I believe by the time we get to Barcelona RBR would have a car that would blow everyone away most especially tracks that where straight line speed counts for little and down force counts for much more! I think Massa should start negotiating for a new seat else where next season! My money is still on Vettel!) For the construction title! Ferrari would have good car but that would be around the time the races hits the European circuit!

The McLarens might be slower in the corners than Red Bull at Sepang, but on the long straights it will be a no-contest, cos the McLarens straight line speed clocked 10kph faster than the Red Bulls in Melbourne.

I don't see Ferrari having a good car until mid season or toward the end, even when they do, Mercedes would have improved; its a bleak outlook. As for Massa, he should begin looking for a job as a cyclist. Lol!

Well unless McLaren have some upgrades by friday on the Straight Mercesdes would be the fastest with their F-Duct that Adrian Newey desperately want to copy... Traditionally Sepang has always been a circuit for RBR or Ferrari

It is estimated by some that Mercedes W-Duct gives them an additional 18kph. That is a whopping top-up by any reckoning!

However, McLaren might well be spotting their own version of W-Duct this weekend. Paddy Lowe has claimed it is an easy concept to copy; a bit of an unusual thing to say if they haven't already gone quite some distance to getting it, or completed it for the Malaysia car. Just my speculation sha.

I am sure Red Bull too would have taken a good look at it and could surprise us with their own version of duct (they already have a usable slot in the nose as well). I don't think Mercedes will be vaulting away from the Red Bulls and McLarens this weekend.

Red Bull : The Red Bull cars should be more suited to the sweeping high-speed corners of Sepang than they were for the sharp turns on the street circuit at Melbourne’s Albert Park, and Sebastian Vettel’s second-place finish in the season-opening race at Australia has given the team plenty of encouragement.
There is little opportunity for teams to improve their cars with just a week between the opening two races, but the Malaysian Grand Prix has the potential to force a very different running order.
Melbourne “is short turns, bumpy, not a lot of high-speed corners but Malaysia offers that variant, so it will be interesting to see how quick (McLaren) are in Malaysia.”

McLaren:will extend their winning streak into Malaysia. "The Barcelona test showed us that we are better than Red Bull in the fast corners. Their (Red Bull's) advantage is in traction," McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Agreed Mercedes' Ross Brawn: "We could see that the McLaren improved significantly with the introduction of their new aerodynamic specification in Barcelona." But the German team's Norbert Haug warned before leaving Melbourne: "We could see something quite different in Malaysia."

Ferrari: Ferrari has revealed that Felipe Massa will run with a new chassis during the second round of the F1 season this weekend in Malaysia.

The Brazilian endured a tough weekend in Australia, qualifying down in 16th place and then being forced to retire from the race late on while running outside the points after a clash with countryman Bruno Senna.

Mercedes : Michael Schumacher is expecting to gain a clearer understanding of how Mercedes stacks up against its rivals at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Sepang will be interesting for everybody because it will be the first clue to the real relative strengths of all the cars. The range of slow and fast corners give a good indication of where you are, which always makes the race in Malaysia fun for the drivers and engineers, and overall a big challenge for both man and machine. I'm looking forward to it."


Lotus: Kimi Raikkonen says he is hopeful of scoring his first podium since returning to F1 in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix after picking up points in his maiden outing for Lotus in Australia.

“The car feels very good,” he said. “In the race I was stuck in traffic a lot so it didn't show so much, and who knows what might have happened if we had a better grid a slot. There is a lot of speed in the car.

“We'll be trying to improve our performance in Malaysia for sure. We don't know how the car will behave there but it's been good everywhere so far so hopefully it'll be the same there. It'll be hot and humid which is a challenge but we have a good car. As long as qualifying goes well we could be fighting for podiums. We'll have to wait and see.

Interesting reading.
Do you know if Massa will be using a different chassis due to upgrades or to the damage his current one suffered?

Beaf: Interesting reading.
Do you know if Massa will be using a different chassis due to upgrades or to the damage his current one suffered?

Well the Italians are calling for his head....

omar22:

Well the Italians are calling for his head....

I feel a bit sorry for the dude. Its like he never fully recovered from his accident, although he wasn't particularly hot before it.
I just read that his new chassis will come with a lot of replacements: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/felipe-massa-ignoring-speculation-ferrari-are-to-replace-him-7581407.html

Malaysia FP1 with the usual suspects on top Mc Laren/RBR/Mercedes and Lotus Renault showing great pace. disaster for Ferrari, and with rain predicted for FP2, i doubt we will witness any big changes in the result.

