Malaysian GP Thread - Contains Race spoilers!

[Fernando]

First topic message reminder :

Spoiler:

Just a few days after Jenson Button's victory for McLaren at the season-opening race in Australia, the battle for the 2012 FIA Formula One Championship gets even more intense as we journey to Malaysia and the grand prix billed as 'The World's Hottest Race'. With in-car temperatures often edging above 50º C and with track temperatures to match, the race places huge demands on man and machine.

The energy-sapping heat and humidity aren't the only problems however. While quite smooth, the circuit's long straights and heavy-braking corners mean that the tyres, already hurt by the heat, also take a beating from the circuit surface. Car set-up is tricky too, and the combination of flowing sections, power-hungry straights and tight corners makes it a tough balancing act for the engineers. Finally, there's the weather to contend with. Heavy storms are a constant threat and can lead to major trouble, as we found out in 2009 when a torrential downpour led to the race being stopped after just 31 laps.

That race was, of course, won by Button on the way to the 2009 World Championship, and the question now is whether he can take a second win here and set himself up for another shot at the title. It won't be easy. In Melbourne, the Red Bulls recovered well after a tricky qualifying session to finish second and fourth in the race. Mercedes and Lotus, too, gave notice that, once minor issues are ironed out, they are ready to make the step up to championship contention. Further back the midfield looks incredibly tight with a number of teams all in the mix for points. And, naturally, Ferrari can never be written off. If Melbourne was a baptism of fire for the Scuderia's new car, then Fernando Alonso's fifth place showed they can stand the heat. And as we get ready for sizzling Sepang that can only be a good thing.

Length of lap:
5.543km
Lap record
1:34.223 (Juan-Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW, 2004)
Start line/finish line offset
0.000km
Total number of race laps
56
Total race distance
310.408km
Pitlane speed limits
60km/h during practice;
100km/h during race

CHANGES TO THE CIRCUIT SINCE 2011

The verge on the exit of turn 8 has been re-worked in order to remove the bump in the grass which caused a problem in 2011.

The entire debris fence around the outside of turn 1 has been renewed.

Source: FIA

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Tyre degradation and a loss of heat made his job harder after falling off the track. Don't forget there is a time delay on radio streams.

Is somebody speculating without hard evidence again?

Why dont you back it up Fernando? Show me a link that proves team orders. Surely the FIA would be involved. They were after Germany where the whole 'Fernando is faster than you' incident occurred. So where are they now?

Let's really get to some facts then. Ron Dennis ordered Glock to slow down by 43 seconds in Brazil 2008 so Hamilton could win a WDC. Anybody without silvers tinted specs knows that.

You really don't have a clue do you!

[Alessandro Ciambella]

Alessandros guide to tyres.

When a tyre be it medium or harder has completed numerous laps at the speeds and loads put under by a racing F1 car the Tyres degrade. As they degrade they become harder and harder to heat up. When they get to within the end of their life and a cooled rapidly it becomes very hard to heat the Tyres up again as there is less rubber within the compound to rub together and keep heat.

This means less grip and speed.

I hope this was beneficial to some members!

I'll show my Brazil link when you show me your malaysia 2012 team-order-gate link.

[Gregers]

I'm sorry but this quite ridiculous Ferrari bashing is getting embarrassing!

After Sauber told Perez to make sure he got 2nd did he stop closing in on Alonso? NO

After catching Alonso and being in the DRS zone did he leave his wing shut and not press the KERS button? NO

The important thing to note is that todays two best drivers finished 1st and 2nd, Alonso drove an awesome race regardless of the fact that Perez might have got passed him. Had Perez carried on right behind Alonso and not run wide would he have got passed? We'll never know but Alonso is probably one of, if not the best, driver at defending a position in the whole of F1.

A bigger argument was why was Hamilton so woeful yet again today? Yes he finished 3rd but was how far behind both Alonso and Perez? When you take on that Button (had he not hit the HRT) would have been passed Lewis too the pole he set once again means nothing.

Driver of the day contenders:

Alonso, Perez, Verne, Kimi and Senna

Results:

1) Perez - Who else could it be? Almost won, managed his tyres perfectly. Stunning from my main man! Future World Champion....

2) Senna - I thought he was stunning. Showed what he can do when he has a competitive car. Senna overtakes Shumi was a great blast from the past.

2) Alonso - Joint with Senna. Alonso drove what was almost a perfect race (it would have been had it not been for him being dragged in by Perez). He took what still looks like an awful Ferrari into one that Won a race!

