Grand Prix 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

So, after the thrills and (mainly) spills that was Australia, we move onto the greenhouse that is Malaysia for the second round of the championship. Situated just outside of the capital Kuala Lumpur, the Sepang International Circuit is fast, flowing, has numerous overtaking opportunities and is a real test for the driver, partly down to the inevitable and often oppressive heat and humidity. With the new regulations for this year, expect numerous driver errors and for the cars to be placed under immense mechanical pressure.

The Sepang circuit is the first of the Tilke circuits and the GP's inaugural year in 1999 paved the way for the Asian expansion of Formula 1, with races in China, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Korea and India added to the calendar in recent years - although the last two have since departed from the travelling circus that is F1.

When one thinks of Malaysia, rain is one of the fist thoughts that occur. The race has been affected numerous times, most notably in 2001, 2009 (the race was unable to be finished, so half-points were awarded), qualifying in 2010 (two Ferraris and two McLarens at the back of the grid) and in 2012. With the high heat & humidity threatening to spark off rain showers any time, expect rain to play a big part in the weekend.

As for the pecking order, it is mainly unclear apart from the fact that Mercedes are miles in front of anyone else, and those with a Mercedes engine are all doing reasonably well. However, it is McLaren leading the constructors championship after a 3rd and 4th in Melbourne. Whilst it may not seem significant now, the points accrued in the early races may be pivotal in the championship as after all, every race is worth the same (oh wait, that's not right).

For some stupid reason, we now have to wait for two weeks before the race weekend, so there's plenty of time for discussion, dissection and disagreement.

So..... Ready, Steady, Discuss!!!

 

[sushifiesta]

Considering he was on pole and he went a long way to removing any doubts about his ability to manage fuel etc. today, you'd have to say he probably would have won in Australia as well.

 

[Lew_beauty]

He would've either been 14 points ahead or level. DNFs will play a big part this year though, so it might level out yet.

 

[RasputinLives]

Yeah and if my aunt had balls she would be my uncle.

We don't know what would have happened in Australia if his car hadn't failed. A working car does not guarente a result. Ask Ricciardo.

 

[RasputinLives]

I have no objection to anyone ignoring team orders as long as they can prove their point.

It is not enough to believe one is better than one's team-mate, and if the team are doubting that at any given time, one has to pick up one's game and put them back in their box.

"Do you understand?"

So you must have been cheering when Vettel overtook Webber last year then?

 

[Gamal Liranzo]

What a impressive race by Lewis Hamilton, what a storming drive I mean the way he manage to control the race was superb. His teammate Rosberg was very good too, he manage to jump Vettel at the start and then keep himself out if any trouble.

Sebastian was awesome too. He start was not so good by aside from that, his race was very good, even he manage to put some presure on Rosberg. Alonso and Hulkenberg were great too, its a shame that both drivers does not had a much better car to compete.

 

[Lewywo4]

Lewis was faster whilst using less fuel. More factors were at play, but maybe the fact that Lewis pulled such a large gap to Nico is an ominous sign for races this year.

Lew_beauty....Hamilton's dominating performance today showed clearly that he is not only fast, but also when it comes to tire and fuel management, he's just as cerebral as Nico, which supposedly is Rosberg's major strength.

 

[P1]

Lew_beauty....Hamilton's dominating performance today showed clearly that he is not only fast, but also when it comes to tire and fuel management, he's just as cerebral as Nico, which supposedly is Rosberg's major strength.

Agree. If I was Nico I would be spooked. Lewis was faster, easier on his tires and used less fuel. A 17 second lead is not trivial and considering he did it while managing pace more than Rosberg could makes you wonder what his real lead could have been.

 

[P1]

Double punishment? They gave him a 10 second stop and go in the race. That's ridiculous. I thought the point of the stop and gos was to punish drivers during the race the incident happened in. It's a triple punishment. He lost 4th by having to stop and be pushed back, then he got the penalty, now he has a further penalty? Talk about kicking a guy why he is down.

I agree. I wish somebody could give me a list of names of people who came up with this rule, so I can instigate a night of justice - batman style.

 

[Viscount]

I don't think Ricciardo's punishment is harsh, just that he shouldn't be punished twice. That's the ridiculous part. Completely agree that teams need a punishment for unsafe releases. I actually think 2.5 seconds is too quick for a pit stop. Maybe they should have some kind of regulated limit where if you do a pit stop in under 5 seconds you get penalised. Even if that means you have to sit there for 2.5 seconds. That's if we're interested in safety; I don't support it from a racing pov.

Well for better or worse it's the automatic punishment for all unsafe releases this year.

22.12(c): If a car is deemed to have been released in an unsafe condition during a race the driver
concerned will receive a ten grid place penalty at the driver’s next Event. However, if
any car released in an unsafe condition is able to resume the race a penalty under
Article 16.3(c) will also be imposed on the driver concerned.

16.3(c): A ten second time penalty. The driver must enter the pit lane, stop at his pit for at least
ten seconds and then re-join the race.

