Malaysian GP: A preview

That abandonment forced a revision of the starting time,with this year’s race brought forward from 5 pm to 4 p.m local time. That will lessen the chances of the arrival of rain,which tends to come in the late afternoon,while also heightening the chances of a re-start if the race does have to be stopped. Last year,by the time the storms had passed,it was too dark to contemplate a re-start.

Rain and scattered thunderstorms are forecast from Friday onward, which makes it difficult for teams to set up their cars in advance,but promises an exciting and unpredictable spectacle for fans.

It also makes it difficult to predict which team will thrive in the conditions. The last round in Australia had some light rain just before the race start,but the cars have not yet been tested in truly wet conditions with the heavy fuel loads required this season.

Should it remain dry,Ferrari looks like the team to beat,based both on performance this season and historical precedent in Malaysia.

After two races,Fernando Alonso leads the championship with 37 points from Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa on 33 – a marked contrast to last season when the Italian team went through the opening three races without scoring a single point.

Alonso’s total would have been even higher if not for being spun in contact at the first corner in Australia and having to fight his way through the field from last after the first lap to finish fourth.

Ferrari has an enviable record over the 11 years of the Malaysian Grand Prix,with Michael Schumacher having won three times,and Kimi Raikkonen and Eddie Irvine once each. The team took pole position seven times.

Alonso also has some history of his own here,winning in 2007 for McLaren.

One team that may be happy for this weekend’s race to be abandoned at half-distance,as it was last year,would be Red Bull. Both in Bahrain and Australia,Sebastian Vettel led comfortably mid-race only to be stymied by technical failures – a sparkplug misfire in Bahrain that knocked him down to fourth place,and a wheel failure in Australia that sent him into the gravel and a premature retirement.

As a result,the German has only 12 championship points instead of the 50 he probably would have had if the car had lasted. Teammate Mark Webber had also got little reward – a poor qualifying performance condemned him to eighth in Bahrain,and some over-eager racing and errors pushed him down to ninth at his home race in Australia.

Red Bull’s speed over the opening races had raised eyebrows at other teams,with suggestions the team is using an adjustable suspension to lower the ride height in qualifying and raise it for the race. While the team denies it,rivals have been eyeing the cars very closely but have yet to lodge any formal complaint that would be needed to prompt an FIA investigation.

McLaren’s drivers come into the Malaysian race in very different frames of mind. Reigning world champion Jenson Button was rewarded for a bold early tire change in Australia,and his noted ability to nurse tires through long distances,and was rewarded with a race victory.

Teammate Lewis Hamilton will be glad to put Australia behind him,after being pulled over by local police for dangerous driving,qualifying poorly,and then fuming at his team after the race for forcing him into an additional pitstop which he feels cost him second place.

Its not just the leading teams that will be the focus of attention in Malaysia,but also newcomers Lotus – a Malaysian-owned outfit which has inherited the name and colours of one of the great historical F1 teams.

Lotus has modest goals for the opening stage of the season – finish races and outperform fellow newcomers Virgin and Hispania – and is about two seconds per laps off the pace of the top teams.

However,it is sure to be among the leaders in merchandise sales and crowed enthusiasm at Sepang.