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SEPANG, Malaysia: Ferrari came roaring back to set the stage for a
season-long duel with McLaren for Formula One dominance—but insist
they are taking nothing for granted after winning in Malaysia.
The Italian team, which won Sunday’s Grand
Prix with a dominant performance by defending drivers world
champion Kimi Raikkonen, rebounded from a woeful first outing in
Australia, where both of their cars failed to finish.
“We wanted to show the reaction of Ferrari. So
I’m very happy because we showed that the team can do a great
job,” said team principal Stefano Domenicali.
Raikkonen’s classy drive was the Finn’s
second career win at the Sepang circuit, and helped the team get
past the debacle at Melbourne, their worst season start in 16 years.
Ferrari had started Sunday with visions of a
one-two finish, with Felipe Massa on pole position and Raikkonen
beside him—but the Brazilian spun out on lap 31.
Meanwhile McLaren limited the damage with solid
work by Heikki Kovalainen, who took third, and Hamilton, who
finished fifth.
The pair had been penalized five places on the
grid for allegedly blocking rival drivers during qualifying,
following complaints from Renault and the improving BMW Sauber team.
“If this is our worst weekend of the year,
then we will take it,” McLaren boss Ron Dennis said. “Leading
both championships at this point in the season is not a bad place to
be in.”
Hamilton sits atop the driver standings on 14
points, three ahead of Raikkonen and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld. In the
constructors championship, McLaren lead with 24 ahead of BMW’s 19
and Ferrari’s 11.
-- AFP
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