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2006 FORMULA 1: MALAYSIAN GP

RENAULT RACE REPORT (TOP OF PAGE)

• "Renault Takes Historic One-Two in Malaysian GP"
  The 2006 Malaysian GP was an historic race for the Renault F1 Team, as drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso took the team's first ever one-two since Renault returned to the sport as a works manufacturer in the 2002 season, and only the second one-two finish in Renault's Formula One history, the last occasion being at the 1982 French Grand Prix.
• Giancarlo Fisichella bounced back in style from a disappointing retirement in the Bahraini Grand Prix seven days ago, controlling the Malaysian Grand Prix from start to finish. Running a two-stop strategy, the Italian made a perfect start from pole position and did not put a foot wrong all afternoon. He pitted on laps 19 and 38, and ran an otherwise untroubled race as his R26 car and RS26 V8 engine did not miss a beat.
• Fernando Alonso started from a lowly seventh position after problems in qualifying, but much of the disadvantage had been eradicated by the time he reached turn two. A lightning start, and a daring outside pass on both Williams drivers under braking into the first corner, meant the Spaniard emerged from the opening corners in third position.
• After holding off the lighter Williams of Mark Webber during the opening laps, and conserving his tyres for what would be a very long first stint, the Spaniard began to show the true pace of the R26. His two-stop strategy saw him visit the pits on laps 26 and 43, as he vaulted ahead of Jenson Button's Honda into second position, which he held comfortably to the flag.
• The Renault F1 Team leads the Constructors' Championship with 28 points from the opening two races. Fernando Alonso heads the Drivers' Championship on 18 points, while Giancarlo Fisichella is fourth on 10 points. The RS26 V8 engine has also taken both race wins under the new V8 regulations, and Fernando Alonso's engine completed its first two-race life with a total of 18 points scored from a possible 20.
• Giancarlo Fisichella, Winner: "It was a perfect race for me, but it was very tough physically and mentally. It was really, really hot out there and I began to feel it from mid-race onwards. I knew it would be hard but there was no choice but to push all the way to the end. So I did. I didn't want to lose concentration in the last laps, and everything went well, the car and engine were perfect too."
• "I am really so happy for this win. And I am especially pleased because I am dedicating the win to a friend who died last week, Pietro. To have my race engineer Alan Permane on the podium alongside me was special too. Thank you to the whole team, this is a brilliant result."
• Fernando Alonso, 2nd: "From my point of view, I think things could have been different without the problems in qualifying, but today was about making everything we could from P7 on the grid, and I think we did that. I got a great start, and managed to brake late into turn 1 to get the Williams round the outside. I knew Webber was lighter than me, and would have let him go if he had tried to pass, but we had the speed in spite of the heavy fuel load."
• "After that, it was just a question of pushing and letting the strategy work itself out. I have a special feeling for this circuit, it is a fantastic track, and it has always been good to me. I am very pleased to have 18 points out of a possible 20 after only two races, and we are really looking forward to Melbourne."

HONDA RACE REPORT

• The Honda Racing F1 Team were back on the podium today after Jenson Button finished the Malaysian Grand Prix in third position. From second on the grid he was embroiled in a race-long battle with Renault, holding P2 until Alonso squeezed out ahead of him after the second round of pitstops.
• Today's result boosts Jenson's points tally to 11 after two rounds of the Championship, which puts him equal second with Michael Schumacher in the Drivers' standings.
• Rubens Barrichello had a disappointing end to a difficult weekend, finishing 10th after incurring a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane when he had been looking good for points.
• Jenson Button, 3rd: "I'm obviously pleased to see us back on the podium but it was the top step that we had in mind, so we are a little disappointed. We want to be winning races and today showed that we are in the fight, but there is still a lot of work to be done before we can achieve that target."
• "Having said that, I was held up by traffic a few times, not least of all by Scott Speed before the second pitstop. Had that not happened, maybe I could have come out of the pits ahead of Alonso. Regardless of that though, we have two weeks and a test in Vallelunga to work through our issues and hopefully we can look forward to better things in Melbourne in two weeks' time."

