Formula 1 2010: Round 3 Malaysia

EvilMonkey

Starting this hopefully we can move on from the Hamilton crap in the other thread.



Schedule:
Practice 1 FRI 03:00
Practice 2 FRI 07:00
Practice 3 SAT 06:00
Qualifying SAT 09:00
Race SUN 09:00

Currently Thunderstorms forecast for the week, Hopefully it wont be as wet as last year!

Alonso usually goes well here hopefully he can get another win. Cant see past another Vettel pole if Qualifying is dry.

Apparently its Lotus home GP

frostie500

Sepang has generally proved to be abit of car breaker in the past with only 68% of starters finishing the race so we could see the potential of front runners failing due to the high temperatures and high humidity causing issues with cooling(even Red Bull might have an issue with one of their third party parts that they can not be held accountable for!)

Looking down the previous races the one thing that struck me was that the only pole sitter to not finish on the podium was Felipe Massa in 07 and 08 and that only Raikkonen in 03 came from outside the front two rows to win the race, it's hard to see potential for that to change this year with overtaking proving so difficult.

The race has been won by an average of 20 seconds, or 0.4 seconds per lap, so for one reason or another we always tend to have a dominant victor, who has never fallen below 4th during the race so even with the two long straights on the track the winner has very rarely had to overtake anyone to win the race.

Dont be at yourself

I wonder will McLaren's supposed straight line speed pay dividends on this circuit?

With rain forecast, I expect Vettel, Schumi, and Hamilton to all do well. Hopefully Vettel can break his duck this season. I think another retirement due to reliability will be too much to take!

enzo7

hopeing for a wet race to see what schuey can do. If its dry would expect vettel on pole and Alonso to win.

amacachi

Hoping for at least a partically wet race, obviously. Otherwise it'll be a Bahrain-style borefest, with Hamilton 3 seconds a lap off the pace to try and get through the race with just two sets of tyres. :pac:

lendrew1

Another weekend of early mornings!

Red Bull won't be as strong here because its not really a downforce circuit.

I predict Vettel on pole again(wet or dry) and a Ferrari win.

frostie500

Nothing too early

Friday 2 April
Practice one: 0255-0435, BBC Red Button/online
Practice two: 0655-0835, BBC Red Button/online

Saturday 3 April
Practice three: 0655-0805, BBC Red Button/online
Qualifying: 0800-1030, BBC One/online and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra/online
Sunday 4 April

Race: 0800-1000, BBC One/online and BBC Radio 5 live/online then 1000-1100, BBC Two/online and BBC Radio 5 live/online
Post race forum: 0900-1000, BBC Red Button/online
Highlights: 1900-2000, BBC Three (highlights then looped on Red Button)

smooch71

We might see some passing here. Two long straights with some tight corners.

Let's hope it happens without rain too.

EvilMonkey

If it rains in Malaysia it will be sit behind a safety car until it stops. The track wont dry out if it stays raining at safety car speed. The cars need to be going fairly quick to lift off the surface water. There far too cautious with the safety car in the heavy rain these days.

Grim.

From Gpupdate.net

Brake supplier Brembo has said that Sebastian Vettel's brakes did not fail in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. Instead, the cause for the leader's retirement is believed to be lost torque drive between the front-left axle and wheel.

Having led comfortably from pole position, Germany's Vettel lost the lead for the second consecutive race due to a Turn 13 spin into the gravel on Lap 26. Initial reaction at Albert Park proposed a simple brake failure, with a second theory from the driver then suggesting that a badly-fitted wheel in the pits caused the problem.

However, a press release from Brembo on Tuesday afternoon explains that it was in fact a lost torque bar which caused the Red Bull's retirement.

'Post-race investigations revealed the wheel nut was correctly tightened at the pit-stop as well as other possible causes of the fault,' the Brembo statement reads.

'The team has communicated that it's studying a number of solutions at present, which can be implemented for the Malaysian Grand Prix.'

