Malaysian GP Thread Containing Practice/Qualifying/Race Spoilers

[Fernando]

Following Kimi Raikkonen’s victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the 2013 Formula One championship fires up again this weekend as the series prepares for round two, the Malaysian Grand Prix.

And fiery is perhaps the appropriate adjective for this race. High temperatures are the order of the day at Sepang Circuit and this race is a true test of man and machine.

For the drivers there’s the struggle to cope with soaring in-car temperatures and the battle to stay hydrated throughout the 56-lap long race. For the machinery this weekend is about dealing with tough conditions for engines and tyres. The heat and Sepang’s abrasive track surface makes tyre wear a major consideration, while a number of high-speed corners places the tyres under severe lateral loads. Keeping rubber ‘alive’ here is a difficult task.

In terms of engines, the heat and the fact that a significant part of the lap here is run at full throttle means powerplants are heavily stressed. Maximising cooling is imperative and teams often open supplementary cooling vents in bodywork to facilitate this.

And then there’s the rain. Heavy downpours are a frequent occurrence and the possibility of torrential rain adds an extra air of unpredictability to the season’s second race.

The 2012 race was a case in point. The race started wet and as the rain intensified running was suspended on lap nine. When the action resumed it was Fernando Alonso who took the lead. In a dramatic final third, the Ferrari driver was chased to the chequered flag by Sergio Perez. The Mexican was unable to pass, but claimed his first podium finish with second place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Punishing conditions, an exciting circuit layout and unpredictable weather conditions mean a grand prix at Sepang is rarely dull and this weekend should be no exception.
Malaysian Grand Prix Data


Circuit: Sepang
Length of lap: 5.543 km
Lap record: 1:34.223 (Juan-Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW, 2004)
Total number of race laps: 56
Total race distance: 310.408km
Pitlane speed limits: 60km/h during practice and qualifying; 100km/h during race
DRS Zones: The DRS sectors will be between turns 15 and 1 (pit straight, as last year) and then between turns 14 and 15 (back straight). There will be a detection point for each DRS sector.

Malaysian Grand Prix Facts


This will be the 15th running of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The race made its Formula One calendar debut on October 17th, 1999.
In the first two years of its existence the race was staged at the end of the season. However, in 2001 it moved to March and had held an early-season slot ever since.
In the 14 events to date, the driver in pole position has gone on to win the race on seven occasions. The first winner from pole was Michael Schumacher in 2000 and the most recent Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
Last year’s winner Fernando Alonso started the race from eighth on the grid, the furthest back a winner has started in the history of the race. Kimi Raikkonen won the 2003 event from seventh position.
Ferrari is the most successful constructor at the Malaysian GP with six wins. Eddie Irvine won the inaugural event for the Scuderia, Michael Schumacher won the next three grands prix at Sepang, Raikkonen was victorious in 2008 and Alonso won last year.
Alonso has won the Malaysian Grand Prix with three different teams – Renault in 2005, McLaren in 2007 and Ferrari last year.
Of the drivers racing this weekend McLaren’s Jenson Button has the most Sepang starts. The Briton has raced 13 Malaysian Grands Prix and only missed out on the 1999 event as he was busy racing in F3 that year.
Sergio Perez’s second place last year for Sauber was the first time a Mexican driver had appeared on the podium since Pedro Rodriguez finished second in the 1971 Dutch Grand Prix for BRM – 19 years before Perez was born.
While this will be the first Malaysian Grand Prix for new boys Valtteri Bottas, Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton Giedo van der Garde and Esteban Gutierrez, only Bianchi has never appeared on the Sepang track before. Bottas made his Formula One weekend debut here last year in a Friday practice session for Williams. Sauber’s Gutierrez raced here for ART Lotus in GP2 last season, finishing seventh in the feature race and second in the sprint race. Caterham’s Van der Garde first raced here in GP2 Asia in 2009 with iSport and last year returned with Caterham Racing to finish fourth in the sprint race and Marussia’s Chilton finished third in last year’s GP2 feature race.
The 2012 GP was a good race for one of last year’s rookies. Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne took his first Formula One championship points with an eighth-place finish.
This will be Fernando Alonso’s 200th grand prix. He made his debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix for Minardi and since then has scored 30 wins, 22 pole positions, 57 other podium finishes and, of course, two Formula One Drivers’ Championship titles, in 2005 and 2006, both for Renault.
Pirelli is bringing its Hard and Medium compounds to this race.

