Malaysian GP 2010 - Sepang

[andartop]

I think it was a sound decision. The obvious reason is that when there is so much water pooling drivers have no control over their cars whatsoever whether they go fast or slow due to aquaplaning. I wasn't there, but from the TV it looked as if there was enough water on the last hairpin to send all 10 cars straight into the gravel, possibly one piling up on top of the other. Something like that, even if it could be considered safe due to decreased speeds, could have ruined the race for tomorrow and would be a huge waste of time and money for all teams involved. Would you rather wait a few minutes and resume, as it happened, or have the top 10 drivers out of the race before the first lap of Q3 was completed???

[WhiteBlue]

Preliminary official result with times when laps were set. It shows Schumachers first Q3 lap was fastest and indeed he never got up to speed due to loss of temperature in the tyres. One should remember that lesson for tomorrow. The weather will be similar and drivers need to push really hard on wet tyres to avoid having them go cold.

[Shrieker]

I am a Lewis fan, and I have to say the haters label McLaren and Lewis 'arrogant' for all the wrong reasons. I can't believe they've done the same mistake - AGAIN !!!

Remember Monza 2008, Q2 ? Same stuff. And last weekend in Melbourne was also similar. Sit in the pits until only 6.5 minutes is left on the clock, and then go get stuck in traffic. And now this. If he can't learn from his mistakes, Lewis I'm afraid won't get any better. And he has a lot of potential, which in the end will be wasted. Waiting in the pits and not going for a lap at the start just to make sure everything is in place is complete and utter nonsense. McLaren and Lewis share the fault.

JUST GO OUT AND DO A LAP GODDAMMIT !!!

[vall]

It was a very eventfull qualifying session. But to be honest, I just can't believe what all happened in Q1!! It was a farse!!!

What were Ferrari and McLaren doing??!
I accept, it was a tricky situation, but they should atleast have set a time at the start of Q1.

They expected no more rain and the track to dry out. The got it wrong for one or another reason. But if the rain hits again tomorrow, the race is pretty open. If Macca and Ferrari survive the first corner, they will made their way up.I just hope the rain will not be that strong and we will see soem good racing. If it is as strong as last year,it will be more lottary than racing

[Pedro]

Maximum speeds:



Source: F1news.cz
http://f1news.cz/novinky/34425-hamilton ... rychlejsi/

[marcush.]

missing out on making the cut is obviously telling quite a story with their judgement of the situation.Or unability to read the facts.

For the big teams there is only something to loose ,nothing to win in these circumstances. In the dry ..at the very worst 1 car does not make the cut with a BIG error for Q2 and a not quite so big error you get stuck in Q2...
teams like Virgin ,Lotus ,Sauber will happily go for a gamble in Q1 ..as nothing isd to be lost only to be gained(ok the mechanics will not agree ,nor will the accountant)...but anyways i´m at a complete loss how amateurish the top teams act at times..when you just need to decide to go and not hold back ..as usual.
It always seems like the top cars are glued to their pit garage .that is surely a sign of clever tactics-pokerface-sometimes ,but surely not under the circumstances we had today.
If you can not predict what is going to happen in the next 5 minutes ,waiting for events you have NO influence on is simply idiotic and ignorant.
It is like . oh i´m sure driver xy cannot beat my time so I save my set of tyres..
If you don´t get into the next round tyre saving was useless..so the point is make sure you make the cut.End of story.
i understand it is more difficult if you are sitting in the dry in front of 10 screens and a weatherguy earning quite a bit money is telling you :.we will have a dry track in 4 minutes...but just look over to Mr.sauber he took the time and put a hand into the free air to actually feel:YES..it IS raining...

but then Webbo did his best lap quite at the end..can anyone explain why nobody else switched to inters..all admitted that after 1 lap the heavy rains degraded dramatically.. so why not come in and go for the obvious..

and yes ,I know these situations from my own expereince, standing at the pit wall or pregrid ,wetrace sign shown and deciding on tyres and doing exactly the opposite of the rest...

[The FOZ]

In Q1 today, the teams first out were rewarded with better conditions as the rain increased through the session.

In Q2, the better times seemed to come in midway through the session.

Bottom line, you can't be on your flying lap all the time, and when it rains, the need to be on the ideal tire becomes greater. Changing tires during quali is a 6 or 7 minute undertaking, with in lap, pit work, out lap, and THEN the flying lap, so it's not an instant thing. It's the teams that know what the track conditions will be like in 5 minutes that can do the best.

To make it even trickier, rain doesn't hit the entire track at once, or even at all - some parts of the track can demand a full wet tire, other parts can be dry enough that they almost call for slicks.

Doesn't surprise me one bit to see frontrunners go out early in qualifying. The situation is so dynamic and unpredictable that EVERYONE can be caught short. No exceptions. Today, we saw McLaren and Ferrari struggle. Tomorrow? Who knows.

