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Round 02: Malaysian Grand Prix
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06-04-2011 10:52pm#1The Formula 1 circus moves onto Asia with Malaysia playing host to the second round of the 2011 season.
The Sepang CircuitSepang hosted the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix in 1999 with Eddie Irvine taking the victory, but only after Ferrari successfully appealed their expulsion from the race following post race scrutineering failures. Their failure was blamed, just like Sauber’s in Melbourne, on manufacturing faults and not by any bid for an unfair advantage. In ‘99 the overturned disqualification kept Irvine in the hunt for the title but for Sauber their decision not to appeal their Australian disqualification leaves the team searching for their first points of the season this weekend.
The Malaysian Circuit is one of contrasts with two long high speed straights leading into slow second gear hairpins which are sure to see the vast majority of overtaking attempts. The middle sector of the lap is a mix of fast corners, turns 5-8, and another slow hairpin that can present overtaking opportunities, if you have a willing partner. The final sector is dominated by the challenging complex from turn 12 that is the most exciting part of the lap for drivers where they thread the eye of a needle flat out in sixth gear before finding their braking point for the next corner which leads onto the long back straight.
With such a varied track layout the setup of the car is a compromise. Do you look for ultimate top speed at the expense of grip in the infield or vice versa? Obviously to set your car up for either extreme would be courting disaster so teams look to find a happy medium in terms of speed and grip. There is however one key point to take from this balance, the car with the fastest top speed has invariably finished inside the top five at this circuit.
The heat and humidity makes this a challenging environment for drivers and team members and relative to other venues the circuit has gained a reputation as a tough race to finish. In the 12 previous races there has been a finishing rate of less than 70% with 17 taking the flag last season.
What are the main talking points before this race?
The Australian Grand Prix failed to offer much of the excitement that many anticipated and as a result the new regulations have come under fire from certain quarters. “Where was the overtaking” was a common refrain but Melbourne did provide a lot of positives to take for the rest of the season and showed that this weekend’s Grand Prix could be one to savour.
The DRS did not lead to as many overtaking moves in Melbourne as anticipated, just three, but it should be much more effective at Sepang with the long front straight leading into the tight opening hairpin giving drivers a great opportunity to attempt an overtaking move.
Even though there little DRS assisted overtaking in the opening race there was actually quite a bit of overtaking in the midfield and lower reaches which is very encouraging. In addition the early battle between Jenson Button and Felipe Massa in Melbourne showed us that while overtaking is still difficult it is now possible to battle with the car in front and use the slipstream to get close enough race wheel to wheel with a rival.
The main talking point throughout the winter was that the Pirelli tyres were not durable and that we could see races with four or five stops. The opening race was anti-climatic in terms of such an event but this race will give us a much better indication as to whether the Australian tyre pattern is the norm or the exception. Personally I see little chance of the tyres performing similarly in Malaysia and foresee much more problems with three stops likely to be the strategy of leading drivers.
As with any opening race the performances of individual teams are analysed afterwards. It was clear Ferrari and Mercedes both underperformed to preseason expectations in Melbourne while Sauber impressed everyone with both drivers having strong races. It can be misleading to read too much into one race and as a result Malaysia will help give a much better indication as to what to expect from Formula 1 in 2011. Whether you are looking at the performance of teams or the effect of the DRS and Pirelli tyres this race will be instrumental in painting a much fuller picture of what the new season will be.
What to expect in Sepang
Red Bull clearly had the fastest car over a single lap in Australia but if the team continues to be unable to utilise their KERS package it could be quite costly this weekend. Rival teams would have a great advantage on the long run down to turn one. We saw in Australia that the KERS equipped McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was able to get past Mark Webber once the “boost” was used. As a result it has to be expected that the team will use the system this weekend.
The performance of McLaren in Melbourne was one of the biggest surprises of the opening weekend. The team came to Australia after a troubling winter but performed much better than expected with a heavily revised car. Gone was the complicated exhaust system and in its place was a conventional system. The change transformed a slow, unreliable car into one that finished second in the race. The team’s knowledge on the new car is still quite limited but their potential for improvement is huge at this early stage of the season.
Ferrari also has considerable room for improvement. It is perfectly clear that their Australian offering is not a representative indication of where the team is in terms of performance. Their car was close to matching Red Bull in testing so should be given the benefit of the doubt. Malaysia has been a happy hunting ground for the team in the past with Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine claiming four wins in the early races held at the circuit but they have struggled in recent years with Felipe Massa’s 2008 and 2007 pole positions failing to net more than a fifth place finish.
