138 replies to this topic

[Skyliner]

FP3 Times
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.340s 11
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.630s + 0.290s 16
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.762s + 0.422s 14
4. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m37.115s + 0.775s 17
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m37.175s + 0.835s 14
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.284s + 0.944s 11
7. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m37.297s + 0.957s 17
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m37.762s + 1.422s 12
9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.059s + 1.719s 18
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.300s + 1.960s 20
11. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.307s + 1.967s 20
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.448s + 2.108s 17
13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m38.464s + 2.124s 16
14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m38.597s + 2.257s 15
15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.665s + 2.325s 14
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m38.681s + 2.341s 16
17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.716s + 2.376s 14
18. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m38.864s + 2.524s 13
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m39.260s + 2.920s 19
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m39.699s + 3.359s 15
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.215s + 4.875s 17
22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.414s + 5.074s 18
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m43.147s + 6.807s 6
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m43.383s + 7.043s 11

[yonson]

:bowthefuckdown:

Vettel pulls it off! P1 Baby!!!!!!!!!

[vietlol]

Quick nick back in controol

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

Nice speed is now finally showing quali without 15min delay. Future qualis should be more active in threads.

[_R_]

Vettel

[Skyliner]

Qualifying results:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m34.870s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.974s + 0.104
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m35.179s + 0.309
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.200s + 0.330
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m35.802s + 0.932
6. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m36.124s + 1.254
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.251s + 1.381
8. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m36.324s + 1.454
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m36.809s + 1.939
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.820s + 1.950
Q3 cut-off time: 1m36.811s Gap **
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m37.035s + 1.466
12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.160s + 1.591
13. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.347s + 1.778
14. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m37.370s + 1.801
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m37.496s + 1.927
16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.528s + 1.959
17. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m37.593s + 2.024
Q3 cut-off time: 1m38.163s Gap *
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m38.276s + 1.532
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m38.645s + 1.901
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m38.791s + 2.047
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m40.648s + 3.904
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.001s + 4.257
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m41.549s + 4.805
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m42.574s + 5.830
107% time: 1m43.516s
* Gap to quickest in Q1

[Skyliner]

From Autosport:
STR unsure of sidepod incident cause


Toro Rosso technical chief Giorgio Ascanelli says the team does not yet know why Sebastien Buemi's sidepod partially fell off in Sepang qualifying, but is satisfied it was a one-off problem.

The incident caused a brief red flag when the rear section of the Toro Rosso's left-side bodywork flew off during Q1.

But it was swiftly replaced and Buemi went on to qualify 12th, one place ahead of team-mate Jaime Alguersuari.

"At the moment, I have no idea if the part was not properly fixed or an insert cracked," Ascanelli said.

"However, there was no question about the integrity of the components, which is why we refitted another sidepod and sent him out again."

Ascanelli added that the team was content with how qualifying turned out, despite not managing to repeat Buemi's Melbourne Q3 result.

"I am happy to be ahead of Force India and I feel Sebastien did a good job this afternoon and is where he should be, which means he can have a strong race tomorrow," he said.

"Up until this afternoon, I feel we did not get the best out of the car's set-up, but we turned the car around for the afternoon. As for Jaime, he too drove well.

"To sum it up, we did not do the best job in free practice, but we did in qualifying."

[Skyliner]

From Autosport:
Wing issue slows Mercedes


Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher said they both encountered problems with Mercedes' DRS wing during Malaysian Grand Prix, as they struggled to ninth and 11th on the grid.

The team had looked strong in practice, but both drivers had the wing issue at crucial moments - hampering Schumacher's final Q2 lap and Rosberg's Q3 effort.

"We had some issues with the rear wing activation today and unfortunately that's what compromised my last run in Q2," said Schumacher. "The car became difficult to drive, which is a real shame as it had been working very well during the earlier runs.

"The performance was much better with the wing, so of course we had to use it, and I would still say that we have made a step forward thanks to the hard work from our guys."

Rosberg said it was frustrating that Mercedes was not able to show its potential again.

"The team have made some good progress here and I had a decent balance up to Q2 today," he said. "Unfortunately I lost that feeling in Q3, which combined with the rear wing issue, meant we weren't able to get the performance out of the car which is frustrating.

"The car is better than we have been able to show so far this season but we don't know exactly why we are not getting more performance at the moment."

