Grand Prix 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Well round 3 is now upon us as the second part of a double header with Australia. Rain in Sepang will be a mixed blessing as we will all be hoping for less than last year but enough to perhaps once again shake up the order.

For the first practice session Force India will once again be running Paul Di Resta and it will be Liuzzi's turn to give up his car for the session. The British driver impressed a lot of people with his initial runs in Australia finishing 11th on the time sheets at the end of his session and will be getting further valuable experience behind the wheel of an F1 car. Di Resta has been associated with Mercedes through Mclaren so it will be inresting to see how this relationship will develop. Lotus will be running their Malaysian test driver, Fairuz Fauzy, in first practice which makes a lot of sense for the Malay backed team. Fauzy was quite impressive in winter testing and despite problems with the car posted times that were not far off those of his more experienced team mates.

For the front runners, Red Bull be hoping to turn pace into finishes, Button has claimed this track will not suit Mclaren, Ferrari will look to build on a strong start and Mercedes will be desperate not to let those three teams start to build up a points lead.

In the midfield there is a real battle developing between Force India and Williams for lead of the chasing pack. Both teams have looked strong so far this season and will be hoping they can get both of their cars to cross the finish line.

Towards the back of the field Kobyashi will be praying his car stays in one piece and that he can get the chance to show some of the speed that impressed so many people just a few months ago, as the Saubers and the Torro Rosso cars battle not to be the first team caught and passed by one of the newbies.

And right back in the cheep seats, Lotus will be hoping that the troubles that plagued Jarno Trulli in Australia have now been fixed and that both cars will make the start this time. Virgins problems have been well documented and after HRT managed to get one of their cars home and safe they will once again be looking to build on that.

If the weather is poor and the race is one of high attrition it's not out of the question that one of the new teams could score a point this weekend.

Let's just hope we get to see the whole race this year.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

The forecast is not promising and with the late start, we could once again see an abandoned race.

I get that Bernie wants to introduce some artificial excitement by holding races in the monsoon season but a 1600 start is just pushing it too far.
All it will take is a delayed start or a stop and some black clouds and once again visibility will be too poor to start/continue the race.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Conditions for Friday practices are looking a bit mixed, P1 dry / light rain but practice 2 is looking very likely to be getting heavy rain.

I do wonder given the forcast for the 3 days if they will consider pulling the race start time further forward in the hope of drier weather in the hotter parts of the day when the track can dry quicker at least if there is a sudden downpour and a bigger window for a restart if necessary. Not good for european TV but i'd rather that than no race at all.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Because the timing is great for European TV as it is? The whole race is channel hopping at 10:00 because they're broadcasting an Easter Sunday service.

The schedule is essentially this:

F1Match of the Day (repeat)
Easter ServicesF1
[td]BBC1[/td][td]BBC2[/td]

Now, I don't understand why they don't put the MotD repeat on BBC1 and keep F1 on the same channel, since I doubt that there is anyone nowadays who cannot get BBC2 just as easily as they could get BBC1.

But either way, I wonder how an Easter Sunday morning start is great for audiences in the (sometimes fervent) Christian nations of F1's key audience!

Anyhow, rant over. For now.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

hummm... looks like the red button then and hopefully no break
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

For those of us in North America, here are the broadcast times for this weekend................

~~Friday, 2 April 2010: Practice Session 2, 2am-3:30am, Speed Channel
~~Saturday, 3 April 2010: Qualifying, 4am-5:30am, Speed Channel
~~Sunday, 4 April 2010: Malaysian Grand Prix(Pre-Race Broadcast) 3:30am, Speed Channel
~~Sunday, 4 April 2010: Malaysian Grand Prix, 4am, Speed Channel(w/re-air at 11:30am)


........And you wonder why the Troll(a/k/a Bernie E) isn't so popular amongst North American F1 fans, hmm?
:o :o :censored: :o :o :censored:
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I can imagine being an F1 fan in the US isn't that easy due to the times so I feel for you.
It's bad enough over here with the 2 or 3 races where the times are similar so to have almost a whole season...
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Matthew Little said:
For those of us in North America, here are the broadcast times for this weekend................

