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Just like David Coulthard Felipe Massa will lose ten places at Sepang.

David's engine gave away after Alonso won and had finshed the race hence he incurred the penalty.

Massa's engine will be changed as Ferrari see a problem with it, hence he too will start ten places back in the grid form where he qualifies.

Formula One 's Malaysian Grand Prix is Scheduled for March 19 2006

The Sepang F1 International Circuit is the venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix.The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, who also designed the Formula One circuits in Shanghai and Bahrain. The circuit, raced in a clockwise direction, is 3.44 miles.

Look at the sidebar for the countdown to the race

Circuit length 5.54 kilometres (3.44 miles)

Turns 15

Lap record 1'34.223 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW, 2004)

View the Sepang Circuit Map

Jenson Button in Action

Schumacher led the race from the start, but a well planned pit stop gave alonso the win.On Lap 8 Massa spinned on turn one missed Alonso by a whisker who was ahead of him. Massa remained third inspite of losing a lot of time. By lap 15 schumacher had extended his lead to 6 seconds, but after 1st round of pit stops, Alonso reduced the lead to 2.5 seconds. On lap 39 Alonso was among back-markers and went to the pits. His stop took 7.7 seconds. Alonso got out of the pits wheel to wheel with Micheal but just managed to pass him.It was here that the race was won. Nico Rosberg was the surprise element starting his carrier with a great result. During the race he overtook experienced contenders like Coulthard and Klien


Bahrain Grand Prix result:

1. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:29.46.205
2. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari +1.246 seconds
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes at +19.360
4. Jenson Button (GB) Honda +19.992
5. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes +37.048
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-Cosworth +41.932
7. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth +1:03.043
8. Christian Klien (Aut) RedBull-Ferrari +1:06.771
9. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari +1:09.907
10. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Ferrari +1:15.541
11. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Cosworth +1:25.997
12. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1 lap
13. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1 lap
14. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1 lap
15. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1 lap
16. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1 lap
17. Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland-Toyota 2 laps
18. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 4 laps
Retired Yuji Ide (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 22 laps
Retired Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 28 laps
Retired Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 36 laps
Retired Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland - Toyota 43 laps

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg(Williams Cosworth), 1:32.408

Reactions

FERNANDO ALONSO
It was the only opportunity to win the race and I was going for it


KIMI RAIKKONEN
“This is a great result after the disappointment of yesterday, but we have known that the car was very strong all weekend. We thought that we had a chance to score some points today, even though we were starting from the back of the grid, but to get a podium is fantastic, The first few laps were crucial to this result, and luckily I managed to overtake a lot of cars at the first corner; I was up to 13th by lap two even though the cars in front were all lighter than me. We then gained some more places later on as a result of our strategy. The outcome is even more important to the whole team, who have been working so hard throughout the winter, as we didn't know where we were after testing and everyone had been saying that we were struggling. However we really have improved over the past few weeks. It proves that we are competitive and if not for yesterday we could have been even better.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“I have not really been totally comfortable with the set up of my car all weekend, which was clear during all the practice sessions. Obviously I am a little disappointed finishing in fifth as I know that the car could do so much more, but it just wasn't working for me this weekend. However it was a steady race and for the team to get two cars finishing in the points could be very important later in the season. The four points I have scored are good considering the circumstances. I am now looking forward to the next race in Malaysia, where we can improve further on these results."

Team Points
1 Renault 28
2 Ferrari 15
3 McLaren-Mercedes 15
4 Honda 11
5 Williams-Cosworth 5
6 BMW Sauber 2
7 Toyota 1
8 Red Bull 1

Updated after Malaysian Grand Prix

Name Car Nat Points
1 Fernando Alonso Renault Spa 18
2 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Ger 11
3 Jenson Button Honda GB 11
4 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault Ita 10
5 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes Col 9
6 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes Fin 6
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari Brz 4
8 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth Aus 3
9= Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber Can 2
9= Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth Ger 2
11= Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari Aut 1
11= Ralf Schumacher Toyota Ger 1

Updated after Malaysian Grand Prix

Ok, so Ferrari proved they are still a force to reckon with in F1, With Schumi and Massa making it a ferrari 1-2. Kimi had a disastrous start when apparently the suspension of his car broke and he crashed. Mclaren was unable to repair his car in time hence he missed the 15 minutes - 1st qualifying.

The new qualifying rules are exciting and make for a better watch than earlier rules. The only bad thing i thought was that the drivers who had been eliminated earlier will be allowed to have as much fuel on board as possible, but the drivers who qualified for the final session would have to make do with the fuel with which they started the last session.

Reactions --------

Post Qualifying Confrence

Q.Welcome back Michael, your first pole since Hungary ’05.
Michael Schumacher

Micheal Schumacher: " Yeah, I’ve had to wait a long time to get back up here. Hard work in the meantime, an amazing result. All winter we knew that we seemed to have a good package but then you wait, very strongly for the final confirmation and here and now we have the confirmation for all the hard work. Every engineer, every mechanic has been giving everything to put us back up here and it’s the best way to pay back all our guys. There’s such a great feeling and emotion. It’s been too long ago, too long time ago."

Mclaren.com

Juan Pablo Montoya: "I think we did a good job with the new format, and it ran very smoothly for me. I am a little surprised to finish so far up as we had not been looking good in the earlier sessions when I have been suffering from understeer, but that is what the car could do when it counted. I think we have a good strategy for the race, so we will have to wait and see what will happen tomorrow."

Kimi Raikkonen: "There is not much I can say about today. It is very disappointing to not even complete one timed lap as I believe that the team had a good strategy for the new qualifying system, and I could have been amongst the quickest. Although it is far from ideal to start from the back of the grid, there are overtaking opportunities at this track, and I have done this before and still achieved good results. We will just have to see what happens in the race tomorrow."

Toyota

Ralf Schumacher :"It is obviously very disappointing that we just missed out on making it through Session 1 today. I was just starting a flying lap when the red flags came out. Then, when everyone went out for their quick laps I was at the back of the pack. I just lost the temperature in the tyres and I couldn't warm up the tyre again before my lap. That meant that I was sliding around for most of the lap and I was not particularly surprised that I didn't make it through to the other sessions. A disappointing day, then, that confirms that we have hard work ahead to force our way up the grid. But it is very early in the season and the full picture of relative performance will only emerge after the first few races."

All is set for the race tomorrow, lets hope that the start to the F1 season is exciting.

Rumorville --
Renault was on a heavier fuel load, and hence couldn't qualify as fast as Ferrari.