finished last and Ide's sister car cut out when trailing the field, but the team had grounds for optimism.

Sato fended off the MF1s of Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro for many laps, and then held his ground when the recovering Liuzzi (who had broken his front wing on Trulli's Toyota at the start) cruised up behind him.

Although all three eventually got past, simply to be racing other cars is a sign of encouraging progress for Super Aguri, who are only going to get faster.

Right now, though, they are six seconds per lap slower than Renault. But on the evidence of Malaysia, it seems that everyone has some ground to make up on Fisichella and Alonso's Anglo-French cars. They strolled home ten seconds ahead of Button, and nearly forty seconds in front of Montoya's McLaren.

On this form, Renault are certainly not going to have to wait 24 years for another 1-2. In fact, it could come as soon as next month, when the teams reconvene for the Australian Grand Prix. But Renault's margin is far from enormous. They simply have enough of an edge to shrug off dramas like an uncooperative fuel rig, and to keep their closest rivals at arm's length.

Although Renault had a lot to celebrate after the Malaysian GP, they also knew that they could not get complacent. Honda, McLaren, Williams and Ferrari are not going to let them run away with this championship.

Race results

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1h30:40.529
 2.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  +     4.585
 3.  Button        Honda                (M)  +     9.631
 4.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    39.351
 5.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    43.254
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  +    43.854
 7.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  +  1:20.461
 8.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +  1:21.288
 9.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +     1 lap
11.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +    2 laps
12.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps
13.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps
14.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:34.803

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)    49
Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)    42
Ide           Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    34
Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)    27
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    16
Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)    11
Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)    7
Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)    1


World Championship standings, round 2:

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Alonso        18        1.  Renault               28
 2.  M.Schumacher  11        2.  Ferrari               15
 3.  Button        11        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      15
 4.  Fisichella    10        4.  Honda                 11
 5.  Montoya        9        5.  Williams-Cosworth      5
 6.  Raikkonen      6        6.  BMW-Sauber             2
 7.  Massa          4        7.  Toyota                 1
 8.  Webber         3        8.  Red Bull-Ferrari       1
 9.  Rosberg        2
10.  Villeneuve     2
11.  Klien          1
12.  R.Schumacher   1

Team by Team

RENAULT

Fortune finally smiles on Giancarlo Fisichella. He enjoys a totally trouble-free weekend, winning from pole. This time it is Fernando Alonso who is frowning, after a fuel rig malfunction leaves his car twice as heavy as planned for final qualifying.

A superb start takes him from seventh to third, and he snatches second from Jenson Button during the final round of pitstops. Ominous telemetry signals, and marginal fuel levels, persuade Alonso to settle for second rather than hunt down Fisichella in the closing laps.

Verdict: Already looking good for another title double, especially if Fisico really has shaken off his jinx.

MCLAREN-MERCEDES

Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen qualify fifth and sixth on relatively heavy fuel loads. But Raikkonen is out after just half a lap, contact with Christian Klien weakening his rear suspension and leading to an accident at turn five.

Tyre graining costs Montoya early on, the engine preservation imperative slows him later. In between, he sometimes matches Renault's pace. Finishes a distant fourth.

Verdict: Out of luck and slightly off the pace. McLaren cannot afford many more weekends like this.

FERRARI

Frail pistons mean engine changes and penalties for both drivers. Michael Schumacher can only make steady progress from 14th on the grid. He finishes sixth, beaten by Felipe Massa, who uses a one-stop strategy to come from 21st (having sat out most of qualifying following a second engine change) to fifth.

The flexible wing row escalates, with eight teams asking the FIA to clarify the legality of Ferrari's design.

Verdict: Engine and wing issues overshadow Massa's coming-of-age performance.

Encouraging practice times suggest that Toyota might be on the way to conquering the tyre issues that blighted their Bahrain weekend.

Ralf Schumacher makes it to the final qualifying session despite an engine failure in the second segment. The resultant penalty leaves him last on the grid, and pneumatic problems force an extra stop in the race, yet he still makes it through to eighth and sets the sixth fastest race lap.

Jarno Trulli qualifies 13th, is elevated to ninth by other drivers' penalties, but suffers diffuser damage on the first lap and spends most of the race being overtaken. Finishes ninth.