~~Friday, 2 April 2010: Practice Session 2, 2am-3:30am, Speed Channel
~~Saturday, 3 April 2010: Qualifying, 4am-5:30am, Speed Channel
~~Sunday, 4 April 2010: Malaysian Grand Prix(Pre-Race Broadcast) 3:30am, Speed Channel
~~Sunday, 4 April 2010: Malaysian Grand Prix, 4am, Speed Channel(w/re-air at 11:30am)


........And you wonder why the Troll(a/k/a Bernie E) isn't so popular amongst North American F1 fans, hmm?
:o :o :censored: :o :o :censored:

I feel for you. Is a regular, bog-standard 1pmGMT race at 9am for you guys then? Anyway, the schedule will probably look like this:

Practice:
Qualifying:
Race:
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Brogan said:
I can imagine being an F1 fan in the US isn't that easy due to the times so I feel for you.
It's bad enough over here with the 2 or 3 races where the times are similar so to have almost a whole season...

It's one of those either/or situations, Brogan..........living on the East Coast(GMT -4), most of the races are usually broadcast btwn. 7am-9am depending on the location, which isn't so bad(and of course, there's also Canada and Brazil which can be broadcast live in the afternoon here instead of in the early morning). :)

It's only the races at the start of the season(Australia, Malaysia, China) and at the end of the season(Singapore, Japan and Korea) where you have to decide whether to watch it live or wait for the same-day tape broadcast............ :o :o :o
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Well Mathew i used to have that dilema when i lived in the twin cities back in the late 90's and 9 times out of ten i went for the live option, so i do feel your pain.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Free Practice 2

Although Lewis Hamilton topped this session and looks very strong, my best guess is the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso appears the strongest car with race fuel on board. Sebastian Vettel no doubt has something up his sleeve for qualifying but he and Mark Webber were suffering from mechanical gremlins. Mark appears to have lost an engine and Seb had problems with his power steering. I'm sure they would feel a lot more comfortable if they had just the one reliability issue, like last year. But this years Red Bull appears to be riddled with gremlins...

Very probable full tank runs in red
With all Lewis' long run on the option tyre, Button and the Merc's were out on the option half way through the session but unfortunately I cannot be sure about the others...

Hamilton
1 14:06:19
2 1:34.954
3 1:43.594
4 1:35.043
5 P 1:44.567
6 12:23.352
7 1:34.765
8 P 1:40.756
9 14:29.192
10 1:34.276
11 1:53.587
12 1:34.175
13 P 1:41.612
[b]14 16:56.709
[color=#FF0000]15 1:40.436
16 1:39.383
17 1:38.995
18 1:39.399
19 1:39.522
20 1:51.481
21 1:39.053
22 1:38.908
23 1:40.885
24 1:39.080
25 1:38.994
26 1:39.102[/color][/b]
27 P 1:46.818

Button
1 14:05:17
2 1:40.498
3 1:35.541
4 1:43.171
5 P 1:50.724
6 17:48.334
7 1:35.401
8 1:45.159
9 P 1:45.190
10 10:53.364
11 1:34.538
12 1:44.192
13 P 1:46.771
14 18:24.604
15 1:39.956
16 1:40.116
17 1:43.679
18 P 1:53.123
[color=#FF0000]19 7:40.032
20 1:40.204
21 1:39.395
22 1:40.049
23 1:39.270[/color]
24 P 1:59.506

Alonso
1 14:05:42
[b]2 1:39.716
[color=#FF0000]3 1:40.041
4 1:39.267
5 1:39.565
6 1:39.832
7 1:39.070
8 1:39.267
9 1:38.971[/color][/b]
10 P 1:50.032
11 P 2:30.915
12 14:00.571
[color=#FF0000]13 1:38.637
14 1:39.231
15 1:43.293
16 1:39.171
17 1:38.827[/color]
18 P 1:51.610
19 2:21.970
[color=#FF0000]20 1:38.637
21 1:38.457
22 1:38.880[/color]
23 P 1:51.520
24 P 2:38.145
25 14:24.761
26 1:35.581
27 1:43.733
28 P 1:43.300
29 5:39.858
30 1:39.677
31 1:40.260
32 1:39.364
33 1:43.318
34 P 2:00.835