Source: RaceDepartment.com
Weather Forecast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/1735161?day=2
All 3 days are Thundery Showers mixed in with heavy rain

[Guest]

Those rain storms are going to play havoc if there as bad as last year, completely unpredictable which just makes the situation even more exciting. Pretty sure Mercedes and everyone below the top 3 would want a wet race or mixed conditions, if they want to be seriously challenging for a podium or race win.

[Fernando]

Yeah if it rains heavily then id expect Mercedes will right up there they looked very quick in the rain.

Mclaren may move forward this week was a rumor going about that was to do with their ride height apparently the lower it is the better their aero works and let's face it that's not possible in Australia being a road essentially so they may move forward a bit in Malaysia/China Etc wouldn't expect anything higher then 6th though if their lucky

[liverbnz]

A dry race would probably give us a good indication of which teams are good with the tyres and which are not but I'll not complain if it's a wet one!

[Guest]

Yeah if it rains heavily then id expect Mercedes will right up there they looked very quick in the rain.

Mclaren may move forward this week was a rumor going about that was to do with their ride height apparently the lower it is the better their aero works

Yes, Rosberg was extremely confident that if they had continued qualifying in the wet then he would of been pole position in his Mercedes. The interesting story with McLaren is actually from testing regarding their ride height which you refer to Fernando. An eager journalist wrote a report about a time set by McLaren in testing which was impressive, however it was later understood that they had actually fixed a suspension piece incorrectly or purposely and this in turn reduced the ride height which made the car's aerodynamics work extremely well. The problem was though that this alteration to their car was illegal and this was all spotted and reported. It was also confirmed by Ted Kravitz in his notebook when he was talking about Mercedes' impressive new suspension system.

I agree if it rains then we will probably be asking more questions about the true running order of the pack going into the next race as true performance will be masked in those changeable conditions.

[McLaren]

No sign that McLaren have moved forward, in fact p1 & p2 have confirmed force india are quicker in dry conditions. The only flicker of hope was when JB set the fastest time on inters at a point when many others had switched back to slicks.

I wonder if Mclaren if failed to appreciate the benefit of the new hydraulically-controlled active suspension systems most of the top teams now seem to be using. Sky f1 should have some more info on this over the weekend. It has been suggested that the red bull for example is a little high at the rear to allow their system the room to work at the front end.


As for the front runners it looked like red bull were closer to lotus and Ferrari on the longer runs than they were in the race in melbourne. Although I dont think kimi did as many consecutive laps as vettel.

[Guest]

Well it's clear that the top 3 teams are in another league currently followed by Mercedes & Force India in no man's land and then McLaren are the sixth quickest and leading the rest of the pack. Red Bull looks phenomenal on single lap pace but once again the tyres are just being destroyed, even Mark Webber has been complaining about them and the fact you just can't do anything about them. Mercedes did long runs in both sessions and are yet to show their true potential but I can't see them challenging without the intervention of rain.

Another note is that Lotus have stated that there was only enough new parts for Kimi and that Grosjean once again misses out on the update this weekend. Unfortunate for Grosjean but when your financially not a strong as your rivals, you have to commit to a decision and back your lead driver from the get-go. Understandable.

Please rain.

[monty junior]

I think it's supposed to be heavy rain all weekend which makes today pretty irrelevant. Albeit's early in the season and we haven't had even the second quali session yet but Williams and Sauber are well off where they were last year, Williams in particular over 2 seconds off the pace, hopefully they can improve to make Q2 more exciting.

[GSC]

Kimi looking good.

