Force India ultimately flattered to deceive in Melbourne, with
Giancarlo Fisichella never given a chance to show what he might have been able to accomplish in the race after being unceremoniously torpedoed out of the action into the first corner, ironically by
Nelsinho Piquet, a man driving the car
he had occupied this time last year. Whether the former Spyker squad's top ten practice promise will be fulfilled in Sepang remains to be seen.
Super Aguri, finally, will probably merely be happy to be on the grid at all, though
Takuma Sato's speed Down Under – hounding the top ten before his retirement on lap 32 – pointed to what the Japanese minnows may be able to achieve should sufficient funding be found to enable the squad to truly
compete in 2008. Until then, though, he and team-mate
Anthony Davidson look set to bring up the rear once more, only catching a glimpse of
McLaren,
Ferrari et al when the leaders come up to lap them in their rear-view mirrors.
Qualifying for the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix will be held at 6am on Saturday, 22 March, with the race due to get underway at 7am the following day.