Malaysia FP2: again, Mc Laren (Ham 1st, Button 3rd) and Mercedes (Msc 2nd, Rosberg 4th) are showing incredible pace, while Alonso finally got his shiit together to finish 6th in this session (Massa must have been sleeping again at 16th). RBR unfortunately could only manage 7th (Webber) and 10th (Vettel). Grosjean in 9th, again posted a better time than Kimi 15th.

with rain forecast for tomorrow AND sunday, everything is in the balance.

I don't see Massa lasting out the season. Except there's a miracle soon, he's gonna be paid off and kicked out of F1 for good.
...And I says; it will be good riddance to a talentless sulk.

It looks like its going to rain tomorrow and Sunday....

Can you imagine what these guys can determine just by listening to the audio of an engine?
Freaky! Scary!

The FIA have reportedly declared Red Bull's Renault engine legal after questions were raised by rivals Mercedes.

Following Red Bull's queries about Mercedes' rear wing, the tables were turned in Sepang when the latter asked for clarification about the reigning World Champ's engines.

As of this season teams are only permitted to cut up four cylinders off-throttle through the corners, however, Mercedes - based on audio analysis - believed Red Bull could be cutting more.

The team raised their concerns with the FIA, who reportedly declared that there is nothing illegal about Red Bull's engine mapping.

This is a sentiment echoed by McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh who explained the situation, telling grandprix.com: "Mercedes has presented us with some audio analysis. It's quite complex but the upshot is, they say it shows that Red Bull are cutting more than four cylinders, which you are not allowed to do.

"Actually, the cut pattern is not determined, so you can cut as many cylinders in whatever order you like. We've got the data and we can see quite clearly that there are four cylinders being injected, four cylinders firing and they are timed at the right time, so there's every reason to suppose that there's combustion going on.

"Moreover, the throttle opening at that point is not any more than it is normally, so if they are doing anything funny they are not opening the throttle any more, so it negates the arguments a lot.

"As far as we are concerned it's entirely legal because they are not cutting more than four cylinders, which is what the contention is."

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7618732/-Red-Bull-engine-mapping-legal-

The vultures are circling around Massa's head! A small part of me is actually starting to feel a bit sorry for him, but then I remember how much of a moaner he is, blaming all and sundry (except himself) for his woes and I just want to laugh.
Have been so excited for this F1 season! ...it's already doing a number on my sleeping pattern, but its all part of the fun! Shall be an interesting race on Sunday.

Beaf: Can you imagine what these guys can determine just by listening to the audio of an engine?
Freaky! Scary!



http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7618732/-Red-Bull-engine-mapping-legal-

...And it is for reasons like this that I love formula 1! ... don't you just love engineering!?!

omi247:

...And it is for reasons like this that I love formula 1! ... don't you just love engineering!?!

You sound like you really love gears, oil and high tech. Are you in a technical field?

Boy! My mouth popped wide open when I read Martin Whitmarsh's words (still struggling to tape it shut ). You just begin to imagine the levels of intricacy and disciplne that would have gone into that analysis; yet its something that obviously took a couple of days (or much less). Melbourne was just last weekend.
It becomes even scarier when you imagine it must have been done in someones spare time too.

bloody hell what a qualifying session!!!!! sadly, the only loser will have to be Kimi.....fantastic pace, qualified in 5th but then gets 5place penalty. at least we now know for sure that the car has got it to compete with the top guns.

Mc Laren locking the front row once again, MSC right behind them followed by Webber who was once again faster than el señor Vettel, lol! then Vettel followed by Grosjean who couldnt beat Kimi this time (lets be honest, Kimi was on fire), then Rosberg making big mistakes again to qualify in 7th and Alonso in 8th, Perez in 9th and finally Kimi with his 5 grid penalty in 10th.

let me go and pray for the rain God to scatter this race tomorrow, lol!

as for Massa, he has absolutely no excuse for driving so poorly, 12th is NOT good enough for a Ferrari driver (even if the car is shiit).

Alonso was 9th, not much difference between them.

^^there is a HUGE difference between them.
A) one got into Q3, while the other didnt.
B) one is right behind the top teams (driving is guts out), while the other isnt!

Two McLaren one-twos in a row. I hope this doesn't become another boring season like the last one.

Beaf:

You sound like you really love gears, oil and high tech. Are you in a technical field?