[Guest]

Lotus and Kimi are looking good but he's not a great wet weather driver in my opinion and really practice times are extra irrelevent given the weather forecast. The advantage of the top three teams have will be negated and that will bring both Mercedes drivers and Button closer to the front, seeing as they seem to go well on intermediates. Massa is dire in wet weather too, therefore there is hope for a good race from the British drivers and maybe a possible podium.

Wet weather is what gave Alonso and Ferrari the chance to close the gap and score points on the leaders this time last year and they took full advantage with an inferior car. Hopefully Mercedes/McLaren can benefit too with this fortunate weather intereference and grab some points and also give themselves a chance to reduce their deficit to Red Bull & the rest with some much needed development before the european phase of the season.

[dyrewolfe]

Well, well, well...

Rain hits qualifying again (the end of Q2 and Q3 this time) and changes the fortunes of a couple of teams who up until then weren't looking too great (Ferrari and Red Bull).

QUALIFYING RESULTS

1 S Vettel (Red Bull)
2 Massa (Ferrari)
3 F Alonso (Ferrari)
4 L Hamilton (Mercedes)
5 M Webber (Red Bull)
6 N Rosberg (Mercedes)
7 K Raikkonen (Lotus)
8 J Button (McLaren)
9 A Sutil (Force India)
10 S Perez (McLaren)
11 R Grosjean (Lotus)
12 N Hulkenberg (Sauber)

Red Bull appeared to struggle badly in Q1 and came perilously close to the drop zone at the end. Ferrari didn't do much better.

Rosberg was consistently quick for Mercedes and appeared to have the edge over Hamilton, right up to the end of Q2. Kimi was going well for Lotus, as was Sutil for Force India.

However the Ferraris and Red Bulls came to life in the wet conditions at the start of Q3 and once again put in their last laps as close as possible to the end of the session, putting on new Inters as the track began to dry out and taking big chunks off the times set by Button, Hamilton and Rosberg.

So, we have The Finger on pole once more. Will this be the first of many this season?

Can Massa and Alonso stay with him to keep the race interesting? You'd think if anyone can it will be Alonso.

Have Mercedes managed to improve their long-distance pace to give Hamilton a chance of a podium?

How will tyre degradation affect the front runners? Will the Red Bulls struggle with high wear rates like they did in Australia? If so, could this bring the Lotus cars back into contention?

Worryingly McLaren never looked like troubling the top 6, either in wet or dry conditions. That said, I think I recall Button saying they aren't planning any major upgrades until Barcelona. They could be well out of the title picture by that time...

[Guest]

Rosberg was consistently quick for Mercedes and appeared to have the edge over Hamilton, right up to the end of Q2.

So, we have The Finger on pole once more. Will this be the first of many this season?

Have Mercedes managed to improve their long-distance pace to give Hamilton a chance of a podium?

How will tyre degradation affect the front runners? Will the Red Bulls struggle with high wear rates like they did in Australia? If so, could this bring the Lotus cars back into contention?

Try and answer those points -

I think that's the difference between Hamilton & Rosberg. Hamilton performs in Q3, when it matters........Nico doesn't. Hamilton has that killer instinct and the pressure doesn't get to him at the important moments. Hamilton already 2-0 up in their inter-team battle.

Vettel will be getting probably double digit poles this season, it's agreed amongst the paddock that the Red Bull on a single lap pace is without doubt the fastest car on the grid. Webber can't match Vettel so the finger will be wagging most saturday mornings.

Mercedes appear to have improved their long run pace but I wouldn't say it's as impressive as a Red Bull, Lotus or Ferrari as of yet. The biggest difference between this week and last week is the fact that Vettel will be starting on fresh rubber compared to his destroyed rears of last week. Important factor that should see him stay out in front if he gets into the first corner in first. I still don't think will get away like previous seasons and, if anything, Massa or Alonso could easily jump Vettel going into turn 1 with their majestic starts. I would say that Alonso is a big favourite for this race with their long run pace and the fact that he will be able to move past Massa either through his own ability or by Ferrari's strategy. Can see Kimi coming through the field and going long and being a threat towards the end of the race. If it rains then what i've just said above is pretty much meaningless lol!