4) Verne - Picked up his first points, 18th-8th was a great drive. He might not be Jaime but he's growing on me

5) Kimi - He really hasn't lost it has he?! Drove his own race but some of his driving was sublime


---

Turkey of the day?

Lewis or Vettel. Lewis for going from 1st to 3rd yet again, storming off from the podium and not congratulating Sergio when they both got out of the cars together. Vettel for moaning at the HRT post race, acting like he has a right to be first, moaning at the car, moaning at the weather... etc!

[tunes666]

It doesn't. The right man won today fair and square.

If you believe that Alessandro you more delusional then this pathetic Italian charade your putting on.

Perez was the better driver today and anyone with common senses knows it so take your red tinted glasses of for once in your life.

lol

There is a diffidence between Alessandro being delusional and you not being able to stomach Ferrari's (Alonso's deserved) victory...

How was it deserved?? He was extremely lucky with the rain and then used orders to keep the rampaging Sauber at bay!

Why was it only Alonso who got lucky with the rain?... all the drivers were out on the same track no?... But Alonso with the 9th fastest car on the grid finished first.... I say that means he deserved to win.

And your claim about Sauber does not actually count seeing as its just fabrication, its just a symptom of being bitter about Alonos and Ferraris good day

[Alessandro Ciambella]

At the start of lap 50 a radio transmission was broadcasted asking Perez to be careful. This broadcast would have been delayed.

Immediately people are speculating nonsense.

It does not matter because after receiving this message Perez carried on and fluffed his lines and fell off the track.

The team never told him not to overtake Alonso, hence he tried and unfortunately did not pass him.

I Don't quite know what the problem is.

[Gregers]

At the start of lap 50 a radio transmission was broadcasted asking Perez to be careful. This broadcast would have been delayed.

Immediately people are speculating nonsense.

It does not matter because after receiving this message Perez carried on and fluffed his lines and fell off the track.

The team never told him not to overtake Alonso, hence he tried and unfortunately did not pass him.

I Don't quite know what the problem is.

Hit the nail on the head there Alessandro.

The difference between:

"Sergio be careful, no need to do something stupid! Make sure you get 2nd"

and

"Sergio slow down so that Alonso wins"

Is evident, yet for some reason the McLaren fanboys (And read that as Lewis Fanboys) don't see it!

[tunes666]

I'm sorry but this quite ridiculous Ferrari bashing is getting embarrassing!

After Sauber told Perez to make sure he got 2nd did he stop closing in on Alonso? NO

After catching Alonso and being in the DRS zone did he leave his wing shut and not press the KERS button? NO

What people are also ignoring is how Perez could have screwed his 2nd place up coming off the track, hardly a deliberate attempt to give Alonos time.. If they did not want him to catch him why allow him to burn his tires up and get to Alonos behind to suddenly put him in such a position?..

its rubbish.

Had they wanted to do this they would have simply told him after he made 2 or 3 seconds up to watch his tires, so he could make sure he would not get too close.

To be honest the way the commentators banged on about it was quite distasteful of you ask me...

[mystiroakey]

hogwash- the team in an ideal world would be happy to go for a win. a win or a bl,ow out- better than taking a second any day of the week- unless there is another motive- like team mates, partner f1 team team mates etc

[Alessandro Ciambella]

hogwash- the team in an ideal world would be happy to go for a win. a win or a bl,ow out- better than taking a second any day of the week- unless there is another motive- like team mates, partner f1 team team mates etc

Perez got the tv delayed radio transmission from his team telling him be careful. He carried on and tried the over take and it didn't work out.

Perhaps the other motive is the extra money his team will get for the contractors points. Or is that not good enough?

Your just poking the fire now looking for something to explain away why you driver did not win.

[mystiroakey]

my driver!

nope my drivers were obviously back in the pack. hate radio transmissions telling drivers to stop racing- wethjer you think its for honorable reasons or not - it makes the sprot worse!

[Alessandro Ciambella]

The only persons told to stop were Vettel and Pastor. I don't recall anybody else being told to stop racing.

[mystiroakey]

look dude- using the words 'be carefull' in many situations is pretty much code for- dont even think about it!

[Gregers]

look dude- using the words 'be carefull' in many situations is pretty much code for- dont even think about it!

Really?

Hows the world from your position under Lewis Hamilton?

[mystiroakey]

obviously naive in reagrds to driver/engineer communication then greggers.

not sure what the hamilton comment means !

[tunes666]

look dude- using the words 'be carefull' in many situations is pretty much code for- dont even think about it!

lol, so if the team wants to tell a driver to be carful and make sure they do not bodge up second place...

what do they say?