FERRARI RACE REPORT (TOP OF PAGE)

• Jean Todt, Ferrari MD: "Considering all the problems that we've had over the weekend, today our objective was to bring home some points and that's what we achieved. The team and the drivers worked well as did the Bridgestone tyres. Today it was very difficult for us because Michael, on a two-stop strategy was starting from 14th place on the grid and Felipe 21st, was on a one-stop strategy."
• "The seven points that we've picked up - four with Felipe and three with Michael - are very important in as far as future prospects are concerned in that we're only at the start of the season."
• "I'm very pleased for Felipe because he deservedly got his first championship points as a Ferrari driver. Now we have to work very hard in all areas so as to improve our competitiveness and reliability."
• Felipe Massa, 5th: "I'm very pleased with this result and I would like to thank the team for an excellent job. To start from the last row and end up 5th is a good result. Our strategy worked well and I was able to make a good start. During the race I was able to push a bit more at the right moment knowing that during the other phases I would have needed to play more of a waiting game."
• "I lost quite a bit of time behind some of the slower cars but when I had a free track I was able to improve my rhythm keep a good pace. It was a difficult race but finishing fifth gives me that extra bit of motivation for the next races where I hope to be able and compete with the front runners."
• Michael Schumacher, 6th: "We can accept this result, considering everything that has happened over the weekend. I don't think that we could have achieved much more. On my second stint I wasn't as quick as I was on my first and third one, so now we need to understand the reasons why. All things said and done, the race went basically as I had expected even if one always hopes for something more. "
• "During my first pit stop I had to wait a fraction of a second before going out because another car was coming down the pit lane. This was a wise decision from the safety point of view. During the closing stages of the race I was not able to get past Felipe because I just wasn't fast enough and he didn't make any mistakes."
• "This track has always been one of the most difficult for us. Melbourne is a completely different circuit and I hope that it will be better suited to our 248 F1. Now I'm going to take a few days off with my wife Corinna before travelling on to Australia."

TOYOTA RACE REPORT (TOP OF PAGE)

• Panasonic Toyota Racing capped off a promising weekend with its first point from 2006 in today's Malaysian Grand Prix under the sweltering skies of Sepang. After showing strong potential in qualifying, yesterday's engine failure demoted Ralf Schumacher to the back of the grid but he battled strongly on a three-stop strategy on his way to 8th place. Jarno Trulli suffered a broken diffuser early on and thus endured a difficult afternoon's work. Nevertheless he ended up only one place further back, just outside the points. The Toyotas have shown improved pace this weekend but there is still a lot of work to do. Both Ralf and Jarno are scheduled to test at France's Paul Ricard circuit next week as the team aims to make further gains on its early season performance.
• KUALA FLAIR: Ralf Schumacher started at the back but a lightning start helped propel him to 8th place in today's Malaysian Grand Prix.
  
• Ralf Schumacher 8th: "That was a very interesting race and it is obviously good news to have scored our first point of the year so we are very happy with today's result. We certainly could not have expected that with a three-stop race from the back of the grid. We are also happy that our times showed that we are again competitive. But it was a difficult race today and of course that does not mean that we have solved all our problems. We have the cooler weather of Melbourne next so we will be testing in Paul Ricard next week to be as prepared as possible for that. We hope to be able to keep up this level of pace at the coming races. We have to keep fighting and try to push for the podium again as soon as possible."
• SWELTER FATE: Jarno Trulli narrowly missed the points after a hard afternoon's work with a broken diffuser around the humid Sepang.
• Jarno Trulli 9th: "I'm delighted that we scored a point with Ralf today. We should probably have finished with both cars in the points but it was really bad luck for me today. My afternoon got off to an unfortunate start when I suffered a broken diffuser when someone hit me from behind, just like in Hungary last year. That destroyed the rear of the car and that cost me today because I could have scored points. From then on I was suffering a mixture of oversteer and understeer and it was a big struggle so I just concentrated on driving as quickly as possible. We tried to adjust the car at the pit stops but obviously with the diffuser broken we could do very little. It's good that our pace has shown an improvement since Bahrain and we've gained some important data. We know we will succeed if we keep our heads down and work hard."
• MAKING A POINT: Toyota scored its first point of 2006 but is realistic about the amount of work that lies ahead over the next few races.
• Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal: "That was obviously a much better performance over the whole weekend and a strong performance in the race thanks to a significant improvement in the combination of our car and our Bridgestone tyres. That gives the whole team a very high motivation which is the most important thing that we could gain here. Of course we are delighted that Ralf scored our first point of the year. Ralf was originally scheduled to do two stops but because of high pneumatic consumption we had to switch him to a three-stop strategy. So to score points from last on the grid is especially impressive due to that fact. Jarno struggled with a diffuser that was damaged early on, which meant he really struggled for race pace but he still finished 9th so those are very encouraging results. The team deserved that result for all their hard work, but now we must start pushing to get on the podium. We will go to Paul Ricard next week to test further development of our combination with the Bridgestone tyres in preparation for the next race and then the start of the European season. We will keep pushing hard as we seek further success."

