Grand Prix 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Someone other than Vettel is leading the Championship!

It may be strange to see, but for the first time since Abu Dhabi 2010 someone other than Sebastian Vettel is top of the Championship after Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix in commanding fashion with Vettel second and a folorn Hamilton falling foul of a safety car which allowed the German through.

Going into Malaysia it seems apparent that Mclaren have the strongest car as they were far and away the strongest team in Australia and it was only after having to fuel save for 90% of the race that let Red Bull get within distance, when Button and Hamilton were at full throttle for the first 8 laps, they pulled away at over a second a lap which provided a comfortable cushion even though it was wiped out by a safety car due to Vitaly Petrov breaking down on the main straight.

But the Australian Grand Prix raised more questions than it did provide answers, the only thing that we learned was that the not quite so new teams are still as bad as they were last season and Mclaren and Red Bull are the two fastest teams. Ferrari had a shocking qualifying but Fernando Alonso managed to drag it kicking and screaming into 5th place which suggests a better race pace compared to qualifying pace while beleaguered Felipe Massa trundled around in midfield like he was on a Sunday drive in the Australian parks.

lotus are the only team where a question mark still remains about the general competitiveness. Roman Grosjean qualified a remarkable third but was taken out early on by Maldando while returning champion Kimi Raikkonnen failed to get out of first qualifying but managed to fight through the field to finish a very strong seventh which suggests that they do have a strong car but need to ally qualifying with race pace if they are to take the fight to the top teams.

In 2011 Malaysia was a race full of pit stops due to the high degradation of the Pirelli tyres, and while the tyres this year are more conservative and stable, high degradation is still to be expecting and several pit stops are going to be the norm with an unpredictable weekend to come. The only thing to expect is the likelihood of a massive shower at some point during the weekend which would no doubt spice things up.

For Galahad's excellent circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/sepang-international-circuit/

 

[mjo]

I suppose starting on the 'dirty' side of the grid won't have a large effect here, as the drivers diagonally cross the pit straight on the racing line?

 

[GermanF1]

I should point out that in pressure situations he has not been as strong like Canada when he spun on the last lap

I guess there was no big pressure on him in the last two races of the 2010 season. He more or less just needed to win them both after winning 3/17 races before that.
As I said I don't like him, but you have to give credit where credit is due. And in order to keep a clean thread, we maybe should move this discussion somewhere else

 

[no-FIAt-please]

This season is so close, only 4 tenths between the first 8!

I take it Hamilton attempted a second flying run but bailed out? I almost thought Button was going to start from row 3 for a minute before he finished his 2nd run. Props to Schumi in 3rd, he really is getting his act together this year, Rosberg has been disappointing this year, he really needs to get points on the board now before Merc lose the advantage of that F-duct/DRS and are out-developed. Interesting that both Perez and Alonso were slower than the Q2 cut-off time, they really should have set some sector times and saved a set of tyres. Credit to HRT for getting inside 107% for a 24 car grid.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

He can't win like Button steaming through the field ala Canada and when he has not got the fastest car on the day. You want to mention Toro Rosso MOnza 08 but was not his car set up for the wet

I should point out that in pressure situations he has not been as strong like Canada when he spun on the last lap

He hasnt really had a chance to do these things like streak thru the field, but so far anything he has had to do he has done, he has had to come from behind and did, he has won a race in a mid grid albeit setup for the weather correctly
As for winning in not the best car last race he split the McLarens and drove really well

I believe Seb and Lewis have the most talent and can adapt and produce anything required of a race driver starting with out and out pure speed

He has a chance to answer his critics questions now especially starting 5th on the grid regularly behind McLaren and Mercedes

 

[johnnoble1990]

Considering how young he was in 2009-10 I wasn't surprised we saw a few mistakes from him. Hamilton was hardly the epitome of calm when he won the title in 2008. In fact, in Brazil he almost chucked it away when he allowed Vettel to pass him with 2 (3?) laps to go.

I am a Hamilton fan but I just don't like when people are a bit selective with their memories.

All I said was we've seen Vettel crack under pressure before. Where did the rest come from?* I remember very much Lewis making mistakes at the end of 2007 and 2008. He also cracked in 2011. Nobody's invincible.
*I'm starting to think I should take my Hamilton picture down. Just because I'm a Hamilton fan doesn't mean every opinion I give is pro-Hamilton.

 

[downforce]

I am, I've never so much as locked up the wheel of an F1 car.

 

[johnnoble1990]

This season is so close, only 4 tenths between the first 8!

I take it Hamilton attempted a second flying run but bailed out? I almost thought Button was going to start from row 3 for a minute before he finished his 2nd run.

