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Kubica’s bad luck confirmed

Kubica’s bad luck confirmed

If the first race in Australia was a hint for Renault, Sepang was a clear confirmation. Yes, the cars with dark paint are really the „dark horses“ of this Championship and with Kubica behind the steering wheel they, surprisingly, could be thinking about the Title. However, even without him, they belong to the top four where they exchanged the troubled Mercedes.The practice did not bring any surprise, the first eight positions from the qualification put two cars of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Renault on the grid. The ten was completed with one Mercedes with Rosberg and the reliable Kobayashi with Sauber.

The race itself just confirmed the qualification results, when among all those frequent pit stops the standings always settled down to the eight cars of the top teams. It was interesting, though, to see the distribution of power among them. There was no doubt about Vettel’s dominance, neither about the strength of McLaren. Hiedfeld’s flawless ride was a little surprise, as he reached the second position in his perfect start, which he, in fact, held till the very end, being the third on the podium though. His team mate Petrov made several small mistakes but kept within reach of both Ferraris. They obviously could not keep pace with the front lead by Vettel, followed by Heidfeld, Hamilton, Button, then Alonso began getting faster. He was perhaps a bit too ambitious though, scratched Hamilton’s rear tire and had to go in for a new nose cone. The end of the race was marked by the crumbling tires. Those who did not save them had to pit again – Hamilton or they crashed – Petrov. In the end, just as it was expected, the considerate Button in the second place who was in the best position, confidently eliminating Vettel’s advantage getting as far as twenty seconds away from the rest of world in the finish. The fourth Webber had some problems at the start and from the ninth place put some pressure on Heidfeld. Thanks to Petrov’s accident, Kobayashi made it to the top eight behind both Ferraris stressing out the dominant position of Sauber in the front of the second league. The ninth Di Resta behind Schumacher then proved the solid level of Force India from the last race. Schumi, scoring some points for the first time, was better than the suffering Rosberg, who is clearly not happy with the car setup.

Also both drivers of Torro Rosso keep a solid standard in the low ten, whereas Williams blew it again. In conclusion, one tiny technical detail. Renault is obviously faster on the straights because of its aerodynamic package, its front part is the most sophisticated, but at the same time it shows signs of fragility. The Petrov’s burst front tire in the practice demolished the complete suspension and the jump after the trip to the gravel at the end of the race resulted in the collapse of his steering when the steering wheel remained in his hands without any effect whatsoever on the front wheels.