Team boss Ross Brawn agreed that Mercedes had not been good at achieving its maximum performance in 2011 so far.

"We're still struggling with the consistency of the car and are not giving Nico and Michael the best chance to show what they could achieve," said Brawn.

"There are times when the car is working well and the pace is evident, however there are too many occasions where things are not functioning properly.

"We're quite clearly not where we want to be but will continue to work hard to achieve a more competitive position."

[Skyliner]

From Autosport:
Pole slot moved to right hand side


Pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix was switched to the right hand side of the track following a pre-event request from drivers, AUTOSPORT has learned.

Traditionally the front grid slot at Sepang was on the left hand side of the track, because it gave a better line into the opening corner - which is a tight right-hander.

Sources have revealed, however, that following discussions between the FIA and F1's drivers in the build-up to the season about the impact of Pirelli marbles on the track, a decision was made to switch it.

Although the racing line is not as clearly defined as other tracks because drivers work their way over from the right hand side of the track to the left, a number of drivers felt that if there was a high level of marbles in Malaysia then they would most likely fall on the left hand side of the grid.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting agreed to make the change, and it means that pole position man Sebastian Vettel will now be forming up on the right hand side.

Speaking about the difference it makes after qualifying, Vettel said: "It is very important here to be on the clean side, especially as they changed sides, but we will see."

[TimzSI]

Oh goddamit. WTF, Hamilton has no shot at maintaining second then. He'll have to force his way in front of mark quickly, or rely on Jen's good anture to slip into 3rd. :/

Not a definite, but still.

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

Oh goddamit. WTF, Hamilton has no shot at maintaining second then. He'll have to force his way in front of mark quickly, or rely on Jen's good anture to slip into 3rd. :/

Not a definite, but still.

With how far back the start line is to C1 it would have been bad for pole to be on the left

[Skyliner]

2011 Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
9 April 2011 by Keith CollantinePictures from qualifying and the final practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Sepang, 2011
Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Sepang, 2011Adrian Sutil, Force India, Sepang, 2011
Adrian Sutil, Force India, Sepang, 2011Sergio Perez, Sauber, Sepang, 2011
Sergio Perez, Sauber, Sepang, 2011Nick Heidfeld, Renault, Sepang, 2011
Nick Heidfeld, Renault, Sepang, 2011Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011
Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011Rubens Barrichello, Williams, Sepang, 2011
Rubens Barrichello, Williams, Sepang, 2011Paul di Resta, Force India, Sepang,
2011
Paul di Resta, Force India, Sepang, 2011Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, Sepang, 2011
Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, Sepang, 2011Rubens Barrichello, Williams, Sepang, 2011
Rubens Barrichello, Williams, Sepang, 2011Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011
Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011Mark Webber, Red Bull, Sepang, 2011
Mark Webber, Red Bull, Sepang, 2011Jarno Trulli, Lotus, Sepang, 2011
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Sepang, 2011Vitaly Petrov, Renault, Sepang, 2011
Vitaly Petrov, Renault, Sepang, 2011Timo Glock, Virgin, Sepang, 2011
Timo Glock, Virgin, Sepang, 2011Adrian Sutil, Force India, Sepang, 2011
Adrian Sutil, Force India, Sepang, 2011Sergio Perez, Sauber, Sepang, 2011
Sergio Perez, Sauber, Sepang, 2011<Jerome D'Ambrosio, Virgin, Sepang, 2011
Jenson Button, McLaren, Sepang, 2011Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Sepang, 2011
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Sepang, 2011Nick Heidfeld, Renault, Sepang, 2011
Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, Sepang, 2011Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, Sepang, 2011
Nick Heidfeld, Renault, Sepang, 2011Nick Heidfeld, Renault, Sepang, 2011
Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Sepang, 2011Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011
Lewis Hamilton, Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren, Sepang, 2011
Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Sepang, 2011
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Sepang, 2011

[Skyliner]

Jarno Trulli, Lotus, Sepang, 2011




thumbnail

[Skyliner]

From F1 Fanatic:

Sepang may prove 2011 will be closer than expected
eMark Webber, Pastor Maldonado, Sepang, 2011

Sebastian Vettel's crushing display in the Australian Grand Prix raised the prospect of a season dominated by Red Bull.

But after a close qualifying session between them and McLaren we may look forward to a similarly exciting race.


The start
The run to the first corner at Sepang is 460m – over twice as far as it was at Melbourne. This makes getting a good start and deploying KERS all the more important.

