MALAYSIA SEPANG GRAND PRIX F1 RESULTS

Lewis Hamilton mitigated the disappointment of a steadily worsening weekend by finishing fifth in today's Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit. McLaren-Mercedes' superstar sophomore finished fifth after, as CP said, after running "afoul of the officials". Lewis had trouble with wheels and pitstops but ended just two places behind his teammate Heikki Kovalainen. 

Bigger news involved Ferrari. Last year's world champion, Kimi Raikkonen, captured first place at Sepang finished some 20 seconds ahead of BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica. The other Ferrari driver, pole-sitter Felipe Massa, spun halfway through the race and did not finish. Neither Ferrari finished last week's race in Australia. 

Check the Melbourne F1 race results with a simple click 

or follow this link to all Racing-related posts on GoodCarBadCar

Toyota's F1 boys seem to like the idea of improving their results in the same manner as the NASCAR teams in the United States. Jarno Trulli finished fourth for Toyota while Timo Glock was punched out of the race after a collision with Nico Rosberg - in his Toyota-powered Williams - at the beginning of the race. 

BMW's Nick Heidfeld finished sixth, thus ensuring 11 points when paired with the result of Kubica. Cars with Renault powerplants finished 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th. Drivers of the two Red Bull cars, Mark Webber and David Coulthard, were split by Renault's factory driver, Fernando Alonso. 

Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello finished 10th and 13th, respectively, in their Hondas. The Super Aguri Hondas of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato finished 15th and 16th. Along with Nico Rosberg in 14th, Williams-Toyota watched as Kazuki Nakajima finished two laps back in 17th.

Adrian Sutil in his Force India with a Ferrari V8 did not finish due to hydraulic problems. Giancarlo Fisichella managed to drive his Force India car to 12th position. That leaves the Scuderia Toro Rosso cars, Ferrari-engined, as well.  Neither finished. Sebastien Bourdais spun early on and hydraulic issued knocked Sebastian Vettel out on the 39th lap.

The Sepang race first ran in 1999. Rumour has it that F1 would like the Malaysian race, among others, to be run at night next year. Alonso won last year's race in a McLaren-Mercedes. He also won in 2005 in a Renault. Fisichella took first place in 2006 in a Renault. Raikkonen drove a McLaren-Mercedes to a race win at Sepang in 2003. No other current driver has ever won the Malaysian Grand Prix.