MOTORSPORT: Malaysian Grand Prix perspectives

Webber gets points; Ferrari wins but McLaren's pace disguised
Another hot grand prix (not as hot as Melbourne, but the humidity in Kuala Lumpur was 69 per cent, although the rain held off), the race not as good as the season opener in Australia, but Mark Webber went the distance and finished seventh for two world championship points.

Webber and his Red Bull RB4 headed McLaren's wonderboy Lewis Hamilton for much of the race, although there were explanations for that, and at the end he had to withstand two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in a car with a similar Renault engine.

Webber outqualified and outraced teammate David Coulthard, although it should be said the veteran Scotsman was not feeling 100 per cent and missed the drivers' parade at Sepang.

But overall a very positive outcome for Webber and Red Bull after the disasters of Melbourne, and the official questioning of the RB4's strength and safety in the lead-up to the Malaysian race.

Ferrari rebounded after its worst start to a season since 1992, with both its cars on the front row of the grid and Kimi Raikkonen winning the race.

Felipe Massa had taken pole position and led the first stint of the race but then inexplicably spun into retirement, leaving him with no points after two rounds of the world championship.

Raikkonen turned in two scintillating laps as Massa made what was to be his only pitstop -- and that may have demoralised the Brazilian.

Speculation that Alonso or even German youngster Sebastien Vettel will replace Massa next season will not help his mental state.
Ferrari's spirits have been lifted by a victory just a week after its Melbourne debacle, but worrying still is that of the six cars in the field using Ferrari engines five have had engine failures in the two GPs so far.

Robert Kubica gave BMW its second second place in those two races.

It was the 23-year-old Polish driver's highest finish, one place better than in the 2006 Italian GP, and with Nick Heidfeld sixth it meant BMW's biggest points haul (11) in a single race.

Heikki Kovalainen took third place for McLaren-Mercedes, producing a historic podium with two Finns up there for the first time.

However, Kovy's form -- even though he outqualified his superstar teammate -- was seen to be less than brilliant as he finished only 8 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who had a myriad of problems in the race.

The McLaren pair had qualified on the second row of the grid behind the Ferraris, but Kovalainen and Hamilton were each relegated five places for blocking Heidfeld and Alonso on their qualifying runs.

The excuse that the McLaren pair were motoring slowly to conserve fuel for the race did not wash with officialdom.

Hamilton, starting from ninth, made up four places on the opening lap and tucked in behind Webber, who started sixth (he had qualified eighth but was promoted two places when the McLarens were sent back five spots each).

However, Hamilton could not force his way past Webber as his left front tyre wore faster than the others.

Then, on his first stop, Hamilton's crew had a problem changing his right front and he spent 20 seconds in the pits instead of 7-8.

That dropped the world championship leader to 11th and he again soon found himself behind Webber, who had dropped two places on his stop.

Indeed, Webber was to lose another two places on the second round of pitstops, by which time Hamilton was ahead of him and on the tail of Jarno Trulli's fourth-placed Toyota at the finish.

Hamilton's fifth place did not reflect the rightful place of car and driver in the field, just as Ferrari's competitiveness was masked in Melbourne by Raikkonen starting so far back on the grid and the problems he and Massa ran into.

Once the season settles down expect the Ferraris and McLarens to be pretty much on par, with each perhaps suiting particular circuits better.

At the next race in Bahrain, on April 6, Ferrari may have a slight advantage from having tested there pre-season.

Formula 1 world championship standings after two of 18 rounds - Lewis Hamilton 14 points, Kimi Räikkönen 11, Nick Heidfeld 11, Heikki Kovalainen 10, Robert Kubica 8, Nico Rosberg 6, Fernando Alonso 6, Jarno Trulli 5, Kazuki Nakajima 3, Mark Webber 2, Sebastien Bourdais 2.

Formula 1 constructors' championship standings - McLaren-Mercedes 24 points, BMW-Sauber 19, Ferrari 11, Williams-Toyota 9, Renault 6, Toyota 5, Red Bull-Renault 2, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2.

So that will be the second F1 night race after the first on the streets of Singapore at the end of September this year.

Ecclestone said he would now work on getting China to switch to lights in Shanghai, and it will be a condition of the new Korean race in 2010 that it be at night.

