The Official 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Thread ***Spoilers**

[The Vambo]

Derek Smith said:

It is good to see the Merc's advantage is not quite so significant this season.

I'm not so sure, I suspect the Merc fun and games during quali gives a false impression of how close Ferrari are.

I think Hamilton could have dropped the best part of a second if he ignored Rosberg.

[hairyben]

Derek Smith said:

The lap that LH was on when he was blocked was 1/10th up in the first sector. No wonder NR wanted to stop him.

It is good to see the Merc's advantage is not quite so significant this season.

NR really needs to sort himself out. He's already upset the team, and blocking the champion and team leader on his fastest lap is not the way to endear your self to them.

Wolff has a problem. It will be fun watching how he gets over it.

I'm trying really hard to understand WTF maxipad was playing at; a deliberate block just seem so pointless- I'm going with the theory he wanted to follow lewis to learn from him and was flustered and just bksed it up.

samvia said:

Meanwhile, you have a 17 year old rookie confidently talking about his choice of lines on Sky who stuck a Toro Rosso in 6th.

yeah that struck me too. That kids going places. There's a few drivers that need to be looking over their shoulders...

[London424]

Derek Smith said:

The lap that LH was on when he was blocked was 1/10th up in the first sector. No wonder NR wanted to stop him.

It is good to see the Merc's advantage is not quite so significant this season.

NR really needs to sort himself out. He's already upset the team, and blocking the champion and team leader on his fastest lap is not the way to endear your self to them.

Wolff has a problem. It will be fun watching how he gets over it.

Let's not kid ourselves here. It's a wet quali, doesn't really show anything performance wise. There's a 17 yr old in a Toro in 6th.

It might make for a fun couple of laps though tomorrow while the Merc has to get past.

[Mr_Thyroid]

hairyben said:

maybe needs it's own thread- but is the ban on driver coaching ruinous for rosberg?

Could easily use codes e.g.

NR: "Should I use the dry line?"

Engineer: "Nico, I can't tell you that" = Yes
or
Engineer: "I can't tell you that, Nico" = No

[coetzeeh]

Derek Smith said:

PeXy said:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118240

Interesting.

I don't see it.

Historically, Ferrari have run e bewilderingly fast times early on and then, when it comes to qually, let alone the race, they lose half a second. They run light. Comparing times with LH when the latter only put in 6 laps is P2 and none in P1 is disingenuous - although fun. They'll give away 6/10ths in quali.

cough

[em177]

coetzeeh said:

Derek Smith said:

PeXy said:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118240

Interesting.

I don't see it.

Historically, Ferrari have run e bewilderingly fast times early on and then, when it comes to qually, let alone the race, they lose half a second. They run light. Comparing times with LH when the latter only put in 6 laps is P2 and none in P1 is disingenuous - although fun. They'll give away 6/10ths in quali.

cough

To be fair it was raining.

[leglessAlex]

hairyben said:

maybe needs it's own thread- but is the ban on driver coaching ruinous for rosberg?

I doubt it's needed to be honest. No matter how much coaching Nico has it wouldn't give him the raw speed of Lewis.

Were some people earlier in the thread saying Nico isn't beaten yet? I can't see it myself, Lewis won't be bothered about these games as by the looks of it he knows he's the faster one and he probably has the confidence that even if he is behind Nico on track he can pass him. Not to mention the fact that I just don't think Nico is as good as say, Schumacher or Alonso when it comes to playing games both on and off track.

[gamefreaks]

You've got to feel sorry for McLaren! Their plan was a stroke of genius!

1) Don't bother painting car at all.
2) Install PRV V6, complete with ancilaries.
3) Punch 1998 into the secret menu...




....



....



....


4) Then discover it won't be until Monza that there is a straight long enough to hit 88mph!!!

[IainT]

The Vambo said:

Derek Smith said:

It is good to see the Merc's advantage is not quite so significant this season.

