McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen has denied reports that he has signed a contract with Ferrari.

”I have not signed a new contract with anybody,” an exasperated Kimi said upon his arrival in Malaysia. “This Ferrari thing is written again and again, but there is nothing new.”

McLaren have already signed Fernando Alonso. However, the team insists Alonso is a partner for Kimi rather than a replacement.

“We have made no particular secret of the fact that we want Kimi to stay with us,” McLaren’s managing director Martin Whitmarsh said.

“We have got one Champion in the car next year and it would be nice to have a second with Kimi taking the title and being in the car alongside Fernando.”

Just like David Coulthard Felipe Massa will lose ten places at Sepang.

David’s engine gave away after Alonso won and had finshed the race hence he incurred the penalty.

Massa’s engine will be changed as Ferrari see a problem with it, hence he too will start ten places back in the grid form where he qualifies.

Formula One ‘s Malaysian Grand Prix is Scheduled for March 19 2006

The Sepang F1 International Circuit is the venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix.The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, who also designed the Formula One circuits in Shanghai and Bahrain. The circuit, raced in a clockwise direction, is 3.44 miles.

Look at the sidebar for the countdown to the race

Circuit length 5.54 kilometres (3.44 miles)

Turns 15

Lap record 1’34.223 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW, 2004)

View the Sepang Circuit Map

Jenson Button in Action

Schumacher led the race from the start, but a well planned pit stop gave alonso the win.On Lap 8 Massa spinned on turn one missed Alonso by a whisker who was ahead of him. Massa remained third inspite of losing a lot of time. By lap 15 schumacher had extended his lead to 6 seconds, but after 1st round of pit stops, Alonso reduced the lead to 2.5 seconds. On lap 39 Alonso was among back-markers and went to the pits. His stop took 7.7 seconds. Alonso got out of the pits wheel to wheel with Micheal but just managed to pass him.It was here that the race was won. Nico Rosberg was the surprise element starting his carrier with a great result. During the race he overtook experienced contenders like Coulthard and Klien

Bahrain Grand Prix result:

1. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:29.46.205
2. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari +1.246 seconds
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes at +19.360
4. Jenson Button (GB) Honda +19.992
5. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes +37.048
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-Cosworth +41.932
7. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth +1:03.043
8. Christian Klien (Aut) RedBull-Ferrari +1:06.771
9. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari +1:09.907
10. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Ferrari +1:15.541
11. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Cosworth +1:25.997
12. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1 lap
13. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1 lap
14. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1 lap
15. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1 lap
16. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1 lap
17. Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland-Toyota 2 laps
18. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 4 laps
Retired Yuji Ide (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 22 laps
Retired Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 28 laps
Retired Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 36 laps
Retired Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland – Toyota 43 laps

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg(Williams Cosworth), 1:32.408

Reactions

FERNANDO ALONSO
It was the only opportunity to win the race and I was going for it

KIMI RAIKKONEN
“This is a great result after the disappointment of yesterday, but we have known that the car was very strong all weekend. We thought that we had a chance to score some points today, even though we were starting from the back of the grid, but to get a podium is fantastic, The first few laps were crucial to this result, and luckily I managed to overtake a lot of cars at the first corner; I was up to 13th by lap two even though the cars in front were all lighter than me. We then gained some more places later on as a result of our strategy. The outcome is even more important to the whole team, who have been working so hard throughout the winter, as we didn’t know where we were after testing and everyone had been saying that we were struggling. However we really have improved over the past few weeks. It proves that we are competitive and if not for yesterday we could have been even better.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“I have not really been totally comfortable with the set up of my car all weekend, which was clear during all the practice sessions. Obviously I am a little disappointed finishing in fifth as I know that the car could do so much more, but it just wasn’t working for me this weekend. However it was a steady race and for the team to get two cars finishing in the points could be very important later in the season. The four points I have scored are good considering the circumstances. I am now looking forward to the next race in Malaysia, where we can improve further on these results.”

Name Car Nat Points
1 Fernando Alonso Renault Spa 18
2 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Ger 11
3 Jenson Button Honda GB 11
4 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault Ita 10
5 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes Col 9
6 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes Fin 6
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari Brz 4
8 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth Aus 3
9= Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber Can 2
9= Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth Ger 2
11= Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari Aut 1
11= Ralf Schumacher Toyota Ger 1

Updated after Malaysian Grand Prix