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/
 
I think Martin needs to give Jenson and Lewis enough petrol - then we might see an even mightier race!
 
New weather, a difference in a day right?
Friday 0800: Sunny skies (0.1mm) 1100: Sunny skies (0.0mm) 1400: Patchy rain possible (0.4mm) 1700: Patchy rain possible (0.8mm)
Saturday 0200: Clear Skies (0.0mm) 0500: Clear skies (0.0mm) 0800: Sunny skies (0.0mm) 1100 Sunny skies (0.2mm) 1400: Patchy rain possible (1.6mm) 1700: Moderate or heavy rain showers (2.8mm) 2000: Patchy rain possible (0.8mm) 2300: Clear Skies (0.0mm)
Sunday 0200: Patchy rain possible (1.5mm) 0500: Patchy rain possible (1.7mm) 0800 Patchy rain possible (1.1mm) 1100: Light Rain shower (0.8mm) 1400: Patchy rain possinle (2.1mm) 1700: Patchy rain possible (0.8mm)
I think it was mentioned that the race is 1600 local time, and the time gaves are malaysian local time. Still looking like a wet weekend and reported by the official f1 website. Surprise pole sitter? I think i might just change my predictions to mercedes, with their great straightline speed and as they will run more downforce with 2 good/great rain drivers it's certinally possible
 
It was a more entertaining race, but tension till the end.... i disagree on that one. After the safety car came in, Button was 3sec. ahead of Vettel in the first lap. Vettel put in some fast laps, but immediately after that Button wiped that away with his fastest lap.

Was it not one of the more exciting finishes to a grand prix? Webber close to Hamilton, Hamilton before that close to Vettel, Maldonado might've passed Alonso, Rosberg controversially passed Perez and broke his wheel I believe, and a few drivers made up 3 places on the final lap, as well as Di Resta passing Vergne on the final straight, as 4 cars were within a second of each other.

What exactly were you after Bushi? ;)
 
To be honest, I suspect most teams under-fuel to a point now. Seems to me there is an advantage of running at a lower fuel level.
 
Nothing like British fandom ;) Red Bull dominance = F1 IS AWFUL, BORING, SOMETHINGS GOTTA CHANGE........ McLaren dominance = F1 IS BRILLIANT, SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!

It's extremely funny and somewhat annoying to see as a non-Brit to be honest :p
 
Nothing like British fandom ;) Red Bull dominance = F1 IS AWFUL, BORING, SOMETHINGS GOTTA CHANGE........ McLaren dominance = F1 IS BRILLIANT, SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!
I bet that most germans F1-fans like(d) the dominance of Schumacher and Vettel. And didn't like ift much when Schumacher stopped winning.
 
Well, I'm not british and I'd rather see Button or Hamilton win than Vettel.
I'd also rather see Alonso win than Vettel LOL. Although I don't like Ferrari very much, so I'm a bit ambivalent about that.
 
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