After the thrills and spills of Australia last weekend, it’s Malaysia – and Sepang – this weekend. Going in to the weekend, it seems hard not to pick the Red Bulls to be the pace setters, though many are wondering if they will manage to finish the race. Eyes will also be on Michael Schumacher as he looks to beat his team-mate at the third attempt, though Nico Rosberg, who has impressed so far this season, will have other ideas.
It is, however, Ferrari and McLaren that will provide the most interesting battles up front. Alonso was by far the faster Ferrari in Australia, although Melbourne is hardly Massa’s favourite track. Bahrain was Massa’s first race back after his head injury, and so Malaysia will likely give us our first real look at the Alonso up against Massa. If Alonso beats Massa this weekend in the manner he did in Australia, then Massa is in for a long season. If Massa can give Alonso a run for his money this weekend, then maybe we will see a better scrap at Ferrari this year than it looked like last weekend. At McLaren, meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton will be determined to prove a point this weekend after a disaster in Australia, with poor team strategy and a tap from Mark Webber meaning he ended up watching his team-mate Jenson Button win a race he will feel he had a decent shout of taking the chequered flag in himself.
Further down the field – or not, as the case may be – some will be watching Robert Kubica to see if he is able to put in another strong performance after a second place finish in Australia. Nico Hulkenberg will be looking to put in a stronger performance against his experienced, but not lightening fast, team-mate Rubens Barrichello. BMW-Sauber will just be hoping the front wing stays glued to their cars. And so, without further ado, here is my top three for Malaysia:
- Sebastien Vettel (he has to eventually!);
- Fernando Alonso;
- Mark Webber.
I’m just hoping I have a little more success than in Bahrain!