197 replies to this topic

[Richard T]

The teams (and especially Lotus) has not even had their post-race champagne but there is only four days untill FP1 in Malaysia!

Here is your Session times (UK)

FP1 - 02:00 to 03:30
FP2 - 06:00 to 07:30
----
FP3 - 05:00 to 06:00
QU - 08:00
----
RACE - 08:00


(Current) Race winners
---
Alonso - 3 wins (2005, 2007, 2012)
Vettel - 2 wins (2010, 2011)
Raikkonen - 2 wins (2003, 2008)
Button - 1 win (2009)




Early week forecast: http://www.meteoblue...ircuit_my_62022

[chumma]

Mclaren, bring your brazil spec 27 and run it back to bac with the 28. That is all.

[choyothe]

Somehow I see the same 3 guys deciding this one as well: Another pole for Vettel, another strong race for both Kimi and Alonso. The deciding factor is what can RB do in the race.

[Shiroo]

if dry I would say that Lotus race pace will show up again and they might win it again with one less pit stop.
in rain I would go with Alonso
RBR probably PP, dunno about their race though

[SpaceHorseParty]

According to the weather forecast, there is a 30% chance of rain on Sunday.

[CrashPad]

Would not bet against Raikkonen if the weekend is dry, but Alonso and Vettel might disagree. Exciting to see.
Might be a complete lottery with the weather though...

[SCUDmissile]

Mercedes might bring new parts here, apparently.
I expect the top 3 to be even stronger here but not for Lotus to have that much superiority that they can do one stop less than others. this time with DRS long straight and the track surface, they will probably do about the same strategy as the others.

What are the tyres for Malaysia?

[Snic]

What are the tyres for Malaysia?

Medium & Hard


Last years pole lap from LH

[MinT]

If its dry - we will see the true pace of Vettel/RB

[Shiroo]

If its dry - we will see the true pace of Vettel/RB

and we didn't have dry in Australia? O.o

[mlsnoopy]

Tyres?

[hello86]

Would not bet against Raikkonen if the weekend is dry, but Alonso and Vettel might disagree. Exciting to see.
Might be a complete lottery with the weather though...

And Massa

[teejay]

I am heading over on Wednesday for my first ever F1 race... cannot wait.

Does anyone have a schedule for driving meetings or pre events in Kuala Lumpur?

[Dalton007]

Mclaren, bring your brazil spec 27 and run it back to bac with the 28. That is all.

I'd love to see a comparison.

[Juggles]

Somehow I see the same 3 guys deciding this one as well: Another pole for Vettel, another strong race for both Kimi and Alonso. The deciding factor is what can RB do in the race.

I think this is a pretty good shout as far as the win goes, provided it's dry obviously.

I doubt all three of them will be on the podium again though. I have no idea when we last had the same three drivers on the podium in two consecutive races. One for the anoraks.

[lixlax]

Malaysia could be totally different since we have no idea how the cars and tires behave in hot conditions.

[Ghostrider]

I am heading over on Wednesday for my first ever F1 race... cannot wait.

Wow, 1st live race, always something extra, enjoy!

[GAZF1nut]

Should we expect RBR to perform a lot better in Malaysia because of the anticipated temperatures?

Edited by GAZF1nut, 17 March 2013 - 11:57.

[Nonesuch]

Looking forward to Malaysia. One of the more enjoyable 'modern' (since 1999!) tracks.

I have no idea when we last had the same three drivers on the podium in two consecutive races. One for the anoraks.

The most recent one actually wasn't that long ago:

14 October 2012: South Korea - 1st Vettel, 2nd Webber, 3rd Alonso
28 October 2012: India - 1st Vettel, 2nd Alonso, 3rd Webber

And the one before that:

26 June 2011: Europe - 1st Vettel, 2nd Alonso, 3rd Webber
10 July 2011: Britain - 1st Alonso, 2nd Vettel, 3rd Webber

[Yoshi]

Tyres?

Hard and mediums I guess, but I'm not 100% sure.

