paradisenb

I don`t think anybody is sandbagging. They may not be laying it all out there, but deliberately fooling other teams about pace the day before qualifying? I don`t see the reason. Everyone is trying out different setups and maybe doing different things with their tire selections. This is why Mercedes looks good and Ferrari looks slow. Those positions will be reversed tomorrow, at least as far as FA goes. I would not be surprised to see him qualify ahead of Button. I don`t think they have a top 3 car yet.

"Why waste time trying to make headlines on Friday if you can't deliver on Saturday?" Come on Bradley, wake up!
Headlines sell products. How do you think F pays for these cars? From the few 100 Ferraris that go out the door each year? Not! They sell so much branded material world wide. That revenue dwarfs the car sells.

Ray S

Not so much sandbagging as just testing new set-ups equipment etc. That said, finishing almost 2 seconds off RB does not look so hot.

gums

Ferrari is known to run heavy fuel on Fridays. Not sandbagging, just testing race setup.

My993C2

My crystal ball is telling me Red Bull and McLaren will be the class of this race. But the crystal ball was made in China and it is oozing some toxic glow in the dark sludge these days. The Malaysia heat is eating up the tires. I think they are saying four maybe even five stops in the race. I don't know. I guess Bernie decided we wanted to see lots of passing ... in the pits.

f8vr993

Button for the win... tires tires tires...
Alonso
Rosberg

Rich Sandor

on the edge of my seat for Q3 - great show... can't wait for the race!!

RajDatta

Guess not! .
I expect them to fight for a podium position. They don't have the 1 lap pace as was mentioned on TV, but seem to have the race pace to run with RBR and McLaren.
From the look of it, Hamilton is in the best position for a win. Lets see what he makes of it. I expect Alonso to get past Button and Webber during the race.
Obviously, if it rains, all bets are off.

wanna911

This makes me hate the refueling ban. Back in the day everyone could go all out from the very start with an aggressive fuel strategy and mess up someone else's tire strategy. Alonso will not get past Button and Webber unless he does it on the start, the Red Bull is just well faster and Alonso will need to preserve tires.


I call BS on 4 and 5 stop strategy's. 2 maybe 3 at most as people file in line and preserve tires.

RajDatta

I expect Alonso to pass both Button and Webber during pit stops. The one thing that no ones know yet is how easy would the long straights make it for a DRS activated driver to pass the car ahead of him. I am not a big fan of DRS. It's artificial passing.

m73m95

The gap is closer this week between Vettel and Hamilton. The only chance Hamilton has is if it rains....and its a small chance.

Ray S

I'm not sure what you're crowing about. Alonso is still almost a second off Vettel. Like I said they are off the pace (at least in qualifying trim). Perhaps they will be better loaded with fuel.

Saturday Qualifying Session
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT TIME
1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1:34.870
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.974
3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:35.179
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.200
5. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 1:35.802
6. Nick Heidfeld Germany Renault 1:36.124
7. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:36.251
8. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault 1:36.324
9. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 1:36.809
10. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.820
Q2
11. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 1:37.035
12. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.160
13. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.347
14. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 1:37.370
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1:37.496
16. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.528
17. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1:37.593
Q1
18. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Cosworth 1:38.276
19. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Renault 1:38.645
20. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Renault 1:38.791
21. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1:40.648
22. Jerome d'Ambrosio Belgium Virgin-Cosworth 1:41.001
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy HRT-Cosworth 1:41.549
24. Narain Karthikeyan India HRT-Cosworth 1:42.574

wanna911

I believe Red Bull spent a whole day with Vettel testing KERS for a reason. They know Mclaren have closed the gap and if Lewis is close he will KERS right past Vettel if he doesn't get him on the start. These are all dry scenarios though. In the wet, it's anybodies game.

My993C2

Barring a massive accident on turn #1 taking both Red Bulls and both McLarens out of the race it looks like Ferrari will be fighting for 5th place in this race. I suspect Renault will give the Prancing Horses a run for their money to finish 5th, but the boys and girls from Maranello should prevail over the vastly improved French Donkey carts (assuming Alonso can stay ahead of Petrov LOL). It's a crap shoot as far as the Red Bulls and McLarens are concerned. But hey having a close race is better than one driver or one team running away with all the races.

morganabowen

Yeah, I agree. The Ferrari's just don't seem to have the speed that RBR and Mclarens have. Fernando is outstanding for preserving his tires, but equally as good is Hamilton. I think it is going to be a fun race

Flying Finn

3 stops, Ferrari is MUCH better with fuel so their race pace is good.

Although as one of the people who is not the biggest "Designer Vagina" fans, one must wonder where has all that "best car developed" skill of Alonso's gone... Ferrari did most miles during the testing season yet they are more behind the Red Bulls and McLarens than they were when the last season ended...

Same way last season started... Ferrari was further away the competition than they were when the season ended... And the lest season at Renault... Boy they sucked...

I know, I'm just a hater and it's because... Well, you Wayne and 986 come up with a proper excuse.

"Best car developer" my ***...

Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber... That's all very close and Alonso will be there in the mix, looks like it's going to be a good race.