The 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally the 2007 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix) was a Formula One
motor race
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
, held on 8 April 2007 at the
Sepang International Circuit
The Sepang International Circuit ( ms, Litar Antarabangsa Sepang) is a motorsport race track in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located approximately south of Kuala Lumpur, and close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It hosted the For ...
and the second race of the
2007 FIA Formula One World Championship
The 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 61st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Ch ...
. Reigning world champion
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
won the race from second on the grid, with
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
teammate
Lewis Hamilton finishing second. This marked McLaren's first one-two finish since the
2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 25 September 2005. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth round o ...
. Previous race winner
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
finished third. Räikkönen's
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
teammate
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
started the race from
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
, but was passed by both McLarens in the first two corners of the first lap, eventually finishing in fifth place behind
BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
The Malaysian race was the first at which the two different tyre types used during the race were differentiated by a white stripe painted into the tread of the softer type, helping spectators to understand the race strategy of each driver.
Report
Background
;Pre-race testing
The 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix was held at the
Sepang International Circuit
The Sepang International Circuit ( ms, Litar Antarabangsa Sepang) is a motorsport race track in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located approximately south of Kuala Lumpur, and close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It hosted the For ...
near
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
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, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
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, coordinates =
, su ...
on 8 April, with practice and qualification for the race held on the two preceding days. It was preceded by a test session at the Sepang circuit attended by all the teams except the small Dutch team
Spyker, who believed that it would not be possible to try upgrades on their car in time for the race. The test was scheduled to begin on 27 March 2007 and last for three days. The teams, which are all based in Europe, arrived at the test directly from the , held nine days previously.
Robert Kubica (
BMW Sauber),
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
(
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
) and
Lewis Hamilton (
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
) set the fastest times on the first, second and third days of the test, respectively; the final day saw partly wet conditions. Due to the poor weather, the teams agreed to extend the testing by one day, with
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...
(
Renault F1) fastest.
;Dispute over customer cars
The issue of teams using 'customer cars', that is cars obtained from other teams, surfaced before the race when Spyker protested the
Scuderia Toro Rosso (STR) team's use of cars they claimed had been designed by STR's sister team,
Red Bull Racing. The
Concorde Agreement, which dictates the terms by which the teams compete in the Formula One world championship, requires teams to design their own cars. The Malaysian stewards rejected the protest, with the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA, the sport's governing body) stating that "it would be entirely inappropriate for the Stewards to involve themselves in a matter being dealt with at the instigation and election of the Protestor, Spyker". Red Bull threatened legal action over Spyker's possession of their car designs to use as evidence against STR, but nothing materialised. The FIA did not investigate how Spyker obtained Red Bull's car designs.
;Flexible floors
The FIA introduced more stringent tests on the cars at the Malaysian race to ensure floor mounting systems used by Ferrari and BMW Sauber were not in breach of the regulations. After the first race of the season in Australia, the McLaren team had requested clarification of the rules regarding systems that allowed the front of the car's undertray to move upwards under aerodynamic loading at high speed. ''
Autosport
''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship.
Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 ...
'' magazine reported that this movement would potentially increase straight line speed. Massa and Räikkönen said the performance of the
Ferrari F2007 car would not be compromised in any way by the required modifications.
;Tyre markings
![F1 whitestripetyres](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/F1_whitestripetyres.jpg)
The Malaysian race was the first at which the tyre compounds used on the cars were differentiated by a white stripe painted in the tyre treads. Since the beginning of the 2007 Formula One season, teams had been obliged to use two different kinds of tyre on each car during the race: a 'prime' tyre and an 'option' tyre. The prime tyre has a harder rubber compound and the option tyre a softer one. In general terms, a softer tyre is likely to grip better and provide a higher cornering speed. Conversely, a harder tyre will often be slower, but may last longer. Formula One cars typically use between two and four sets of tyres during a race and using harder tyres may allow fewer
pit stops to change tyres. Track conditions, the car characteristics or driving style can reduce or even reverse these differences. In Australia two weeks earlier, the softer tyres were marked with a small white circle to facilitate understanding of each driver's tyre strategy, but commentators and spectators were unable to distinguish the two compounds even at slow speeds.
The idea of the white stripe was tested during the test session a week before the Malaysian round of the season. The white stripe was applied with paint marker pens. Over the weekend 160 pens were used. Overall reaction to this system was positive, with the
Williams team's technical director
Sam Michael
Samuel David Michael (born 29 April 1971) is an Australian motor sports engineer and designer, who held senior positions with Formula One constructors Williams and McLaren. He is currently employed by Supercar team Triple Eight Race Engineeri ...
, who came up with the initial idea, calling it a "pretty good solution".
[White Stripes Rock F1. ''Autosport Magazine'', Vol. 188, No. 2, pp. 12, Haymarket Publications. 21 April 2007.]
Friday drivers
Practice
The race was preceded by three practice sessions. Ferrari's
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
set the pace in the first of two 90-minute practice sessions on Friday, with a time of 1:34.972, edging out McLaren's
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
by three-tenths of a second. Alonso's teammate Hamilton was third, with Ferrari's other driver, Räikkönen, just behind in fourth.
