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/

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Great result for Alonso and Perez today, have to say that Hamilton was also a winner in some respects as neither of his closest rivals scored any points today.

 

[Il_leone]

Not much has been said of Button's race.

For someone who is routinely touted as being the best in changeable conditions, he made a terrible error driving into Karthikeyan and then just fell away for the rest of the race as he was unable to get his tyres to work.

All in all, a race which turned a lot of things on their head.

I think Button got carried away in that he jumped Hamilton and could see Alonso and smell his chance but got impatient especially as the corner had no room for error as it swings back left to go right

Had he waited a few seconds later he would have been on a long straight and cleared the HRT. it was a wasted opportunity and he knows it

That is his one mistake for the season allowed .

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I have to admit on the poor quality feed I was watching, I initially thought it was Lewis who'd lost his front wing on the car in front. It was rather Hamilton-esque, even if he is my favourite driver.

 

[johnnoble1990]

I think Button got carried away in that he jumped Hamilton and could see Alonso and smell his chance but got impatient especially as the corner had no room for error as it swings back left to go right

Had he waited a few seconds later he would have been on a long straight and cleared the HRT. it was a wasted opportunity and he knows it

That is his one mistake for the season allowed .

Also, he had Hamilton on his tail and Lewis has turned the use of slower cars to overtake into an art form. I can think of 3 or 4 double overtakes in his career. My favourite is this one from GP2, because the commentator gets carried away.

 

[Galahad]

An exceptional drive by Alonso today. Quick and error-free in a car that has looked a handful in the dry, never mind the wet/damp/dryish conditions we saw there. The pass on Webber at the Safety Car restart was well-judged, while Ferrari were sharp in strategy and the pit stops.

However, I feel Sauber could have won if they'd pulled Perez in for his change to slicks at the same time as (or even before) Alonso. I can fully understand their caution, but if it rained those ancient inters would hardly have been much help (unless Sergio is even better at preserving his rubber than we knew!) The sort of drive that might mark someone out for a great future - now he needs to follow it up and get some consistency in qualifying.

Senna drove very well to recover after yet another collision - so well done to him. Did anyone else see Maldonado completely cock up a pit stop by missing his box, and having to go around again? Not his best weekend.

The Red Bulls and Kimi seemed to go along fairly steadily. Karthikeyan isn't the easiest man to pass as we've seen before, but the penalty is a nonsense. Both Button and Vettel made mistakes and paid the penalty for them. What on earth was happening with Sebastian's team radio on the last lap?

Hamilton was unfortunate again with the pit stops, but he didn't seem able to make much in the way of inroads later on. Very uncharacteristic for Lewis, particularly when the car seemed quite a bit quicker than the Ferrari or Sauber in dry qualifying. Still the points total is a good one for this point of the season.

A word for Jean-Eric Vergne and Charles Pic, who both completed the race distance in tricky circumstances. Paul di Resta got a good result in a car that didn't look quite as quick as some of those behind, so a good rearguard action. As for Mercedes, the tyre usage is clearly a very big issue for them - a dry race might have seen an even worse performance than the pretty dire one they produced in actuality.

Good race though, quite heartwarming.

 

[Brogan]

Did anyone else see Maldonado completely cock up a pit stop by missing his box, and having to go around again? Not his best weekend.

I missed that.
Maldonado really isn't doing his future career prospects any good.

What on earth was happening with Sebastian's team radio on the last lap?

I think they wanted to retire the car so they could get a free gearbox change, but then realised you can only retire the car now for a valid reason so quickly changed their mind. The emergency stop command a few seconds later though hasn't been clarified.

 

[FB]

The emergency stop command a few seconds later though hasn't been clarified.

From the RBR website

The incident caused damage to the rear brake duct, which went into thermal runaway, so we wanted to stop the car before the end from a safety point of view.

 

[Il_leone]

Also, he had Hamilton on his tail and Lewis has turned the use of slower cars to overtake into an art form. I can think of 3 or 4 double overtakes in his career. My favourite is this one from GP2, because the commentator gets carried away.