Iron Hide

Two long straights and tight corners at the end of each one, hopefully a chance of some overtaking. All well and good raving about the Aussie GP, but overtaking needs to start happening in the dry conditions too. Maybe McLaren's air intake valve rear wing thingymajig could work on the back & start/finish straights

Vettel on pole i reckon, he's almost like a new Jarno Trulli, one lap specialist!! :P
Ferrari win (hopefully Massa!) and keep an eye on Rosberg for a podium

mickdw

This crap from redbull about bought in components is comical & is making them look foolish. Why dont they just cop on & say that they are running to tolerance limits etc. They will be turning away fans. DC is making a tit of himself too on bbc, Im surprised they allow such comment from him. Indeed the whole BBC setup is getting tiresome apart from all the red button coverage they offer.

Iron Hide

mickdw wrote: »

This crap from redbull about bought in components is comical & is making them look foolish. Why dont they just cop on & say that they are running to tolerance limits etc. They will be turning away fans. DC is making a tit of himself too on bbc, Im surprised they allow such comment from him. Indeed the whole BBC setup is getting tiresome apart from all the red button coverage they offer.

Hence why i'm tempted to mute the tv and listen to the 5Live commentary!

mickdw

Red Storm wrote: »

Hence why i'm tempted to mute the tv and listen to the 5Live commentary!

5Live commentry is available on the red button

IM0

more gpupdate.net

Following the Red Bulls reliability problems in Melbourne last week the team has been forced to withdraw from Sepang this weekend as their brakes reliability proved marginal in the Melbourne race when Vettel was thrown off the track due to brake failure while dominating the race from the front

"we had no choice really" said Christian Horner the team principal of Red Bull Racing. "We have to think of the safety first and foremost, and although it really hurts us to have to take these steps, it is necessary and we will be taking the time to resolve the issue and find new suppliers for the rest of the season"

"Its a very disappointing" said Vettel clearly distrought after such a dismal start to the season opener in Bahrain where he was robbed of a certain victory, and again in Melbourne when he was leading in dominant fashion.

"its disappointing but we have to look at the positives, the sooner we solve these problems the better for us and for our team, the guys at the factory have done a great job for sure, but sometimes these things happen"

smooch71

me@ucd wrote: »

more gpupdate.net

Ferrari have withdrawn too. Bad batch of red paint apparently.

vectra

smooch71 wrote: »

Ferrari have withdrawn too. Bad batch of red paint apparently.

PMSL

Grim.

From Autosport

The potential return of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) to Formula 1 for 2011 is set to dominate the agenda of a meeting of team principals in Malaysia later today, AUTOSPORT has learned.

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is holding a get-together this evening to discuss the lessons of the first few races, and begin evaluation of improvements that could be made to the sport to improve the show.

Although some of the talks are expected to revolve around technical changes to the cars, sources suggest that one of the main areas of focus to help improving overtaking will be in getting KERS back on the cars.

The green technology was abandoned at the end of last year when teams agreed amongst themselves not to run the devices for 2010, because of the vast expense in successfully developing it. The use of the system remains in F1's technical regulations, however.

AUTOSPORT understands that teams will look at all options for a KERS return in 2011 - ranging from a standard supplier to freeing up the technology totally. Teams will also look at exactly how much, or how little, power the KERS should have.

The momentum behind getting KERS back has been increased because of the difficulties that drivers have faced in overtaking this season - and providing a push-to-pass system once again would help with the racing.

There is also a high chance that revisions to the cars already in the pipeline will help the situation further. Double diffusers have already been banned for 2011, which should cut downforce levels, while it is understood that the FIA is looking at increasing the width of F1's rear tyres to 18 inches for next year - up from the 13 inches of the current generation.

This will produce much more mechanical grip, which should be another factor in helping boost the racing spectacle.

Oblomov

It's never Red Bull's fault, Christian Horner has a problem, a car at each end of practice times, Vettel in second and Webber last.

Who is he going to blame?

Of Course, the timekeepers...... Got it. It can't be the car.