2006 QUALIFYING (TOP OF PAGE)

POLE, FISICHELLA, RENAULT

• The second 'super-pole' style qualifying session of the 2006 Formula 1 season, held in sweltering conditions this afternoon at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, once again saw the Renault F1 Team experience mixed fortunes during the hour. While Giancarlo Fisichella raced to pole position, a fuel rig problem between Heat 2 and the Super-Pole session left Fernando Alonso disadvantaged during the final twenty-minute session.
• The World Champion qualified eighth, but will start seventh and on the cleaner side of the grid once Michael Schumacher's Ferrari has been demoted ten places following an engine change this morning.
• With the Michelin tyres performing strongly in the oppressive heat, the team is optimistic that Giancarlo can aim for the race win, while Fernando will be looking to recover from his qualifying difficulties to score a maximum number of points.
• Giancarlo Fisichella: "I want to dedicate this win to Pietro, a childhood friend of mine who died last Sunday. This is the best pole I have had so far. Last year it was thanks to the rain, but today, everybody was up there and fighting hard for it." "The engineers made some changes to the car overnight that really improved the balance, and from the first run this morning, I could feel we had the pace to fight for the first two rows. After that, it was a question of doing the best possible job in the qualifying session, and performing to the maximum at the right time. We did it, and tomorrow, I will only be thinking about the win.

2006 RACE PREVIEW (RENAULT  HONDA  WILLIAMS  SHELL  TOYOTA )

RENAULT PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

• ALONSO: "Sepang has always been one of my favourite driver's circuits, and I seem to have important moments of my career there too; my first pole and podium in 2003, and the first win of my championship in 2005. I am arriving on the back of a win, at a super circuit, so I am very happy and hopefully we can win again. Traditionally, this is a strong track for Renault."
• Malaysia Tech File: Chassis
• Sepang is what can be termed a 'complete' circuit in its demands on the chassis. It has high-speed corners, rapid changes of direction (particularly turns 5 and 6), and slow hairpins. In order to achieve optimum performance for these contradictory requirements we must, as always, find the correct compromise on the car set-up.
• Suspension: The car must be stable and well-balanced in the fast corners, and in the braking zones for the slow corners. We will use relatively stiff settings to achieve this, while still maintaining them soft enough to have good traction in the slower corners.
• Aerodynamics: We use medium high downforce to optimise the car performance in the high-speed corners and under braking.
• Tyres: This will be a key factor and will play a significant part in our set- up choices with the car. The quick corners coupled to high ambient temperatures put the tyres under significant loadings, and the rear tyres work particularly hard at this circuit. Tyre degradation will be a key parameter.
• Cooling: Given the high temperatures expected in Malaysia, the effective general cooling of the car will be a key to success this weekend.
• Malaysia Tech File: Engine
• Performance: With 72% of the lap spent at full throttle, Sepang is now one of the most demanding engine circuits of the year -- this is the third highest value encountered all season, and represents a significant change to the V10 era. This is because of the high number of high-speed corners on the circuit. Given that the V8 engines have less power than their predecessors, this means that the drivers will spend more time on the throttle than last year.
• Operating Range: The operating range of the engine is not particularly demanding at this circuit, as the engine is rarely used at very low revs. However, the high speed sections can pose their own particular problems, particularly through turns 5 and 6. The drivers use partial throttle openings at high revs on this part of the circuit, and if this is not properly managed, it can result in a phenomenon named 'blow-by' which can damage both the pistons and piston-rings, with gas escaping from the combustion chamber.
• High Temperatures: More so than in Bahrain, we will once again have to contend with the acoustic offset caused by the high temperatures. The higher temperatures, and thus lower air density, modify the intake acoustics, and mean that maximum power is produced at higher engine speeds than at lower temperatures. This means the operating range is pushed higher than usual.
• Cooling: If we need to use higher engine revs in order to extract maximum performance from the engine, this will require an increase in the already significant cooling capacity at this circuit. As always, the compromise on cooling will be between keeping the oil and water temperatures within their specified limits, and sacrificing a minimum amount of performance in order to achieve this.

