Malaysian F1 GP suspended due to storm & Button wins rain-shortened Malaysian GP

Posted By Saimatkong on Apr 6, 2009 | 1 comment
6,347 views

woo… a lot ppl screaming they wasted their money as the race had to stop halfway after 32 laps due to heavy down pour… refund? Haha. Luckily I did not go for this F1, at 1st my bro said interested and ask me along but F1 not really my cup of tea coz it’s expensive and have to bare the hot sun unless got sponsor. =)

Did you went to Sepang for this Malaysian Grand Prix?

Malaysian F1 GP suspended due to storm

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – The Malaysian Grand Prix has been suspended after 32 of the scheduled 56 laps due to a violent thunderstorm.

The race can restart later Sunday if conditions improve, but due to the twilight start, visibility is poor due to darkness and the track is near flooded.

Brawn’s Jenson Button was leading when the red flag emerged, ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld. – AP

Formula One cars pass through starting grid in heavy rain during the Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang racetrack in Kuala Lumpur, Sunday, April 5, 2009. The Malaysian Grand Prix has been suspended after 32 of the scheduled 56 laps due to a violent thunderstorm. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Source : TheStar

Button wins rain-shortened Malaysian GP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Brawn GP’s Jenson Button won a chaotic rain-shortened Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, with just 33 laps completed and only half points awarded.

BMW’s Nick Heidfeld was second and Toyota’s Timo Glock was third.

This was the first race stopped short due to weather conditions since the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, and the first to result in distribution of only half the points since the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

Brawn GP Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain celebrates after he won the Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang racetrack in Kuala Lumpur, Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Under Formula One rules, only half points are awarded if less than three-quarters of the scheduled race distance is completed.

The race was red flagged after 32 of the scheduled 56 laps, with results reverting back to the penultimate lap, in this case lap 31.

After the red flag came out, cars and drivers sat on the grid for 50 minutes, with a restart possible if conditions improved.

However the race director eventually ruled the race would not restart.

Jarno Trulli of Toyota was fourth, ahead of Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello. Red Bull’s Mark Webber was sixth, Lewis Hamilton was seventh for McLaren, giving him some reward after a dire week, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg eighth.

Conditions deteriorated very rapidly after the first of the rain arrived in the 22nd lap, but ten laps later the conditions were undriveable.

Formula One cars stop at starting grid in the heavy rain during the Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang racetrack in Kuala Lumpur, Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

The track was awash in rain, and the twilight start meant the skies were very dark and visibility poor.

Abandonment of the race raised questions about the wisdom of scheduling twilight races – this race began at 5 p.m. local time _ to make them available at a more convenient time for European television audiences.

Button’s win was the third of his career and built on his victory at last weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

“What a crazy race, it really was,” Button said. “You could not actually see the circuit, it was that bad.

“We were going around at running pace, it was that slow.”

Brawn became the first new team to win its first two races since Alfa Romeo won the first ever two grands prix in 1950.

Heidfeld, whose canny strategy meant he pitted only once, while other drivers had three or four pits to change tires, got his best result since the equally chaotic Belgian Grand Prix last season.

Glock’s third place was only the second podium finish of his career, having been runner-up in Hungary last year. The German was running in eighth up to the first set of pit stops, but benefitted greatly from the decision to switch to intermediate tires rather than full wets when the rain first arrived, storming through the field.

“It was one of the best races I ever could do,” Glock said. “I said go to ‘inters’, took the risk, and it paid off.”

Rosberg, fourth on the grid, got the best of the start and led the race up until the scheduled first slew of pit stops.

Heidfeld backed the decision to red flag the race, and not to restart it.

“It was very clearly impossible to run if the rain continued like it was when the race was quote rightly stopped,” he said. – AP

Results of Malaysia F1 GP

1. Jenson Button, England, Brawn GP, 31, 55 minutes, 30.622 seconds, 185.730 kph (115.407 mph).

2. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 31, 55:53.344.

3. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 31, 55:54.135.

4. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 31, 56:16.795.

5. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 31, 56:17.982.

6. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 31, 56:22.955.

7. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren, 31, 56:31.355.

8. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 31, 56:42.198.

9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 31, 56:47.554.

10. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 31, 57:12.786.

11. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 31, 57:20.044.

12. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 31, 57:26.752.

13. Nelson Piquet Jnr., Brazil, Renault, 31, 57:27.335.

14. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 31, 57:53.463.

15. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 30, 54:03.504.

16. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 30, 54:30.736.

17. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 30, 55:58.426.

18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 29, 53:16.065. Not Classified=

19. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW.

20. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren.

Fastest Lap=

Jenson Button, England, Brawn GP, 1:36.641 on lap 18.

Drivers Standings (After two races)=

1. Jenson Button, England, Brawn GP, 15.

2. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn GP, 10.

3. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 8.5.

4. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 8.

5. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 4.

5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 4.

7. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 3.5.

8. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 2.

9. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1.5.

10. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 1.

10. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren 1.

Constructors Standings (After two races)=

1. Brawn GP, 25 points.

2. Toyota, 16.5.

3. BMW 4.

3. Renault 4.

5. Williams 3.5

6. Toro Rosso 3.

7. Red Bull 1.5

8. McLaren 1.

Source : TheStar

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