The 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix could be a sign of things to come. Fernando Alonso dominated the race with a level of maturity that you would not come to expect from a 23 year old.

Renault, and in particular Fernando Alonso looked quick all weekend, just as they had done in Melbourne. Alonso took pole comfortably whilst team mate secured a solid third on the grid.

The start of the race was uneventful compared to previous getaways in Sepang, but the level of overtaking during the opening lap was to be echoed during the rest of the race. There was bucket loads of it, silencing those who said that overtaking in Formula One was too rare. We saw several key battles on track, notably between Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher, who were wheel to wheel in a thrilling dogfight for over half a lap. Some of the moves were not so clean, Ralf Schumacher and Webber collided at the hairpin that ended the lap, but without causing damage, leading to the epic half lap battle. Webber was again hit at turn 15 on lap 37, this time ending his race, after Giancarlo Fisichella's ill handling Renault hit him in the turn 15 hairpin, just a handful of laps after he was hit at the same point by Ralf Schumacher. Both drivers were summoned to the stewards office after the race. 

Meanwhile, Alonso was cruising away in similar form to his Hungary victory in 2003. He won by over 20 seconds from the impressive Jarno Trulli who scored Toyota's first ever podium finish in F1 by finishing second. Nick Heidfeld blitzed his way up through the field from 10th on the grid to finish on the podium for Williams. "At this stage, I think we have a real chance to fight for the title," Alonso said. "Everything was perfect and we showed in the end that we are the team to beat." Alonso's performance was all the more impressive considering his water bottle failed, depriving the young Spaniard of much needed liquid refreshment during the hottest and most exhausting race on the calendar.

Toyota's success was in stark contrast to the fortunes of fierce Japanese rivals Honda, whose BAR cars both retired on the third lap after suffering engine failures. Jenson Button was highly critical of his team, and seems ever more likely to move away from the outfit in 2006. "Getting an engine to do three laps is not hard, it needs to do the whole race. Compared to last year we have made a huge step back in every area at the moment." said Button. Anthony Davidson, tipped as star of the future was given no chance to impress after stepping in for the sick Takuma Sato in the second BAR. He made a poor getaway and was forced out of the race, again with Honda engine problems.

The McLaren team had an average, but promising race. Juan Pablo Montoya finished fourth, but team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who set the fastest lap of the race, looked on course for a podium until he suffered a tyre failure just after his pit stop, sending him plummeting down the field. He eventually finished ninth, but McLaren expected more from this weekend. "It was disappointing not to be able to take advantage of the durability and pace of our Michelin tyres" admitted team boss Ron Dennis. "On the positive side Kimi's fastest lap and Juan Pablo's fourth place despite his problems are a small but worthwhile consolation, and we are already looking forward to Bahrain."

Red Bull again impressed, with Coulthard becoming the most successful British driver in terms of points, by finishing sixth, while team mate Christian Klien backed him up with a solid eighth place, less than a second behind world champion Michael Schumacher, who was slow and surprisingly off key the whole weekend. If this is a true representative of the Ferrari F2004M's pace, then Ferrari need to get their new car ready, and quick, because the speed of the Renault's has already racked them up 26 points compared to Ferrari's meagre tally of 10. To put that into perspective, Ferrari are behind Toyota, and new boys Red Bull Racing, who seem to have given the ex-Jaguar team the wings they so desperately needed. To make matters worse for Ferrari, Rubens Barrichello was forced to retire seven laps from the finish, after his tyres degraded to a point that they were unusable. 

"This was a very disappointing race" said technical director Ross Brawn. "We had been optimistic that track conditions might suit us during the race, but that did not happen. We were not competitive today, so I think we and our technical partners must look at what can be done over the next few weeks and months, to put us back where we need to be, because clearly we were not good enough today". The chances of Ferrari bringing their new F2005 car to Bahrain are surely much higher now.

Many people claimed that 2003 was the 'changing of the guard' in Formula One, with young talent such as Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen breaking through. However 2005 could well be the year when the 'old guard' Michael Schumacher, finally loses his post, and if Renault continue with their winning ways, they could well snatch the constructors championship from Ferrari. There is a long way to go, but things are changing in Formula One, and that can only be a good thing. TV audiences will start flocking back to a sport they one branded 'boring' if we see any more races like this one.