Oblomov

Malaysia Second Practice, 02.04.2010

1 L Hamilton McLaren
2 S Vettel Red Bull
3 N Rosberg Mercedes
4 J Button McLaren
5 M Schumacher Mercedes
6 R Kubica Renault
7 F Alonso Ferrari
8 S Buemi Toro Rosso
9 V Petrov Renault
10 A Sutil Force India
11 K Kobayashi BMW Sauber
12 V Liuzzi Force India
13 P de la Rosa BMW Sauber
14 J Alguersuari Toro Rosso
15 R Barrichello Williams
16 N Hulkenberg Williams
17 J Trulli Lotus
18 H Kovalainen Lotus
19 F Massa Ferrari
20 M Webber Red Bull
21 L di Grassi Virgin
22 T Glock Virgin
23 B Senna Hispania
24 K Chandhok Hispania

vectra

Oblomov wrote: »

It's never Red Bull's fault, Christian Horner has a problem, a car at each end of practice times, Vettel in second and Webber last.

Who is he going to blame?

.

Renault of Course

A Renault engine problem is the reason Mark Webber pulled off the track early in the second practice session at Sepang on Friday. The Red Bull driver pulled into the gravel at Turn 9 just 39 minutes into the 90-minute period, losing valuable running time as a result.

RENAULT At Fault
:rolleyes:

Oblomov

OK. Let's start the check list, enough oil and water, right plugs, engineers no playing with the on board telemetry controls... Was the exhaust fitted correctly,

Any time Red Bull blames someone that quick....

For example:

Brake supplier Brembo has denied that a failure of its equipment led to Sebastian Vettel's retirement from the Australian Grand Prix.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Italian company said the Red Bull driver's exit, which came as he led the race from pole position, "was not caused by the braking system supplied by Brembo".

In the aftermath of the German's lap 26 exit, the assumption had been that he suffered a brake failure.

The statement revealed, however, that Red Bull had told them Vettel's demise was because of a failed torque drive between the front left axle and wheel.

Vettel has started both races of the new F1 season from pole position but his best result to date is a fourth place in Bahrain, where a spark plug failure slowed him down after he had also led.

He said after Sunday's race in Melbourne that he had seen sparks from the left front wheel and felt huge vibrations building up.

"As soon as I touched the brakes I had some sort of failure going in to turn 13 and ended up in the gravel," Vettel added.


The green circular drive section and the centre piece.

recyclebin

Didn't get to see any of the practise sessions today but had a look at the F1 website and it looks like thunderstorms and rain for some time tomorrow and Sunday.There is a 60% chance of rain for both days according to Yahoo weather. Could make it interesting or a procession behind a safety car.

amacachi

recyclebin wrote: »

Didn't get to see any of the practise sessions today but had a look at the F1 website and it looks like thunderstorms and rain for some time tomorrow and Sunday.There is a 60% chance of rain for both days according to Yahoo weather. Could make it interesting or a procession behind a safety car.

Fairly sure the forecast was the same yesterday and none came.

amacachi

Still no rain up til third practice? This rain is never going to bloody arrive!

Also, it's way to early on a Saturday to be up.

Grim.

rofl at EJ poor fu*kers dieing in that heat

amacachi

Grim. wrote: »

rofl at EJ poor fu*kers dieing in that heat

It really doesn't look much fun at all.


RAIN!!!1ELEVEN!

Seems to be light enough, hopefully it'll be light enough to just about allow qualifying.

amacachi

Vettel only top runner out there right now, don't understand that.

EDIT: Idiocy, sheer idiocy.

dor83

I have to agree with EJ on this, it's utter stupidity from Ferrari and McLaren to have drivers out here because they were trying to be too smart and not getting an early lap in.

Irishshin

I cannot understand these teams. They need some sense!!!

Nice for Lotus & Virgin though

Oblomov

McLaren and Ferrari out in Q1

Could see Lotus on Pole ..... LOL

amacachi

Schumacher. He's still got it.

Didn't realise how good Kubica was in the wet. Hulkenberg seems decent as well.
*EDIT* Actually seems the Renaults are just really good, Petrov seemed so slow on the onboard yet is going better than fine. He's bloody flying!

dor83

amacachi wrote: »

Schumacher. He's still got it.