 

[P1]

Well for better or worse it's the automatic punishment for all unsafe releases this year.

22.12(c): If a car is deemed to have been released in an unsafe condition during a race the driver
concerned will receive a ten grid place penalty at the driver’s next Event. However, if
any car released in an unsafe condition is able to resume the race a penalty under
Article 16.3(c) will also be imposed on the driver concerned.

16.3(c): A ten second time penalty. The driver must enter the pit lane, stop at his pit for at least
ten seconds and then re-join the race.

This could be a great way for Ferarri and Red Bull to implement team orders later in season. Neither driver nor FIA would be able to detect it.

 

[Slyboogy]

Average race that picked up towards the end. Once again the threat of rain comes around but it doesn't deliver.

Mercedes proving that they're still ahead.

Red Bull are improving.

Ferrari are where they usually have been for the past 4-5 years.

Force India in Hulkenberg's hands looks to be the spoiler for the big teams.

McLaren and Williams seemed to have fallen back.

Toro Rosso look to be good for the back end of the points.

Sauber....nowhere really.

Caterham and Marussia seemed a bit better this weekend.

Lotus, car does have potential, but it certainly wasn't running on full power.

Few aspects which took some excitements of the race, was Raikkonen getting tagged by Magnussen, he was ahead of Alonso at one point and was looking not too shabby, only to dwindle down in 12th. Riccardo's problems got rid of the battle between him, Alonso and Hulkenberg. and then the team orders by Williams.

Moving on to the team orders of Williams, it was bit of a balls up. Wasn't much need for that, then to try and sugar coat it afterwards by telling Massa that his car was overheating wasn't smart either. Claire Williams goes on to say that both cars had overheating issues and both drivers were told to cool off, while Rod Nelson only mentions Massa's car overheating and that's why the radio message was sent.

Add to that, if Bottas passed Massa and couldn't overtake Button then he would have let Massa back past? Sorry Williams, don't believe that tripe.

There are those saying that Bottas was told to hold station behind Massa earlier on in the race, Bottas was told to back off is because he hit Massa from behind.

Another thing which has annoyed me, is the 5 second stop and go penalty. This penalty is quite useless and doesn't punish the driver by much. You can serve it while pitting? Seriously? Why not just add 5s to the drivers time at the end then.

 

[Dizzi]

Well I've seen worse races, but I've seen much better races too.
Merc are still dominant but I'm not sure they'll be able to maintain it like Red Bull did. If they do the team dynamics should be very interesting nearer the end of the season.
Well done Lewis and Nico R for bringing a Mercedes 1-2 into the 21st century, Lewis especially looked unruffled the whole race.
Some very amusing radio snippets this time especially from the Williams garage. Have they not watched F1 recently - if you were to give a mesage to ensure Felipe not letting his team mate past it's "X is faster than you"! It would have narked me & I haven't got the latin blood. I don't blame him for staying in front as I don't believe Bottas would have conceded the place back again later. He's fighting to prove a point.
Poor Danny R....has he kicked 13 black cats?? Rather a harsh double penalty for him. I hope he comes storming through the field to a podium next race., I'm pretty impressed with the guy so far.
Roll on next race...

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

I pretty much agree with you Slyboogy, except for a couple of things:

...McLaren and Williams seemed to have fallen back.

Not 100% sure; certainly in the wet in qualifying they were not great, but they finished pretty well considering their grid positions.

...Another thing which has annoyed me, is the 5 second stop and go penalty. This penalty is quite useless and doesn't punish the driver by much. You can serve it while pitting? Seriously? Why not just add 5s to the drivers time at the end then.

I think you just answered your own point. The 5s penalty is there precisely to avoid having to adjust results afterwards or have post-race investigations. It's also useful for misdemeanours not serious enough to warrant a 10s or stop-go penalty, so that a driver is punished but not disproportionately.

 

[olegg]

It was interesting race for me.
Not only due to Hamilton win and Mercedes double.

 

[Jen]

So you must have been cheering when Vettel overtook Webber last year then?

I rarely cheer these days!

 

[mjo]

It was good to see action involving Kobayashi, Ericsson and Chilton. Most of them seemed quite racy.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

mjo if you mean 'racey' as a euphemism for 'cavalier' or 'reckless' then I would certainly agree that Kobayashi falls into that category, especially when you take race 1 into account as well.

 

[The Pits]

My understanding was that his incident in Oz was related to a BBW issue?

Thats Brake By Wire gethinceri

 

[gethinceri]

Race 1 was a technical failure Chad Stewarthill
I don't know of any other BBW The Pits, but I shall googlise it.

 

[mjo]

Chad Stewarthill I would call Kobayashi and Ericsson's racing 'robust'. Although it was clear that they were going to be passed sooner or later, it was nice to see that

a) the Caterham (and Marussia for that matter) seem nearer to the other teams, and
b) both drivers want to race, and not just let the others drive past them (which would have been more beneficial to their race times)