F1 2020 - Round 2 The Malaysian Grand Prix

29th March 2020 Sepang, Malaysia

The Formula 1 circus has arrived in Malaysia at the quarantined and COVID-19 free Sepang Circuit. This is the second round of the 2020 season and replaces what would've been the first Vietnamese Grand Prix on the streets of Hanoi. Sepang Circuit near Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, is much easier to quarantine and lockdown than the Hanoi streets. So this once popular Malaysian venue gets another moment to shine. During the month since the first round at Bathurst, Australia the COVID-19 crises has become a global pandemic causing the postponement and cancelation of most sport around the globe. Even the summer olympics in Tokyo have been postponed for one year, and might possibly be cancelled all together.

The new home of Formula One left Sydney Harbour as the first Australian cases of COVID-19 were reported. There's a sense of relief aboard the USS George Washington that the strict quarantine rules aboard and at each venue seem to be keeping the teams and the ship's crew safe.

During the long voyage to Port Dickson, 30 minutes south of Sepang, the FIA finalised the 2020 calendar;

1 Australia, Bathurst 15th March

2 Malaysia, Sepang 29th March

3 China, Shanghai 3rd April

4 Japan, Suzuka 10th April

5 Netherlands, Zandvoort 30th May

6 Spain, Barcelona 7th June

7 France, Le Mans 14th June

8 Austria, Red Bull Ring 21st June

9 Britain, Silverstone 5th July

10 Hungary, Budapest 2nd August

11 Belgium, Spa 9th August

12 Italy, Monza 16th August

13 Russia, Sochi 23rd August

14 UAE, Abu Dhabi, 30th August

15 Bahrain, Sakhir 6th September

16 Canada, Montreal 20th September

17 USA, Austin 27th September

18 Mexico, Mexico City 4th October

19 Brazil, Sao Paulo 11th October

Monaco

Azerbaijan

Singapore

The season now navigates the globe with a more linear schedule to allow for the time constraints of travelling the world by sea. The days of flying across continents week after week and then back to the factory in Europe are over. There's also the loss of the street circuits due to the difficulty in quarantining them. After Australia the 2020 season has three Asian races in Malaysia, China and Japan. Most changes have being made to allow time for the voyage of the USS George Washington from east to west over the course of the year. Bahrain has being postponed from March to September and many dates rearranged to create enough time for the ship to travel from The East China Sea, across the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal, to a naval base in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. From there the quarantined European and Middle Eastern venues can be supplied via air drops of Formula One cars, drivers and mechanics. During this time from May to September teams, all of which are based in Europe, will be able to access their factories and resupply easier. Depending on the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect it's having on manufacturing. Some teams might be running low on parts after Australia and with four more races before returning to Europe part sharing between teams or lashings of Duct-Tape could be necessary.

After the European and Middle Eastern tour the ship leaves Malta for the Americas, assuming the COVID situation hasn't blown over and everything is back to normal. Starting with the delayed Canadian Grand Prix then sailing south stopping at four American venues. The season now ends in Brazil rather than the UAE, although many fans will prefer the change to this exciting and historic venue rather than the usual dower finale in Abu Dhabi.

Due to Formula One being the only form of motorsport still in action at this time the date changes weren't a major headache for race organisers as there's no other racing at these venues to move out of the way! The street circuits are the only causalities due the difficulty in quarantining open city areas. Monaco, Azerbaijan, Singapore have been cancelled and Vietnam replaced with today's Malaysian venue.

Max is on pole and Racing Point continue to impress.

Qualifying is now two hours long and doubles as testing time. Many drivers are taking part with penalty ballast and success ballast after the events of round one at Bathurst. There's 1kg of lead added to the point finishers cars from the previous round for every point scored. In the past penalties and drive throughs would be given during the race. Often harming the spectacle and flow of the race. Penalties are now applied to qualifying for the next race in the form of ballast. The ballast is then taken off the cars after qualifying to level the playing field once more. This system leads to some very interesting grids and can give struggling teams a much needed boost up the starting grid. It also favours those in the most competitive cars who had bad luck last time out by getting in a wreck, just like Max and Seb did, who qualified without ballast.