Sutil impressive once again, weather ruined his chances. Once again, showing why Di Resta's F1 career is possibly under threat. McLaren showing no real improvement. Hulkenberg's had a shocker moving to Sauber.

Prediction - Dry race - Alonso win
Prediction - Wet race - Anybody's race

[SteveG]

Had Hami down for pole until the rain came (edit: and still believe he'd have bagged it had he changed tyres - good call Seb) as it looked like both Red Bull and Ferrari had sacraficed some one lap pace for better tyre management in the race which brought them back to Merc. RB seems to be eating its tyres at the moment so not expecting (or rather hope not) Vettel to disappear. If a wet race then anything can happen, but if dry then get a strong feeling that Merc feel quietly confident about their tyres (unlike RB who look concerned) so although my head says Alonso put me down for a Hamilton win.

[Guest]

Further news - Lotus' qualifying woes in Qualifying for the Malaysian GP have been compounded by a three-place grid penalty for Kimi Raikkonen. The race stewards confirmed that Raikkonen had been punished for impeding the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg during the third and final stage of qualifying.

[dyrewolfe]

Further news - Lotus' qualifying woes in Qualifying for the Malaysian GP have been compounded by a three-place grid penalty for Kimi Raikkonen. The race stewards confirmed that Raikkonen had been punished for impeding the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg during the third and final stage of qualifying.

I missed that one. Maybe it happened off-camera?

Funny they didn't do anything about Perez when Hulkenberg (I think) had to swerve past him into a braking zone, while on a hot lap.

Still that problem with consistency (or lack of it).

[Fernando]

I can't say im surprised by the outcome but it doesn't particularly concern me it very much seemed a last one over the line like Hulkenburg in Brazil.

Ill be more surprised if Vettel is still leading at end of T1/2

[GSC]

Dry race hopefully so Kimi can make the most of degradation again and come through the field.

[Guest]

Can easily see Massa & Alonso jumping either side of Vettel and eating him up because of the long run down to turn 1. If that's the case then I can see the Ferrari's leading with Vettel behind in a breakaway three. In the dirty air, Vettel will eat his tyres and be forced to pit early. Alonso who will be in second behind Massa, who is holding him up, will decide whether to overtake Massa and ruin his tyres or wait for Ferrari as a team to make the decision and make the strategy work in Alonso's favour for the jump on his teammate, as we've seen before. Alonso then strolls to the win. Big possibility. If this outcome happens, I can't see Kimi being invited to the party this week as he has too much work for him to do to get up to the main pack and in the process will destroy his tyres. That grid penalty will hurt.

That's my dry prediction but I hope it rains for some excitement. I think in the dry Kimi will get up into fourth and will probably lead Webber (5th) followed the the Mercs/Sutil & Button

[GSC]

Aye too much work to do to get near the lead, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was around the last podium place

[sportform]

I have had a look at the weather forecast for Kuala Lumpur and it seems like it will be heavy rain for most of the day tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button always seem to do well in the rain. I think Adrian Sutil could go well too.

[Guest]

33/1 Jenson Button if your interested, however the McLaren didn't appear to look as good as suggested in those wet conditions and neither did Adrian Sutil in the Force India after a strong opening qualifying in the dry.

If it does rain then it's a total lottery, I just don't want to get up for the race and see it raining and then the FIA to intervene and stop the race start when it's clearly not too dangerous. Obviously, if it's horrific then it should be stopped, I'm not stupid, but there are wet tyres produced for a reason and therefore I want to see these drivers showcasing their skills and not just complaining over the radio for the race to be stopped.

Hoping for a Hamilton win, in the mould of Alonso's last year. It gave Alonso 25 valuable points and more importantly it gave himself and Ferrari time to develop their uncompetitive car and bring it towards the front pecking order.

I'm hoping for something similar with Mercedes but predicting this race is pretty much pointless.......

