Grand Prix 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Typical F1.
You wait months for a race and then 2 come along in the space of a few weeks.

This weekend will see the 13th race at the Sepang circuit; will it be unlucky for some?
For a most excellent circuit write-up, see Galahad's musings here, along with enough stat's and data to satisfy the most ardent of nerds: Sepang International Circuit

2009 is remembered for the later start and torrential rain which resulted in the race being red flagged after 33 laps; making it only the fifth race in F1 history to be stopped before 75% of the distance had been completed.

Ferrari and McLaren will no doubt be aiming to make it into Q2 after their amateurish mistakes last year.
With rain forecast for the weekend though, the chances of one or more of the top drivers making a mistake is fairly high.

This race is probably make or break for HRT.
If they don't manage to qualify within 107% of the fastest time in Q1 and are once again stopped from participating in the Grand Prix, then you have to assume it's all over for them.

So, lots to look forward to. Let's hope it's not a Red Bull walkover and qualifying is a lot closer than Australia.

 

[EvilWhippet]

uhuhh

I would have more opinions but...

night all

 

[MCLS]

 

[Stevi555]

glad you folks noticed

It was a weird session, with three similar failures across two different teams. Red Bulls are looking good as always

Yeah I got to agree EvilW, those failures look ominous. Can't get over the amount of marbling going on. If this is what we can expect on race day, we're in for one hell of an interesting race on Sunday...

 

[Stevi555]

Nite guys, catch a quick nap and see how FP2 goes.....

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

That session well was a bit bizzare, could be very intresting for this weekend. My hot tip is that the car who wins will be the one that still has all four wheels still attached and moving.

The the standings are quite clear either, Webber almost 2 sec clear, Vettel midfeld, just all a bit wierd atm.

Have a question to ask though. looking at the REdBull and the reasons given to as why the front looks so close to the ground (The rake of the car, Front being lower to the ground then the rear) and how ridiculosly high the rear of the car is, Ive never noticed it before tbh last season or from the first race however.
Now im not an expert with setup, I struggle to setup a very basic saloon car on Forza, but i gather that running the rear higher to the ground then the front, helps with turn-in, and the transfer of weight from rear to front on breaking. But is it possible using my very basic knowelge of Ground effect, that REdBull have created a very very crude ground effect system? Is it possible that dispite other blocking the air going under the car from the sides that they could still create a small vaccum effect under the car?

 

[Stevi555]

Andrea, that's an intrresting thought, ....crude? I'd think so. But yeah the first sessions got me lost at the moment..
See how this session goes...

 

[johnnoble1990]

The Ant is back

Great Banter as always.

 

[johnnoble1990]

Another very interesting session. The big question is can Mclaren close the gap? The second big question is, will it matter in the typical Sepang weather. The fastest car will likely be the most boat like. Wonder if Red Bull might try their flexible front sail.

 

[teabagyokel]

Another very interesting session. The big question is can Mclaren close the gap? The second big question is, will it matter in the typical Sepang weather. The fastest car will likely be the most boat like. Wonder if Red Bull might try their flexible front sail.

I think McLaren are cheating and using a banned F-mast though!

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Have a question to ask though. looking at the REdBull and the reasons given to as why the front looks so close to the ground (The rake of the car, Front being lower to the ground then the rear) and how ridiculosly high the rear of the car is, Ive never noticed it before tbh last season or from the first race however.
Now im not an expert with setup, I struggle to setup a very basic saloon car on Forza, but i gather that running the rear higher to the ground then the front, helps with turn-in, and the transfer of weight from rear to front on breaking. But is it possible using my very basic knowelge of Ground effect, that REdBull have created a very very crude ground effect system?

