We’ve yet to see a genuine fight between Formula 1’s two heavyweight teams in 2008. McLaren dominated in Melbourne, where Ferrari faltered, and in Malaysia the opposite was true.
However, we’re unlikely to see a more dominant victory this year than Kimi Raikkonen’s at Sepang. The reigning world champion ran away with the race, and were it not for another characteristic mistake by his team-mate Felipe Massa, the Scuderia would have finished one-two.
One of Raikkonen’s greatest strengths is that he doesn’t dwell on the past. He got over the disappointment of Melbourne with an impromptu shopping spree on the island of Phuket, where he bought a US$1 million beach house last Wednesday. He was immediately on it when he got behind the wheel of his F2008 in Malaysia.
His progress was helped by the Ferrari being the only car able to get a tune out of Bridgestone’s prime (hard) and option (soft) tyres. The McLaren MP4-23’s pace on the softer compound was mediocre and when the team’s drivers were penalised five places for baulking the old enemy – Fernando Alonso – in qualifying, victory was out of the question.
For all McLaren’s woes, Lewis Hamilton’s performance en route to fifth place was still outstanding. World titles are won and lost on the bad days, and Sunday’s race was one of those occasions.
While Ferrari excelled and McLaren struggled, BMW were in the right place at the right time. Robert Kubica drove a solid race to second place, although he looked exhausted afterwards, due to his recent weight loss programme.
Kubica has lost seven kilos in the last six weeks to allow the team to place more ballast under the front of his F1.08. He looks scrawny – ‘shit, I’m always hungry, he told CAR Online – but his self-control is paying dividends.
On the strength of the opening two races, however, Kubica will have to settle for slim pickings behind F1’s big two. This year’s world title fight is going to be fought between Raikkonen and Hamilton: their cars are a step ahead of the rest, and they are a step ahead of their team-mates.