2015 Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang

[SectorOne]

Will be nice seeing Kimi in a more stable race, i want to see what he can do against Vettel now that he (and Vettel) are back to their best in terms of utilizing the car to the fullest.
Its worth its weight in gold as well to have two drivers going in the same direction with setup.

[mf2929]

Will be nice seeing Kimi in a more stable race, i want to see what he can do against Vettel now that he (and Vettel) are back to their best in terms of utilizing the car to the fullest.
Its worth its weight in gold as well to have two drivers going in the same direction with setup.

well as long as the team let Kimi to overtake Vettel in the future when he got the chance..... Kimi is officially the #2 driver right now... i guess

[SectorOne]

Not sure how you have managed to come to that conclusion. Hes had some bad luck, thats it.

[Chene_Mostert]

Yes, it will be nice to see some proper intra team battle. It will be refreshing departure from the staged "battle" that Mercedes AMG Petronas is selling us. (oookay nico, save fuel, save tyres, maintain the gap @ 5sec and we will "attack" on the last corner of the last lap).*

*said in a soothing relaxed, almost therapeutic tone of voice.

[Vasconia]

Will be nice seeing Kimi in a more stable race, i want to see what he can do against Vettel now that he (and Vettel) are back to their best in terms of utilizing the car to the fullest.
Its worth its weight in gold as well to have two drivers going in the same direction with setup.

well as long as the team let Kimi to overtake Vettel in the future when he got the chance..... Kimi is officially the #2 driver right now... i guess

I dont think that this is is the case. And Kimi wont never accept that. It think that both drivers are very close to each other. Kimi´s race pace has been impresive and sometimes better than Vettel´s race pace. It would be a great battle.

Just take a look to the race result and we can appreciate how many close battles are between team mates. Its great.

[Vasconia]

Max Verstappen became the youngest point scorer in F1. Super performance in such hot and crazy conditions, battling the Bulls. =D>

Verstappen and Sainz both continue to impress big time! If they can maintain the quality for the most of the season I reckon KYV will be in danger of being demoted or dropped! Im seriously impressed by both TR lads! =D>

Both drivers are impressive but I think Verstappen needs more time, its so young!! talent is there but lets give him more time to become a mature driver and PERSON!.

Sainz is driving amazingly well, he is very mature and the almost make no mistakes. Great race and one lap pace, tough fighter and very constant.

[WaikeCU]

I still believe Mercedes have the fastest car right now, but I believe it's just an tactical error right from the start has led to Vettel getting away with the win. It's either that or Mercedes being too cocky towards Ferrari, believing they have the speed to gain back when they were on the backfoot after stopping during the safety car period. In reality, it seems like they have struggled with moving forward through traffic and lost plenty of time in doing so. I still believe we haven't seen an exact ranking of what the performance is this year throughout the pack. We just have to wait until the Spanish GP, because that's the venue where you can't hide away from your competitors.

[Vasconia]

IIRC there was a radio chat played where Button was excitedly telling the team he was catching ppl, he sounded very surprised. Anyway, looks like Honda a making good progress, they'll prolly overtake Renault in China!

I was impressed by Mclaren´s improvement. From being last and very far from the rest to be in the points and fighting with both FI and not far from RB. Yes, he didnt finish but Malaysia is a very hard track for the realiability of the cars so it was normal to have so probems. I think that the most important point if how much they have improved.

And China will be cooler for sure, so I hope that both car can fnish between the 9th and 13thn positions.

[Vasconia]

I still believe Mercedes have the fastest car right now, but I believe it's just an tactical error right from the start has led to Vettel getting away with the win. It's either that or Mercedes being too cocky towards Ferrari, believing they have the speed to gain back when they were on the backfoot after stopping during the safety car period. In reality, it seems like they have struggled with moving forward through traffic and lost plenty of time in doing so. I still believe we haven't seen an exact ranking of what the performance is this year throughout the pack. We just have to wait until the Spanish GP, because that's the venue where you can't hide away from your competitors.