Unusually, in the last two years the driver leading at the end of lap one in Sepang hadn't started on the front row.

Last year Vettel got a clean getaway from third and pinched the lead from his pole-sitting team mate at the first corner. No doubt Mark Webber would like to return the favour this year as they start in the reverse of the 2010 positions.

Christian Horner said Red Bull are using KERS on their cars this weekend, unlike in Melbourne. Sure enough, their straight-line speeds in qualifying were higher – in fact both Vettel and Webber were quicker than Hamilton at the speed trap. That removes a potential vulnerability from the RB7s at the start.

But this is the first time Red Bull have run KERS in a race. Reliability has been a problem for most teams using KERS at one stage or another.

Although KERS failures tend not to cause outright retirement, it is obviously a disadvantage if the system packs in and leaves the driver lugging around a battery and motor for no benefit.

There's more to getting a good start than just KERS – witness Lewis Hamilton's poor getaway in Melbourne. The decision to change which side of the grid pole position is on could also play a role here.

Unlike in previous years Vettel's pole position slot is on the right-hand side. The left-hand side is further off-line and will potentially have more rubber debris on it.

Some oil was dropped in a support race near where the Hamilton will start from, but the Malaysian marshals have been busy cleaning it up.

Sepang's wide corners and long straight invite first-lap lunges for position, so expect to see some big moves at the start.


Strategy
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Sepang, 2011

Pirelli have said they expect drivers to need three pit stops at Sepang and that has been supported by what we've seen in practice so far.

None of the drivers in the top ten chose to qualify on the hard tyre, meaning they'll all start on softs (assuming it's a dry race). As ever, keep your eyes peeled when the formation lap begins to see which drivers starting 11th and lower have opted for hard tyres.

This was the strategy Sergio Perez found so effective in Melbourne. However it's doubtful anyone will be able to emulate his feat of doing the whole race on just one stop.

Making one fewer pit stop will save a driver 22 seconds. Drivers making three stops will make their first visits to the pits after about ten laps – anyone who can eke their tyres out half-a-dozen laps or so longer should be able to do two.

In Melbourne we saw some teams and drivers had to make more stops than others – both Ferraris and Mark Webber stopped three times while many of their rivals did just two. Sepang could give us more of an insight into which cars and drivers manage their tyres best.

Red Bull in particular were paying attention to their rear tyre wear during practice – something which will not have been improved by the addition of KERS.


The weather
Before the race weekend started Sunday looked like the best prospect for some rain and that is still the case. Different forecasts are predicting 60% or greater chance of rain.

The performance of Pirelli's wet and intermediate tyres is a significant unknown. Given the high temperatures which persist at the circuit even during rainfall, wet running here would be a major test of their durability.

The prospect of a wet race inevitably brings with it claims that this team or that driver have opted for a 'wet set-up'. Until the race is done and dusted it's hard to say, but don't bank on any teams making concessions that would significantly affect their dry-weather performance unless they were certain rain was going to come.


DRS
Timo Glock, Virgin, Sepang, 2011

Interestingly, Charlie Whiting declared yesterday that drivers may not use the DRS "if the car is fitted with intermediate or wet-weather tyres".

This could be significant in a scenario where the field is in transition between dry and wet-weather tyres, as those on slicks would be able to use their DRS but those on wet or intermediates wouldn't.

Of course, the usual restrictions on using DRS in the race would still apply. Drivers can activate their rear wing once they come out of the final corner, providing they were within one second of another car on the approach to it.

As the start/finish straight is over one kilometre long, the DRS effect should be more powerful here than it was in Melbourne. So even if the race stays dry, we may well see more jockeying for position than usual.

Keep an eye on the Mercedes and Force India drivers who had the highest top speeds and have got places to make up at the start. Particularly Michael Schumacher, who was hindered by a DRS problem in qualifying.

[TimzSI]

OK, whose watching with me?!

[yonson]

I are...

[vietlol]

I am

[yonson]

Heidfeld to P2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111one

[vietlol]

Fred

[TimzSI]

Melting Skittles? lol

[yonson]

Lolonso made me laugh, "I'm pushing, I'm pushing, don't worry"

[vietlol]

wtf is up with ferrari, they botched two of freds stops and one of massa

[vietlol]

[TimzSI]

Fred. Ha.

[vietlol]

I traded button for hamilton in pff1 before this race