After the unpredictable grid and finishing order of Australia, Panasonic Toyota Racing was left disheartened; the podium position ended after the first pit stop and 0 was alongside Toyota’s name on the scoreboard. They headed to Malaysia with ice packs and chocolate ice cream in the suitcase with a feeling of optimism in the air, could Malaysia be the teams big break?

Well they had the best possible start to the weekend with Ricardo Zonta’s P1 in the first practice session, matched with third in the second session which gave TotallyToyotaF1 supporters something to smile about. Come the end of the day Zonta completed the most miles of any driver, valuable data I hear you cry, as this would prove very important come race day.

Ralf and Jarno continued this pace on Saturday morning with Jarno going into qualifying one having set the fastest time of the whole weekend in the final practice session, Ralf only a few tenths behind. Toyota was displaying speed and pace by the bucket load and everyone was wondering if they could beat Renault in a straightforward dash in qualifying.

Unlike Australia the sun was shinning and Toyota had turned up the heat. In the first qualifying session Jarno set a blistering pace and was only beaten by Renault’s Fernando Alonso to first. Ralf made a small error in the first sector but was still able to set the fifth fastest time, leaving everyone guessing if either driver could bag pole position on Sunday. Elsewhere B.A.R’s wild card Takuma Sato was replaced by tester and highly rated Anthony Davidson. With the rumours that Sauber’s Jacques Villeneuve could be replaced but Anthony this season, due to Jacques’ pace being too slow in everyway possible, this was Anthony’s prime location to show the world that he wasn’t just a good tester, but he’s a good racer. Anthony would end up qualifying behind his teammate Jenson Button but ahead of Jacques at the end of Saturday’s run.

Sunday morning broke; the sun was still shining and the Toyota team awoke to a day that could spell history and celebration for the team. In the final qualifying session Ralf was able to better his time and leap frog McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen for fourth, but was then beaten by Williams’ Mark Webber; Ralf would therefore remain fifth on the grid. Again Jarno went out and set an amazing time to take provisional pole position for the race, maybe this was it for Fernando’s Renault? Well, the qualifying specialist would have to settle for second again as Fernando was able to keep a three-tenths margin at the end of his lap. So Panasonic Toyota Racing was left overjoyed with their second and fifth place positions, the strongest grid slots since the Japanese Grand Prix back in 2003.

The race would become a nail bighting combination of emotion and excitement, as Jarno held second Ralf was able to remain in the top eight before the first pit stop. With Fernando’s Renault walking off into the heat haze, Jarno had learnt from Australia that the race is won in the last 20 laps, not the first 20. At the end of his first pit stop he was able to put a distance between himself and championship leader Giancarlo Fisichella behind and stabilize the gap ahead to Fernando. Behind them, B.A.R would kill two birds with one stone when both cars retired on the same lap with blown engines, not the way to set out to win a world championship. Also Kimi’s McLaren developed a puncture just after his first pit stop, forcing him to limp round most of the lap to change his tyre. With the new rules he wasn’t allowed to add fuel and change a tyre at the same time, so all chance of a possible podium was truly blown out the window. Jacques’ weekend didn’t get at all better either, when he slid off the racetrack under breaking; it’s easy to forget he did beat Michael Schumacher to the title a few years back. Ralf’s history with Mark Webber at this track was also set to receive a second chapter as the two began to hunt down the ill-handling Renault of Giancarlo for third. Into the last corner all three were tucked up behind each other before Ralf made a late dive and four wheel drifted into the side of Mark’s Williams, this allowed the sister Williams of Nick Heidfeld to move up a spot as the three headed down the main straight side by side. Ralf ended up as the loser whereas Mark after having to re-overtake Nick was able to hold his position. A few laps later Mark would close the gap to Giancarlo’s Renault and in a desperate attempt to pass squeezed him up and over his Williams sending both cars into retirement. This moved Nick up to third with Ralf stable in fourth.

In the closing stage of the race the nerves began to kick in with Jarno holding station in second, with Montoya’s McLaren having got past Ralf in the last of the pit stops back in fifth. Come the end Fernando Alonso gave Renault their second win of the season, making him the new championship leader. Behind, Jarno Trulli took a historic first podium for Toyota, this would be a very emotional time for the Italian having learnt that a close friend of his had died on Friday prior to the race. Then came Nick Heidfeld taking his second career podium in third with Montoya’s McLaren just behind. Ralf Schumacher finished a creditable fifth, giving Panasonic Toyota Racing 12 points for their weekends work. Then came David Coulthard’s Red Bull (Britain’s most successful British driver… on points anyway), a frustrated Michael Schumacher with his second hand Ferrari in seventh and Christian Klien put in a solid performance for the final points paying positions.

This was a race where the temperature gage was as important as the championship points, but for Panasonic Toyota Racing smiles and tears of joy all round as their winter testing had paid off, they had finally (almost) done the business. Technical Director Mike Gascoyne rounded off the weekend stating the team is now looking for wins, and feels it’s a realistic target if they can continue to improve the TF105 performance, I’m sure that will please many TotallyToyotaF1 fans worldwide!

Next stop Bahrain in two weeks time, so theres plenty of time to celebrate and recover for what should be another breathtaking race.

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