Absolutely, they have the best car by far. Yesterday was one of those isolated situations(I hope they are more) based on a bad strategy and high temperatures which gave Ferrari the chance of showing how good they taking care of their tyres. Plus the set-up doesnt help, a so high downforce set-up helps you to destroy everybody in the corners but when you have to overtake you have more problems.

I expect a dominant victory by Mercedes in China. Rosberg loves this track so I hope he can put Lewis under a great pressure.

[WaikeCU]

Any chance if Mercedes were running a more rainy set up compared to Ferrari? Perhaps they gambled on that and gambled wrong?

Very slim, rain-setups are non-adviceable since a race often gets red flagged before you get a benefit from your rain setup.

I also think a rain setup has more downsides in the dry than a dry setup in the rain.

Which is why I'm thinking they were relatively slow in moving through traffic after the safety car period. Mercedes weren't the strongest as well regarding the speed traps, which is why I was thinking they were on a more rainy setup. The only reason they would have less top speed would be having a more wing-drag configuration and/or higher ride height. That's what I was thinking.

[kooleracer]

I have seen the times that Lewis and Vettel did. Lewis should have won the race. The time he lost during traffic after the safety was crucial. Also using the medium in Q1 was a mistake. Mercedes was pushing the tires harder because they had to close the gap. Thats why it looks like Mercedes had tire issues. But in these extreme conditions pushing the tires over the edge just led to thermal degradation (Mercedes was fastest in the corners which means higher stress and higher wear). But because Ferrari made up a lot of time during the 2 straight Mercedes was closing only a few tenths per lap. China will be interesting almost a copy of Sepang. Only the weather is completely different. If Mercedes still have tires issues I will be very surprised.

Also Lewis complained about the balance of the car, having poor FP1 and FP2 did compromised the setup. Lewis has been great in tire management because of his setup and driving style. But Ferrari was in pace really close the Mercedes. I think that without the Safety Car mishap and a much smoother weekend for Hamilton he would win the race maybe by the same margin that Vettel eventually had. Mercedes should have split the strategy between Rosberg and Hamilton its just wrong have the same strategy if you don't know which is best. If you split it you will have 1 guy that is best strategy 100%. Now they put both of their drivers on the wrong one. Ferrari during the dominant era never made that mistake. Schumi and Rubens were almost never on the same strategy. But I guess they will learn a lot from this race. I think its time Mercedes backs Lewis and uses Rosberg during the race as a donkey for strategy. Because lets be honest Rosberg can't beat Lewis in a straight fight. He sounded like a defeated man in Australia and in Malaysia it was even worse.

But great to see that this yeard WDC will likely be between 4 drivers from 2 teams. A bit like McLaren v Ferrari era. Can't wait for China to see how to battle between Vettel and Hamilton continuous.

P.S. Alonso Alonso Alonso......that Red car looks great...I can't imagine how frustrated Fernando must be.

Marcus Ericsson ditching your car like that is just poor driving. Knowing that after Europe scoring points will be extremely hard for them wasting opportunities like this during the early season is just crazy. Even rookies like Sainz Jr and Verstappen aren't making silly rookie errors. Just shows how average Marcus really is.

[evered7]

Which is why I'm thinking they were relatively slow in moving through traffic after the safety car period. Mercedes weren't the strongest as well regarding the speed traps, which is why I was thinking they were on a more rainy setup. The only reason they would have less top speed would be having a more wing-drag configuration and/or higher ride height. That's what I was thinking.

I have often heard on TV that there is no longer a rain setup in F1 or not a huge difference between dry/wet setups.

Mercedes were running high downforce in Aus as well. Williams was fastest on speed and not Mercedes. Also doesn't having more downforce help with tires usage as well?

So if they had gone in reverse, the situation would have been worse for Mercedes in those conditions. Doesn't seem like a setup inclined with rain in mind.

Sorry if I am wrong.

[Vasconia]

.