[WhiteBlue]

EVERYONE can be caught short.

That is why you need to be on P1 in the pitlane and out on the track all the time. Sitting in the garage is hybris and punishable by starting from the rear.

[sknguy]

That was a good point marcush. I don't think Red Bull are yet caught up in the top tier team mentality. The team still acts like they're a mid-field runner, hungry to improve. Ferrari and McLaren just played it a little too cool and lost out.

[The FOZ]

That is why you need to be on P1 in the pitlane and out on the track all the time. Sitting in the garage is hybris and punishable by starting from the rear.

That's true to an extent, WB.

Imagine, though, in a 15-minute quali session, you go out the second the light goes green.

2 minute out lap, 2 minute flying lap, 2 minute in lap. Change tires, adjust wing. 30 seconds to a minute. 7 minutes or less elapsed, typically. Back out, 2 minute out lap, then onto your next set of flying laps.

Between first flying lap(s) and second set of flying laps, there's a gap of about 5 minutes. More if you have to deal with traffic.

In Q2 today, the best conditions were in the middle of the 15-minute session, and it rapidly degraded from there. If you go out the minute the light goes green, you're AT BEST catching the very end of the prime window, but in all likelihood, you've missed it entirely.

The point I'm making is, in addition to the first out, two qualifying run strategy, you can instead aim for the middle of the quali session. It's riskier, because it's very easy to get slowed up by people on their in laps, and if you get it wrong, there's not a lot of time to get in, change tires, and try again.

First out was the right call in Q1. First out was the wrong call in Q2. It's not reasonable to say "Be on P1 in the pitlane and out on track all the time", because while it would have worked in Q1, it could have just as easily not worked in Q2, and then you're starting mid-field, which some would say worse, especially in the rain.

[marcush.]

EVERYONE can be caught short.

That is why you need to be on P1 in the pitlane and out on the track all the time. Sitting in the garage is hybris and punishable by starting from the rear.

yep.
It is like:we are the ones
and our procedure is as follows:wait till the last moment and show them ...

it is very unflexible and absolutely ignorant.just hear the comments of the teams ..we made a mistake and got cought out by our weather predictions..we did not want to risk sending the cars out..was the best one by whitmarsh..drawing right conclusions from predictions you cannot rely on , but they still do..this is risk management at its worst.

You have to be ON track in those conditions.the real art is to get the cold pressures just right to be close to the optimum when you start your attempt ..

the second possibility is: go out ,do a decent lap and then go for a gamble.. schumacher had that time in Q3 .surprise surprise he did not took up the ball..so still rusty ..

[rfs]

Disappointing. Just when Lewis seems to be on the pace of the Red Bulls he and McLaren f*** up in qualifying again. I'm hoping he can get a podium somehow but the way his luck has been recently I don't see him getting many points.

Also, Rosberg FTW.

[WhiteBlue]

.. schumacher had that time in Q3 .surprise surprise he did not took up the ball..so still rusty ..

Schumi made the mistake to miss the top of the pit queue once again. Consequently he got stuck in traffic on both his out lap and the flying lap and did not get temperature into his tyres. It may have been aggravated by wrong tyre pressure or set up. His tyre temps kept going down and each successive lap got slower and slower as other picked up speed.

[marcush.]

.. schumacher had that time in Q3 .surprise surprise he did not took up the ball..so still rusty ..

Schumi made the mistake to miss the top of the pit queue once again. Consequently he got stuck in traffic on both his out lap and the flying lap and did not get temperature into his tyres. It may have been aggravated by wrong tyre pressure or set up. His tyre temps kept going down and each successive lap got slower and slower as other picked up speed.

the teams still seem to struggle to find the correct cold pressure.I do´t think with water on the track there is no chance to maintain tyre temps from the blankets till you go out on the track the FI s had stone cold tyres for sure sitting 4 minutes at the line still they were quick .... the tyre pressure drops..so maybe MS guys erred with the cold pressure towards the high side.. and the more you push the worse it gets...with low pressure ..it should still be possible to get temps in the tyre and inflate the tyre somewhat ,but as we know a sticker tyre would help you there but a used tyre does not as much to help you raising pressure.. so ..we cannot say what it really was...

ah and for those who ask themselves ..is there a regulation on which tyre you have to start the race if we get a dry start? door open ,do what you feel is best...

[Miguel]

I am almost completely sure that, had hamilton not spun in the last corner in Q1, he would have gone throug to Q2. The issue there is that he not only botched the lap in which he spun, but also the next one due to the speed lost there. Seeing Button beach his car was funny as well, and the Ferrari weatherman should write 100 times in the wall "the weather follows deterministic chaotic equations". According to Marca, however, Alonso says he's mostly to blame for not going out earlier.