[DutchQuicksilver]

Malaysia should be more suited to Mercedes than Australia, so wouldn't rule them out either.

[Msaman]

It's gonna be a fascinating season that's for sure : )
Even Pirelli are bringing harder compounds the tire wear will be even higher than in Melbourne due to the surface and all these fast corners.
I even can not predict the result but should be quite interesting .

[Shiroo]

Malaysia should be more suited to Mercedes than Australia, so wouldn't rule them out either.

Isn't Malaysia aero track? And afaik their Downforce level is worse compared to likes of RBR, Lotus and Ferrari. Also their tyre-management (that improved by a lot) is still not on level of Ferrari and Lotus so they will lack a little in that as well.

Though straights might come in hand (but if they lack DF they will run more wing and shorter gears I would say => less straight speed and more drag).

[HuddersfieldTerrier1986]

I really wouldnt pay much attention to forecasts for Sepang. It's basically a case of "it'll be hot, and you might get a downpour" which is the general forecast for that area at this time of year. Plus no guarantee that if there is a downpour that it'll actually hit the track.

[aray]

if low temp Lotus or Ferrari will be team to beat...if hot condition(~35C) RB will show their true race pace...

[Ferrari2183]

One of the Ferrari drivers will win this one and the other will make the podium. With the two long straights they won't be held up this time.

[pUs]

Mclaren, bring your brazil spec 27 and run it back to bac with the 28. That is all.

But can they really do that though? Isn't the tub homologated for each season or something? (I might be wrong..)

[DutchQuicksilver]

Isn't Malaysia aero track?

Yes, and so is Barcelona and Mercedes was mighty there in winter testing, and Sepang also has those two long straights.

[bonjon1979a]

if low temp Lotus or Ferrari will be team to beat...if hot condition(~35C) RB will show their true race pace...

I'm not sure Malaysia does low temperatures.

[tarmac]

if low temp Lotus or Ferrari will be team to beat...if hot condition(~35C) RB will show their true race pace...

I dunno man. Lotus should be even better in hot..

[OO7]

I am heading over on Wednesday for my first ever F1 race... cannot wait.

Does anyone have a schedule for driving meetings or pre events in Kuala Lumpur?

That's great to hear teejay I hope you have fun and enjoy the experience.

[Dzeidzei]

Would not bet against Raikkonen if the weekend is dry, but Alonso and Vettel might disagree. Exciting to see.
Might be a complete lottery with the weather though...

No lottery. The weather will be ICECOLD.

[FernuttonHulkkonen]

Malaysia should be more suited to Mercedes than Australia, so wouldn't rule them out either.

was taking too long into the thread to read such expected comedy gold

Webber will probably have a better start, maybe Sutil won't have problems with the softer tire and there will be Hulk on the race(hopefully). You can also have GrowJohn performing more decently

So, all in all, if anything, I won't be surprised at all if Mercedes will be fighting for 8th-10th on race day after a maybe second row on the grid

Edited by FernuttonHulkkonen, 17 March 2013 - 20:03.

[jrg19]

Between Red Bull/Ferrari and Lotus.

[DutchQuicksilver]

was taking too long into the thread to read such expected comedy gold

Webber will probably have a better start, maybe Sutil won't have problems with the softer tire and there will be Hulk on the race(hopefully). You can also have GrowJohn performing more decently

So, all in all, if anything, I won't be surprised at all if Mercedes will be fighting for 8th-10th on race day after a maybe second row on the grid

Clearly not a Mercedes fan? Because what you are saying now is based on nothing. Webber was ahead of both Mercedes on the grid and Mercedes was still 3rd and 6th on the grid. Sutil probably won't have the pace again and Hulkenberg certainly won't because the Sauber is for P10-P12 really.

[ruby soho]

I hope that Lotus is up there once again. It will be interesting see how the temperature affects the pecking order. I'm expecting a toss up between RBR, Ferrari and Lotus with Mercedes mixing things up.

[BigCHrome]

Let's hope Merc fluke into the sweet spot this race.

