Jenson Button took his second win of the season, the third of his career in this mornings Malaysian Grand Prix in very unconventional conditions that saw the race red flagged 31 laps into the race.
Rain has been expected all week at the circuit in Kuala Lumpur, but when the lights went out this morning in the hot and humid tropical conditions the track was bone dry.
Off the grid Button made a poor start that saw the Williams of Nico Rosberg take the lead into the first corner with the Briton pushed down to fourth. Trulli also had a good start that moved his Toyota to second. But the best was reserved for Fernando Alonso, who used his KERS system to good effect to enable a brilliant sling shot start from tenth to move the Renult into third.
I predicted it earlier this week in my ("And it's GO GO GO!!!") post. It had expected all weekend. RAIN had been experienced every day in Malaysia in torrential monsoon conditions that could potentially cause lethal conditions that had the ability to dramatically change the outcome of any race and yes, get it red flagged.
We were kept waiting for what seemed like an age but when the rain finally did come it didn't deliver the in torrent many of us expected. As soon as the first few spots were felt most of the teams panicked and put wet tires on their drivers much sooner than they were needed. The Ferrari team ruined any chance Raikkonen had by putting wets on his car five laps before any rain had fallen. The only team that took the right course of action in what must only have been a gamblers stroke of luck was the Toyota team who sent Timo Glock back out on intermediates.
Glock sliced his way through the field at stealth, as other cars, including the Brawn GP of Button, struggled to keep pace. Hamilton who after starting 12th was still languishing around the midfield positon of 9th was the next driver the realise the tires were not effective as the rain storm continued to stall and McClaren brought him in for intermediates. All other teams teams followed suit.
It was at this point the heavens opened as the last team was sent out with their new intermediates they realised they would now need the wets again in what was the monsoon conditions that had been expected and feared.
Cars of Vettel and Fisichella slid off the track unable to find grip in conditions you could swim in. Frenchman of Bourdais screams over his team radio for the race to be stopped whilst under the safety car.
His wish was granted a lap later as the red flag was given to indicate the race had been stopped.
We were left waiting for 53 minutes to see whether the race would be restarted however the rain continued to fall and with the 2 hour time limit of the race ticking the clock ran down on any of the drivers chances to beat Button.
Questions will now be asked whether it was right to start this grand prix so late in the day when rain conditions like the ones witnessed today are experienced every afternoon in the tropical heat of Malaysia. I enjoy seeing a wet race more than any other grand prix but I have a feeling this maybe the last time we witness a Malaysian grand prix at this time of year starting so late in the day.
Because the race was just over half way through when abandoned all drivers who finished in the points picked up half the total.
1. J. Button - Brawn GP - 5pts
2. N. Heidfeld - BMW - 4pts
3. T. Glock - Toyota - 3pts
4. J, Trulli - Toyota - 2.5pts
5. R. Barrichello - Brawn GP - 2pts
6. M. Webber - Red Bull - 1.5pts
7. L. Hamilton - McClaren - 1pt
8. N. Rosberg - Williams - 0.5pt
The superb rags to riches start for Brawn GP continues. Jenson Button must be left thinking where has this team been all his racing life. Despite a bad start, he drove a good race. He might count himself a little lucky this time round as I am not sure he could have kept up the pace or even his car on the track if it had been able to continue in the wet conditions.
Something to watch for, I am starting to wonder if the green eyed monster of jealousy is starting to creep in between Brawn team mates Button and Barrichello. The Brazilian looked very dejected and almost a lonely figure after the race, and whilst he didn't have the best of races and had a blighted qualifying due to his 5 place grid spot penalty, who wouldn't get fed up with all the limelight placed on one member of the team, particularly when he is the more experienced driver in what is most likely to be his final season.
I am personally gutted for Lewis Hamilton who thought he had finished 5th when in fact his official position was 7th due to lap count back of the time the red flag was shown. Similar heartbreak was experienced for Glock and Heidfeld who also lost places due to this rule.
I am convinced though if the race had been allowed or was safe to run for 5 laps longer we would have seen a very different result with Glock taking victory and Hamilton getting a podium finish in third as he certainly had the pace and control over other cars ahead of him in the wet.
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Something that made me smile though was that after two races neither Ferrari driver have impressed and neither have scored any points. Another disappointing weekend for the Italian team that saw Massa end the race in 9th, bringing up the rear, his team mate ice man Kimi Raikkonen took his title far too literally when he gave up and got out of his car and went back to his teams garage to help himself to an ice cream and coke from the fridge whilst all other drivers were waiting for a re-start. I wonder if Kimi and Ferrari will remain so cool if they are still pointless come round 5 in Spain?
Two weeks until Shanghai, a Button hatrick and another wet race maybe?
*****
Pictures from Getty Images supplied by the BBC and TheTelegraph.co.uk
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