2013 Malaysian GP - Sepang

[Faustino]

Also should point out that Merc only used one set of inters. Could be significant if rain is similar tomorrow.

[Forza]

Qualifying Live timing

[lewishamilton90]

rosberg 36 1 in q2....wow !!!!!!!

[SilverArrow10]

Who else was thinking Mclaren would be higher up than they were in the rain. 8th and 10th. Better than last week but still I thought in the rain they were good.

[Faustino]

rosberg 36 1 in q2....wow !!!!!!!

The W04 is probably 2 seconds quicker than last year's car. Outstanding.

[raymondu999]

Why are people taking it for granted that RBR were flat out in Q1 and Q2? I don't understand this reasoning. They've done this before, in Korea 2011 - drive to a time delta in Q1 and Q2 to save tyres for the race. Just look at how easily Mark could pump the laptime after he was told his Q1 time wasn't enough.

IMO they were saving tyres in Q1 and Q2 - Vettel driving well within the car in Q1, and driving flat out on his Q1 tyres in Q2. Leaves him 2 new option tyres and 3 new primes for tomorrow. Webber and Raikkonen oddly (in my opinion) went for new options in Q2.

Who else was thinking Mclaren would be higher up than they were in the rain. 8th and 10th. Better than last week but still I thought in the rain they were good.

Agreed. I thought that, based on FP2, Button would at least feature more prominently. Not pole, but top 6.

[NathanOlder]

rosberg 36 1 in q2....wow !!!!!!!

The W04 is probably 2 seconds quicker than last year's car. Outstanding.

It does seem that way, Many people said it wasnt possible, but its looking like it certainly is the case

[NathanOlder]

Why are people taking it for granted that RBR were flat out in Q1 and Q2? I don't understand this reasoning. They've done this before, in Korea 2011 - drive to a time delta in Q1 and Q2 to save tyres for the race. Just look at how easily Mark could pump the laptime after he was told his Q1 time wasn't enough.

IMO they were saving tyres in Q1 and Q2 - Vettel driving well within the car in Q1, and driving flat out on his Q1 tyres in Q2. Leaves him 2 new option tyres and 3 new primes for tomorrow. Webber and Raikkonen oddly (in my opinion) went for new options in Q2.
.

Saving tyres yes, because it looks like they are going to need them. The car looked horrible this morning on the hard tyre

[SilverArrow10]

rosberg 36 1 in q2....wow !!!!!!!

The W04 is probably 2 seconds quicker than last year's car. Outstanding.

It does seem that way, Many people said it wasnt possible, but its looking like it certainly is the case

Well I think the super Brawn car shows what a differene a year can make. Very Impressed

[raymondu999]

Saving tyres yes, because it looks like they are going to need them. The car looked horrible this morning on the hard tyre

Yes that's what I'm saying. Because they know (based on their free practice runs) that they need more stops, they then set out to qualifying in tyre-conservation mode. I don't think P15 and P9 for Vettel in Q1 and Q2 was their true pace, by any chance.

[Maxion]

Kimi problems with gearbox / hydraulics in Q3?

https://twitter.com/F1PitRadio/status/3 ... 2469773313

Kimi told to stay in one gear to maintain hydraulic pressure, "do not upshift or downshift"

[NathanOlder]

Saving tyres yes, because it looks like they are going to need them. The car looked horrible this morning on the hard tyre

Yes that's what I'm saying. Because they know (based on their free practice runs) that they need more stops, they then set out to qualifying in tyre-conservation mode. I don't think P15 and P9 for Vettel in Q1 and Q2 was their true pace, by any chance.

Ah , sorry. I read it differently.

[atanatizante]

I don't believe RBR is that fast, we have seen they struggled during Q1 and Q2, it's just that rain ...

But again good job from Bianchi!

Reckon they've gone for a wet setup, hence being so slow in the rain? I know there isn't supposed to be much difference but we're only talking about 0.5 - 1 second in ultimate pace. Will be interesting to see if they can get some life out of the tyres tomorrow.

Well, that's was my first impression too (Vettel went for a wet setup) but after hearing what was Rosberg telling on RTL makes me change my mind.
He said that after 2 laps on inters tyres were gone and it was a bad call to not to change them like Vettel did.
Hamilton's approach was different to Rosberg's, coz he did a hot lap followed by a slow one, then a hot one and so forth.
That's the way he preserved the inters but most impressive thing is that Hamy did his fastest lap on the 5th lap.
Now Vettel on his first set of inters wasn't far away from Hamy's fastest lap, (in fact he was 3 tenths slower) and that's way I think he didn't went for a wet setup for race.
So indeed (based on what Rosberg said) Vettel on a new set of inters could do a lap 2 sec. faster but only in his first hot lap ...

[Faustino]

Could be interesting to see how the Mercedes handles with a full tank of fuel. If Lewis can keep up with the Ferraris we'll know this car can be in the championship. Should be a cracking race tomorrow

[Sevach]

Dominant display by Vettel (after a weird Q1 and 2), on both of his Q3 laps he was almost 1s clear of the opposition.
Good job by the Ferrari team and the revived Felipe Massa.

RBR didn't use any hards during qualy, that could be an advantage...