[Atreiu]

Alonso for the win.

[DanardiF1]

Mclaren, bring your brazil spec 27 and run it back to bac with the 28. That is all.

It's a bit late for Sepang to be honest even if they were looking to do it. They'd have to re-crash test the tub and put together a setup package in 3 days!

[CrucialXtreme]

Should we expect RBR to perform a lot better in Malaysia because of the anticipated temperatures?

I believe so. And with Melbourne being a different type of track I think we'll get a better picture, albeit it a snap shot, of where the cars stand since Malaysia is more of a proper circuit which is very downforce dependent.

[fololo]

I believe so. And with Melbourne being a different type of track I think we'll get a better picture, albeit it a snap shot, of where the cars stand since Malaysia is more of a proper circuit which is very downforce dependent.

Actually rbr is really slow on straights and high curves, i think force india will be very good

[CrucialXtreme]

Actually rbr is really slow on straights and high curves, i think force india will be very good

I don't see a repeat of Melbourne for SFI. I do however see RB being strong. They were only 0.2s off pole last year and they were struggling with exhaust solutions. That's not the case this year. I think they'll be strong but of course I see Lotus & Merc being very strong as well. As for my team, I'll refrain from comment and see what happens. Forza Ferrari!

[Zava]

Let's hope Merc fluke into the sweet spot this race.

your tears were tasty in the aus gp topic and they still are in this one

I hope the red bull get their setup right this time and we get a nice Seb vs Kimi for the win, also would be nice if the Nicos wouldn't run into tech problems this time.

[Cyanide]

I'm confused over the entire temperature thing. Some people are saying that the temperatures in Malaysia will cause less degradation. But doesn't a higher temperature mean higher deg? So in that case, isn't the tyre wear going to be worse than in Melbourne?

[CrucialXtreme]

I'm confused over the entire temperature thing. Some people are saying that the temperatures in Malaysia will cause less degradation. But doesn't a higher temperature mean higher deg? So in that case, isn't the tyre wear going to be worse than in Melbourne?

Higher temps typically cause more degradation. However with these Pirelli's getting the tyres into the optimum working temp/window will be much more advantageous than running outside said window in cooler temps.

[BigCHrome]

your tears were tasty in the aus gp topic and they still are in this one

I hope the red bull get their setup right this time and we get a nice Seb vs Kimi for the win, also would be nice if the Nicos wouldn't run into tech problems this time.

The truth hurts.

[Juggles]

Looking forward to Malaysia. One of the more enjoyable 'modern' (since 1999!) tracks.


The most recent one actually wasn't that long ago:

14 October 2012: South Korea - 1st Vettel, 2nd Webber, 3rd Alonso
28 October 2012: India - 1st Vettel, 2nd Alonso, 3rd Webber

And the one before that:

26 June 2011: Europe - 1st Vettel, 2nd Alonso, 3rd Webber
10 July 2011: Britain - 1st Alonso, 2nd Vettel, 3rd Webber

;)

Ah, I should have thought about that string of four Vettel wins last season. Well that was less of a challenge than I thought it would be!

[Raelene]

my build up - better book my damn flights to KL for Saturday!

[Kingshark]

Should we expect RBR to perform a lot better in Malaysia because of the anticipated temperatures?

That wouldn't make sense though. Hot temperatures cause more degradation, where's cooler temps make it more difficult to heat up the tyres.

Red Bull and Mercedes are both quick at getting heat into the tyres, but wear them off quicker. That’s why they were better in qualy but slower in the race.
Whereas Ferrari and Lotus are slower at getting the tyres up to temperature, but are much more gentle on them. That is why they were not so good in qualy but faster than anyone in the race.

In Australia, RBR were eating through their tyres quicker than a West-Virginian eating burgers.

Malaysia's hot temperatures should just suit Ferrari and Lotus better, although RBR and Merc will be stronger in the cold temps in China.

[Bren]

Whats the best way of getting from KL to Sepang on Sunday?
(apart from Helicopter of course)