This was what jumped to my mind after the race. The margin of error is so small this year in qualifying. As Rosberg has shown here and in Australia, one mistake and you find yourself on row 4...

 

[johnnoble1990]

I think we are forgetting Schumacher in all this. I agree that Mercedes are unlikely to win in a straight fight due to their racepace, but rain is more than a possibility here, and Schumi was once called "the rainmaster". The Merc didn't look all that bad in the wet under his control in Canada...

 

[RasputinLives]

Very interesting Quali session. Well done Lewis - although keep focused buddy!

Interesting hearing all this stuff about Vettel and Webber but I don't believe Webber has suddenly jumped in front of him although I think he's closer. I think Vettel will come out top race day. Its intersting the way Red Bull and Vettel are playing it at the moment. They know they can't compete with Mclaren so are in score as many points as you can until the car's better mode. Although we heard him say the hards were all about getting the time rather than tactics it does leave him in an interesting position and I think was prob done for tactics. You have to assume tomorrow that Seb is going to try and do one stop less than everyone else so having Schumacher in the mix is really going to help him. That Merc is fast in quali down to its F duct built into its DRS system but as we saw last week its race pace falls off so what Vettel has to hope is that come the first corner Schumi is ahead of Webber and at least one of the Mclarens so he can tag on the back of them and sit pretty. Every lap those guys are stuck behind Schumi the race comes to him more. If Webber is to stand any chance of coming in front of Seb he has to be clear of Schumi and put his foot down.

Mclaren have a problem with Seb on the harder tyre and therefore staying out longer. The lead driver (whoever that will be) as long as thinks stay to form should pit and end up in front again fine however with Seb running optimum times for longer, the second driver will have at least one lap when his tyres have fallen away giving Seb some gain on them. Once again the problem with having two drivers competitive. The best tactic really would be whoever is running second to run a long middle stint and switch on to one less pitstop than Vettel. We've seen Jenson do this before, I can't remember Lewis doing it but I'm pretty sure he could pull it off. The only problem Mclaren have there though is if they do switch tactics with their second driver it could go so well he ends up in front of their lead driver which is gonna piss someone off isn't it!

Should be fascinating to watch although I'm sure there are other twists and turns - especially if we have rain. I don't think the Mercs and Lotus have the pace yet to be taking it to the Red Bull's and Mclarens and Schumi's best hope is to pull a Monza and try to spoil their races in hope it comes to him. Should be a nice little battle for 5th though with Schumi, Kimi, Alonso, Grosjean and probably Rosberg all close.

Exciting!

 

[johnnoble1990]

Exciting!

I think that last word we can all agree on.

 

[downforce]

Though Vettel is supposedly on the prime because he is actually slower on the options.

Well if thats true, he still has to use those options in the race which will apparently slow him down and the Red-Bull has low top speed. So he might move up the grid on the first half of the race and go back down again in the second half.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Thought Qualifying was very good.

Raikkonen is back and it's good to see he didn't lose Speed whilst away from F1.

Hamilton and Button locking out the front row again, gave us a brilliant Saturday again. But lets hope both can turn that front row lock out to produce a 1-2 on Sunday this weekend .

However am very worried with Vettel starting on the hard tyres he could become a party pooper.

 

[Jen]

However am very worried with Vettel starting on the hard tyres he could become a party pooper.

Let's hope so!

 

[johnnoble1990]

However am very worried with Vettel starting on the hard tyres he could become a party pooper.

Lets face it. Everyone will be starting on the wet tyre.

 

[Wombcat]

Lets face it. Everyone will be starting on the wet tyre.

Then it's probably behind the SC.

 

[teabagyokel]

Lets face it. Everyone will be starting on the wet tyre.

To be fair, that is a possibility that would completely neutralise any advantage Vettel could hope to gain.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Lets face it. Everyone will be starting on the wet tyre.

Is Rain heavily forecast for tomorrow? Haven't listened to weather reports only had chance to watch qualifying.

 

[johnnoble1990]

Is Rain heavily forecast for tomorrow? Haven't listened to weather reports only had chance to watch qualifying.

I'm only going by Jos' source, but yes it is. I think rain is the default forecast, is it not?

 

[teabagyokel]

Its either going to rain, or it isn't. Either way I think we'll have a great Grand Prix.

 

[johnnoble1990]

Its either going to rain, or it isn't. Either way I think we'll have a great Grand Prix.

You can tell that Mclaren are doing well when I actually don't want rain, although I'm not going to be annoyed if it does, cos I trust both of them in the rain, just an added variable.