All of which is leaving Australia out of the frame for the future, with the Victorian government standing firm against lighting up Albert Park -- a move that, apart from what it would cost, would be certain to run into massive public opposition.

We hear Ecclestone spoke in Malaysia in terms of a "divorce" looming in Australia, although he joked that it would not be overly complicated because there were no children involved!

Adding to the pressure on Melbourne's future beyond the expiry of its existing contract in 2010 is the announcement by the mayor of Sao Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, that his city has renewed its deal for the Brazilian GP to 2015.

Although Ecclestone has not formally confirmed that, and Sao Paulo is not popular with the F1 teams, the event works brilliantly for TV -- with the race beamed into Europe in prime-time.

Last year's three-way title decider was reportedly the most watched GP for seven years.

On the subject of television, a bombshell was dropped on the eve of Easter that the F1 rights in Britain will return to the BBC next year from commercial network ITV.

All parties are putting plenty of spin on what it's all about, with Ecclestone saying he exercised an option to end ITV's contract early but other reports that F1 was not sufficiently commercially viable for ITV and that it preferred to concentrate on soccer.

Yet again, and it should be no surprise, it seems Ecclestone may have emerged with a better deal from the state-owned, commercial-free BBC than he would have had by continuing with BBC.

That ought to be a reminder of his capacity to spring surprises, and may be a clue that he could yet strike a new deal for the Oz GP in Melbourne.

And, if he does, there will be no guessing who is the financial winner.
The public just ought to be told up front what the sanction fees will be.

Walker and Gore were involved in the Team Australia Champ Car outfit for which Will Power raced the past couple of years.

Gore, who shut his V8 Supercar team just days before the season-opening Clipsal 500, has struck a new arrangement in the US with Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser for their KV Racing to field Power, who incidentally was second quickest (to new teammate Oriol Servia) at last week's Sebring test for drivers and teams "transitioning" to the amalgamated IndyCar series. This week they're at Homestead-Miami Speedway for more testing.

Walker, who has had to shelve his plans to cross to the IndyCar series, has claimed to have developed the concept of Team Australia in 2005.

"Over a three-year period, Team Australia had great success in using motor sports as a marketing tool for Australian companies, including Gore's winery, Aussie Vineyards," Walker said.

"Despite the success of the team, Gore defaulted on his financial obligations to Team Australia throughout the 2007 season.

"Walker Racing was forced to loan the team substantial funds in order to continue competing in the Champ Car World Series.

"Walker Racing is still owed in excess of US$1.5 million by Gore and his related entities.

"I relied upon Gore's repeated assurances that he would fulfill his commitments to the Team Australia program and to me.

"Until Gore's recent announcement to take Team Australia to KV Racing, I was led to believe that we would be moving forward together as a team in 2008.

"I believe that Gore's actions are a serious default of his contractual commitments and fiduciary obligations as a business partner.

"I have given Gore ample opportunities to resolve these disputes informally.

"Unfortunately, it appears I will have no choice but to take legal action."

Tale of woe for Ambrose in US this season
Dual Australian V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose and his American stock car team, JTG Racing, will welcome a week's break in the Nationwide Series -- the second-tier NASCAR competition -- after a horror start to the season.

The next race is not until April 5 at Texas Motor Speedway, giving them some time to make improvements to Ambrose's Ford Fusion.

In six rounds to date this year Ambrose's finishing record is 39th, 22nd, 28th, 11th, 19th and 23rd.

Meanwhile, former open-wheeler aces in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup are not faring well either.

Dario Franchitti, last year's Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League series winner, is 38th in the points, while Juan Pablo Montoya is 19th.

"With sponsors needing to get the most bang for their bucks, the time for patience may be near an end," wrote Chattanooga Times Free Press correspondent Lindsay Young.

Targa Tasmania runs into some stiff opposition
Targa Tasmania, which has been run on the roads of Australia's southernmost state for almost 20 years now, has suddenly become a very hot potato.

Opponents of the event on the Hobart City Council have branded Targa "organised hooning" and its competitors "environmental bandits", according to the Hobart Mercury newspaper.

A council meeting on Wednesday this week will decide the future of the intended Targa stage on the Domain near Hobart's city centre.

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