F1 2011 Malaysian GP

[Bartek S.]

Circuit length: 3.444 miles (5.543 km)
Number of laps: 56
Race length: 192.879 miles (310.408 km)
Joined F1 calendar: 1999
Previous winner: Sebastian Vettel
Previous polesitter: Mark Webber, 1:49.327
Lap record: 1:34.233 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams, 2004)

McLaren has 'work to do' to catch RBR

McLaren says it has a "reasonable amount of work to do" to match Red Bull Racing's pace, but the British squad admits it is pleased with its start to the 2011 season.

The Woking-based squad started its campaign in stronger-than-expected fashion after a tough series of tests ahead of the first race of the year.
Lewis Hamilton finished the Melbourne race in second position behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, while team-mate Jenson Button was sixth after a drive-through penalty.

McLaren's managing director Jonathan Neale admitted on Tuesday his team is aware that it needs to raise its pace to catch Red Bull.

"I think you are right in your first assessment in that we don't think we necessarily had the quickest car out there, and we are working very hard over the next few races to try and make sure that Lewis [Hamilton] and Jenson [Button] can qualify on the front row," said Neale during a Vodafone phone-in on Tuesday.

"I think there is still a reasonable amount of work to do. There are some areas of the car that we are satisfied with, but clearly at this stage it is all about how we exploit the tyres and we get the downforce on the car."
Neale admitted, however, that the team was happy with where it was in Australia, especially considering the difficult winter of testing.

"We were pleased with the performance of our car even though we didn't win the race," he said.

"That was a confidence boost for us. We are not for one minute thinking that we have seen the best of Ferrari or Mercedes at this stage. We watched each other carefully through winter testing and I am absolutely sure that both of those teams have more to bring.

"In terms of the nature of the circuit, once you get to venue like Malaysia with much hotter track temperatures and certainly circuits like Barcelona which are pretty challenging, they will test the cars more fully."

Neale also conceded McLaren was not aware of the potential of Red Bull's KERS, despite Button saying during the Australian GP weekend that he believed the British squad's system was superior.

Red Bull decided against running KERS in Australia, but it is planning to race it in Malaysia, where its impact will be more significant.

"I'm not sure that he would know about Red Bull's KERS," he said.

"Certainly I don't know anything about its system. I think from the basis of Mercedes Benz, which builds our system, with an extra 12 months of experience compared to others then there should be advantages to do with systems integration and packaging. But that is a very difficult thing to quantify because we don't have any comparative information.

"I think the one thing that we are all looking for at this stage is to make sure that our cars are reliable as possible. Of course with the increase in complexity comes the risk of poorer reliability. So we are fighting very hard to make sure that we have the aerodynamic performance that we are looking for but making sure that the underlying systems are also reliable."

 

[Bartek S.]

Schumacher predicts 'lottery' in Sepang

Michael Schumacher believes the Malaysian Grand Prix will be a lottery if rain hits the Sepang circuit as expected.
With the race starting at 4pm local time, heavy rain is expected to make an appearance again on Sunday, having already made for a chaotic event last year.

Schumacher reckons the situation will be made easier because the race is likely to start behind the safety car, but he still reckons it will be a very tricky event anyone could win.

"These days the 'lottery' is a little easier for the fact the race could start in these conditions," Schumacher told reporters in Sepang.

"Right now I would think you would have to start behind the safety car and in doing that, you are given the tyres you have to choose.

"Come the race and there are normal conditions, then you have to make decisions, and that is a little bit more of a lottery. It's difficult in terms of preparation because I had no rain running over the winter.

"I had a little in Barcelona, but it was so wet I couldn't run, so it's going to be an interesting experience for me if it happens the first time this weekend. I don't know the tyre variation between the intermediate and the heavy wet tyre, and for most of the people that will be the case.

"So it will be a nice lottery. Let's see who wins it."
The German said drivers had no choice but to accept the late start, even if it meant the chances of rain were higher then.

"According to Bernie he would have it any time in these conditions to make it more exciting - not that we have a lack of excitement. It is what it is - yeah, exactly," said Schumacher as as thunder boomed overhead at Sepang.

We don't hear that when we drive - so you get on with it. It is not done purposely to suit the weather, but as long as it is safe, then I don't mind. As I say, it is what it is."

 

[Bartek S.]

FP1

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m37.651s 22
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.316s + 1.665 16
3. Schumacher Mercedes 1m39.791s + 2.140 29
4. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m40.377s + 2.726 23
5. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m40.443s + 2.792 31
6. Massa Ferrari 1m40.453s + 2.802 22
7. Heidfeld Renault 1m40.525s + 2.874 6
8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m40.581s + 2.930 21
9. Alonso Ferrari 1m40.601s + 2.950 23
10. Rosberg Mercedes 1m40.646s + 2.995 29
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.734s + 3.083 21
12. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.748s + 3.097 23
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.770s + 3.119 24
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.872s + 3.221 27
15. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.927s + 3.276 16
16. Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m41.620s + 3.969 21
17. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m41.627s + 3.976 18
18. Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.642s + 3.991 24
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.154s + 4.503 18
20. d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.540s + 4.889 20
21. Valsecchi Lotus-Renault 1m44.054s + 6.403 18
22. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m45.228s + 7.577 20
23. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m46.267s + 8.616 10
24. Petrov Renault 1m47.932s + 10.281 4

 

[Remy Zero]

Just got back from Sepang. Very cool weather, cloudy in fact and very windy. In fact, I don't find Sepang as hot as it used to be. I have some great shots too, will post them up later.

