Both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have each been penalised for blocking Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso during qualifying at Sepang and moved back five places on the grid.

McLaren gracefully accepted their punishment and released the following statement: “We accept the stewards’ decision but would like to add that neither Lewis nor Heikki impaired any of their competitors deliberately.”

The final grid positions are below for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m 35.748s
2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m 36.230s
3. Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m 36.711s
4. Robert Kubica BMW 1m 36.727s
5. Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m 36.753s
6. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m3 7.009s
7. Fernando Alonso Renault 1m 38.450s
8. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m 36.613s *
9. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m 36.709s *
10. Timo Glock Toyota 1m 9.656s
11. Jenson Button Honda 1m 35.208s
12. David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m 35.408
13. Nelson Piquet Jr Renault 1m 35.562s
14. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1m 35.622s
15. Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m 35.648s
16. Nico Rosberg Williams 1m35.670s
17. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m 36.240s
18. Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m 36.677s
19. Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m 37.087s
20. Adrian Sutil Force India 1m 37.101s
21. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m 37.481s
22. Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m 36.388s **

* 5 place penalty given
** 10 place penalty given from last race

You can now get this Lewis Hamilton baseball cap for half price!

Our friends at Grand Prix Legends are now selling this cap for £12.49 instead of £24.99, that’s a saving of £12.50!

The cap is mainly silver but peaked with a red brim which continues around the edge and side of the cap to become an embroidered Union Jack logo. Lewis’ name is embroidered across the peak and there is a large Mercedes-Benz logo on the front. The cap has an adjustable strap on the back and is perfect for any fans of Lewis Hamilton or British Formula 1 racing.

Click here for more details.

Not only did our very own Lewis Hamilton win the first Grand prix of the season in Australia last weekend, he also completed the fastest lap of the day late in the afternoon practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang today.

Lewis finished with a time of 1.35.055 seconds, 0.151 seconds clear of Felipe Massa who came in second with Kimi Raikkonen finishing a further 0.222 seconds in third.

Things are looking good for qualifying tomorrow!!

Timings from the first practice at Sepang, for the Malaysian Grand Prix:

1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:35.392
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.459
3. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.556
4. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:36.578
5. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.626
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:37.022
7. Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 1:37.034
8. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:37.218
9. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:37.282
10. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:37.540
11. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:37.649
12. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:37.649
13. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:37.776
14. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:37.782
15. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.219
16. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:38.232
17. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:38.707
18. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.798
19. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:39.046
20. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 1:40.178
21. Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 1:40.351
22. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:41.269

Timings from the second practice at Sepang, for the Malaysian Grand Prix:

1. Hamilton 1:35.055
2. Massa 1:35.206
3. Raikkonen 1:35.428
4. Button 1:36.037
5. Vettel 1:36.474
6. Trulli 1:36.493
7. Kovalainen 1:36.512
8. Kubica 1:36.671
9. Fisichella 1:36.671
10. Nakajima 1:36.838
11. Barrichello 1:36.879
12. Rosberg 1:36.908
13. Heidfeld 1:37.106
14. Alonso 1:37.328
15. Piquet 1:37.331
16. Webber 1:37.346
17. Glock 1:37.512
18. Sutil 1:37.614
19. Sato 1:39.021
20. Davidson 1:39.361
21. Bourdais no time
22. Coulthard no time

Lewis Hamilton’s book - “My Story” has just been released for the first time in paperback.

The recommended retail price is £7.99 but Amazon are selling it for only £5.59 new, at the time of writing. Here at Lewis-Hamilton.org.uk we’ve read it and its a great account of his life and career to date. We recommend it for any serious Lewis fans!

Great news! From next season (2009) Formula One TV coverage will move from ITV to BBC. This is fantastic news as it means that the races won’t be interrupted by those annoying ad breaks at crucial moments. The 5 year deal heralds the return of the sport to BBC 12 years since ITV started showing the races. Although no official announcements have been made regarding the cost of the deal, its rumoured to be around the £200m mark.

But what we want to know here at Lewis-Hamilton.org.uk is will the BBC be showing the races in high definition? Unlike ITV, the BBC has a high definition channel  and although no official announcement has been made we can only hope that they will. We can’t imagine a sport more suited for the glorious world of high def TV, and are eagerly anticipating seeing Lewis’s McClaren blazing round the track in full screen high definition glory!

More details here.