"eerrrr... be careful, but..eeerrrr only a little bit"?

Common sense tells us that if it was that much of an issue, you warn the driver before... ..you tell them to take it easy, and he just goes easy, and does not catch Alonso up... you dont watch him stream in, burning his tires up and then sway off track to give Alonos space..

that's just stupid and illogical.

[mystiroakey]

what is stupid an illogical is thinking that the driver doesnt understand the tyres he is driving on! what is also obvious is that orders are giving to drivers in chilled out wording.

[Alessandro Ciambella]

Maybe if he listened to his engineer about driving carefully then he would not of tried a silly overtake.

[mystiroakey]

we want drivers trying dont we!

perez is a good driver obvioiusly-However his car was obviously quicker at that time than the ferrari on his set up! alonso is a proper champ. However it could have been abit suss- none of us know any different

[Alessandro Ciambella]

I always want drivers trying all of the time.

This was simply a poorly timed delivery of an engineers message. We don't even know when this was transmitted. Maybe when the gap was 6 seconds maybe 4 seconds. We don't know. We just got the message on the TV and 6 turns later Perez fell off the track.

[Guest]

cracking race...really enjoyed it..

fantastic drive from perez...shame he ran wide on a few laps before the end, otherwise he could have won...

well done alonso.

[Gregers]

obviously naive in reagrds to driver/engineer communication then greggers.

not sure what the hamilton comment means !

Um I'm guessing you didn't scroll up to where I gave my thoughts on it.

[Bull]

At the start of lap 50 a radio transmission was broadcasted asking Perez to be careful. This broadcast would have been delayed.

Immediately people are speculating nonsense.

It does not matter because after receiving this message Perez carried on and fluffed his lines and fell off the track.

The team never told him not to overtake Alonso, hence he tried and unfortunately did not pass him.

I Don't quite know what the problem is.

Hit the nail on the head there Alessandro.

The difference between:

"Sergio be careful, no need to do something stupid! Make sure you get 2nd"

and

"Sergio slow down so that Alonso wins"

Is evident, yet for some reason the McLaren fanboys (And read that as Lewis Fanboys) don't see it!

Nicely said Gregers mate 100% agree

[supremeskills]

I'm sorry but this quite ridiculous Ferrari bashing is getting embarrassing!

After Sauber told Perez to make sure he got 2nd did he stop closing in on Alonso? NO

After catching Alonso and being in the DRS zone did he leave his wing shut and not press the KERS button? NO

The important thing to note is that todays two best drivers finished 1st and 2nd, Alonso drove an awesome race regardless of the fact that Perez might have got passed him. Had Perez carried on right behind Alonso and not run wide would he have got passed? We'll never know but Alonso is probably one of, if not the best, driver at defending a position in the whole of F1.

A bigger argument was why was Hamilton so woeful yet again today? Yes he finished 3rd but was how far behind both Alonso and Perez? When you take on that Button (had he not hit the HRT) would have been passed Lewis too the pole he set once again means nothing.

Driver of the day contenders:

Alonso, Perez, Verne, Kimi and Senna

Results:

1) Perez - Who else could it be? Almost won, managed his tyres perfectly. Stunning from my main man! Future World Champion....

2) Senna - I thought he was stunning. Showed what he can do when he has a competitive car. Senna overtakes Shumi was a great blast from the past.

2) Alonso - Joint with Senna. Alonso drove what was almost a perfect race (it would have been had it not been for him being dragged in by Perez). He took what still looks like an awful Ferrari into one that Won a race!

4) Verne - Picked up his first points, 18th-8th was a great drive. He might not be Jaime but he's growing on me

5) Kimi - He really hasn't lost it has he?! Drove his own race but some of his driving was sublime


---

Turkey of the day?

Lewis or Vettel. Lewis for going from 1st to 3rd yet again, storming off from the podium and not congratulating Sergio when they both got out of the cars together. Vettel for moaning at the HRT post race, acting like he has a right to be first, moaning at the car, moaning at the weather... etc!

lol your obviously a wum.i mean everyone knows yet again they pitted lewis too late and then messed up his pit stop which then allowed button to get ahead of him,and yet again they kept letting button pit before the lead driver which we were told last week when lewis wanted to pit before button wasnt allowed....hmmmm strange.
but button is the turkey for not making the most of it.
further more mclaren just didnt have the race pace after the first pit stop,and when your car doesnt have the race pace theres nothing you can do.
and the first thing lewis did after the race was give perez a hug.