 

[Bartek S.]

FP2
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.876s 24
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.881s + 0.005 30
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.010s + 0.134 23
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m37.090s + 0.214 30
5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.088s + 1.212 26
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m38.089s + 1.213 31
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.565s + 1.689 25
8. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m38.570s + 1.694 16
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m38.583s + 1.707 27
10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.846s + 1.970 31
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m38.968s + 2.092 25
12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m39.187s + 2.311 30
13. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m39.267s + 2.391 17
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.398s + 2.522 29
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.603s + 2.727 34
16. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m39.625s + 2.749 31
17. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m39.809s + 2.933 28
18. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.115s + 3.239 31
19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m40.866s + 3.990 24
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m41.890s + 5.014 19
21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m43.197s + 6.321 15
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m43.991s + 7.115 14
23. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m44.886s + 8.010 4

 

[fortuner]

Good luck to teh Mercs of nico and schummie and then to lewis....

 

[martinbo]

I've been to Sepang for the 2005 Formula One GP. It's an awesome circuit, great visibility, excellent amenities. K1 Platinum baby!

So it's definitely one of my favourite GP's of the year - looking forward to the race.

 

[Remy Zero]

I've been to Sepang for the 2005 Formula One GP. It's an awesome circuit, great visibility, excellent amenities. K1 Platinum baby!

So it's definitely one of my favourite GP's of the year - looking forward to the race.

I think i was at K2 at that year.

 

[Gullwing]

Just got back from Sepang. Very cool weather, cloudy in fact and very windy. In fact, I don't find Sepang as hot as it used to be.

Global warming

 

[Sunny]

Education.

 

[SKY]

I´m not a fan of any F1 Team, but I have to say the one I´ve respected the most these last 3 seassons is McLaren, for an obvious reason: they are the ones that work the most, and get the better ressults from that work. I´m amazed by how fast they´ve managed to be on par with RB this year, absolutely fantastic.

We were all in the living room hoping Hamilton to get the pole, even being from Spain and supporting Alonso, I´ve always liked the fastest driver to get what he deserves, and I really hope Hamilton wins the race tomorrow.

Then is Ferrari, what a constant deception. This year they seem as lost as the previous, and not even Pat Fry presence on the team has shown any ressults yet. They will stay like this for 3 or 4 races claiming the championship is long enough, and then they will realise they are 50 pints away from the leader, as last year, and will trust in Alonso to win the races with a poor car.

 

[Bartek S.]

FP3

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

 

[Bartek S.]

Qual.

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

 

[MoSs]

what happened to HAMILTON?!!!!!!!!

 

[Centurion]

what happened to HAMILTON?!!!!!!!!

He tried to stretch the hard tires to 18-19 laps which is quite far given that none of the other drivers had driven the hard tires beyond 16 laps during free practice. So Lewis was a massive lesson for all teams and drivers who want to attempt to go on one stop less than everyone else.

Unlike the bridgestones which fall of gradually, the Pirellis do that too but then they reach phase 3 where they go completely shithead on you. At that stage your lap times fall by 3-5 seconds and your car is borderline undrivable and the only choice is to pit. Heidfeld was certainly near the edge as Webber was closing in on him during the few final laps. So going into the next races teams will be less adventurous with trying to stretch tires out beyond reasonable milage.

It was a good race though overtaking for the front runners was difficult. It was more of a tire race than anything. Congrats to Renault to see taking another podium. Force India are crap and seem to have relegated themselves to a third tier team. Once Williams get their act together, Force India will no longer be able to score points.

At least one team is catching Red Bull. The gap between them and Mclaren is getting smaller and smaller and by mid season Mclaren could be up there with Vettel battling for P1.

 

[Monster]

He tried to stretch the hard tires to 18-19 laps which is quite far given that none of the other drivers had driven the hard tires beyond 16 laps during free practice. So Lewis was a massive lesson for all teams and drivers who want to attempt to go on one stop less than everyone else.

Jenson made it worked for him somehow. Lewis just didn't like these set of hard tires, he didn't have the pace even just after he put these tires on.

It was a good race though overtaking for the front runners was difficult. It was more of a tire race than anything. Congrats to Renault to see taking another podium. Force India are crap and seem to have relegated themselves to a third tier team. Once Williams get their act together, Force India will no longer be able to score points.

