After the second Grand Prix of this young season we can clearly state, that our initial impressions from Australia proved to be dead wrong in Malaysia. With the season being two GPs old, once again I give you a team-by-team look at what we have seen and what we may expect:

McLaren (Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton)
McLaren a step behind? After Australia most F1 fans on the internet started chatting away at how Alonso’s crew will need 3-4 races to catch the Italian team. Well, they sure did win this one in convincing fashion. Whilst early on it seemed as if young Lewis Hamilton was holding up both Massa and Raikonnen, once each one of them was driving without any traffic around, the top 4 drivers had close to identical lap times. McLaren has taken the early lead for the constructors’ title with this spectacular 1-2 finish. Alonso was flawless, although after the first two turns he had nobody challenging him for the lead. Hamilton showed us just how talented he is, by fending off both Ferrari drivers’ attempts to overtake in the first half of the race.

Renault (Giancarlo Fisichella, Heikki Kovalainen)
Last year’s championship-winning team stunk up the joint in Kuala Lumpur. On the positive side they had both their drivers finish in the points. This car simply is lightyears behind Ferrari and McLaren, which would still be ok, but they are also well behind BMW as well. Fisichella scored a sixth place finish after Australia’s fifth spot. Heikki Kovalainen also managed to earn his first F1 point. Renault seemed to be equal to BMW and Williams in Australia, yet this time the German manufacturer bettered them in every way possible and Williams lost out solely because of mechanical problems. Kovalainen in his second race showed some improvement, but his inexperience was still a big factor during qualifying and the race itself.

Ferrari (Felipe Massa, Kimi Räikkönen)
Ferrari can mark this down as a failed weekend. They never seemed to find the setup that would allow them to seriously challenge rival McLaren. All too often during the race there were replays of Alonso and Hamilton hugging the turns perfectly, whilst Massa and Raikonnen battled them in a car that was slip-sliding left and right. The Italian team had to realize this time that the chasing pack has gotten much closer than expected. In fact they may have been overtaken by McLaren, and BMW also looked awfully competitive and not far off their pace. Massa also showed the traits which had his abilities questioned in past years. He was impatient, starting overtaking moves in spots where the track was too dirty for him to have a shot at finishing the manouver. Räikkönen was his calm self once again, but halfway through the race it was clear that he would not be able to keep pace with either Hamilton or Alonso.

Honda (Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello)
The first race of the season was an absolute catastrophe for Honda, and the second was even worse. Saturday’s qualifying made it clear that they are still miles behind the teams they were chasing last season. A 15th and 22nd starting spot was rightfully regarded as yet another failure. The race was just as bad. Both were mostly seen when some of the lead cars passed them to get them a lap down. Button and Barrichello fought valiantly, and I am convinced that the only reason why the team is currently ahead of STR, Super Aguri and Spyker is that they have great drivers whilst those guys do not. Both Jenson and Rubens deserve to be in much better car than this one. To end with a positive note: I’ve grown fond to the new car painting that they have, It’s kind of new wave cool.

BMW Sauber (Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica)
BMW further established themselves as the main force after the mighty Ferrari and McLaren. Consistency and mechanical malfunctions are major issues that the team will have to address after next weekends GP though. Kubica finished the race this time, but he clearly had numerous problems with his car. Heidfeld had a shot at a podium finish once again for much of the race; in the end the team chose not to chase Raikonnen but rather to concentrate on keeping them ahead of Massa. Kubica again showed that he belongs up there with his teammate, alas his car once again slowed mysteriously, and the Polish driver crossed the finish line a lap behind the leaders. All in all BMW has proved that they are to be reckoned with.