[owen10ozzy]

Greggers:

Turkey of the day?

Lewis or Vettel. Lewis for going from 1st to 3rd yet again, storming off from the podium and not congratulating Sergio when they both got out of the cars together. Vettel for moaning at the HRT post race, acting like he has a right to be first, moaning at the car, moaning at the weather... etc!

Sorry Greggers but im going to have to disagree with you here. I think your very much right in your comments with regards to Alonso and Perez. This nonsense with regards orders is exactly that...speculative and nothing else. You only need to look at last year and the 2 races this season to see that Alonso has the ability to get the best out of a dog of a car!! Now of course that isn't to say other things such as rain, strategy, safety car haven't helped because of course they have but lets not take anything away he is showing what a fantastic driver he is (coming from someone who isn't a huge fan of him)..as for Perez, well anyone who has a relatively quick car, especially this season, and goes for some of the odd strategies he does is always going to be a danger when it comes to unpredictable races and so it proved today. I say well done to the lad...

But...

On to your Turkey comment?! Hamilton....really?..think your talking absolute garbage! Lets not forget that on two of his pit stops he lost 5-7 seconds because of the mechanics...this caused him to come out into traffic first time round, which would of course mean extra difficulty in getting the tires up to speed. I don't think he made many mistakes today.If you look at laps 1-8 you could see that McClaren were already beginning to edge away from the rest before the chaos of yellow and red flags. For me, Lewis is already getting way to much flack. Last year he was being berated for making mistakes, some of them needless which kept him well and truly out of the title race.

For me, whilst obviously disappointing to go from pole to 3rd...he is showing the maturity & discipline that so many moaned he lacked last season and in 09/10...to ensure he is at least finishing the races and gaining what will be valuable points come the season end.

Lets be honest Alonso wont be up on the podium every race weekend...and whilst Red Bull will have the odd quick race..they arent the same force as last season...so during a season which could be topsy turvy it is essential to be finishing in the top 3 and limiting the number of mistakes/non point weekends if you want that drivers title. Something which Lewis is so far making sure he does.

[tunes666]

It doesn't. The right man won today fair and square.

If you believe that Alessandro you more delusional then this pathetic Italian charade your putting on.

Perez was the better driver today and anyone with common senses knows it so take your red tinted glasses of for once in your life.

lol

There is a diffidence between Alessandro being delusional and you not being able to stomach Ferrari's (Alonso's deserved) victory...

Im not fussed ferrari won but it was not deserved perez should of won and for your tyre rubbish he was on hard tyres which had done less laps then Alonso so was hardly tyre deg

clearly you are bothered or you would not ignore the fact that tire degradation is also dependent on how hard a driver is driving and how his car is handling..

[Guest]

Lets keep it peaceful guys, there is no need for wum accusations & blinkered fanboy labels etc.

Cheers

[supremeskills]

some of you ppl dont seem to understand the difference between race pace and quali pace.
anyway alonso did well,he and lewis are my favourate drivers.but eventhough alonso did a great job to win the race,in some ways he was very lucky too.
perez made a big mistake which let alonso off the hook,coz before then he was massively quicker than alonso.so dont expect the same from alonso in china.

[tunes666]

what is stupid an illogical is thinking that the driver doesnt understand the tyres he is driving on! what is also obvious is that orders are giving to drivers in chilled out wording.

that comment did not even make sense... of course the driver knows the tires as he can feel them..
Are you now saying that teams do not advise drivers on there car condition and race situation?

Team orders do not automatically apply if another team is using your engine...

orders may have been given. and because the situation was that he was catching Alonso but like he said he had to take over him quick because he
could feel his front tires going.. the team also knew this and it was there job to assess the situation.

Alonso does not give up places easy, so Peres would have had to work hard to take over the place. The team thought that a second place finish was better than a no finish or a man sausage up 4th or 5th finish, so they told him to be carful...

at that point he still stuck to Alonso's tail pushing.. his front tire then caught the edge of the track and he drove straight onto the gravel and had to drive back on the track.. proving further than his front tires were waring fast...

There is no reason to doubt this was what happened, other than people who cant swallow the Fact Ferrari got the win in a car that's not nearly ready for wins.

[mystiroakey]

what is stupid an illogical is thinking that the driver doesnt understand the tyres he is driving on! what is also obvious is that orders are giving to drivers in chilled out wording.

that comment did not even make sense... of course the driver knows the tires as he can feel them..
Are you now saying that teams do not advise drivers on there car condition and race situation?