1 Max Red Bull

2 Lance Racing Point

3 Seb Ferrari

4 Alex RedBull

5 Lewis Mercedes

6 Charles Ferrari

7 Esteban Renault

8 Valtteri Mercedes

9 Sergio Racing Point

10 Lando McLaren

11 Kimi Alfa Romeo

12 Carlos McLaren

13 Daniel Renault

14 Danil Alpha Tauri

15 Antonio Alfa Romeo

16 Pierre Alpha Tauri

17 Nicolas Williams

18 Kevin Haas

19 George Williams

20 Romain Haas

Race Commentary

Twenty V10s begin to roar and mechanics run for the relative safety of the pit lane. Formalities are minimal with the lack of journalists and digitaries and the stark lack of fans at Sepang, those grandstands are usually fully populated when Formula One comes to Kuala Lumpur. Today's racing could answer some vital questions. Can Valterri increase his early lead over Lewis and continue his incredible form from Australia? Can Ferrari decide who to get behind and mount a title challenge in what seems to be an off the pace Ferrari? Will tensions at Renault boil over and cost them points in a tough midfield battle?

Lap 1 Max - Seb - Lance - Lewis - Alex - Charles - Esteban - Valtteri - Sergio - Lando

Seb gets ahead of Lance around the outside of turn 1 into the winding turn 2. It's time for Seb to prove he still has the fight required to be a world champion. Max keeps the lead from pole position and pulls out a comfortable two second lead. There's a tough battle for fourth between Alex, Lewis and Charles with Lewis moving up in pursuit of Max.

Lap 3 Max - Seb - Lewis - Lance - Alex - Charles - Esteban - Valtteri - Sergio - Lando

Max is four seconds out in front when Lewis moves into third place. Team alliances are in play as Lance in the Mercedes powered Force India moves aside for Lewis in the works Mercedes. Spare parts are in high demand with factory closures across Europe. Racing Point might've earned a few more go-faster parts by conceding third place so easily.

Lap 5

Theres a lot of clean racing due to teams running low on parts so far from their European homes. It's going to be six weeks before they arrive in Malta for the European tour and, hopefully, a flow of new and upgraded parts.

Lap 7 Max - Seb - Lewis - Lance - Alex - Charles - Valtteri - Esteban - Sergio - Daniel

Mercedes are advancing on their Italian rivals with Lewis on the tail of Seb's Ferrari, and Valtteri past Esteban's Renault is attacking Charles' Ferrari for fifth.

Lap 9 Max - Seb - Lewis - Lance - Charles - Valtteri - Alex - Esteban - Sergio - Daniel

Alex has put up a valiant fight against Charles and Valtteri but his defence can only last so long. Charles gets a run on Alex down the final straight towards turn 15 and pushes Alex wide. Valtteri seizes this chance to be past and follows Charles through to hunt down their team mates.

Lap 11 Max - Seb - Lewis - Lance - Charles - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Esteban - Daniel

Sergio is past Esteban for seventh. He started down the grid with success ballast in qualifying. The pink Force India is fast this year, second only to Mercedes.

Lap 13 Max - Seb - Lewis - Lance - Charles - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Esteban

The Renualt's seem to be under strict team orders. Esteban has been falling back into the clutches of his team mate and is ordered to move aside. Daniel has the number one position at Renault and takes ninth.

Lap 15

The two long straights at Sepang are proving to be the best places for overtaking with permanently available DRS; giving each car more straight line speed and the advantage of slipstreaming for any car behind another. There's also an activation zone for the hybrid boost after the pit entrance. This gives each car an extra 50bhp for five minutes and can be used twice in each race.

Lap 17 Max - Lewis - Seb - Lance - Charles - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Esteban

Lewis has used his hybrid boost to catch Seb and gets past on the front straight. There would usually be cheering fans in the grandstand but the only cheers today are from the Mercedes garage. Max is eight seconds out in the lead with Lewis behind him.

Lap 19

Charles, Valtteri and Alex have caught Lance in fourth, who is putting up a tougher fight against Charles than he did Lewis.

Lap 21

Further down the field places are changing lap after lap where the competitiveness of the cars is more equal than in previous seasons. There's only two seconds a lap difference in pace between Mercedes and Williams, who are regarded as having the slowest car. There haven't been many robust overtakes like we saw in Bathurst. There's already a shortage of parts due to factory closures due to COVID-19.

Lap 23 Max - Lewis - Seb - Lance - Charles - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos

Carlos is up to tenth for McLaren and will hope to break free off the melee that is the midfield. Most overtakes are on the two long straights as the midfield pack fight each other to move up, and slow each other down in the process. Romain has fought his way up to fifteen from last. So far the only damage are a few scrapes from lunges up the inside at the final bend and dents from barges in the corkscrew at turns one and two. At the front Lewis sets the fastest lap in second place as he chases after Max for the lead.