Nico Rosberg,
Mark Webber,
Jarno Trulli,
Kazuki Nakajima,
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races.
Schumacher began kart ...
, and Robert Kubica rounded out the top ten.
Massa was comfortably fastest in Friday's second practice, setting a time of 1:35.780. The Renault team improved dramatically from first practice, with
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has d ...
second and Kovalainen third. Räikkönen was again fourth, followed by Rosberg,
Alexander Wurz, Kubica and Schumacher. The McLarens of Hamilton and Alonso dropped to ninth and 12th respectively. McLaren boss
Ron Dennis played down the times, saying the team was concentrating on tyre evaluation.
Dennis's lack of concern was vindicated on Saturday, with Hamilton setting the fastest time in practice with a lap of 1:34.811. Massa finished the session a tenth of a second behind, with third placed Alonso a further half second behind. Kubica, Räikkönen, Rosberg and Heidfeld followed, with
Super Aguri driver
Anthony Davidson eighth fastest. Super Aguri are regarded as a sister team to the
Honda F1
The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. Honda's involvement in Formula One began with the season, and in 1965 they achieved their fi ...
works team, who set only the 17th and 19th fastest times. The 2007 Super Aguri is widely thought to be an updated version of Honda's 2006 car.
Qualifying
The qualifying session to determine the starting order for the race is held in three parts, six cars are eliminated after each of the first two parts. In the first part, the Spykers of
Christijan Albers
Christijan Albers () (born 16 April 1979) is a Dutch former professional racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from until the 2007 British Grand Prix, shortly after which he was dropped by the Spyker F1 team.
In 200 ...
and
Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013–2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also t ...
set the slowest times of all. Spyker technical director
Mike Gascoyne
Michael Robert Gascoyne (born 2 April 1963) is a British Formula One designer and engineer.
Gascoyne has worked for numerous Grand Prix teams including McLaren, Sauber, Tyrrell, Jordan (later known as Midland F1, Spyker, Force India, Racing P ...
admitted that the team had "made a mistake" in missing the test at Sepang a week earlier.
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing.
In , Speed became the first American driver to race in Formula One since ...
(STR), Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri),
Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and Alex Wurz (Williams) were also eliminated. Davidson blamed STR driver
Vitantonio Liuzzi for obstructing his qualifying lap, stating "he was pretty aware I was behind him". Wurz was slowed by gear-selection problems in his Williams.
At the front, McLaren driver Alonso set the fastest time with a 1:34.942. His teammate Hamilton was second fastest, with the Ferraris third and fifth, split by Kubica's BMW.
Rain threatened during the second part. Although it did not materialise, all the drivers posted quick laps early on to avoid having to set a time on a wet track. Alonso was again fastest with a 1:34.057. Hamilton, both Ferraris, BMW Saubers, and Toyotas, as well as Rosberg (Williams) and Webber (Red Bull) also passed through to the final part. Kovalainen (Renault), Fisichella (Renault), Coulthard (Red Bull), Sato (Super Aguri), Button (Honda) and Liuzzi (STR) were eliminated. 2006 champions Renault failed to get either car into the final part. Team engineering director Pat Symonds noted that "...the overall level of performance is disappointing, but we now have to knuckle down and make the most of the situation we find ourselves in." Button claimed Honda's grid position of 15th was the "maximum we could possibly get".
In the final part of qualifying, Massa set the fastest time, taking
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
from second placed Alonso in the last few seconds as rain began to fall, with Räikkönen completing the top three. Massa's lap of 1:35.043 marked tyre company
Bridgestone's 100th pole position in Formula One. Hamilton came fourth, over half a second behind the leading three. He conceded inexperience was to blame, saying that there were "some spots of rain on my visor, so I had to sort of let off". Heidfeld qualified fifth, ahead of Nico Rosberg in sixth and teammate Kubica in seventh. The
Toyotas
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 m ...
of Trulli and Schumacher were eighth and ninth, with Webber completing the top ten.
Race stewards initially imposed a 10-place penalty on Coulthard and Barrichello, for changing their engines prior to qualification. Since 2006, the engines of Formula One cars are required to last for two races. However, after further investigation they rescinded Coulthard's penalty, as he had retired from the previous race and his change had been made before the start of the race weekend. Barrichello's penalty stood.
Race
![Fernando Alonso 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Fernando_Alonso_2007.jpg)
In contrast to the rain-affected practice and qualifying sessions, the track was dry for the duration of the race. All of the drivers except Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli and the two Red Bull drivers started on the softer option tyre. The first lap was eventful: Alonso started better than polesitter Massa and was able to take the inside line into turn one and gain the lead. Hamilton passed Räikkönen for third into the first corner, then drove round the outside of Massa into turn two to take second place.
Meanwhile, the suspension on Adrian Sutil's Spyker failed at turn four, causing it to collide with Button's Honda and retire from the race.