Verdict: Definite signs of progress. Ralf deserved more than a single point.

The team says that victory is possible, after Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber qualify on the second row. But they lose ground battling with each other on the first lap and then get trapped behind heavier cars.

Neither has chance to recover - engine failure eliminates Rosberg on lap seven and hydraulics problems halts Webber on lap 16. Alex Wurz is quickest of all on Friday.

Verdict: True potential masked by early retirements.

Despite struggling a little in practice, Button qualifies second and is Renault's only challenger in the race. He has to settle for a slightly frustrating third, though.

After struggling with set-up and a down on power engine, Rubens Barrichello is switched to the car that Anthony Davidson used to go quickest on Friday afternoon. He makes slow progress from a penalised 20th on the grid, but might have reached the points had he not earned a pitlane speeding penalty. Ends up 10th.

Verdict: Second best, but only by a tantalisingly small margin.

Klien breezes through to the final part of qualifying where he decides to settle for a tactical eighth on the grid. This is wasted when he runs into the back of Raikkonen on the first lap. The team tries to repair his suspension but he soon retires for good.

David Coulthard knows before arriving in Malaysia that he will suffer an engine change penalty. Twelfth fastest in qualifying, he progress from 19th to 10th during the first nine laps but then retires with a hydraulic leak.

Verdict: Competitive in practice, but barely had a chance in the race.

Nick Heidfeld and jacques Villeneuve are both very frustrated with 14th and 15th on the grid, but they race strongly.

A great start takes Heidfeld straight into the top six, and he has the pace to stay ahead of Schumacher's Ferrari. Sadly, an eleventh hour engine failure robs him of fifth place.

Villeneuve is a little slower than Heidfeld in the race but makes it to seventh, fending off Ralf Schumacher in the closing laps.

Verdict: Extremely respectable race performance, especially by the unlucky Heidfeld.

Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro are 19th and 20th quickest in qualifying, yet they advance to 15th and 16th on the grid because of the plethora of penalties.

Forced to make manual starts after the transmission problems that marred the team's Bahrain GP, both drivers lose a lot of ground at the lights and end up stuck behind Takuma Sato.

Monteiro pits early to try and gain an advantage, but the tactic is a failure and it leaves him a long way behind his teammate, who eventually passes the Super Aguri on the road. They finish 12th and 13th.

Verdict: Still clearly quicker than Super Aguri, but spent too long behind Sato in the race.

Disappointment in qualifying, as both Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi miss the cut in the first session. Penalties elsewhere elevate them to 12th and 13th.

Liuzzi damages his front wing on the first lap and makes slower-than-expected progress back through the field. He eventually overcomes the MF1s and Super Aguris to take 11th, two laps down.

Speed runs 10th at first, fending off Barrichello, but loses out to the one stoppers during the pitstops. Retires from 11th when a problem strikes the clutch system on lap 41.

Verdict: Less controversial than expected, but also much less competitive.

Sato continues to give his best and stay positive despite inevitably being slowest of all (bar teammate Yuji Ide) throughout the weekend. He fends off the MF1s and Liuzzi for some of the race and sets some reasonable lap times. Makes it to the finish in 14th. Ide has a lonely race at the back until his car cuts out on lap 34.

Verdict: Respectable. Sato's early race performances bode well.

Lap by Lap

This lap by lap breakdown has been prepared and provided by the FIA

Lap 1: Giancarlo Fisichella makes good use of his third Formula One pole position to keep rivals at bay into Turn One.

Fernando Alonso passes the Williams of Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber © XPB/LAT

Jenson Button settles into second while Mark Webber outmuscles teammate Nico Rosberg to take third - before Fernando Alonso sweeps around the outside of both Williams-Cosworths.

Webber settles into fourth, while Juan Pablo Montoya and Nick Heidfeld edge out Rosberg before the end of the lap and push him back to seventh.

Kimi Raikkonen receives a nudge from behind exiting Turn Four and spins into retirement at the next corner. Christian Klien pits at the end of the first lap with significant front-left suspension damage and loses seven laps.

Behind Rosberg, Jarno Trulli, Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher David Coulthard, Scott Speed, Ralf Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello, Takuma Sato, Christijan Albers, Yuji Ide and Tiago Monteiro complete the order.

