King Kimi reigns in Malaysian rain

Championship leader finishes fastest in practice.

SEPANG: Formula One championship leader Kimi Raikkonen put his stamp on the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday when he outstripped the field on a rain-hit first day of free practice.

The Lotus driver, world champion in 2007 and a surprise but emphatic winner at last week’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, dodged a heavy shower to clock the day’s fastest time of one minute 36.569 seconds in the second session.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, on the hunt for his fourth straight world title, was just two-hundredths of a second slower at the tropical Sepang circuit, while Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were third and fourth for Ferrari.

Red Bull pilot Mark Webber, who led the opening 90-minute session, timed fifth in the second stanza while Lotus’s Romain Grosjean was sixth, despite a bumpy excursion across the trackside grass.

Nico Rosberg, Paul di Resta, Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil were the remaining top 10 drivers after a difficult session which was punctuated by a track-clearing deluge midway through.

Tropical heat and sudden downpours make the Malaysian Grand Prix one of the most demanding of the season, with an extra challenge this year in preserving Formula One supplier Pirelli’s new, faster-degrading tyres.

Raikkonen is a two-time winner at Sepang, including his first ever Formula One victory in 2003. But the Finn said yesterday’s performance would matter little when it comes to qualifying today.

“It seemed to be okay today ... it was a good day but it doesn’t help us in qualifying so we have to hope it goes well,” he said.

Vettel warns tyre wear could ruin race

Vettel warned disintegrating tyres could ruin his race after some worrying signs during free practice.

Vettel said he did not know if Red Bull would be able to stick to their planned pit-stop strategy after his tyres quickly fell apart on the Sepang circuit.

“I don’t know how they could do this,” fumed the 25-year-old. “I hope we have enough tyres to survive the race.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.