Team orders do not automatically apply if another team is using your engine...

orders may have been given. and because the situation was that he was catching Alonso but like he said he had to take over him quick because he
could feel his front tires going.. the team also knew this and it was there job to assess the situation.

Alonso does not give up places easy, so Peres would have had to work hard to take over the place. The team thought that a second place finish was better than a no finish or a man sausage up 4th or 5th finish, so they told him to be carful...

at that point he still stuck to Alonso's tail pushing.. his front tire then caught the edge of the track and he drove straight onto the gravel and had to drive back on the track.. proving further than his front tires were waring fast...

There is no reason to doubt this was what happened, other than people who cant swallow the Fact Ferrari got the win in a car that's not nearly ready for wins.

tunes i dont understand your stance- i replied to someone above me that said that the engineer had to tell the driver that his tyres would wear out!! lol- offcourse team orders do not automatically apply if another team uses your engine! why do you think i dont get that

[Belgarion of Riva]

Glock was overtaken because he was on the wrong tyres. Glock was also overtaken by another driver after Hamilton got past.

Alessandro, we all saw what happened today. Perez should have won that race but Ferrari did what they do best and cheat everyone else out of a victory.

We'll see how well they do when there aren't any changeable conditions. Alonso is a fantastic driver, I just wish he proved that more on track rather than getting people to not fight him at all.

IMO, his drive in Australia was better than this one.

[Gregers]

To further qualify Hamilton as the Turkey of the day, it was based on his attitude post race in which he should for all money have gone and congratulated Perez

[Alessandro Ciambella]

@Riva

Glock was 43 seconds slower on his last lap. 43 seconds. That is an absolute conspiracy. How Ron Dennis and Lewis can sleep after corrupting the title like that is beyond me.

Also, can you please provide me with a link for today's corruption. I just seen an inexperienced driver fall off the track after a poorly timed radio transmission. Please help me out with this pie in the sky story.

Many thanks!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

@Riva

Glock was 43 seconds slower on his last lap. 43 seconds. That is an absolute conspiracy. How Ron Dennis and Lewis can sleep after corrupting the title like that is beyond me.

Also, can you please provide me with a link for today's corruption. I just seen an inexperienced driver fall off the track after a poorly timed radio transmission. Please help me out with this pie in the sky story.

Many thanks!

He was on dry tires in the rain!! Other cars overtook him as well!

[Fernando]

To further qualify Hamilton as the Turkey of the day, it was based on his attitude post race in which he should for all money have gone and congratulated Perez

http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/gallery/12837/7624760/malaysian-gp-race-pictures

Go to picture 20 and then tell me what you see unless im going crazy i see Hamilton congratulating Perez in his car.

[Belgarion of Riva]

Alessandro, so what's your evidence for your statement that Denis gave Glock an order.

Gregers, immediately after the race, in parc ferme, Hamilton went and congratulated Perez.

I know a lot of people despise him but it would be great to tell the truth instead of just bashing people.

He went to Perez whilst he was in the car, shook his hand and tapped him on the helmet as well.

Didn't you watch the race?

[Gregers]

I will admit I hadn't seen that picture Nando and all I saw of Hamilton post race was him disappearing and then leaving the podium quickly. I will retract my statement given the evidence.

Vettel is now the Turkey of the day by himself

[Bull]

they are right Lewis did congratulate Perez

[Gregers]

Did Sky show it? If so I must have looked away for a moment (picking up tea maybe lol) and therefore missed it

[Alessandro Ciambella]

I believe that had you blinked, then yes, you would of missed it!

[sportform]

Missed the race for the second week. Couldn't even get excited/ bother about watching the highlights. The viewing figures for this week will be interesting.

[Alessandro Ciambella]

@sportsville

How did the interforum f1 predictions go this week? It's on you to carry this forum after my epic fail!

[Belgarion of Riva]

Yes Gregers, SKY showed it.

Alessandro, how's your Monza invitational going? Why don't you post the results here after every race

[Alessandro Ciambella]

I believe thebrahamabull has already updated the thread with the league table.

[Gregers]

As I said I must have missed it. And as I have also said Vettel is now the Turkey by himself

[Alessandro Ciambella]

Did anybody else see the 'other' finger Vettel was waving at the HRT after his puncture??

Very funny indeed!

[mystiroakey]

why would hamilton even be in contention of being a turkey.

even button would be ahead of him this week

[Critical_mass]

oh please, the comments get worse on this forum.

[mystiroakey]

turkey breast or turkey roll mass

[liverbnz]

Where's the thread to discuss the GP?

[mystiroakey]

not sure but mines a club on granary roll

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