Lap 25 Max - Lewis - Seb - Charles - Lance - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos

Charles gets past for fourth and is after his teammate for third. Seb has fallen away from the top two. All cars use the same single compound of durable Pirelli slick tyre so it's unlikely to be tyre problems effecting Seb's performance.

Lap 27

Charles is a second a lap faster than his teammate and catching him fast. Ferrari order Charles not to overtake clearly reminding him of team orders. Looks like Seb, the former champion, is still number one at Ferrari.

Lap 29

Lewis is using hybrid boost to catch Max, setting another fastest lap. He should catch Max within a few laps.

Lap 31 Max - Lewis - Seb - Charles - Lance - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos

Charles has caught Seb closely followed by Lance, Valtteri and Alex. He's reminded again not to overtake by his race engineer despite having more pace than tis teammate.

Lap 32 Lewis - Max - Seb - Charles - Lance - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos

Lewis is onto the back of Max's RedBull with the last of his hybrid boost. He has tailed him through the high speed twisting bends of Sepang and pulls along side long the final straight. Max defends to the left forcing Lewis wide. He can't get past into the final corner so he tries again on the pit straight starting lap 33. Max once again sends Lewis off the racing line down the straight into the corkscrew of turn 1. Lewis keeps by Max's side through the outside of turn one tightening up to the right. The corner then opens up with the tight left of turn two and Lewis is now on the inside line. Without a nudge Lewis is past Max for the lead.

Lap 34 Lewis - Max - Seb - Charles - Lance - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos

There's a traffic jam forming behind Seb! Charles has the pace to get past but team orders won't allow him. He is venting his frustration on the team radio. On the straights he is side my side with Seb and trying hard to keep those behind him behind.

Lap 35 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Lance - Valtteri - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos

There's chaos in the Ferrari garage as Charles moves past Seb for third place. There's furious radio exchanges from Seb, who pushed his teammate off track during the overtake. Charles is trying to explain to the team why he had to overtake. He is clearly the faster driver and Ferrari need a positive result with a car which seems less competitive than last year. There's now five cars on the tail of Seb who risks falling back further.

Lap 36 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Alex - Sergio - Valtteri - Daniel - Lance - Carlos

There's contact on the front straight as Seb aggressively blocks Lance's Racing Point who swerves across the nose of Valtteri's Mercedes to avoid wrecking into Seb. Valtteri's nose cone was broken in the impact but he carries on. He has a full lap to get round to the pits. Lance suffered a bit more spinning across the front of Valtteri. He's lucky to be following Vatteri back to the pits with only a puncture.

Lap 37 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos - Esteban - Valtteri

Valtteri has managed to get back to the pits with a barrage of choice words on the radio for Seb and Ferrari. He rejoins the race in tenth. Lance was having a fine race until he became the meat in a Ferrari and Mercedes sandwich. Lance rejoins in thirteen. Amazingly Seb was unscathed in the incident and places all blame at Lance's door. Lewis is still out in front and opening up a gap from Max in second.

Lap 38 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos - Esteban - Valtteri

The pace car is out while the marshals clear the track of the remains of the Seb, Lance and Valtteri incident. We are halfway through the race and most competitors pit for fresh tyres. All of the front runners come in for tyres and fuel. Tyres can last the full race distance but lose pace over time. Extra fuel allows them to run the engine harder. Most of the drivers decide to pit but some see an opportunity to move up for a moment of glory.

Lap 39 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos - Esteban - Valtteri

The remains of Valtteri's wing and Lance's punctured tyre are removed from the tarmac. The pace car is coming in this lap.

Lap 40 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Alex - Sergio - Daniel - Carlos - Esteban - Valtteri

Lewis gets the jump on Max at the restart and starts puling ahead once more. In Australia Lewis' teammate, Valtteri, threw down the gauntlet and seized control of the race from Lewis. Barging him out of the way at Mount Panorama. Lewis is now regaining control with a new fastest lap, then another the lap after. A pissing contest between teammates which Lewis is winning with his teammate in tenth. As Lewis pulls out a lead over Max in second lets focus on the battle within Ferrari.