[dyrewolfe]

@John: Hard to argue with your dry race predictions. However, if it does decide to chuck it down, I might have a punt on one or both Mercedes getting on the podium.

I'd also look forward to Button coming through the field, but with McLaren's habit of botching their race strategies of late, I'm not so hopeful.

Given who's at the front I'm almost tempted to wish for a wet race...but on the other hand I don't want interminable delays or endless laps behind the Safety Car.

Oh well, que sera sera, as they say.

[beninho]

with the current caution during rain. potential for a safety car race can this be done?

[mystiroakey]

Com,e on Lewis

beat the evil Redbulls

[ShahenshahG]

Hahaha Lewis pulled into the Mclaren pit box by mistake

[mystiroakey]

Come on HAM HEAD..

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Mr Vettel helping his image there I see

[monty junior]

You can see why Vettel is a champion and Webber is not, don't know why he's sulking, the race is 56 laps not 40.

[ShahenshahG]

Has he been given team orders? What does Multi 21 mean?

[AlciG]

You can see why Vettel is a champion and Webber is not, don't know why he's sulking, the race is 56 laps not 40.

Because Vettel doesn't follow team orders?

[AlciG]

That's why I like Hamilton more then Vettel... Hamilton feels sorry for Rosberg and Vettel is just selfish

[mystiroakey]

ermmm.

All 3 of them felt odd about that. Dam team orders hey!!

vettels face when webber was speaking- classic...

[monty junior]

Vettel was attacking for a few laps, surely Webber could have upped his pace when he saw Seb wasn't backing off. Anyway either way i'd rather see that than the joke Mercedes procession at the end.

[monty junior]

A shame for Paul today, Force India really need to pick up points when they are strong, i think with a clean session and a bit of luck today he would have had a clear 5th.

[ShahenshahG]

Mark Webber, who finished second: "The first part of the grand prix went very well for us. In the end we got the right strategy and after the last stop the team told me to turn the engine down. Seb made his own decisions and will have protection as usual. I turned my engine down and as we know he's a quick pedaller."

[ShahenshahG]

Lewis Hamilton, who finished third: "The team did a fantastic job if I am honest I really feel Nico [Rosberg] should be standing here, he had a better race than me. I can't say it's the best feeling being up here but racing is racing."

[dyrewolfe]

An interesting race, mostly for tactical reasons, rather than on-track action...until the final stint anyway. Also disappointing for the number of mistakes made by the teams (and one driver).

Lots of interesting and amusing radio messages given out too.

No real surprises about the winner...though for quite a while it looked as though Webber had for once managed to get the upper hand on Vettel. Credit to Red Bull on this occasion for letting their drivers race..even telling Seb to cool it when things started to get a bit dicey.

Anyone who says Webber can't drive, or is embarrassing needs their head examined. That was some of the best driving I've seen - Seb and Mark's duel in the final stint was the best part of the entire race. I'm even glad in a way Seb ignored team instructions and made a fight of it. Hats off to both drivers - fantastic stuff and exactly what fans want to see. Disappointed for Mark though who should really have had the win, according to team strategy.

A good result for Mercedes - just very disappointed they under-filled the cars, meaning Hamilton and Rosberg had to do the final stint in fuel-saving mode. Didn't look like there was anything between the two today. A nice short-lived duel between the pair until they were orded to coast home.

Looked like they had the pace to cause Red Bull problems, but only on fresh tyres...they seemed to drop back after several laps after each stop. Loved it when Hamilton decided to make his first stop at the McLaren garage! Don't think it ended up costing him too much, fortunately.


Ferrari...I'd really love to know what Alonso was thinking of, ignoring the call to pit and ending up driving over his damaged front wing, going off into a gravel trap. Silly boy cost his team quite a few points, you have to say. Great comeback drive from Massa after a horrible start, finishing decently in 5th.

Absolutely gutted for Sutil and Di Resta - both drivers looking good for points finishes but denied by pit-stop errors that ultimately ended in both retiring,as they weren't sure whether the wheels were on properly. A weekend for Force India to forget.