Button continued after making an early pitstop to repair the damage. Liuzzi and Sato also collided at turn four, causing Liuzzi to pit for a new front wing. After the race the drivers blamed each other for the incident.
During the early laps, Massa appeared to have a faster car than Hamilton, and repeatedly tried to pass the McLaren on the inside of turn four. His first attempt was on lap three, but Hamilton braked late and kept ahead of Massa into the following corner. Massa tried again at the same place on the next two laps. He passed Hamilton briefly into the turn on lap five, but overshot the corner and ran wide onto the grass. He dropped to fifth, behind teammate Räikkönen and BMW's Nick Heidfeld. Hamilton apologised after the race for 'tricking' Massa into the move. Albers, in the sole remaining Spyker, retired on lap nine with a gearbox fire.
![Heidfeld + Massa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Heidfeld_%2B_Massa.jpg)
While the two Ferraris were delayed behind Hamilton, Alonso was pulling away at the front, setting fastest laps on laps seven and fifteen. On lap 12, Robert Kubica was the first man to pit for fuel and fresh tyres, however he reported
traction control
A traction control system (TCS), also known as ASR (from german: Antriebsschlupfregelung, lit=drive slippage regulation), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicle ...
problems four laps later and lost places.
Alonso had extended his lead over Hamilton to 15 seconds by the first round of pitstops.
He had experienced radio problems before refuelling, but these were fixed during the stop. The Renaults were circulating in eighth and tenth by the pit stops, with Fisichella ahead of Kovalainen. Button was one of the few drivers who started on the slower harder tyre and was dropping down the field, as Takuma Sato passed the Briton.
All of the front runners were on the same tyre strategy,
with Räikkönen being the first front runner to pit. He found himself behind Fisichella as he exited. A short pit stop by Hamilton enabled him to come out of the pits ahead of the Renault, leaving a car between himself and Räikkönen during the pit window. Heidfeld's late stop on lap 22 helped him stay ahead of Massa.
The top five positions remained unchanged, however Hamilton's different strategy enabled him to escape Räikkönen and close in on leader Alonso at a second per lap. Despite pitting on lap 20, he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 22 in 1:36.701.
Kubica dropped to 13th as his traction control fault worsened, and a train of cars that wanted to pass developed behind him. Kovalainen's performance was much better than at the previous round in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, and he attempted to pass Jarno Trulli for eighth.
The top five again remained the same after the second round of stops. However, Hamilton's short first stop necessitated a relatively early second stop, allowing Räikkönen to reduce the gap and Alonso to extend his lead to 18 seconds. Nico Rosberg, running in sixth place after the stops, was forced to retire with hydraulic problems on lap 43. David Coulthard also retired after problems with his brake pedal,
the same problem that he experienced in the Friday practice session.
![Hamilton + Raikkonen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Hamilton_%2B_Raikkonen.jpg)
Alonso was able to extend his advantage in the closing stages, winning the race by 17 seconds. Although experiencing pressure from Räikkönen who was faster on the harder tyres, Hamilton was able to maintain second place behind Alonso, with Räikkönen claiming the final podium position. This was McLaren's first victory since the
2005 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2005 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as the 2005 Formula One Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One race which was held at Suzuka International Racing Course on 9 October 2005. It was the eighteenth round of the 2005 Form ...
, and the team's first one-two since the
2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 25 September 2005. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth round o ...
. Heidfeld and Massa secured fourth and fifth places respectively, 15 seconds behind Räikkönen. Heidfeld said later that beating Massa was "a fantastic experience". Fisichella finished sixth, and claimed it felt like a podium given the performance of the car. Trulli was seventh, and rookie Kovalainen scored his first F1 point in eighth. Wurz managed to come through from 19th to ninth, with his opening stint elevating him to 11th place by his first pit stop.
Although he claimed no points, he said later "it bodes well for Williams's chances in the rest of the season". tenth placed Mark Webber was the final driver to finish on the same lap as the leaders. Honda finished outside the points in 11th and 12th, with Barrichello ahead of Button. Despite the problems Button said he believed the team had made "a small step forward". The Hondas were followed by Sato, Speed, Schumacher, Davidson and Liuzzi.
Alonso admitted he was surprised to win a race so early in his McLaren career, adding that winning for two different teams was very special. Hamilton said afterwards that this was his hardest race to date, while Räikkönen admitted he "did not have enough speed on the straight line to try to challenge either
amilton or Alonso. Räikkönen also had to protect his engine from overheating, caused by a water-leak in the closing stages of the Melbourne race, with Räikkönen stating Ferrari had to "play on the safe side of that engine". After their disappointing Malaysian race, Ferrari boss
Jean Todt stated that they "will try to do a better job" in the next round in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
.
Classification
Qualifying
Notes:
* –
Rubens Barrichello was given a ten-place grid penalty following an engine change.
Race
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings
*
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
External links
Malaysian Grand Prix results (fia.com)Detailed Malaysian Grand Prix resultsMalaysian Grand Prix 2007 race review
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Malaysian Grand Prix
Malaysian Grand Prix
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
Malaysian Grand Prix