Whale I tell yuhs, from two wet races to Desert sandstorms and intensely high temperatures... As in 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 13% Humidity, which means it’s a dry heat... Kinda like the same with your oven, eh?
Yet, I’m finding this to be one of the most enjoyable Formula 1 season’s in memory, purely due to the upside-downish, topsy-turvy results to date by the NOT-SO usual suspects... With the winners being from outside the perennial “Top 4” teams; and although not overly impressed by the FIA, I do have to concede that I really like the fact that all of the competitors car weights are now being published after Qualifying, as once again like Shanghai, it was easily apparent that the top two Toyota’s were the lightest chassis on the grid, a la Fredrico Suave’s Renault the week before.
And perhaps the bid for Toyota to run light had something to do with as Peter Winsor noted; how it was a bit disconcerting to see the overabundance of billboards with Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli’s enormous faces plastered everywhere leading into the circuit... Which does seem a tad bit funny to carry out such of a marketing blitz on such a tiny Island Nation, thus I found it interesting to see that young ‘ZEBB was totally correct upon his assessment of the Toyota’s being lighter, as Trulli (648.5 Kilos) was 10.5k lower then Vettel, (659k) with Glock (643k) being 16 kilos less and the lightest car on the grid... And thus indeed as Glock admitted in the interview room he’d made a mistake on track since he should have been able to outpace his teammate.
Interestingly the BMW Saubers are the heaviest cars on the grid with Kubica weighing in at a massive 698.6 Kilos vs. Heidfeld’s 696.3, which sees the tandem 50 Kilos (110.47lbs) heavier then their front row rivals... And thus after being lambasted all weekend, I’m not really sure what their strategy was? Surely not going for a single pit stop were they? As their plans went awry.
Meanwhile interestingly the fourth place Brawn GP of Button and fifth place McLaren of Hamilton were of identical weights: 652.5 Kilos, while Felipe Massa’s Ferrari weighed in at 664.5k, while the sausage in an Scuderia sandwich was Nico Rosberg, who’s Williams weighed exactly one kilo less then The Iceman’s tenth place Ferrari: 670.5 vs. 671.5 kilos respectively. While disgusted McLaren teammate Kovalainen’s 11th place chassis was heavier yet at 678.5 kilos.
And I’m guessing that the lack of commentary from Peter Winsor had something to do with him ducking the Desert heat, eh? Although ironically he interviewed some Cat nicknamed “Slow Hand” resplendent in Ferrari cap on the grid... Which seems to be the Scuderia’s trademark at the moment... Although it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Eric Clapton was a guest of Ferrari’s, since after all, last year he got popped for speeding in his Ferrari... As rumours claim that Robert Plant, Nick Mason and E.C. were all on hand over the weekend...
And although the two Toyota’s who had their very first front row lockout after 125 starts, rocketed off into the distance, I enjoyed Vettel’s assessment of Louise JAGUAR Hamilton using his “Special Button” (KERS) to catapult himself from fifth to third at the start... Although Button made a brilliant pass upon JAGUAR which would ultimately help him win the race outright, while Vettel and Trulli-Scrumptous fought over second place which the young German wound up taking ahead of the Italian... With Hamilton taking fourth ahead of Rubino, who in turn bested The Iceman, who managed to score Scuderia Ferrari’s very first points of the season, under the scrutiny of Ferrari’s Luca di Montezemolo...
So let’s take a gander at the wacky leader board to date, shall we?
2009 F1 Point Standings
(Round 4 of 17)
Drivers
Jenson Button: 31; Rubens Barrichello: 19; Sebastian Vettel: 18;
Jarno Trulli: 14.5; Timo Glock: 12; Mark Webber: 9.5;
Lewis Hamilton: 9; Fernando Alonso: 5; Nick Heidfeld: 4;
Heikki Kovalainen: 4; Nico Rosberg: 3.5; Sebastian Boomi: 3;
Kimi Raikkonen: 3; Sebastian Bourdais: 1.
NOTE:
Half Points awarded for ’09 Malaysian Grand Prix, as the race was Red Flagged before half distance. First time since the 1991 Australian GP.
Constructors
BRAWN GP: 50
Red Bull: 27.5
Toyota: 26.5
McLaren: 13
Renault: 5
BMW Sauber: 4
Toro Rosso: 4
Williams: 3.5
Ferrari: 3
Force India: 0