He took a risk going out on inters and it paid off, they are expecting more rain so it looks like it might have been a good call.

amacachi

dor83 wrote: »

He took a risk going out on inters and it paid off, they are expecting more rain so it looks like it might have been a good call.

Aye, but he had the cop-on to run on the full wets in Q1. Never understand why more teams don't take advantage of running at any point.
Track just getting quicker and quicker it seems now, but more rain meant to be coming soon.

dor83

This is a really good session, times changing all the time, Schumi down in 7th after being the quickest a few mins ago and now it's starting to rain again.

amacachi

2 Red Bulls, 2 Mercs, 2 Force Indias, 2 Williams plus Kubica and Kobayashi. Nice.

amacachi

Red Flag ****ing bull****. Don't know why Bridgestone are wasting their time making a full wet tyre when they're never allowed bloody use it.

*EDIT* That'll be Vettel on pole so.

dor83

Red flag, can't understand why because it doesn't look that bad and the drivers all looked like they were handling it ok. I reckon Kubica will be very unhappy that they didn't let him finish his lap, he looked very quick.

Oblomov

Present order.



1 S Vettel Red Bull
2 R Kubica Renault
3 A Sutil Force India
4 N Hulkenberg Williams
5 N Rosberg Mercedes
6 K Kobayashi BMW Sauber
7 M Webber Red Bull
8 V Liuzzi Force India
9 R Barrichello Williams
10 M Schumacher Mercedes

EvilMonkey

Red Flag WTF, Looks like he stopped it before anyone set a time rather than it being too wet at the time.

Rookie mistake from Ferrari/McLaren they should have set bankers, but its also down to the stupid tyre rules 4 sets of inters/wets isn't enough for a wet qualifying and possibly race. And they cant change the set up for wet qualifying in case the race starts dry.

amacachi

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Rookie mistake from Ferrari/McLaren they should have set bankers, but its also down to the stupid tyre rules 4 sets of inters/wets isn't enough for a wet qualifying and possibly race. And they cant change the set up for wet qualifying in case the race starts dry.

Looks like everyone else is going to manage alright. Nothing to do with the rules, just complete idiocy.

dor83

Great call by Webber to go out on the inters, the reason he has pole.

Oblomov

Weber ......provisional pole...

Grim.

awesome lap by webber

amacachi

As I said, WTF is the point of the full wets? :pac:

Oblomov

The Final order


1 M Webber Red Bull
2 N Rosberg Mercedes
3 S Vettel Red Bull
4 A Sutil Force India
5 N Hulkenberg Williams
6 R Kubica Renault
7 R Barrichello Williams
8 M Schumacher Mercedes
9 K Kobayashi BMW Sauber
10 V Liuzzi Force India

EvilMonkey

amacachi wrote: »

Looks like everyone else is going to manage alright. Nothing to do with the rules, just complete idiocy.

Yeah don't get me wrong its their own fault, Ferrari and McLaren were too busy watching what the other was doing when they should have been out setting a banker.
The wet tyre allocations are too restrictive for everyone. They should have at least 4 sets for qualifying and 2 for the race.

Webber pole on inters why was the session Red Flaged? Great lap too!

No press conference from BBC even on the red button, FFS.

rua1972

Good call from Webber to use the inters in stead of the full wets. Wonder what will happen if the race starts dry, will they still have to use the same (rain)tyres as in quali?
With the Mclarens and ferraris at the back it looks like a nice race, wet or dry.

G-Money

What an upside down grid. Should provide an interesting race tomorrow. I was really hoping Schumacher would beat Rosberg, I'm not a big fan of Rosberg for some reason.

BoardsRanger

Its the first time this season that i felt schumacher not competing anywhere near his maximum. The rain was his forte.

bamboozling

Fantastic session, brilliant gamble by Webber, huge cock up from Ferrari and McClaren and I'm delighted Rosberg is second and both Williams into quali 3. Has the makings of a brilliant race tommorrow if the rain holds off until the final quarter as expected.