SHELL PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

• SHELL AND FERRARI READY FOR ROUND TWO IN MALAYSIA
• ENGINE LUBRICANT: Sepang will be a true test for the new V8 engines of the Formula One World Championship. Extremely tough engine operating conditions are expected in Malaysia after the dusty Bahrain opener. Scuderia Ferrari will be counting on the support of Shell to conserve engine life with its proven lubricant package.
• Heat and humidity at this race are notorious. Engines will develop higher temperatures than normal, making cooling vital. This is where the lubricant Shell Helix SL-0932 will come into its own to protect the Ferrari V8 engine under these strenuous conditions.
• The fast-flowing nature of the circuit and quick straights ensure that the car’s radiators are well served with air, assisting engine cooling. The humidity, however, should not be as harsh as the arid, sandy desert conditions in Bahrain.
• FUEL: Shell will continue to provide Ferrari with the successful Shell V-Power ULG 59L/9.  This formulation was used by Ferrari to power Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa to an all-red front row for last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
• Although vastly different geographies, the first three Formula One races of 2006 have similar demands from a fuel perspective.  Shell is providing Ferrari with the same blend of Shell V-Power for all three races. To simplify logistics for the team, it is efficient to send just one shipment of these products to the first three races.
• Under the new qualifying format, the fuel level chosen for the Top 10 Shootout is crucial to team strategy this year because the top 10 cars must start the race on the same level. Lisa Lilley, Shell Formula One Project Manager explains:
• ‘What’s the optimal level of fuel in the battle for pole position? That’s one question, but how does that level fit with our refueling strategy for the race? That can be another question entirely. Finding the right balance will be the challenge in addressing these two different but interlinked objectives. Shell is supporting Ferrari in the quest for the right fuel strategy in 2006.’

HONDA PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

• Hot on the heels of an encouraging start to the season in Bahrain last Sunday, the Honda Racing F1 Team heads east across the Indian Ocean to Malaysia for the second round of the Formula One World Championship in Kuala Lumpur this weekend. Although the season-opener may not have yielded the results the team had hoped for, it did confirm the competitiveness of the Honda package versus the competition, which leaves the team feeling positive that there are better things to come in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
• The drivers' rigorous pre-season fitness training will certainly pay dividends here as they contend with the fierce heat and humidity. With track temperatures likely to reach 50°c, and even hotter in the cockpit, the conditions are far from ideal for the drivers but well suited to the team's RA106 race car and Michelin tyres.
• Rubens Barrichello: "My first race for the team was disappointing so I hope that Malaysia will be where my season really gets started. The track is one of the best in terms of layout and I think it will suit our package well. There are also some good overtaking opportunities. Obviously it's one of the most physically demanding races because of the heat and humidity but we're well prepared for that. I think we will have a much better race here."
• Jenson Button: "Having finished fourth at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is the highest position we've finished in at the first race of a season, I am really looking forward to showing what we can do at the next race. It's reassuring that we come away from Bahrain knowing that we genuinely have the pace to compete with the other top teams. Our car should work well at every circuit this year but particularly at hot races like Malaysia where the conditions are very well suited to our tyres."
• "The Malaysian Grand Prix holds fond memories for me because it is where I achieved my first podium in Formula One. I enjoy racing there as it has a lot of quick, flowing corners as well as some really fast straights. I think we can expect another exciting race this weekend."
• Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "After an encouraging start to the season in Bahrain, we are hopeful of a good performance in Malaysia this weekend. Certainly the Sepang circuit presents many challenges, this being the second race on our new engines and with the very high track and air temperatures we will encounter. However, we believe that our car and tyres are suited to conditions and we expect to be fighting at the sharp end of the field. After a frantic first taste of the new qualifying format, there is no reason to expect this next session to be any less exciting, but we will definitely be applying lessons learnt in Bahrain."

