2012 Malaysia Grand Prix Discussion Thread

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 20 Mar 2012, 21:38

Oh, the glories of the fly-away races. The second race of the season is a week after the thrilling Australian Grand Prix.

Looking at the weather for the next five days, it's suppose to be "scattered thunderstorms" which is typical for Sepang.

Discuss away!

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 20 Mar 2012, 21:53

Well 'scattered thunderstorms' in Malaysia could be anything from bone-dry all weekend to the deluge at the 2009 event. Anyway, it's good to get the first two races within a week I think, people are still discussing Australia and we have practice in under 3 days for Malaysia

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 20 Mar 2012, 22:29

Personally I'd rather wait an extra week for Malaysia and not have such a long gap until China, maybe that's just me. On the subject of the weather forecast, brace yourselves for the barrage of complaints on Sunday evening about how 'the expected rain never turned up' ... just like the last 2 years :roll:

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 21 Mar 2012, 09:25

Massa will get a new chassis at Sepang.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 21 Mar 2012, 11:02

I'm actually heading off to Sepang to watch the Grand Prix,and I have always managed to get some signatures.I got Hamilton's,Vijay Mallya's,Sutil's,Brundle and Coulthard's,Maldonado,Kubica,Kovi,Heidfeld,Algesuari and Niki Lauda's.I also managed a little chat with Sir Frank Williams.You may wonder how I got so many autographs? Simple.My dad plays a major part in the hotel that all the drivers stay at during the weekend.I simply approach them at Breakfast or after qualifying.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 21 Mar 2012, 11:42

Ferrim wrote:Massa will get a new chassis at Sepang.

[Irony]Of course! How could we have not noticed that the cause of such abject performance in Australia was because his chassis?[/Irony]

Post by **mario** » 21 Mar 2012, 12:04

Ferrim wrote:Massa will get a new chassis at Sepang.

A bit like Vettel having his chassis switched a few years back, although in that case the team did claim to have found signs of deterioration around the suspension pick up points before they changed the chassis. I guess that it might deflect some of the criticism from Massa's performance in Melbourne if the chassis was slightly defective - although the article did suggest that Ferrari weren't entirely sure that was the case - but if they make the change and Massa is still as far off the pace as he was in Melbourne, the criticism will probably return with a vengeance.

Warren Hughes wrote:Personally I'd rather wait an extra week for Malaysia and not have such a long gap until China, maybe that's just me. On the subject of the weather forecast, brace yourselves for the barrage of complaints on Sunday evening about how 'the expected rain never turned up' ... just like the last 2 years

Alonso has already said that he is putting no real faith in the weather predictions since the weather can change so rapidly:

"There is no other place in the world, the Formula 1 world that is, where it can go from sunshine to torrential rain in the space of a few minutes," he said. "Not even at Spa is the variability so acute. Those on the pitwall will have to keep their eyes peeled and look at the radar carefully to be ready for any possible change in the weather.
"At the moment, the forecast is for a high chance of rain, both for qualifying and the race, but honestly, I don't have much faith in the forecast. The important thing is to react promptly and grab every opportunity. The only thing you can be absolutely certain of is that it will be hot, very hot."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98224
To be honest, whilst wet weather might liven things up (provided the track isn't flooded - it's one thing when the weather is bad, and another when even Bernd Mylander was complaining of aquaplaning and struggling to drive the safety car), a dry race would be a stronger indicator of the relative performance of the teams (six times out of 10 in the past decade, the winner of this race has gone on to win the title).

WaffleCat wrote:I'm actually heading off to Sepang to watch the Grand Prix,and I have always managed to get some signatures.I got Hamilton's,Vijay Mallya's,Sutil's,Brundle and Coulthard's,Maldonado,Kubica,Kovi,Heidfeld,Algesuari and Niki Lauda's.I also managed a little chat with Sir Frank Williams.You may wonder how I got so many autographs? Simple.My dad plays a major part in the hotel that all the drivers stay at during the weekend.I simply approach them at Breakfast or after qualifying.

That's pretty lucky - what did you chat to Sir Frank about?

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 21 Mar 2012, 13:14

mario wrote:That's pretty lucky - what did you chat to Sir Frank about?

Nothing much really.Managed to talk with him on how his team was holding up and some basic F1 stuff,but it was an extreme pleasure to meet him.Also,last year,I got Bruno Senna's autograph last year during breakfast although there was a Brazilian TV crew filming,possibly for a pre-race show.Now,my autograph targets are Kamui Kobayashi and, even though this is a long shot,HWNSNBM,or more realistically,GRSSJJJNNN.

razta · Post by **razta** » 21 Mar 2012, 14:24

Hi all.. Bernd doesn't want a safety car Start to the race.. he said that to me this morning.. I guess it's cos he doesn't get any points :lol:

johnston21 · Post by **johnston21** » 21 Mar 2012, 15:07

I wonder if Ferrari has asked Rubins to re-consider going to CART (or whatever it's now called). :mrgreen:

