Malaysian GP 2012 - Sepang International Circuit

[raymondu999]

Mclaren could win this race but i'm expecting shumacher's performance to be pivotal in the outcome. He could be a thorn for both redbull and mclaren.

Agreed. I think if he gets ahead of people he could form a "Schumi Train" given his astronomical top speeds.

Doubt he'd win, cause i dont think the W03 has good race pace when the car gets light.

I don't think it's the car being light per se, but rather the tyres gone to the dogs.

Mystic - Ganxxta - Thanks mates. I rewatched quali just some half hour ago and indeed he was. You never know though - Vettel has a habit of holding back on his first Q3 run.

[clipsy1H]

after China we all know who can fight for Championship.... there's 3 weeks for developing.
Tomorrow Button or Hamilotn win without problems ... if it's rain Michael can make surpise

[raymondu999]

If it rains I think most of the Q3 runners could realistically challenge for the victory.

[Mandrake]

Just re watched qualy, Vettel was definitely on the white stripes for his first run in Q3 and still slower than Webber.

You can twist and turn it as you like, Hard tire vs. medium tire will have a gap of something between 0.5 and 0.2 seconds. Vettel not being able to maximise the Medium tire benefit was only .17 behind Webber, with tires at least .3 of a second slower.

In my book he starts behind Webber, but has been faster than him. Compare Webber's and Vettel's laps on the hard tires, guess who's much quicker here?

[Mysticf1]

in the post qual interviews he spells it out "on the soft tire i could have maybe gone a 10th quicker but we went significantly faster on the hard tire" meaning compared to his first run in q3. It is plain to see he is having more trouble with an less than ideal handling car on low fuel than Webber.

which times on the hard tires? id be interested to see them.

Aside from all that, race is looking great, season is looking sensational!!

[Mr Alcatraz]

Does anyone else think that that badly flat-spotted front tire on LH car will compromise his first stint, if it starts dry of course, or will it not affect his first stint much? Does anyone have an image or YouTube of it?

[raymondu999]

Well it's in his pole lap:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okATSSD-i6k[/youtube]

Possible. I remember he fecked a set of tyres last year too. But that was the right front as he was trail braking for 14. Then he had tyre troubles in the race; but if I remember correctly he didn't actually race the flatspotted set. Mind you - he had a flatspot in Barca 2011 too IIRC. Lockup into Turn 10 in Q3

[Afterburner]

Does anyone else think that that badly flat-spotted front tire on LH car will compromise his first stint, if it starts dry of course, or will it not affect his first stint much? Does anyone have an image or YouTube of it?

I doubt, don't rember wich gp but last year LH made a worser braking on his last quali lap and he said they only needed to recalibrate the wheel, simple as that.

But, this year tires could be more sensitive, there's always that possbility.

[NathanOlder]

[...]
If Seb goes back to 7-9th in the opening laps, (which is a real possibility as Red Bull struggle to get tyres up to temp quickly & he is on the harder tyre)

Do you think he can battle through up to 3rd or higher, and i dont mean by pitting later and coming out on new tyres when everyones on tyres 7 laps old. As while seb is out there on Hard tyres 12-16 laps old plus the 3 he did in Qualifying , Lewis Jenson Kimi Michael & Nico will be on brand new Softer tyres so will take masses of time out of Seb. And Seb will have to stay out for a further 8-10 laps to make his strategy work.

Then at the end of the race Seb will be on the softer tyre which he couldnt get to work to its full potential. So if he gets the bad start which is a real possibility, would he be able to battle past Jenson Lewis Michael Nico Romain Kimi Fernando?

I seriously dont think he can work track position, i think he'll have to pass the other guys on the track. By the time Vettel pits for his 1st stop, i expect the Mclarens to already be on his tail, If not infront of him. So he will have to pass people on the track.

[Mr Alcatraz]

Does anyone else think that that badly flat-spotted front tire on LH car will compromise his first stint, if it starts dry of course, or will it not affect his first stint much? Does anyone have an image or YouTube of it?

I doubt, don't rember wich gp but last year LH made a worser braking on his last quali lap and he said they only needed to recalibrate the wheel, simple as that.

But, this year tires could be more sensitive, there's always that possbility.

Thanks for the info.
Is it a positive that he will be on full tanks, and the weight of the fuel will not allow it to get as slap-happy on low fuel, or is more to do with the suspension?

[raymondu999]

After the start I honestly don't think we'll see him drop back significantly in terms of being overtaken. If he loses places it will probably be at the start. I don't think he will have too many problems heating the tyres. Remember that for the race start he has the advantage of being able to do burnouts before that to help with warmup. Unless he jumps people at the start - the people who are behind him are slower anyways; so after the start I don't see anyone really overtaking him.

[NathanOlder]

Does anyone else think that that badly flat-spotted front tire on LH car will compromise his first stint, if it starts dry of course, or will it not affect his first stint much? Does anyone have an image or YouTube of it?

Watching the onboard, The flat spot doesnt look bad at all. It's barely noticeable on the run to the start finish straight. So i doubt it will be an issue.

[radosav]

alonso Q3 (around 15.00)the KERS didn't work Woo The lap was good men, take half a second out of this lap Woo!http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpnl6r ... mbediframe

[GrizzleBoy]

blah nvm stupid post disregard

alonso Q3 (around 15.00)the KERS didn't work Woo The lap was good men, take half a second out of this lap Woo!http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpnl6r ... mbediframe

Rosberg really does not sound happy at 12:10 onwards.

He complains about an ongoing understeer problem.

His engineer acknowledges, says he'll be updated about what the engine is doing.

Rosberg replies "don't need/want any information on the engine, just try and fill it up please..."

Touchy, touchy.......


Most of the drivers sound unhappy though tbh, Rosberg just seemed to be getting a little personal there.

Cant be good for driver/paddock relations, especially with "The Rise of Schumacher" breathing down his neck since the end of the last season.

[Mandrake]

in the post qual interviews he spells it out "on the soft tire i could have maybe gone a 10th quicker but we went significantly faster on the hard tire" meaning compared to his first run in q3. It is plain to see he is having more trouble with an less than ideal handling car on low fuel than Webber.

which times on the hard tires? id be interested to see them.

Yeah in the interview on German tv he said he might have had another 2 tenths with the mediums, but he wasn't happy with the balance so instead of cokcing up he went for the more stable hard tire.

Doesn't say anything about him not being able to cope with a difficult car. In fact, Webber was much slower with the hard tire, than Vettel was slower measured against Mark with mediums. In the end it's mostly down to setups and what each respective driver has chosen for the race.

That's 5 tenths between Mark's best Hard tire lap and Vettel's Q3 lap.