Also Lewis complained about the balance of the car, having poor FP1 and FP2 did compromised the setup. Lewis has been great in tire management because of his setup and driving style. But Ferrari was in pace really close the Mercedes. I think that without the Safety Car mishap and a much smoother weekend for Hamilton he would win the race maybe by the same margin that Vettel eventually had. Mercedes should have split the strategy between Rosberg and Hamilton its just wrong have the same strategy if you don't know which is best. If you split it you will have 1 guy that is best strategy 100%. Now they put both of their drivers on the wrong one. Ferrari during the dominant era never made that mistake. Schumi and Rubens were almost never on the same strategy. But I guess they will learn a lot from this race. I think its time Mercedes backs Lewis and uses Rosberg during the race as a donkey for strategy. Because lets be honest Rosberg can't beat Lewis in a straight fight. He sounded like a defeated man in Australia and in Malaysia it was even worse.

But great to see that this yeard WDC will likely be between 4 drivers from 2 teams. A bit like McLaren v Ferrari era. Can't wait for China to see how to battle between Vettel and Hamilton continuous.

P.S. Alonso Alonso Alonso......that Red car looks great...I can't imagine how frustrated Fernando must be.

Marcus Ericsson ditching your car like that is just poor driving. Knowing that after Europe scoring points will be extremely hard for them wasting opportunities like this during the early season is just crazy. Even rookies like Sainz Jr and Verstappen aren't making silly rookie errors. Just shows how average Marcus really is.

He must be really frustrated but he took his own decision, I was expecting a better car thank to Allyson work but this has surprised me. I hope Mclaren will improve to give him a car to fight for this third championship, I´m not a fan of this guy but his quality as a driver deserves another title.

I think that Mercedes has the same strategy for both drivers because they didn't want to show any preference. But in fact that decision prejudiced even more Nico´s race.

[Chene_Mostert]

I have seen the times that Lewis and Vettel did. Lewis should have won the race. The time he lost during traffic after the safety was crucial. Also using the medium in Q1 was a mistake. Mercedes was pushing the tires harder because they had to close the gap. Thats why it looks like Mercedes had tire issues. But in these extreme conditions pushing the tires over the edge just led to thermal degradation (Mercedes was fastest in the corners which means higher stress and higher wear). But because Ferrari made up a lot of time during the 2 straight Mercedes was closing only a few tenths per lap. China will be interesting almost a copy of Sepang. Only the weather is completely different. If Mercedes still have tires issues I will be very surprised.

Also Lewis complained about the balance of the car, having poor FP1 and FP2 did compromised the setup. Lewis has been great in tire management because of his setup and driving style. But Ferrari was in pace really close the Mercedes. I think that without the Safety Car mishap and a much smoother weekend for Hamilton he would win the race maybe by the same margin that Vettel eventually had. Mercedes should have split the strategy between Rosberg and Hamilton its just wrong have the same strategy if you don't know which is best. If you split it you will have 1 guy that is best strategy 100%. Now they put both of their drivers on the wrong one. Ferrari during the dominant era never made that mistake. Schumi and Rubens were almost never on the same strategy. But I guess they will learn a lot from this race. I think its time Mercedes backs Lewis and uses Rosberg during the race as a donkey for strategy. Because lets be honest Rosberg can't beat Lewis in a straight fight. He sounded like a defeated man in Australia and in Malaysia it was even worse.

But great to see that this yeard WDC will likely be between 4 drivers from 2 teams. A bit like McLaren v Ferrari era. Can't wait for China to see how to battle between Vettel and Hamilton continuous.

P.S. Alonso Alonso Alonso......that Red car looks great...I can't imagine how frustrated Fernando must be.

Marcus Ericsson ditching your car like that is just poor driving. Knowing that after Europe scoring points will be extremely hard for them wasting opportunities like this during the early season is just crazy. Even rookies like Sainz Jr and Verstappen aren't making silly rookie errors. Just shows how average Marcus really is.

Sebastian was just managing the gap.
Also can you share with us the times that you have "seen" suggesting Lewis "should have" won.
Prior to the SC, on new options, same as Sebastian with the same race distance on the tyres and similar fuel loads the gap was only 0.8sec with Seb closing...Maybe you saw something different?

