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Monday April 6, 2009

Lewis backs move to stop race

JENSON Button was not the only driver who backed FIA race director Charlie Whiting’s decision to end the Malaysian Grand Prix prematurely yesterday.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes believed the FIA made the right call, given the poor visibility and dangerous conditions.

Dark clouds were already gathering before the race began at 5pm. The race was then red-flagged on lap 32 due to the dangerous conditions after the skies opened up.

The drivers, though, were forced to wait — some even sitting in their cars on the grid as Whiting decides whether or not to restart the race. But he opted not to do so and Hamilton claimed his first championship point for the season.

Hamilton was fifth when the race was called off but with the results declared a lap earlier, he was classified seventh, scoring one point. This is because the shortened race merited half-points for the top eight finishers.

Hamilton found himself stripped of his third-place finish in Melbourne a week ago for providing misleading information to the race stewards regarding an overtaking incident involving himself and Jarno Trulli of Toyota.

“When the rain came down, it was impossible to drive. I was aquaplaning everywhere — these were the most dangerous conditions I have ever raced in,” he said.

“All I could do was try to keep the car on the track. It was the correct decision to stop the race because it was just too dangerous for everyone. I love it when it rains but this was just too much.”

Hamilton started on a heavy fuel load and remained on track until lap 22 when rain started to fall. He was called in to be fitted with full wet tyres in anticipation of a downpour.

However, it was only much later before the predicated heavy rain started and Hamilton was forced to switch to intermediates as the rubber on his wet tyres started to disintegrate. He reverted to full wets again on lap 30.

“It was a very tough call because you could only see the clouds and then some parts of the track were wetter than others, so it was hard to commit,” he explained.

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen retired early after spinning into the gravel on the first lap.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said the extremely changeable dry and wet conditions made the race very challenging for all drivers.

“Lewis’ ability shone amidst the gloom and it was another impressive performance from him,” he said.

“He kept his head throughout and the result was a hard earned point for the team. That may not sound like much for our usually high standards but given where he started, it’s a step in the right direction.”

Meanwhile Reuters reported that yesterday's rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix was only the fifth race since the Formula One championship started in 1950 to end with half points awarded. The other four were:

SPAIN 1975

The race at Barcelona’s Montjuich circuit was stopped after 29 of the 75 laps when German Rolf Stommelen’s Lola crashed into the crowd and killed five spectators. Italian Lella Lombardi finished sixth, becoming the first woman driver to score. No woman has ever scored a full point.

AUSTRIA 1975

Stopped in the 29th of 54 laps at the Oesterreichring due to rain. The late Italian Vittorio Brambilla, nicknamed the “Monza Gorilla“, took the only victory of his Formula One career. He was so excited that he spun into the barriers after taking the chequered flag.

MONACO 1984

Race halted in the 31st of 77 laps due to rain. French great Alain Prost was the winner. He ended up losing the title that year by a half-point to Austrian Niki Lauda, despite winning more races.

AUSTRALIA 1991

The season-ending race in Adelaide was won by Brazilian Ayrton Senna after being stopped on the 14th of 81 laps due to heavy rain. Italian Gianni Morbidelli ended the year with only a half-point and had to wait until 1994 to score a whole one. — Reuters


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