The Official 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Thread ***Spoilers with monsoon showers***

Sepang International Circuit
First Grand Prix: 1999
Number of laps: 56
Circuit length: 5.543 km
Race distance: 310.408 km
Lap record: 1:34.223 (2004) Juan Pablo Montoya

[youtu.be]

Past winners

2014 - Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2013 - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing
2012 - Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
2011 - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing
2010 - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing
2009 - Jenson Button, Brawn GP
2008 - Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
2007 - Fernando Alonso, McLaren
2006 - Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault
2005 - Fernando Alonso, Renault
2004 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2003 - Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren
2002 - Ralf Schumacher, Williams
2001 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2000 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
1999 - Eddie Irvine, Ferrari





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2015 03:21PM by J i m.

Lets hope that the most entertaining thing this weekend is not Red Bull and Renault bitching.

I just hope that Alonso does return this weekend, because I think that would be the one thing I'd most look forward to seeing - just what level can he take that dog of a McLaren to? And how does Button compare to him?

Apart from that...
Can Sauber again pull a good result? They seemed very fast down the straights - and there's plenty of those here in Malaysia.
Will Manor be able to bring the cars home? Maybe they can even beat McLaren?
Not to forget the Williams-Ferrari battle. I honestly don't know who is quicker at the minute.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2015 06:51PM by flat tyre.

A bit soon to be bigging up Alonso. He's lost a heck of a lot of time to Button and been away from the cockpit for a while. Frankly, given the number of issues they're likely to suffer from in the heat of Malaysia, it makes any comparison pointless. I'll start looking when the European season gets under way. It would certainly be good to see him back in the car though.

Bottas and Alonso have been cleared to compete, Manor have been warned that another weekend of no running will not be tolerated this time and Sutil has been nominated as the reserve driver for Williams.

I certainly didn't see the Sutil news coming.

A bit embarrassing for Susie Wolff, but I think it was clear to most she was never going to be good enough to stand in when required and there's a reasonable chance Bottas' injury could flare up again at some point.

I think Sutil is probably a strong choice, considering they would want someone with experience with the current regulations. Vergne and Gutierrez got snapped up by Ferrari and Kobayashi probably wasn't interested in a reserve position.

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X (@ed24f1)

I think if Williams had still been in the mid-pack wilderness Wolff might have been given a chance, but with them scrapping it out at the sharp-end it was always unlikely.

I would love to know how much slower she'd be though. She's been pretty rubbish in other series in terms of results, but she wasn't hilariously bad at Hockenheim last year and I thought 2 tenths behind Massa was enough to warrant another chance, no matter how much fuel she was peddling.

The Sutil deal works out for both though. He gets to stay within the F1 circle and Williams get an experienced and relatively strong driver as a backup and for working in the sim, presumably for free or close to free. The cynic in me is questioning whether he's also been brought in to put pressure on Massa for next year, or to be a known benchmark with a view to evaluating their drivers for 2016 if Bottas moves on.

Well, anyone knows if Manor can finally make their practice début?

They say that they can.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

As far as I know, Manor have fired up the engine at least once, so if that was the only problem they had then they should be good to go.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

Button on Thursday: "We ll be last"

Button on Friday (after seeing Alonso in action): "We may actually be fighting the midfield"

That is "The ALONSO effect". I cannot help a feeling that he would have been doing just as much better than kimi in that ferrari as he did last year. Such a waste of talent for poor old Alonso. I remember watching him win the 2006 championship and I was already scared that in no time he will wipe out Schumacher's records. Who would have thought 10 years later Alonso would still have not title? And arguably he still is the best driver on the grid.

Lol, taken his six tenths back to McLaren eh?

So Ferrari were looking pretty good today, getting close enough to Mercedes pace to shout BOO! But I think Merc will have plenty in reserve. Williams appeared to be having some pretty serious tyre deg problems today, so I suspect Ferrari's edge over them will be comfortable but I think Williams can recover some of that overnight.

Red Bull and Renault's retrograde settings might put them back into range of Williams.

Honda tuned it up a tad but not by much.

Manor's alive! Alivvvvvvvvveeeeee! Very very slow, but mercifully within range of 107% It's a start.

No car looked that great today, Merc and kimi did seem to be able to get the power on where others were just struggling.

Also can really see where Vettel is having problems, his throttle control is not that good so that could be way these engine do not suit him.

Nico R did not look good and Lewis with only a few laps was able to beat his time with no problem. This was a track Nico did not look good on last year either so really does need to find something.

As for the win I think Lewis if the car lasts or kimi.

The tyres were pulp in 10 laps. I'm not complaining - it's much better for us fans than the Bridgestone years in that regard - but it looks mighty difficult to carry any momentum through the long corners, to the point where you wonder if 5 stops would be better than 2. I know they wouldn't, but that's what the cars looked like - like the Ferrari's at Jerez in 1997. Perhaps it was just the reminder that we have Tilke tracks and that they all make the cars look like scalextric cars, even the good ones.

Strong day (well, relatively) for McLaren. I thought they'd be crucified here with the decently long straights and the heat, but if anything they look closer to the front. The ultimate pace will move forward a lot (just look at the ultimate sectors), but it was still a productive day for McLaren, and perhaps the first proper sign from Honda that they're gaining momentum and beginning to understand what they've got beneath them. Now watch them blow up on the out laps again.

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J i m
Manor's alive! Alivvvvvvvvveeeeee! Very very slow, but mercifully within range of 107% It's a start.

That they're alive at all is a minor miracle. If they get to within 107% with last year's car and engine they should introduce a new trophy in their honour - the Colonic Ecclestone Award perhaps? An erect finger in Mallya's direction with Turd de Force?

So Manor dead last in practices...I'll hope that they make it to the 107% time.

This, folks, is why we need to let Pirelli develop their wet-weather compounds...

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

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smoglessbutton4
This, folks, is why we need to let Pirelli develop their wet-weather compounds...

It wouldn't make a difference. Better wet weather tyres means more water clearance, which means more spray, so they won't race with so much spray anyway. The amount of spray at the start of Q3 in the wet/inter transition was quite intense anyway.

What a facepalm-moment for Ron Dennis. He has Alonso...ALONSO!!! in his team and cant get out of Q3.... Q3!!!!

What is worse is that the problems seems to be related to the chassis too. The BBC pundits pointed out how the Macca was not driving the bumps but jumping over them. Additionally, button said he struggles to get temperature into the tyres.

If there is something positive that is that the cars can last longer, but stil....

I think we have to hold fire before we judge McLaren Honda too much, at least until they get the power train working as intended. I know there are mixed views on the quality of the car, but Button ranked something like 4th of the cornering forces at Melbourne which might suggest that actually the chassis is pretty promising, certainly the way he just sweeped back around Perez was impressive. Give it time. Oh and one nil to Button... although Alonso had been comfortably quicker so far all weekend.

Good stuff by Vettel and Verstappen. Bad timing for Kimi, did anyone spot if he headed for the ice cream chiller or not?

Disappointing that Williams still haven't got a decent setup for wet conditions.