WILLIAMS PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

• Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "Malaysia has the highest average annual rainfall of all the circuits we race on, completely opposite to Bahrain, where we have just raced. With ambient temperatures reaching 40°C and high humidity levels, daily tropical thunderstorms are normal at this time of the year. High temperatures have an influence on car set-up, as well as tyre selection, because they usually cause higher degradation in lap times."
• "Sepang has three slow speed corners and four straight sections, which reward engine power. There are also low drag levels. It is a challenging circuit for the drivers, with plenty of direction changes through medium to high speed corners. It is also clear from past races that overtaking is possible in a couple of places around the track."
• "We will have a couple of aerodynamic improvements for the FW28 in Malaysia, the updates part of our planned development programme. Bridgestone will bring two different tyre compounds for us to choose from, which have been tested extensively. With the high speed corners, the loading will be quite high on the tyres so it's important to make the correct choice."
• "Our qualifying and pit stop strategy will be interesting now we've seen the results from the new format in Bahrain, and it is bound to spring a few surprises again. We are going to Malaysia aggressively after the excellent performance of the FW28 at the last race and, with our partners Cosworth and Bridgestone, we intend to deliver."

TOYOTA PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

• Fresh from the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, the F1 circus is now en route to the second part of a challenging double-header. The Malaysian Grand Prix has been held at Kuala Lumpur's Sepang circuit since 1999 and it usually provides the year's hottest and most humid race. Ambient temperatures can reach in excess of 35°C, providing a unique challenge for drivers and engineers alike. Panasonic Toyota Racing's drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli arrive in the Far East hoping for an improvement on last weekend's performance as the team bids to get its 2006 campaign on track. The team's strong performances over the last 12 months show that the potential is there to move back up the grid.
• THE WHOLE SEPANG
  Ralf Schumacher heads to Malaysia looking for signs of improvement after the difficulties of Bahrain.
• Ralf Schumacher (Car 7): "After a disappointing performance in Bahrain we are now heading directly to Malaysia. Of course we will face completely different conditions in Sepang, where both drivers and engineers face the extra challenge of the heat and the humidity. I am going to use two to three days in Malaysia to just get used to the climate there, to work out and be in my best physical shape possible to go to the race. The facilities at the circuit are great, they are state-of-the-art and very beautiful. It's a very fast, wide, swinging track with good overtaking opportunities. I have had some great races there, so I'm looking forward to going back. I hope we can use the data we collected in Bahrain to improve our performance for the second race of the year."
• ONE LUMPUR TWO
  Jarno Trulli took second place last year in Malaysia but his aims are more realistic for this weekend.
• Jarno Trulli (Car 8): "The Sepang circuit is one of the modern breed of F1 circuits, with facilities that are state-of-the-art. Last year's race was my favourite of the entire season, when we were able to take Toyota's first podium. Of course our form in Bahrain suggests that this year's race will be much harder. We were expecting a better start but now we have to work to improve our performance. Of course we cannot change much in time for Malaysia but hopefully we can keep up the learning process with the aim of moving up over the next few races. The new qualifying system has gone down well but we saw in Bahrain how chaotic it can be with all the traffic out at the same time."
• LEARNING CURVE
  Panasonic Toyota Racing heads to the Malaysian GP looking to learn more about its new package.
• Luca Marmorini - Technical Director Engine: "Obviously the Bahrain Grand Prix was a major disappointment to everyone in the team because we were not where we hoped we would be. But the season is long and we will be pushing to improve our performance. Sepang may come a bit soon to have any major impact but we have at least collected data from the Bahrain weekend that should help us. The new qualifying system is an interesting new challenge which we enjoyed, so we hope to learn more about that over the next few races. These first two back-to-back races make for a tough start to the year because of the heat of Malaysia, which will be 20°C higher than anything we encountered during pre-season testing. Overall we have to look to these first flyaway races as a learning curve to understand our new package and the new regulations so that we can be ready to have a full package when we go back to Europe."

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