Boy! My mouth popped wide open when I read Martin Whitmarsh's words (still struggling to tape it shut ). You just begin to imagine the levels of intricacy and disciplne that would have gone into that analysis; yet its something that obviously took a couple of days (or much less). Melbourne was just last weekend.
It becomes even scarier when you imagine it must have been done in someones spare time too.

Yeah, it's amazing the levels of highly detailed analysis that they can do in such a short amount of time. Though I suspect none of those guys gets much spare time! lol

Yes, I do! I studied Mechanical Engineering at Uni. Kinda sad that I didn't take up the opportunity to join Formula Student while I was there as it can be a good way to get a job in Formula One if you are good enough!

omi247:

Yeah, it's amazing the levels of highly detailed analysis that they can do in such a short amount of time. Though I suspect none of those guys gets much spare time! lol

Yes, I do! I studied Mechanical Engineering at Uni. Kinda sad that I didn't take up the opportunity to join Formula Student while I was there as it can be a good way to get a job in Formula One if you are good enough!

If you had the opportunity to get into F1, then you must be quite some babe indeed! It takes real brains to even nearly get an F1 opportunity.
Nice one!

Race about to restart at last! Yeeeeeeeeeeeey!

I don't like conspiracy theories, but how convenient that Perez makes a mistake and basically gifts Alonso victory immediately after a radio message from his team which basically told him to back off, when all signs pointed to him surely passing Alonso before the end. Coded team orders.

Big well done to Alonso (Ferrari) and Perez (Sauber). It was always going to be an unpredictable ace with conditions, but both drivers put in a phenomenal performance.

^^ahahahahahahaha abeg, leave that one alone, we all know how stress the guy must have been! anyone can make such mistake.Maldonado did in the same fashion last race!

aaaaaaaaAAAAAAA[size=14pt]AAAAAAAA[/size][size=18pt]AAAAAALONSO!!!!!!!![/size]
i can already see all the Alonso haters crying their eyes out knowing that Alonso is now ahead of everybody in championship points, probably not for long but it feels SWEET, BWAAAAAAAAAH! the shittiest car out there and yet he keeps on showing what a great driver he is.

great race from Perez but we all know that catching Alonso is one thing, passing him is a complete different task. Raikkonen in the point again this week while his team mate goes out after a few laps. well done!

as for Massa, he was a disgrace, getting passed by everyone. hopefully the rumor of Perez joining Ferrari next yr is true.

the Gods of rain have answered my prayer!

Bloody great drive from Perez! kept things on the edge toward the end! Now I know why Ferrari want him. Congrats to Alonso though. Who would have expected a Ferrari and a Sauber to end up where they did? The joys of rain!
Again, beautiful drive from Perez.

Mercedes was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge dissapointment.

As for Button, Massa and Vettel, they did the id!ots parade today. Massa was his usual bumbling self, storming backwards through the field; while Button and Vettel made really amateurish overtaking moves that damaged their cars. Vettels was the worst by a long degree and it looked like one of his accident riddled Torro Rosso days.

1 F Alonso Ferrari 35
2 L Hamilton McLaren 30
3 J Button McLaren 25
4 M Webber Red Bull 24
5 S Perez Sauber 22
6 S Vettel Red Bull 18
7 K Raikkonen Lotus 16
8 B Senna Williams 8
9 K Kobayashi Sauber 8
10 P Di Resta Force India 7

^^^ the Mercedes cars show great speed in qualifying, but during the race, their cars fall apart (Rosberg is the worst out of the two).

even Button seems to have given up WAY before the end of the race. as for the world champion, he sure doesnt show any special driving skills now that most cars are on the same level, lol!

^
Its not just the Mercedes, the McLarens as well. Both teams cars seem to perform badly in the wets, Button couldn't even make it into the points in a car thats a fast package under normal conditions.

This season might turn out to be a huge test for Vettels composure, lets see how well he keeps (or loses) his mojo.

Another Red Car company pulling rank

BACK OFF or no engines for next season!!!!


Great drive by both Alonso and Perez

^^^ the mid level teams are doing quite well, and it sure will make this yr really interesting to watch. Maldonado and Grosjean could really do some damage, if they can get their act together and finish a race.

as for Ferrari, like Alonso said, this win changes nothing really, as their car is still shiit!

How long will Lewis have to put up with this crappy pit crew if i was Ron i would try running an add in amongst the Kwik fit crew they surely would do a better job than what Lewis has now. Strange to see JB making a mistake in what is suppose to be his domain, the wet.

Perez would of had Alonso if not for that mistake he is the new boy on the block and i hope Sauba can keep in the mix, but tbh the Pirelli,s made this race a bit of a lottery