John Howett helped to bring a smile back to the face of Timo Glock when he presented him with a Toyota TF108-shaped birthday cake in Malaysia - and Timo immediately cut it up to look like his wrecked car from Melbourne! A spectating Jarno and Kamui Kobayashi enjoyed the joke. Timo had not had much to smile about since the end of the Australian GP.

His 26th birthday was the following Tuesday and he spent it in the middle of a 40-hour nightmare journey to Kuala Lumpur after his connection via Sydney was cancelled. Welcome to the glamour of Formula 1.

Third driver Kamui, meanwhile, enjoyed a successful weekend on the track at Sepang, finishing fifth in Saturday's GP2 Asia feature race and then winning Sunday's sprint encounter by 4secs, from Renault test driver Romain Grosjean.

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After an uncharacteristically chaotic start to the season in Australia, Ferrari hit back strongly in Malaysia by dominating the front row of the grid with Felipe Massa on pole position. Massa led as far as the first pit stops, where he was passed by world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who went on to score a comfortable victory when the Brazilian spun off on lap 30.

BMW Sauber scored its second successive second place, this time with Pole Robert Kubica. With team mate Nick Heidfeld finishing sixth, it meant that the BMWs were the top scorers in Malaysia with 11 points, keeping them in second place in the constructors' championship, with 19 points to McLaren's 24.

In the drivers' championship, Lewis Hamilton's fifth place just behind Jarno retained his early lead in the title race, the Briton now enjoying a three-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld.

Hamilton and team-mate Kovalainen qualified fourth and third but were then adjudged to have impeded Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso as they saved fuel on their slowdown laps. They therefore started eighth and ninth after five place grid penalties.

Hamilton was further handicapped by a 10secs delay at his first pit stop when the retaining pin broke and the team struggled to change the right front wheel.

Red Bull Racing scored its first points of the season when Mark Webber drove a determined race to seventh place. A fuel pump problem meant that the last bit of fuel was not being picked up and the team required Webber to stop earlier than scheduled, costing him an estimated 15 seconds throughout the race and dropping him behind Heidfeld's BMW.

RACE REPORT

Panasonic Toyota Racing celebrated a tremendous fourth place from Jarno Trulli in the Malaysian Grand Prix, round 2 of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship. Team-mate Timo Glock was taken out of the race on the opening lap when he was hit by the Williams of Nico Rosberg.

The Toyota TF108s were competitive throughout the weekend, showing impressive one lap and long run pace in free practice on Friday and allowing Jarno to qualify fifth quickest. Timo, as he did in Australia on his team debut, also made it through to Q3.

Jarno actually started the race third on the grid when both McLaren drivers were penalised five grid places for impeding cars on their qualifying laps. At a tight first corner, the Ferraris got away first and second and Jarno lost places to Robert Kubica's BMW and then Mark Webber's Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren at Turn 2.

"I went a bit wide at the end of the straight," Jarno explained. "I didn't see Nick at all because with these higher protective side head rests, it's hard to see cars at the side of you. We touched a little and I lost a bit of ground."

Jarno ran competitively in the top six to his first pit stop on lap 17 and emerged in front of Webber's Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton stopped two laps later but was handicapped by a problem with his right front wheel and pitted out behind Jarno. McLaren Mercedes team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, however, went one lap further still and emerged just in front of the Toyota.

When Felipe Massa's Ferrari spun out on lap 30 of the 56-lap race, Jarno moved up to fourth place, which he retained at his final stop on lap 40. He was then faced with holding off Hamilton's closing McLaren in the final stint, managing it by just 0.7secs.

"I was battling the McLarens for most of the race," Jarno grinned. "They were slightly quicker than me at times but I never gave up, I was really biting their tails all the way through the race. At the end of the race it was Hamilton's turn to give me a hard time but I really wanted this fourth place for me and the team. I dedicate it to the entire team because they have done a very good job over the winter, have given me the car to fight and the race team did a great job all weekend."

A disappointed Timo explained: "I didn't get a perfect start and had a bit too much wheelspin, then I touched a car, but it was still okay to continue. Then Nico hit me in Turn 14. He seemed quite a long way back on the exit of Turn 13 and I wasn't expecting him to try to overtake. I turned into the corner and he hit me in the right rear corner and broke my suspension. That was the end of my race - frustrating."

Team President John Howett summed up the team performance: "I'm happy. It was good to hold a McLaren off! We achieved what we expected to, fighting among the second batch, but I think BMW are very strong. Jarno lost a place or two at the first corner but the car has been good all weekend. The long runs were very good and although I think we still have to work to get a bit more one lap pace out of the car, we have made progress and I'm encouraged."