Vitantonio Liuzzi pits for repairs and joins at the tail of the pack. Fisichella leads by 0.9s.

Lap 2: Fisichella edges away by another 0.4s. Ralf Schumacher passes Speed.

Lap 3: Massa passes Speed.

Lap 4: Fisichella leads by 2.0s. Heidfeld runs wide and cedes sixth place to Rosberg.

Lap 7: Rosberg retires in a spectacular cloud of engine smoke.

Lap 10: Fisichella leads by 4.2s. Coulthard pits for attention. teammate Klien is back in again after his late start, although he soon rejoins. Down the field, Sato is keeping his Super Aguri ahead of the MF1s.

Lap 11: Michael Schumacher passes Villeneuve for eighth at the first complex.

Lap 14: Michael Schumacher overtakes Trulli at the first complex and moves up to seventh. Webber pits for fuel and tyres.

Lap 16: Villeneuve passes Trulli for seventh. Webber pulls off with a smoking engine.

Lap 17: Leader Fisichella pits and drops to third. Button leads. Massa passes Trulli for eighth.

Lap 19: Button pits and resumes in fourth, on Montoya's tail. Alonso moves to the head of the field, 5.5s clear of Fisichella. Running 13th, 14th and 15th, Albers, Sato and Liuzzi all come in for fuel and tyres.

Lap 20: Trulli makes his first stop.

Juan Pablo Montoya leaves the pits © XPB/LAT

Lap 21: There are signs of slight moisture in the air.

Lap 22: Barrichello lunges inside Speed at the final turn and the American calmly heads into the pits to make a routine stop. Ralf Schumacher follows him in for his second stop.

Lap 23: Montoya, Michael Schumacher and Villeneuve peel in for stops.

Lap 24: Heidfeld pits. The Renaults continue to lead, with Button third - 13.6s adrift of Fisichella.

Lap 26: Alonso pits and rejoins in third. Fisichella resumes the lead, 8.5s clear of Button.

Lap 28: Alonso posts fastest lap so far - 1:35.010 - and slices 1.2s from Button's advantage.

Lap 29: Massa makes his first stop - only Barrichello has still to come in - and slips from fourth to eighth.

Lap 31: Alonso closes to within 4.4s of Button. Barrichello refuels.

Lap 32: Fisichella leads Button by 9.9s, with Alonso, Montoya, Heidfeld, Michael Schumacher, Massa, Villeneuve, Trulli, Barrichello and Speed completing the unlapped runners. Albers. Liuzzi, Sato, Monteiro and Ide lie 13th-17th.

Lap 36: Fisichella gets stuck amid a group of tail-enders, but drops only a couple of tenths to Button. Stewards hand Barrichello a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pits. Trulli pits, Barrichello serves his penalty and the thrice-lapped Ide pulls off to retire.

Lap 37: Albers and Liuzzi make their second stops.

Lap 38: Fisichella pits. Button loses time in traffic and refuels at the end of the lap. Alonso resumes the lead from Fisichella, Montoya and Button. Ralf Schumacher stops for a third time.

Lap 41: Villeneuve makes his final stop.

Lap 42: Montoya and Heidfeld come in for fuel and tyres. Speed retires.

Lap 43: Alonso pits and resumes in second, 11.7s adrift of Fisichella. Button is third ahead of Michael Schumacher - who has stopped just once - Montoya and Heidfeld.

Giancarlo Fisichella dedicates his third Grand Prix win to friend Pietro Saitta © Reuters

Lap 45: Alonso sets fastest lap - 1:34.803. Michael Schumacher peels in and slips from fourth to seventh, just behind teammate Massa.

Lap 49: Fifth-placed Heidfeld's engine fails. Liuzzi passes Albers for 12th.

Lap 52: The Renaults continue to lead comfortably, with third-placed Button five seconds adrift of Alonso. Michael Schumacher remains bottled up behind Massa.

Lap 56: Fisichella nets his third Formula One victory, 4.5s clear of teammate - and championship leader - Alonso. Button is third from Montoya, Massa, Michael Schumacher, Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher. Trulli is a lapped ninth from Barrichello, Liuzzi, Albers, Monteiro and Sato.