Another disappointing race for McLaren. Button looking good for 5th place when another pit-stop problem, that looked similar to Force India's, dropped him to 14th, eventually retiring. Perez made up 1 place from his start, but looked to be off Button's pace and generally disappointing.

Good race for Lotus with solid points finishes (6th and 7th) for Romain and Kimi, despite difficult races for both.


Hamilton very magnanimous on the podium, saying it should have been Nico up there.

[dyrewolfe]

You can see why Vettel is a champion and Webber is not, don't know why he's sulking, the race is 56 laps not 40.

Because BOTH drivers were told to stay in formation and Vettel decided to ignore those orders. Did you not hear the radio message "This is silly Seb, come on" when he was trying to overtake Webber?

[mystiroakey]

I dont like team orders - so fair play vettel. however point is webber wasnt pushing.. soo, its all a bit of a sham this racing lark

[harryspiv]

@shahenshahG: my guess would be multi 21 means multiple points car no 2 finishes ahead of car no 1. Still that means sod all to Vettel

[ShahenshahG]

Thanks mate. Usually watch the races if I'm at work but not really a follower of the sport at other times - lots to get confused about

[McLaren]

Mysti

If marks engine was turned down and sebs wasn't then it is not a real race anyway. Secondly RB were clearly driving to set lap times to ensure they did not have to make an extra pit stop.

Seb got the benefit of catching mark when marks engine was turned down and then DRS. If mark had pushed maybe he could have gotten back inside sebs DRS zone, but then what happens? I am guessing one of the RB's tyres gives up.

Edit - It is now pretty clear sebs car was faster up to turn 4 (difference in engine mappings?) and seb goes for a crazy move round the outside, so mark just lets him have it instead of forcing seb off. If it had been another driver mark would have run him wide.

[dyrewolfe]

Hmph. Just heard Vettel has issued an apology for ignoring team orders. I'm sure that 1st place trophy and 25 points will help him deal with any "regrets".

[ShahenshahG]

They should put in the practice driver in his place for the next grand prix

[AlciG]

Hmph. Just heard Vettel has issued an apology for ignoring team orders. I'm sure that 1st place trophy and 25 points will help him deal with any "regrets".

He knows the team will not punish him anyways. Marc was right about that

[dyrewolfe]

Mysti

If marks engine was turned down and sebs wasn't then it is not a real race anyway. Secondly RB were clearly driving to set lap times to ensure they did not have to make an extra pit stop.

Seb got the benefit of catching mark when marks engine was turned down and then DRS. If mark had pushed maybe he could have gotten back inside sebs DRS zone, but then what happens? I am guessing one of the RB's tyres gives up.

Edit - It is now pretty clear sebs car was faster up to turn 4 (difference in engine mappings?) and seb goes for a crazy move round the outside, so mark just lets him have it instead of forcing seb off. If it had been another driver mark would have run him wide.

I'd be willing to bet if the roles had been reversed Seb would have had no qualms about running Mark off the track. A true Schumacher protege, that one.

[nathan]

Vettel was attacking for a few laps, surely Webber could have upped his pace when he saw Seb wasn't backing off. Anyway either way i'd rather see that than the joke Mercedes procession at the end.

Webber had been told to turn his engine down, Vettel ignored team orders and has come out and said he didn't do it on purpose?!?! lol

[GSC]

Some tough questions for Vettel to answer in private I suspect. Still thats the stubborness that sees him chasing a 3rd straight title.

[beninho]

vettell is like the spoiled only child who gets things his own way. when told otherwise ignores it. Webber had been told to conserve his tyres and turn his engine down. vetell is in the wrong and he has apologised do is aware of it. Webber should have run him off the track. vetell is so unlikeable. team orders are allowed and the merc finishing was the bedtime way. but thats why it's hard having a driver and team championship. but constructors is where the money is.

[Fernando]

I don't see why Mercedes bothered holding Rosberg up 3rd/4th is the same amount of points whichever way but it's clear who the favorite it in that team already looks like Hamilton finally has someone like Webber/Massa to stay out of his way and do as their told

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