I think you are a bit harsh on Force India, they have been there or there abouts so far, matching and beating teams with more fancy cars, eg Williams with their low line gearbox, and Torro Rosso with the 'double' floor side pods. You should replace Force India with Mercedes. What on earth is going on? They spend the longest time out of anyone to design and develop the car, but yet they seems to have problems understanding what they have designed and why other teams are faster.

 

[Centurion]

Jenson made it worked for him somehow. Lewis just didn't like these set of hard tires, he didn't have the pace even just after he put these tires on.




I think you are a bit harsh on Force India, they have been there or there abouts so far, matching and beating teams with more fancy cars, eg Williams with their low line gearbox, and Torro Rosso with the 'double' floor side pods. You should replace Force India with Mercedes. What on earth is going on? They spend the longest time out of anyone to design and develop the car, but yet they seems to have problems understanding what they have designed and why other teams are faster.

Yeah Jenson did made it work, but Lewis was also due to drive on his set longer than anyone else. The strategy to get him on harder tires before everyone else backfired. His rivals stayed on the softer tires 3-5 laps longer than Lewis who was lapping about 1-2 seconds slower on the prime. And the fact that he wasn't comfortable on the prime tires made the everything worse. He should have gone soft, soft, soft, hard.

Williams had brilliant momentum during the final races of last year. This year they have a radically innovative car and I do believe that it will eventually give come to life once the driver errors have been minimized and reliability has come their way. Force India does have a pair of excellent drivers but I don't feel that the team has pushed innovation hard enough. Renault really put their money right and it's paying off. Either way, Mercedes' disastrous pace eclipse every tea but HRT. I think Rosberg is tied to the team until the end of next year but he should be thinking about leaving. However, Schumi has a few times said that they are working on a three year plan so perhaps they are doing a Brawn i.e sacrificing two years for storming performance in the third year. However that is an unsustainable boom and bust strategy.

Worst driver this race was Petrov who showed his true self when he went wide but still kept flooring the gas pedal as he tried to correct himself, and subsequently went airborne over the curb and smashed his steering column into apple crumble.

 

[Monster]

Yeah Jenson did made it work, but Lewis was also due to drive on his set longer than anyone else. The strategy to get him on harder tires before everyone else backfired. His rivals stayed on the softer tires 3-5 laps longer than Lewis who was lapping about 1-2 seconds slower on the prime. And the fact that he wasn't comfortable on the prime tires made the everything worse. He should have gone soft, soft, soft, hard.

I think Lewis was a bit impatient being stuck behind Heidfeld during the first stint and ruined his tires?

Williams had brilliant momentum during the final races of last year. This year they have a radically innovative car and I do believe that it will eventually give come to life once the driver errors have been minimized and reliability has come their way.

Lets hope so, it will be a shame if we never get to see the benefit of having such a low and empty back end. The team went through testing with not much mechanical issues, but somehow these problems shows up when the season is on.

Either way, Mercedes' disastrous pace eclipse every tea but HRT. I think Rosberg is tied to the team until the end of next year but he should be thinking about leaving. However, Schumi has a few times said that they are working on a three year plan so perhaps they are doing a Brawn i.e sacrificing two years for storming performance in the third year. However that is an unsustainable boom and bust strategy.

I assumed their plan was to progressively improve over the first two years so at the 'final' year they will have the car to win the championship. The team didn't improve at all throughout last year, and they seem to be stuck at the same position this year.

Worst driver this race was Petrov who showed his true self when he went wide but still kept flooring the gas pedal as he tried to correct himself, and subsequently went airborne over the curb and smashed his steering column into apple crumble.

Petrov's incident was kind of scary, shouldn't the FIA be looking into better off track safety measures to prevent any chance of cars being bottomed out by hidden bumps near the track?

 

[MoSs]

Yeah Jenson did made it work, but Lewis was also due to drive on his set longer than anyone else. The strategy to get him on harder tires before everyone else backfired. His rivals stayed on the softer tires 3-5 laps longer than Lewis who was lapping about 1-2 seconds slower on the prime. And the fact that he wasn't comfortable on the prime tires made the everything worse. He should have gone soft, soft, soft, hard.

lewis used 2 sets of hard tires in the qualifying session and hes only allowed to use 3 sets thats why he had no other choice but hard tires...

 

[Monster]

APRIL 10, 2011
Hamilton and Alonso penalised

The FIA stewards at the Malaysian Grand Prix have penalised both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso for their battle in the race today.

Hamilton was given a 20 second penalty for blocking, by defending his position with more than one change of direction. Alonso was also given a 20 second penalty for causing an avoidable collision one lap later when he clipped his front wing on Hamilton's rear tyre while attempting to pass him.

As a result of the penalties Hamilton drops behind Kamui Kobayashi to eighth, while Alonso's position remains the same in sixth place.

F1 News > Hamilton and Alonso penalised

Wasn't expecting this. I didn't see Hamilton's double move on TV.