penalty mid-race. Team-mate Barrichello, meanwhile, was allowed past the #7
Honda in the early stages as he ran on the softer option tyre from the start, but could only rise as high as eleventh, finishing one lap down on eventual winner
Kimi Raikkonen. Things can only get better in Malaysia.
BMW Sauber – Nick Heidfeld (#9), Robert Kubica (#10):
Pre-season testing confirmed two things about BMW Sauber. One, that it was the third fastest combination behind
Ferrari and
McLaren and, two, that its reliability was not good enough to begin predicting race wins. Melbourne merely confirmed both points.
Nick Heidfeld bucked the general trend by opting for the softer tyres in the first stint, and was rewarded by vaulting to second on the road behind Kimi Raikkonen at the start. His early first pit-stop, however, dropped him behind team-mate Robert Kubica and it appeared that he would remain there until the Pole retired with a recurrence of gearbox problems. Heidfeld thus came home in fourth - behind Ferrari and Mclaren, but well ahead of the rest.
"I think we're in pretty good shape for the race but hope that we can get both cars to the finish this time," the German said, admitting that the weather was
BMW's only other concern at Sepang, "I've experienced some incredible downpours here before now, and driving in the rain always holds an element of risk due to the lack of visibility - even more so here, where the rain is far from normal. When the heavens open, everything disappears under water in no time.
"I'm still a fan of wet weather racing and, likewise, I've never really had a problem with racing in the heat. Either way, I've always got on quite well in Malaysia."
Team-mate Kubica will be making his Sepang race debut this weekend, and used the recent group test to get used to running in the oppressive conditions.