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 21 Mar 2012, 15:22

mario wrote:
Warren Hughes wrote:Personally I'd rather wait an extra week for Malaysia and not have such a long gap until China, maybe that's just me. On the subject of the weather forecast, brace yourselves for the barrage of complaints on Sunday evening about how 'the expected rain never turned up' ... just like the last 2 years

Alonso has already said that he is putting no real faith in the weather predictions since the weather can change so rapidly:
"There is no other place in the world, the Formula 1 world that is, where it can go from sunshine to torrential rain in the space of a few minutes," he said. "Not even at Spa is the variability so acute. Those on the pitwall will have to keep their eyes peeled and look at the radar carefully to be ready for any possible change in the weather.
"At the moment, the forecast is for a high chance of rain, both for qualifying and the race, but honestly, I don't have much faith in the forecast. The important thing is to react promptly and grab every opportunity. The only thing you can be absolutely certain of is that it will be hot, very hot."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98224
To be honest, whilst wet weather might liven things up (provided the track isn't flooded - it's one thing when the weather is bad, and another when even Bernd Mylander was complaining of aquaplaning and struggling to drive the safety car), a dry race would be a stronger indicator of the relative performance of the teams (six times out of 10 in the past decade, the winner of this race has gone on to win the title).?

To be honest, weather forecast in F1 often turns out to be as reliable as politicians' promises.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 21 Mar 2012, 16:03

Phoenix wrote:
To be honest, weather forecast in F1 often turns out to be as reliable as politicians' promises.

I cannot agree with that. One thing you can say about politicians promises is that they are reliably broken all the time... :lol:

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 21 Mar 2012, 16:05

mario wrote:To be honest, whilst wet weather might liven things up (provided the track isn't flooded - it's one thing when the weather is bad, and another when even Bernd Mylander was complaining of aquaplaning and struggling to drive the safety car), a dry race would be a stronger indicator of the relative performance of the teams (six times out of 10 in the past decade, the winner of this race has gone on to win the title).

Of course, that means four out of ten times, they didn't!

Personally, I'd rather have an unpredictable wet/dry race than an indicator - it's a more fun thing to watch, and lack of indicator keeps the suspense going. If the races where the eventual champion is more likely to win are thrown into disarray, that makes the championship battle more interesting by definition.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 21 Mar 2012, 16:06

DanielPT wrote:
Phoenix wrote:
To be honest, weather forecast in F1 often turns out to be as reliable as politicians' promises.

I cannot agree with that. One thing you can say about politicians promises is that they are reliably broken all the time...

I knew I should've stuck to F1 related similes. There's no possible ambiguity about that here :lol:

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 21 Mar 2012, 16:46

Phoenix wrote:To be honest, weather forecast in F1 often turns out to be as reliable as politicians' promises.

First rule of F1 weather: If there is a threat of rain, whatever Ferrari is doing will be wrong.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 21 Mar 2012, 17:03

LionZoo wrote:
Phoenix wrote:To be honest, weather forecast in F1 often turns out to be as reliable as politicians' promises.

First rule of F1 weather: If there is a threat of rain, whatever Ferrari is doing will be wrong.

Second rule of F1 weather: if Felipe Massa is driving, stay away from him.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 21 Mar 2012, 17:07

Phoenix wrote:
LionZoo wrote:
Phoenix wrote:To be honest, weather forecast in F1 often turns out to be as reliable as politicians' promises.

First rule of F1 weather: If there is a threat of rain, whatever Ferrari is doing will be wrong.

Second rule of F1 weather: if Felipe Massa is driving, stay away from him.

Third rule of F1 weather: Follow Button closely. Whatever he decides is probably the right strategy.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 21 Mar 2012, 17:10

DanielPT wrote:
Phoenix wrote:
LionZoo wrote:
First rule of F1 weather: If there is a threat of rain, whatever Ferrari is doing will be wrong.

Second rule of F1 weather: if Felipe Massa is driving, stay away from him.

Third rule of F1 weather: Follow Button closely. Whatever he decides is probably the right strategy.

Fourth rule of F1 weather: we need Adrian Sutil back.

Pedestrian · Post by **Pedestrian** » 21 Mar 2012, 17:29

I for one hope there is no rain because rain these days means the race is stopped. Sepang is a good-ish circuit and should have the potential to produce a good race.
As for the threat of a dry race being an indicator of the WDC: It won't "spoil" anything since we allready "know" :roll:

who the WDC will be from Melbourne, as the correlation is even stronger there.

Sunshine_Baby_[IT] · Post by **Sunshine_Baby_[IT]** » 21 Mar 2012, 17:43

Phoenix wrote:Second rule of F1 weather: if Felipe Massa is driving, stay away from him.

For Hamilton this rule has no correlation with weather. :mrgreen:

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 21 Mar 2012, 18:09

5th rule of weather, if all else fails, go for cola and ice cream.

IdeFan · Post by **IdeFan** » 21 Mar 2012, 18:34

I remember hearing that it pretty much rains every day in Sepang during late afternoon (at least it does this time of year). There is always a chance of it being earlier which is why the forecast always lists a chance of rain, but usually not.