Lap 41 to 55 Lewis - Max - Charles - Seb - Alex - Sergio - Esteban - Carlos - Daniel - Valtteri

'Charles, you know what was agreed!' The Ferrari race engineer shouts another ignored message down Charles' two way radio direct into his ear. Charles is running in third place driving the wheels of a dangerous Ferrari. It feels loose and unstable in the high speed corners. Last years car was on rails but this? Being a number two driver at Ferrari it's best to keep personal opinions about the designers credentials to his self. Charles responds on the radio, 'I'm clearly faster! Can't you see that I'm faster?'. Charles is two seconds ahead of Seb, the two time world champion, who is fending off Alex, Sergio and Daniel valiantly. 'Hasn't Seb got a problem with his car?' A loaded question from Charles to his engineer. If his car is breaking down why would the team demand this? It looks to Charles like Seb is fighting for his life with the cars behind. The reply comes from the team principle rather than his side of the garage, 'Seb is in need of assistance number two. Remember your fucking place Charles. At Ferrari we follow orders'. Well shit, that's cleared up the situation! Clearly Seb's just slow today. The problem isn't with his car.

Seb is rattled and has been for a long time. Long before the pandemic. Out of form, out of love for Formula One, out of luck. He doesn't know what it is and either does his team. Alex pulls along side him down the pit straight on the outside for turn one. Seb moves towards the young RedBull pilot and 180mph trying to scare him of the track. It doesn't spook him into lifting and Sergio is now behind Seb under his rear wheels. Forcing Alex too far to the left would leave a gap for him on the inside so Seb keeps to the right. Racing into the turn one corkscrew Alex is half a length ahead, just the perfect angle for a lunge! Alex is nearly infant of Seb and expects the Ferrari to break at the same point he always does. Instead he gets a whack in his sidepod hard enough to bang his head against the carbon fibre and foam headrest and steers instinctively into the skid the impact caused. Seb has his hands out of the cockpit in disbelief while escaping the scene of the incident. On the radio to his engineer and broadcast to the world, 'Did you see what he did! He turned in on me!' Seb might get away with it if he still has any luck left. Into turn one he hardly braked at all. To keep his place he lined up his Ferrari's sidepod with that of Alex's RedBull and with one big shove at the moment of impact he sent his young rival sliding into the traction less dirt and marbles.

Charles is now fallen back to follow another bizarre strategy call from Ferrari. Sergio in his Racing Point is right behind Seb with the Renault's not far behind and Alex's RedBull. It's another call from Ferrari that infuriates their fans but the switch is made on the front straight. To try and keep the Racing Point behind them both Charles keeps to the right and slows to allow Seb past into turn one. Seb is fighting to keep the faster, Mercedes powered, Racing Point behind as they go three wide into turn one. Charles silently holds his temper as he looses two places to this idiot idea. Seb tries to run Sergio wide but the Racing Point driver is wise to it, Seb can't risk taking another driver out like he did Alex. The corkscrew of turn one switches right to left into turn two. With a nudge in the side and an extended middle finger Sergio is past Seb and thanks to Ferrari has gained two places. Charles hears the static in his ear of a radio message about to come his way. 'Charles. Change of plan. Seb picked up damage when Alex turned into him. Catch him up and get past.'

Lap 55 - 70 Lewis - Max - Sergio - Seb - Charles - Alex - Esteban - Daniel - Valtteri - Carlos

Daniel is now chasing his teammate. After finishing second at Bathurst he's chasing another good result. If he can catch the damaged cars of Seb and Alex. It was Renualt's first podium since their return to Formula One and Daniel's first at his home Grand Prix. The Renault boys are under strict orders not to crash into each other as they did in Bathurst resulting in Esteban retiring with another wreck from team mate contact. Both drivers have some history of crashing with teammates, wether as villain or victim, and here they are again fighting each other while pulling closer to Alex's battle damaged RedBull. Valtteri isn't far behind in his Mercedes so it's time to get past. Esteban passes Alex's RedBull on the front straight followed closely by Daniel. Using DRS on every straight enough stretch of tarmac Daniel is now under Esteban's rear wing heading onto the back straight. Daniel would've sent it by now but there's a lack of trust between teammates. He isn't sure if Esteban has checked his mirrors and knows he's there.

Daniel holds down the radio button to tell his engineer what's about to happen, 'I'm coming through on the inside at the end of the straight. Not sure if he knows I'm here.' Racing down the back straight they both have DRS open as does the RedBull of Alex ahead. Esteban has an idea, 'Tell Daniel we should work together to catch this RedBull and the Ferrari. Slipstream each other on these straights.' Into the sharp left from back straight to front straight Daniel takes the apex as Esteban yields his palace, moving out the way just enough. A gesture of good faith in his teammate that he won't wreck him. Daniel hears Esteban's idea on the radio, Sounds like a good plan. Let's see if we can race close together without making a mess. The extra speed on the straights will get us past Alex and keep Valtteri behind.' Esteban is in Daniel's draft and holds the racing line as Daniel moves to the left just enough to let him by. Through the high speed, twisting lap of Sepang the two Renualt's move as one. Moving in on the RedBull ahead and gaining each others trust. They overtake the RedBull as one and with engine temperatures dangerously high Daniel sets the fastest lap.