The team know that they need to improve with Massa commenting on the situation after Australia:
"No one at Ferrari was satisfied with our overall performance, nor the final result of the Australian Grand Prix and much work has gone into understanding why that race did not live up to our expectations and then to plan how to move forward this weekend."
As ever the battle at the front will revolve around these teams but the performance of Renault, Mercedes and Williams will also be interesting. At Renault the main question will be can Vitaly Petrov carry forward the momentum of his maiden podium and will Nick Heidfeld bounce back from his nightmare weekend in Melbourne.
Mercedes lacked pace in the opening race but their final testing performance at Barcelona should not be forgotten. This race will tell us whether Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg can battle at the front for victories as their preseason expectations stated, or whether another year in the doldrums awaits the silver cars.
In the midst of a ridiculously untidy race from Ruben Barrichello which culminated in him taking out Rosberg in Melbourne the new Williams actually showed promising speed. With a radical rear end the team is clearly pushing the envelope in terms of design; all that remains is for them to show what their car is capable of. Barrichello will be eager to move on from his opening race mistakes and he could be one to watch this weekend.
Strategy for the Malaysian Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel was victorious in Australia while availing of three stops but it seems unlikely that he will be able to make only two visits to the pits this weekend. The conditions are sure to be a much greater test of the Pirelli tyres and as a result a three stop strategy should be expected for the vast majority of runners.
Pitstops should take approximately 22s and with fresher rubber likely to offer a marked improvement on the used rubber, to a much greater degree than Australia, we could see drivers availing of an extra stop in a bid to get ahead of rivals forced to care for their tyres.
A four stop race would be an exceptionally risky proposition but with the new tyres in their infancy and the DRS still to prove its worth risky calls could become the order of the day in the early days of 2011.
The past 12 races in Malaysia have been won by an average of 17 seconds, an average of 0.3s per lap, so the fastest cars on track have had a tendency to lead from the front and open a comfortable gap. The new regulations could force a change in this and with the winner having only started off the front row twice, Ralf Schumacher from fourth on the grid and Kimi Raikkonen from seventh, it is clear just how important qualifying is at Sepang.
It will be interesting to see what strategy teams will utilise with the DRS set to be much more effective this weekend the Red Bull’s could be challenged, and overtaken, in the early stages and without KERS in their car they might find it difficult to get back past on the track. Will the team employ a daring pit strategy to overcome this? It’s possible that we could see Vettel and Mark Webber make an additional pitstop and use the extra performance and grip from the newer tyres to make their way through the field.
Weather for this weekend
As ever tropical storms are to be expected this weekend. Temperatures in the low to mid 30s are expected with the traditional high humidity set to make conditions exceptionally difficult for all concerned. It is almost certain that rain will fall at some stage of the weekend with the cars on track; the big question is whether it will be in qualifying or the race.
Last season a shower in qualifying left McLaren and Ferrari eliminated from qualifying after the opening minutes (Jenson Button spun at the start of Q2) with the teams expecting it to stay dry they waited in their garages for perfect track conditions which never came. It was only when it was too late that they scrambled onto the track and found it impossible to set a representative lap time. There is little to take for granted this weekend other than if there is any doubt as to what the weather will do in qualifying that both teams will have their drivers on track.
Fernando Alonso put it best when the double world champion said:
"The fact that the weather can change so quickly here makes the preparation work for the various phases of work on track more stressful," he said.
"Suddenly it can go from sunshine to a short sharp shower and you need to be prepared for every eventuality. It's not just a problem for us drivers, as its affects the whole team: in some cases you need to be ready with a plan B or C, or even maybe a D for all the various scenarios."
Key points on Sepang
Total pitstop time-22s
Average margin of victory-17s
Average Finishing %-69%
Average starting position of winner-2nd
BBC Schedule
Friday 8 April
Practice one - 0300-0430 Red Button
Practice two - 0700-0830 Red Button
Saturday 9 April
Practice three - 0600-0700 Red Button
Qualifying - 0900-1000-BBC 1
Sunday 10 April
Race - 0900-BBC1Tagged:8
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Sepang is one of those circuits like Shanghai were a combination of speed and a good aero package are required due to the high lateral loadings and long straights. There is no hiding a loss of one of the other unless there is rain, in which case all this goes out the window!
Sauber have showed they have both. The tyre advantage they had in melbourne should see them well due to the huge wear rate and high temperatures.
And of course they have the "Kobayashi" factor.
If they had the best top speed and were kind to their tyres and were still well off the top pace then surely their aero at some speed was extremely poor?0 -
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