Part of that might have played on Button that his advantage would have been small but for Mr Cool under pressure it was very uncharacteristic of him for an error like that

The battle between Hamilton and Button is going to be fascinating

 

[teabagyokel]

I agree with you, FB. Note that Sauber's CEO described Pérez as tempramental during the red flag.

I reckon any midfield team would try to ensure the eighteen were not lost.

 

[johnnoble1990]

I think the big difference EvilWhippet is recurrence. I think Perez has shown himself to be an extremely consistent driver, whereas Maldonado has more question marks and it wasn't the first time he'd done something to lose important points for his team. Also, the two mistakes are not comparable. Perez put a wheel on the apex in wet conditions, whereas Maldonado lost control following a car on a curved straight, for no apparent reason. Prior to that, Maldonado had a good race though. No doubting it.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Mr Whippet,

I don't think the fact that one track has run off areas and another has walls are relevant as both drivers will be well aware on the probabilities of a dnf with any off track excursion. Both drivers were at fault however Perez had much more chance of taking Alonso and the risks were less as shown by the fact that he didn't lose a position, of ourse we could say Perez was warned off and Pastor wasn't so maybe this levels the amount of blame towards both. Personally I would rather see these young bucks risk all to have a go for glory at the cost of the team and it's WCC points

Just my opinion

 

[siffert_fan]

As a fan, I too would prefer to see them just go for it. As their employer, to whom WCC points mean lots of money, I wouldn't.

 

[johnnoble1990]

Yes. I pointed out earlier Perez scored more points here than the whole of last season. Points vital to these midfield teams.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Sure, I am not an employer, just the fan who spends money on associated products,

the driver is the one who risks his life and drives the car, it's hard for me to condemn him for going for glory, sure Williams need points and Pastor could have doubled their haul from last season but Williams have not always had a history of pandering to a driver and let's not forget that these drivers are essentially pay drivers, why not get ones moneys worth

Perez was immense today and got the points, Pastor didn't , that's how it goes,

 

[EvilWhippet]

I agree the situations aren't identical, but there are clear parralells in terms of the performence they put in, the mistake that cost them and how much it cost them. Yet one is called the chump, to which opposition is berated, and the other is driver of the weekend. Seems disproportionate.

 

[Brogan]

Vettel's post race interview - obviously not too happy with the "idiots" on the track...

 

[johnnoble1990]

Yay...Vettel's finally got the god complex. Going to make it so much easier to hate him. In all honesty, he's gone a bit too far there. It won't blow up like the "is it because I'm black" Hamilton comment, but it is far worse for me. He has shown blatant disrespect to someone who is in a completely different situation to himself. No matter who you are and how hard you've worked, it is a privilege to drive in a top team in F1 and you need to respect the other drivers trying to do their own job. Vettel needs to learn quickly that he does not have the right to every inch of the track.

As for the incident itself, Vettel is only in control of his own actions and he showed no caution through that corner despite obviously seeing Karthikeyan recovering his car. The line he chose clearly put his car in danger and he should of been more aware that not everyone is always going to do exactly as he wishes. Karthikeyan isn't blameless, but Vettel is acting like a spoilt child.

 

[Brogan]

Yay...Vettel's finally got the god complex. Going to make it so much easier to hate him.

Did Hamilton's "monkeys at the back" comment make it easy for you to hate him too?

 

[johnnoble1990]

I agree the situations aren't identical, but there are clear parralells in terms of the performence they put in, the mistake that cost them and how much it cost them. Yet one is called the chump, to which opposition is berated, and the other is driver of the weekend. Seems disproportionate.

I think you are focusing too much on 1 persons opinion. Maldonado had a great drive for 57 laps and then made a critical rookie error that cost his team some important points. Perez was the fastest driver on track today and made 2 unpunished errors on a track that you know you can push the boundaries on. I don't think the performances are comparable. Doesn't mean I think Maldonado should be slated. Mistake happen and unfortunately, Maldonado's one was detrimental to his race.

 

[Abnash24]

The only disappointing thing i can take away from this Grand Prix is the lost opportunity between not too distant future teammates Alonso and Perez