Will Red Bull be dominant again at the Malaysian Grand Prix?
Current Formula 1 world champion Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel started his title defence in a brilliant way, winning the 2011 season opening Australian Grand Prix in emphatic fashion.
He was unmatched throughout the race weekend and second placed Lewis Hamilton was more than 22 seconds behind him at the end of the race. There will be a lot of pressure on the rival teams to bounce back in the upcoming race in Malaysia and challenge the
reigning champions.
Since the start of the pre-season testing at Valencia, there has been no stopping the Red Bull racing team. However, the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes GP and Renault have been optimistic of their chances for the remainder of the season.
Red Bull are facing only one problem. Their Kinetic Energy Recovery System is still not functioning properly. The team opted to race without the power boost system in Australia, but they realise its importance for the upcoming race.
The Sepang circuit has two long straights, which will make the race interesting as there will be a lot of overtaking opportunities. The Drag Reduction System and KERS will play a crucial part, providing straight-line speed to the cars. It will be a big boost
for the team if they manage to get all of their systems working ahead of the race day in Malaysia.
The team which proved to be closest to the reigning champions in terms of pace were McLaren. Both drivers of the British team Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were consistent during the first race and ended the race with good points. Hamilton finished on
the podium with a second place finish whereas his teammate managed to end sixth after a drive-through penalty.
This was a very good result for the British team, as they did not have the pace and reliability compared to their rivals until the final pre-season test session at Barcelona. However, they sorted their issues out very quickly and prepared a strong car for
the 2011 season.
The other team which surprised their opponents was Renault as driver Vitaly Petrov finished third in the race. His teammate Nick Heidfeld did not have an ideal start to the season, as he could not pick any point. It will be important for the team to perform
consistently and finish in points regularly.
Before the 2011 season officially kicked off, Ferrari were the only team close to Red Bull. It appeared as if the scarlet car would post a serious challenge to the reigning champions.
Things did not turn out to be as expected for the Italian team though, as they had an unimpressive start to the season. Although Fernando Alonso managed to finish the race in fourth place, the team did not have the speed to win. Felipe Massa was struggling
to finish in points, but eventually managed to do so with the help of some retirements and penalties to other drivers.
One team which promised a lot during the winter testing was Mercedes. However, the German giants had a lot of technical issues with their car, which did not allow them to exhibit their potential in Australia.
Both drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were below par during the qualifiers and were forced to retire from the race following different accidents.
Malaysia will be a different circuit altogether and it will give a true picture of the competitiveness of all teams for the remainder of the season.
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