The 2009 event is notable in that they pushed the start back to better accommodate the European audience (like they did with Melbourne) but that of course pushed it right back into the "rain window", they were somewhat unlucky for it to rain as heavily as it did but still decided to move it back to the usual early afternoon start from then on.

So yeah, the forecast will almost always give a chance of rain in Sepang, especially the long ranged forecast, I hope it rains but we shouldn't go banking on it

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 21 Mar 2012, 19:08

Phoenix wrote:Second rule of F1 weather: if Felipe Massa is driving, stay away from him.

For as Felipe-baby needs to stay cool.

F1 Adam · Post by **F1 Adam** » 21 Mar 2012, 19:21

Fun fact I read on Pitpass earlier - there has been no official safety car period at the Malaysian GP for 10 years. In 2009 it came out on lap 32, but race was red flagged on lap 33 so results went back two laps, so in theory it never existed.

I found that very interesting (shows how exciting I am as a person...) Only India has had less safety cars in the last decade, but after 1 race that's not too impressive.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 21 Mar 2012, 23:37

Phoenix wrote:Fourth rule of F1 weather: we need Marcus Winklehock back.

Fix'd.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 22 Mar 2012, 13:51

dr-baker wrote:
Phoenix wrote:Fourth rule of F1 weather: we need Marcus Winklehock back.

Fix'd.

This. So much.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 22 Mar 2012, 16:51

That would mean Colin Kolles' would be back as well, and I'm not sure that we want that.

Post by **Londoner** » 22 Mar 2012, 21:10

The DRS zone remains unchanged from last year's race.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98232

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 23 Mar 2012, 01:19

6th rule of F1 weather: Felipe Massa took the most points of anyone in wet races when you combine the 07 and 08 season!

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 23 Mar 2012, 04:54

FP1 107% time: 1:44.882
23. Narain Karthikeyan: 1m45.360
24. Pedro de la Rosa: 1m45.528

Post by **mario** » 23 Mar 2012, 09:02

Wizzie wrote:FP1 107% time: 1:44.882
23. Narain Karthikeyan: 1m45.360
24. Pedro de la Rosa: 1m45.528

They're pretty comfortably within 107% in FP2 though (both drivers were in the mid to low 1m43's). OK, Hamilton's FP2 time was set on the medium tyre, but given that is the most likely tyre that he'll use in qualifying, and that right now he is setting the benchmark times, things are probably looking fairly good for HRT to qualify.

[EDIT] On another note, I've seen a few reports that indicate that Red Bull might still have a few issues with their exhaust design - in FP1 it seems that Vettel reverted back to the previous iteration of exhausts that Red Bull were using in testing, whereas Webber was using the exhaust design that the team brought in for Melbourne. Now, I know that back to back testing is not unheard of, but perhaps the exhaust design that Red Bull were using in Melbourne isn't giving the team the sort of results that they were hoping for? Either way, Vettel is still not entirely settled within the car, and although his pace in race trim might look more competitive, if he has a few other cars in front of him (there does seem to be some consensus that Mercedes should perform more strongly here) he might not be quite as lucky as he was in Melbourne and slip behind both McLaren's.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 23 Mar 2012, 09:11

dr-baker wrote:
Phoenix wrote:Fourth rule of F1 weather: we need Marcus Winkelhock back.

Fix'd.

Fixed, for real.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 23 Mar 2012, 09:47

As a BBC viewer I believe I am now allowed to discuss the Australian GP.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 23 Mar 2012, 11:27

Shizuka wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
Phoenix wrote:Fourth rule of F1 weather: we need Marcus Winkelhock back.

Fix'd.

Fixed, for real.

For sure...

Post by **mario** » 23 Mar 2012, 14:28

Looks like Kimi will be slightly on the back foot this weekend - as a result of blocking his radiators during the Australian GP with grass and other debris after running off the road, his gearbox started overheating and some of the internals were showing signs of damage.
The team have now announced that they will change his gearbox ahead of the third practise sessions rather than risk premature failure of the current unit, although it means that Kimi will now have to take a five place grid drop on Saturday. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98302

Post by **Londoner** » 23 Mar 2012, 16:07

Apparently, Vettel has been a naughty boy and been caught speeding in the pitlane, copping a 400 Euro fine in the process :roll:

https://twitter.com/#!/f1fanatic_co_uk/status/183129500652019712

S951 · Post by **S951** » 23 Mar 2012, 20:16

to the uk members what time is quali on (sky) can't remember if this is a an early start jobbie or not

seleucid23 · Post by **seleucid23** » 23 Mar 2012, 21:10

8am start in the UK

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 23 Mar 2012, 23:08

FP3 on 5 Live Sports Extra at 4:55 am.
Qualy, 5LSX, 7:55 am

Race, BBC R5L 8:30 am

Clocks jump forward one hour this weekend in Western Europe/European Union.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 23 Mar 2012, 23:23

That's the alarm set, then!

Bring on the RTL/radio experience...