Today’s race was exciting for 30 laps, then the rain came and by lap 32 the race was over. I’m pleased Brawn GP, BMW Sauber and Toyota were on the podium, and not just McLaren and Ferrari, but what a crazy way to finish. Jensen Button and Brawn GP have won both here and Australia but have yet to finish under racing conditions.
Tropical Malaysia routinely sees thunderstorms at this time of year, especially towards the end of the day. Yet the race organizers decided to start the race two hours later at 5pm instead of the regular 3pm start, so that European TV audiences could see the race at a better time and higher revenues could be demanded from advertisers.
Conditions would have had to be perfect to finish the race before sunset. With the onset of rain halfway through the race and the delay it caused, there was never a chance to finish. By the time the rain had reduced in intensity it was getting too dark to restart. Surely, Formula 1 management must have foreseen this situation. It did rain every day this week. The biggest losers were the TV audiences who didn’t get to see a full race.