ltc

Did you bring Sir A.Wayne and Luis dePrat back with you?

It just seemed fair to counterbalance the one sided data presentation with the other half.
Is there a problem with my simple logic experiment?
Is it not safe to say that if I merely posted FP1 times that the situation would be reversed?

If you are the best at what you do, you do not need to keep reminding people of that fact.
If Alonso could only start winning WDC with Ferrari, there would be no need for further discussion.s

Does anyone happen to have any spare vigs laying about?

multi21

Kimi suffers 5 grid spot penalty on Sunday for gearbox change

lopro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...7QlItoHqk&NR=1

gums

^^Way cool vid, thanks for digging up^^

Rich Sandor

I think Jenson has the best odds to win, although bet365.com thinks Lewis is slightly more likely to win. Nonetheless, I put $20 on Vettel with a 4/1 return. He's won there last two years in a row, I think he can do it again, despite all the cars being different, especially if the weather is as WET as I think it's gonna be.

The more exciting bet would be how long before Ferrari CAN MASSA'S *** and put a winner in that second car! Although I have a gut feeling Alonso would rather not share the team with a more competitive driver, I think he would only benefit from the shared data if they put Kimi or Grosjean in there. Hopefully Ferrari will realise this and I won't have to keep rolling my eyes at Fez every raceday.

Rich Sandor

Imagine the excitement if they put Kamui in a Ferrari. I'm tired of seeing all the passing drama in the mid-pack.

333pg333

Vettel on hard tyres but Webber out qualifying him 2nd time in a row.

Ray S

Qualy results

Nice effort by Kimi (shame about the penalty). FA develops the car all the way up to 9th........oops

Saturday Qualifying Session
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT TIME
1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.219
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.368
3. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 1:36.391
4. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:36.461
5. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Lotus-Renault 1:36.461
6. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1:36.634
7. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 1:36.658
8. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 1:36.664
9. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 1:37.566
10. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.698
Q2
11. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault 1:37.589
12. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:37.731
13. Bruno Senna Brazil Williams-Renault 1:37.841
14. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 1:37.877
15. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.883
16. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes 1:37.890
17. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.069
Q1
18. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:39.077
19. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Caterham-Renault 1:39.306
20. Vitaly Petrov Russia Caterham-Renault 1:39.567
21. Timo Glock Germany Marussia-Cosworth 1:40.903
22. Charles Pic France Marussia-Cosworth 1:41.250
23. Pedro de la Rosa Spain HRT-Cosworth 1:42.914
24. Narain Karthikeyan India HRT-Cosworth 1:43.655

wanna911

Have to say I was pretty happy to see MSC at the qualy interview. Don't even know why, but I was happy to see it.

jenk12m

Vettel did that on the harder option tire, can't wait to see what he does on the softer ones.

I like hammy winning from pole

RajDatta

+1. Hammy will not let Button pull a fast one again. He will crash them both before he lets him through. Hamilton will dictate the race. Scumi will move backwards as the race progresses due to their car being hard on tires. Webber will have a poor start as always. This is how I see it.
Hamilton
Button
Vettel
Alonso
Rosberg
Kimi
Scumi
Webber
Grosjean

TwentySix

Wouldn't be surprised if Hammy and MSC tangle at turn one... good to see a shakeup at the pointy end of the grid, looks like a promising year

333pg333

Some interesting tidbits re the Merc:


Mercedes new rear wing concept is both a help and a hindrance
By Gary Anderson
BBC F1 technical analyst Mercedes have already attracted a lot of attention this season because of a controversial aerodynamic system on their car - and this weekend in Malaysia it could put them right up in the battle for pole position.

Sepang is one of the tracks where the system, which further boosts the effectiveness of the DRS overtaking aid, will be most advantageous in terms of one-off lap time.

However, it could also have the opposite effect in the race and be detrimental to their pace during the grand prix.

Before we get into why, we'll have to explain how the system works.

All cars have the DRS - which moves a flap on the rear wing to reduce drag and therefore increase straight-line speed.

Its use is free in practice and qualifying but is limited in the race to a specific zone on the track - in Malaysia, the main straight - and only when a driver is within a second of the car in front at a 'detection point' just before the 'DRS zone'.

On the Mercedes, the flap moves on the rear wing in the same way as on all the other cars. The difference is that when it lifts, it reveals holes on the inside of the endplates.

“I can see the system allowing them to knock on the door of pole position in qualifying - but hurting the rear tyres in the race”



These holes connect up through channels through the car to slot gaps on the underside of the front wing - and when the DRS opens, the low-pressure air under the front wing sucks air through the car from the rear wing, reducing the effectiveness of the front wing.

In Malaysia, there are fast corners where the car has enough inherent downforce to enable the driver to run with the DRS open if the set-up is right.

Normally, reducing the rear downforce in that way through a fast corner increases oversteer - which is instability at the rear of the car. That can limit how fast a driver can go through the bend.

But because the Mercedes system reduces front downforce, that means their car can maintain a consistent balance while also benefiting from the top-speed boost of the DRS.

In qualifying, that allows the Mercedes drivers to travel a much greater distance on a given lap with the DRS open. Which should give them a reasonable percentage of lap-time gain - and therefore a substantial advantage.


But in the race it is a different matter.

For a start, DRS use is limited to the main straight, so the advantage gained in fast corners and on other straights in qualifying is no longer there.

On top of that, a specific characteristic of the system could hurt Mercedes's chances.

When the DRS closes, because there is a volume of air in the system, the rear downforce comes back on to the car quicker than the front downforce.

It might only be a 10th of a second or so - but it does mean the rear of the car is stable earlier. That's a good thing for braking stability.

But in the race the system will only be used rarely and therefore the aerodynamic characteristics of the car on corner entry will be quite different - and use the rear tyres more aggressively because the rear will be moving around more.

So I can see the system allowing them to knock on the door of pole position in qualifying - but hurting the rear tyres in the race.

That is exactly the problem Mercedes had in Australia last weekend"

DreamCarrera

Because it brought back old times....




The start should be very interesting. The Mercedes were very fast off the line in Austr. and I would not be surprised to see MSC take the lead after T1. How long he can hold the lead is another story...it would be an exciting scenario IMHO.

wanna911

Not for me, I didn't start following racing until 2006 and F1 in 2007. I think it was more so good to see he's still got it after the lashing he took last year from Rosberg. Also happy to see Kimi obviously back in form so quickly. The more top level competition, the better.

Would love to see these guys race in a nearly spec series, but even so, still should be an exciting year.