Massa
1 14:11:41
[color=#FF0000]2 1:41.462
3 1:39.173
4 1:39.403
5 1:39.486
6 1:48.247
7 1:39.375
8 1:41.600
9 1:39.088
10 1:39.172[/color]
11 P 1:47.203
12 P 2:34.126
13 19:17.207
[color=#FF0000]14 1:45.501
15 1:38.643
16 1:39.294
17 1:42.524
18 1:39.716
19 1:39.344
20 1:39.397
21 1:45.117[/color]
22 P 1:44.271
23 2:27.319
24 1:43.221
25 1:38.603
26 P 1:44.446
27 P 2:31.808
28 12:19.571
29 1:36.602
30 P 1:47.771

Vettel
1 14:06:47
[color=#FF0000]2 1:40.149
3 1:39.126
4 1:40.135
5 1:48.494
6 1:39.214
7 1:39.297[/color]
8 P 1:45.236
9 13:03.812
[color=#FF0000]10 1:40.496
11 1:39.618
12 1:39.066
13 1:39.445[/color]
14 P 1:44.932
15 12:39.184
16 1:34.863
17 1:45.388
18 1:37.583
19 1:34.441
20 P 1:44.463
21 19:41.892
[b]22 1:39.918
[color=#FF0000]23 1:39.015
24 1:44.168
25 1:39.971
26 1:39.298
27 1:39.261[/color][/b]
28 P 1:58.365

Rosberg
1 14:12:01
2 1:36.575
3 1:41.146
4 1:35.351
5 P 1:45.466
6 10:22.899
7 1:48.941
8 1:39.143
9 1:35.145
10 P 1:43.693
11 13:30.898
12 1:34.443
13 1:34.691
14 P 1:43.298
15 11:39.019
[b]16 1:40.155
[color=#FF0000]17 1:40.807
18 1:41.663
19 1:40.222
20 1:39.890
21 1:39.589
22 1:39.695
23 1:40.815
24 1:39.552[/color][/b]
25 P 1:44.985
26 2:17.143
27 1:38.980
28 1:46.393
29 1:48.316
30 P 1:49.353

Schumacher
1 14:11:28
2 1:40.740
3 1:35.681
4 P 1:50.365
5 9:15.759
6 1:35.309
7 P 1:41.950
8 11:49.294
9 1:34.825
10 1:34.674
11 P 1:46.320
12 9:52.759
[color=#FF0000]13 1:39.974
14 1:39.956
15 1:40.057
16 1:40.206
17 1:39.764
18 1:41.798
19 1:40.414[/color]
20 P 1:51.380
21 7:59.847
[b]22 1:39.295
[color=#FF0000]23 1:39.467
24 1:39.619
25 1:40.338
26 1:39.756
27 1:39.486
28 1:39.362
29 1:39.192[/color][/b]
30 P 1:59.136
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Robert Kubica doesn't appear to have strong enough pace to be a major factor in the race at the moment, however when the rain comes who knows what possibilities may arise:

1 14:06:32
2 1:36.012
3 1:45.251
4 1:40.646
5 P 1:43.615
6 12:28.577
7 1:35.825
8 1:49.784
9 1:35.860
10 P 1:44.797
11 6:58.610
12 1:35.706
13 1:43.445
14 1:35.148
15 P 1:42.023
16 11:12.221
17 1:39.523
18 1:40.077
19 1:38.912
20 1:39.553
21 1:41.668
22 1:39.539
23 1:39.387
24 1:39.016
25 P 1:47.426
26 7:29.163
27 1:39.435
28 1:46.618
29 1:39.711
30 1:39.763
31 1:39.859
32 1:40.514
33 1:40.266
34 P 2:05.812
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

snowy said:
But this years Red Bull appears to be riddled with gremlins...
Maybe that's a good thing for the championship?
If it wasn't for the failures, Vettel would be sitting on 50 points now and all the evidence suggests he'd be walking away with it like Button did last year.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

That is so true. We can thank our lucky stars that there is a chink of human frailty in the otherwise indomitable Adrian Newey. :coffee:
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Michael Schumacher is a lot closer to Nico Rosberg here in Malaysia with fuel but still has a deficit of .25 on the short run pace to overcome. Nico needs to continue to make hay while the sun shines.
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

snowy said:
Nico needs to continue to make hay while the sun shines.