[Phil]

I have seen the times that Lewis and Vettel did. Lewis should have won the race. The time he lost during traffic after the safety was crucial. Also using the medium in Q1 was a mistake. Mercedes was pushing the tires harder because they had to close the gap. Thats why it looks like Mercedes had tire issues. But in these extreme conditions pushing the tires over the edge just led to thermal degradation (Mercedes was fastest in the corners which means higher stress and higher wear). But because Ferrari made up a lot of time during the 2 straight Mercedes was closing only a few tenths per lap. China will be interesting almost a copy of Sepang. Only the weather is completely different. If Mercedes still have tires issues I will be very surprised.

Good points Kooleracer.

Since the race, I've thought hard about why Mercedes pitted during the safety car. I was quite surprised when they did, because pitting under the safety car always has some risk involved. For one, it puts you into traffic relative to the cars that stay out (Vettel & Co.) and you also run the risk that you may need longer in the pits because you have to wait while other cars are coming into the pits (though not sure to what degree this is a factor for Mercedes and where their box is relative to the others; if it's at the end of the pit lane, it's not a problem if they're the first to go in, as they'll be the first out).

Anyway - the conclusion at which I arrive is tyre wear. Mercedes seriously had doubts over how long the option tyres will last on their car in that heat, especially on a car that is practically fully fueled and at its heaviest. So, pitting on lap 5, getting rid of the tyre that they probably expected not to last very long and going onto the more durable prime tyre probably sounded like a good deal, especially considering you get a free pitstop (but puts you into traffic). As someone else mentioned; Ferrari then threw a curveball when Sebastian ended up putting in one fast lap after the other and practically had no degredation. He made the best of it - he never got held up in traffic, could run in clean air, while Lewis & Rosberg lost valuable time fighting through the pack. At some point, it was about +11 seconds relative to what Hamilton lost to Vettel. The other thing is; because the Mercedes stopped on lap 4/5, they had 51 laps to split between their one more stop (if the plan was to 2 stop).

Lets look at the pit chart:

Vettel: pitted on 17 and 37 (o17 / o20 / p19)
Hamilton: pitted on 4, 24, 38 (o4 / p20 / o14 / p18)
Rosberg: pitted on 4, 26, 41 (o4 / p22 / p15 / o15)

So, I still conclude, those 17 laps on the first stint (although a few under the safety-car) were immense by Vettel and Ferrari. Hamilton 3rd stint on option tyres on a much lighter car wasn't comparable, he only managed 14 laps until he got on the radio to say that his rears were going off and his times started to crumble. Which is why I can relate to the thinking behind Mercedes strategy to pit them on lap 4. I guess they didn't believe their car would hold out much longer, perhaps be able to stretch the first stint to lap 10 or 12, but no where near 17 with Vettel in their rear-mirrors. In fact, I think had they stayed out on lap 4 under the safety car, I think Vettel perhaps would have past Hamilton, at the latest when his time would start to crumbe. And the straights are long in Malaysia and the corners before them are not DF heavy corners.

So, Vettel on a OOP strategy would probably still have edged Hamilton on a OPP strategy (assuming they'd both 2 stop and Mercedes would run the P tyre as their prefered tyre). But putting Hamilton on a OPO strategy? Nope - I don't think he would have made it to the end, the Mercedes was too hard on the option tyre. So... to sum up Hamiltons thoughts on lap 38 when he radioed his team that they put him on the wrong tyre....... I'm not sure if he would have made it to the end, although Rosberg arguably had quite good pace, but only had 3 laps less to do (he pitted later than Hamilton). I also think that Rosberg had a bit better tyre wear in Malaysia.



Anyway, to the race; I think it's brilliant that Vettel won. I don't particularly like him nor his celebration antics, but it's good for F1 and exactly what it needed. And the pace of that Ferrari is eye-opening, even if the race unfolded perfectly for them in this case. I think come China, or at the latest after China, we will probably see business as usual with Mercedes 1 & 2 and sadly, I think the Ferrari/Malaysia anomaly might be quickly forgotten and Redbull will be right back with their criticism towards the domination of Mercedes. Unless they still get beaten by Torro-Rosso, which of course they can't allow. But fair play, they did have serious issues on their cars in Malaysia.