Lap 70 - 75 Lewis - Max - Sergio - Charles - Seb - Esteban - Daniel - Valtteri - Alex - Carlos

Lewis is reminding the Mercedes team who is top dog. Last time, at Bathurst Australia, Lewis was unceremoniously punted off the track by his team mate. A move which got Valtteri a qualifying penalty for Sepang and punctured a whole in Lewis' radiator. With Max ten seconds behind and a clear track ahead nothing can stop Lewis from taking the lead of the 2020 championship. Lewis has some classics in his ear Warren G - Regulate at the moment he is rudely interrupted by his team leader, Toto. 'Lewis, telemetry is showing us a problem with the oil pressure. Might be nothing, we aren't sure. Have you noticed anything change in the last lap?' Lewis checks the gauges on his digital steering wheel starting the penultimate lap. 'Looks a little low but there's only two laps left. These engines are bullet proof.' Lewis is on the final lap when he squeezes the accelerator and feels the car slow. The revs fall from a screaming 20,000 to a sickening clunk of pistons crashing into cylinder head. He looks in his mirrors and sees what he expected, a stream of oily smoke bellowing out of one of his exhausts. Lewis pulls the radio wire out of his helmet as he pulls over to the side of the circuit. The marshals spray the burning left bank of the Mercedes V10 with foam as Lewis climbs from the cockpit and fights the urge to throw his steering wheel at Max as he steals the lead.

Max takes the checkered flag. After been second to Lewis most of the day he is gifted the win on the final lap and punches the air. He can see his team cheer from the pit lane through the oily haze on his visor and can hear them too. After the heat of two hours of battle Max notices just how quiet the circuit is without fans. He can even hear the marshals clap on his victory lap.

Sergio gets the blazing pink rocket home in second place for another podium finish. The Racing Point engineers have done a sterling job to create a Mercedes inspired race car. Hopefully they know how to develop it over the season. This would've been an even better result for Racing Point if Lance hadn't been caught up in the shunt with Seb and Valtteri.

In third is Ferrari's number two Charles. Ferrari have always had a clear number one and number two role within their team but there's a feeling that might change after today. Shots have been fired and Charles won the team battle with his number one team mate finishing seventh .

The Renault's had a strong finish and found some team spirit. Both Esteban and Daniel where in danger of becoming better known for colliding with team mates all too often. They put this right today with high risk strategy of slipstreaming each other to move closer to the Ferrari of Seb and eventually take him. They showed trust and bravery in each other to race so closely and tremendous skill not to end up in a shunt.

The other points finishers are Alex, who was a victim of a robust defence from Seb. There's sure to be a qualifying penalty for Seb after he lunged into the side of Alex and damaged both cars in the process. There's also points for McLaren in ninth and tenth.

Malaysian Grand Prix Result - Top 10

Max - Sergio - Charles - Esteban - Daniel - Valtteri - Seb - Alex - Carlos - Lando

Standings after round 2

Sergio is the surprise leader after Lewis' engine blew up on the final lap. Consistency is vital to winning the Championship and is one of Sergio's strengths. If Racing Point can develop their car they could have a great year.

1. Sergio (Racing Point) 33

2. Valtteri (Mercedes) 32

3. Daniel (Renault) 30

4. Max (RedBull) 26

5. Charles (Ferrari) 25

6. Lewis (Mercedes) 13

7. Esteban (Renault) 12

8. Alex (Red Bull) 10

9. Lance (Racing Point) 8

10. Seb (Ferrari) 6

-. Carlos (McLaren) 6

12. Kimi (Alfa Romeo) 2

13. George (Williams) 1

14. Lando (McLaren) 1

* Max got 1 point for pole position

* Daniel got 1 point for fastest lap

Constructors Championship

Mercedes look like the cream of the crop once more despite an indifferent start to 2020. There biggest threat seems to be Racing Point who they supply technology too, so should pose a lesser threat than Ferrari who have plenty of problems this year. The biggest improvement seems to be Renault who along with racing point could challenge for wins this year.

1. Mercedes 46

2. Renault 42

3. Racing Point 41

4. Red Bull 36

5. Ferrari 31

6. McLaren 7

7. Alfa Romeo 2

8. Williams 1

9. Alpha Tauri 0

-. Haas 0