As mentioned in this thread http://cliptheapex.com/threads/red-bulls-front-wing-revisited.2332/page-6 I tried last season to replicate in a CAD drawing the lowering of the front wing by raising the rear ride height, but it didn't work. Simple geometry dictated that with the front wing being so close to the hinging point (ie the front wheels, and the front ride height is already pretty low anyway), even quite dramatic raising of the rear end produced relatively little lowering of the nose. The wing is definitley flexing and/or twisting forwards in my opinion. Any improved ground effect they are getting is, I suspect, purely from the front wing itself and not from the rest of the bodywork.

Anyway, whatever is happening with the Red Bulls, it seems that the Mclarens were a lot closer to them in FP2, so it could be an interesting race (even more so if it rains, as expected).

 

[Stevi555]

Yeah, MM look good. Rain certain to shake things up and the marbling from the tyres over the two sessions was really bad. Between that and turn 11 causing problems for quite a few especially in FP1, it's hard to predict what's going to happen.
Gotta go, been up all night lol....

 

[snowy]

The rake is a herring. The only way they could make their totally ordinary looking car with a front wing end plate running horizontal to dramatically angled down and nearly touching the ground, would be to have active suspension. And as we all know they don't have that.

I noticed that the McLaren front wing is running a lot closer to the ground, I don't know if that is down to the higher speed though...

McLaren seemed to be holding their on full fuel at the end of the second session, though Jenson's times appeared to fall off a cliff and the Red Bull's didn't. Lewis's times dropped into the 1m45's as Mark Webber went into the 1m43's so there is quite a contrast in wear. Let's keep our fingers crossed there is a competitive race.

 

[snowy]

Long runs on the option tyre:

Vettel
18 1:44.041
19 1:44.042
20 1:44.046
21 1:44.379
22 1:44.268
23 1:44.216
24 1:44.661
25 1:44.431
26 1:44.438
27 1:45.489
28 1:43.993
29 1:45.206
30 P 2:20.506

Webber
16 1:44.636
17 1:44.714
18 1:44.430
19 1:43.854
20 1:44.247
21 1:44.141
22 1:46.553
23 1:43.591
24 P 1:59.224

Button
15 1:46.384
16 1:45.451
17 1:44.580
18 1:44.503
19 1:44.074
20 1:44.490
21 1:44.680
22 1:44.588
23 1:44.758
24 1:45.975
25 1:46.938
26 1:48.748
27 P 1:57.558

Hamilton
17 1:44.539
18 1:44.175
19 1:44.223
20 1:44.477
21 1:45.583
22 1:46.030
23 P 2:12.017

Massa
22 1:43.538
23 1:43.754
24 1:53.541
25 1:43.584
26 1:44.307
27 1:44.830
28 1:45.519
29 1:53.944
30 1:47.014
31 P 2:15.927

Alonso
21 1:45.605
22 1:46.684
23 1:45.910
24 1:46.380
25 1:47.834
26 1:52.009
27 P 2:43.219

 

[teabagyokel]

Are there any mitigating circumstances such as traffic going on there. I find this intriguing:

[Vettel]
27 1:45.489
28 1:43.993
29 1:45.206

Suggests there's more going on than tyres!

 

[Brogan]

I noticed that the McLaren front wing is running a lot closer to the ground

Expect flexible front wings to be banned any time then

 

[FB]

One Hispania inside 107% That's like a race win for them

 

[snowy]

I saw both Jenson and Sebastian in traffic, also Jenson came straight back out after his long run. I presume he was on the same set of tyres, his times were unpleasant!

 

[johnnoble1990]

Looking at those times from Vettel, the drop-off from the tyres seems to be equal to the speed gained from getting rid of fuel. If dry, do you reckon we will see 1 lap runs in the shootout, possibly Q1 and 2 as well? Surely if the tyres are going to drop-off that quickly you are better just going low fuel, new tyres.

 

[Incubus]

What the hell is Coulthard on about???
"I never really used up my drinking liquid during the race because 800ml represent extra-weight and it affects the performance"...
It's still the same bloody weight in the car whether the water's inside his bottle or his body isn't it?

 

[FB]

Hispania close to 107% in FP3