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/
 
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MCLS said:
Nothing like British fandom ;) Red Bull dominance = F1 IS AWFUL, BORING, SOMETHINGS GOTTA CHANGE........ McLaren dominance = F1 IS BRILLIANT, SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!
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Mclaren dominance? Did I miss something. A 1-3, with the top 7 or so within 30 seconds for most the race?

I don't see any shame in supporting someone based on location. Isn't most of sport like that?
 
johnnoble1990 said:
Mclaren dominance? Did I miss something. A 1-3, with the top 7 or so within 30 seconds for most the race?

I don't see any shame in supporting someone based on location. Isn't most of sport like that?
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Usually, apart from when you're a Manchester United fan...:snigger:
 
johnnoble1990 said:
I don't see any shame in supporting someone based on location. Isn't most of sport like that?
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Absolutely right. I was raised in Somerset and as such have been a lifelong supporter of Yeovil Town (despite tonight's humiliation), and despite the fact I moved away many years ago. The trouble is, you can't really treat F1 in the same way. Loads of teams are British based, so what makes McLaren different to the others - most are based within a very small area? My Mum's side of the family are all from the Guildford / Woking area, so my Uncle's favouritism towards them as a Woking dweller is understandable. I support Jenson Button as he was raised around 13 miles from me, and had my only real life experience of his driving (in Karts) at Clay Pigeon Raceway.

Most teams are owned, operated and staffed internationally, so to me McLaren are no more British than any other team based in the UK. Supporting an F1 team isn't (to me anyway) like supporting a football / cricket or A.N Other team. Drivers, maybe though........
 
My verdict on the weekend is that McLaren should be the team to beat. As Whitmarsh has said, I followed testing closely and McLaren appeared the strongest through the fast corners, 3 and 9 I think and were especially good through sector 1. Red Bull tended to be the strongest through sector 3 (ironically where McLaren were strongest last year), with slower turns. It looks like McLaren's updates introduced at the last minute in testing have really sorted their car out in the slower stuff and made it strong all around. One can therefore logically predict that McLaren may have an even greater advantage at Sepang.

This advantage however may be negated, but could equally be compounded by several factors. High temperatures mean tyres will be in a different operating range which will suit some teams and not others. Equally, cooling will be required on many cars, which means opening up valves, causing drag and losing a little speed. If you remember last year, McLaren suddenly were within a tenth of Red Bull from Australia and it was because Red Bull had to open their car up a lot as they had cooling issues whereas McLaren had none. Another factor is obviously the fact that there may be a clean Friday. In Australia, Red Bull seem to think they didn't get the best out of their car so maybe they can get it hooked up at Sepang and make a big step forward. You've also got to bare in mind Sepang has lots of high speed corners and long straights - the long straights should hurt Red Bull and Ferrari, as they were very slow in Melbourne and so this is the main reason why I cannot see Red Bull challenging McLaren, at least for pole. Mercedes could again split McLaren from the Red Bull's, which will most likely gift the win to McLaren, however, whether Hamilton can overcome his tyre woes is another question. He may well take 2nd to Jenson at this race, which is one of the worst on the calendar for tyre deg.
 
I honestly don't know why I like Mclaren. I don't think it has anything to do with them being British, as I first supported them when Hakkinen won the world title. After that, I think I always supported them as they were the Anti-Schumacher. The only team who ever seemed to challenge Ferrari. Since Lewis and Jenson joined though, they have begun to take their place as the British national team, like Ferrari are to Italy.
 
johnnoble1990 said:
Mclaren dominance? Did I miss something. A 1-3, with the top 7 or so within 30 seconds for most the race?

I don't see any shame in supporting someone based on location. Isn't most of sport like that?
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After 10 laps Button was over 10 seconds ahead of Schumacher and Vettel but had to start fuel saving. Could possibly have been a 1-2 if it hadn't been for a safety car.

I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with it, I was just pointing out how amusing it was that it was the case
 
MCLS said:
After 10 laps Button was over 10 seconds ahead of Schumacher and Vettel but had to start fuel saving. Could possibly have been a 1-2 if it hadn't been for a safety car.

I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with it, I was just pointing out how amusing it was that it was the case
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I personally don't think 1 race makes you dominant, but I guess time will tell whether Mclaren can keep their advantage.
 
Will Michael Schumacher get a 5 place grid drop if he drops a new gearbox in?

I thought they had to last 4 (5?) races now?
 
I think it's because he retired in the race due to the problem, that being his penalty.

Plus isn't there a "joker" thing introduced this year? Not sure about that but I'm sure I read that last year or this year.
 
Perhaps I should read the reg's :D

28.6 For the purposes of this Article only, an Event will be deemed to comprise P3, the qualifying practice session and the race.
a) Each driver may use no more than one gearbox for five consecutive Events in which his team competes. Should a driver use a replacement gearbox he will drop five places on the starting grid at that Event and an additional five places each time a further gearbox is used. Any replacement gearbox must be fitted with the same gear ratios that were declared under d) below and will only be required to complete the remainder of the Event in question. Any change to the gear ratios declared under d) below will incur a further five grid place penalty. In either case a new five race sequence may start at the following Event.
Unless the driver fails to finish the race (or is unable to start the race for reasons other than a penalty imposed by the stewards) the gearbox fitted to the car at the end of the Event must remain in it for the remainder of the five race sequence. Any driver who failed to finish the race at the first, second, third or fourth of the five Events for reasons which the technical delegate accepts as being beyond the control of the team or driver, may start the following Event with a different gearbox without a penalty being incurred.
A gearbox will be deemed to have been used once the car's timing transponder has shown that it has left the pit lane.
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I hope that Mercedes do well this race. They were very unlucky in OZ. I hope Rosberg ruins my prediction from earlier in the race.

I had the same question about MSC's gearbox, thanks for clearing that up.
 

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