Talking of which, will the sun shining be continuing into tomorrow, or will we be in a MONSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON?
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Still a bit surprised as to how Mercedes is performing so poorly. It's become routine now for the Mercs to be four-five tenths off the pace in Practice (which is OK), but then being a whole second or two slower in qualifying. Very discouraging.

I suppose we will have to wait and see till Barcelona for any improvements. Till then, two more races of misery for us Schumi fans! :givemestrength:
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Session 3 ended a few minutes ago; here are the times from that session................

1} Mark Webber(Red Bull/Renault), 1:33.542 sec[17 laps]
2} Lewis Hamilton(Vodafone McLaren/Mercedes), 1:33.559 sec[14 laps]
3} Sebastien Vettel(Red Bull/Renault), 1:33.587 sec[17 laps]
4} Fernando Alonso(Scuderia Ferrari), 1:33.751 sec[19 laps]
5} Michael Schumacher(Mercedes GP), 1:33.992 sec[15 laps]
6} Nico Rosberg(Mercedes GP), 1:34.090 sec[13 laps]
7} Jenson Button(Vodafone McLaren/Mercedes), 1:34.113 sec[16 laps]
8} Felipe Massa(Scuderia Ferrari), 1:34.173 sec[15 laps]
9} Rubens Barrichello(AT&T Williams), 1:34.540 sec[13 laps]
10} Robert Kubica(Renault F1), 1:34.549 sec[17 laps]
11} Adrian Sutil(Force India F1), 1:34.623 sec[11 laps]
12} Sebastien Buemi(Scuderia Toro Rosso), 1:34.673 sec[19 laps]
13} Nico Hulkenburg(AT&T Williams), 1:34.882 sec[13 laps]
14} Vitantonio Liuzzi(Force India Ferrari), 1:34.957 sec[16 laps]
15} Jaime Alguersauri(Scuderia Toro Rosso), 1:35.026 sec[16 laps]
16} Vitaly Petrov(Renault F1), 1:35.076 sec[17 laps]
17} Pedro de la Rosa(BMW Sauber-Ferrari), 1:35.477 sec[18 laps]
18} Kamui Kobayashi(BMW Sauber-Ferrari), 1:36.404 sec[19 laps]
19} Timo Glock(Virgin Racing), 1:37.299 sec[15 laps]
20} Jarno Trulli(Lotus Racing), 1:37.369 sec[16 laps]
21} Heikki Kovalainen(Lotus Racing), 1:38.161 sec[18 laps]
22} Lucas di Grassi(Virgin Racing), 1:38.783 sec[13 laps]
23} Bruno Senna(HRT F1 Team), 1:39.868 sec[19 laps]
24} Karun Chandok(HRT F1 Team), 1:39.895 sec[16 laps]

Fastest Sector Times..................
S1: Alonso, 24.2 sec[gap from P1-P24, 0.9 sec]
S2: Vettel, 30.7 sec[gap from P1-P24, 2.8 sec]
S3:(tie)Webber & Hamilton, 38.1 sec[gap from P1-P24, 2.8 sec]

Fastest Sector & Trap Speeds................
S1:(tie)Button & Hamilton, 287kph
S2: Vettel, 156 kph
S3:(tie)Button & Hamilton, 269kph
Trap: Webber, 300kph

So it would appear that Hamilton, despite just barely being edged out by Webber in the session, is still the proverbial man to beat come qualifying but looking at the times, I wouldn't be surprised if anyone in the top-8 or so qualify P1 for the race, it's been that kind of year so far. :o
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Sebastian's Red Bull is likely to be half a second quicker in qualifying, despite Christian Horner again denying they are using anything crafty on their suspension. There is clearly a discrepency between their qualifying and race pace and Red Bull aren't giving any clues as to what is creating it. It's an "Invisible Pole Syndrom"! :blink:
 
Re: 2010 Malaysian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Once again the sheer folly of holding a race in Malaysia in the late afternoon during the monsoon season is shown.

McLaren and Ferrari made a huge strategic decision by not sending their drivers out to at least get a banker lap in.
I seem to recall we saw this last season. Will they ever learn?

Red Bull look to have an easy race ahead of them with their immediate rivals way back in the last few rows of the grid.

What a shame the fans will be denied a decent race between the front runners.
 
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