I'm not so sure, I suspect the Merc fun and games during quali gives a false impression of how close Ferrari are.

I think Hamilton could have dropped the best part of a second if he ignored Rosberg.

Given Leiws' baulked lap was on the fresh tyres and he couldn't improve on them the lap later after the edge had gone he may well have been a little quicker - maybe 3-4 10ths than he'd already managed, maybe a little more.

[RichB]

ash73 said:

Nico started it but Lewis slowed down on his second lap too; Seb unlucky not to nick pole while they were playing silly buggers.

You seem to be the only one on here who sees Hamilton as playing any part on that nonsense from Rosberg. Anyway, I'm pleased Vettel shows signs of taking points of Rosberg because I for one would be delighted to see one of the top current drivers in F1 get a 3rd WDC.

[Matt_N]

Dr Z said:

Nice to see the mouthbreathers out in force here. You all love it really...it's called entertainment.

I'm loving the gamesmanship shown by Rosberg. It is sad as it tells you how low on confidence he is..

Nice quali, as Vettel has managed to split the Mercs, if he can get a good start and hold the Mercs back during the first stint, it will be very very exciting indeed. OTOH, if Hamilton manages to scamper off with Rosberg held off by Vettel, then he will really rue the decisions he made today.

Shocker for Kimi though, I really hoped he'll get to the top ten shoot out, would've been even more exciting for the race. In any case, looking forward to tomorrow!

Ferrari haven't got a hope of holding back any of the Mercs for the first few laps let alone the first stint.

I know Ferrari are running a low downforce set up but with DRS they'll be vulnerable to the all the Mercedes engined cars.

Williams should make a few places up at the start down the straights too if it's dry.

[Dr Z]

Matt_N said:

Dr Z said:

Nice quali, as Vettel has managed to split the Mercs, if he can get a good start and hold the Mercs back during the first stint, it will be very very exciting indeed. OTOH, if Hamilton manages to scamper off with Rosberg held off by Vettel, then he will really rue the decisions he made today.

Shocker for Kimi though, I really hoped he'll get to the top ten shoot out, would've been even more exciting for the race. In any case, looking forward to tomorrow!

Ferrari haven't got a hope of holding back any of the Mercs for the first few laps let alone the first stint.

I know Ferrari are running a low downforce set up but with DRS they'll be vulnerable to the all the Mercedes engined cars.

Williams should make a few places up at the start down the straights too if it's dry.

Speed traps seems to tell a different story?

POS	DRIVER	KPH	TIME OF DAY
1	F. MASSA	326.8	17:08:15
2	P. MALDONADO	325.4	17:18:26
3	K. RAIKKONEN	325.4	17:28:30
4	V. BOTTAS	325.2	17:06:25
5	M. ERICSSON	324.1	17:06:36
6	R. GROSJEAN	323.3	17:19:01
7	S. VETTEL	322.6	17:07:24
8	S. PEREZ	322.0	17:17:30
9	N. HULKENBERG	321.9	17:05:27
10	F. NASR	321.3	17:10:23
11	N. ROSBERG	318.4	17:05:14
12	L. HAMILTON	318.3	17:28:31
13	D. KVYAT	318.2	17:05:51
14	D. RICCIARDO	315.8	17:14:10
15	M. VERSTAPPEN	315.6	17:28:32

I reckon those Ferraris are going to be very difficult to overtake indeed, particularly for the Mercs and the Ferraris are a bit better with their tyres too.

[998420]

samvia said:

Meanwhile, you have a 17 year old rookie confidently talking about his choice of lines on Sky who stuck a Toro Rosso in 6th.

Exactly, what a star Red Bull have bravely taken out of kindergarten, but been shown right. Second ever race, 6th in a STR, in the wet, an utterly epic achievement that we will reference for years I think, clearly a massive talent, Future World Champion material there.

RXED said:

Vettel did an amazing job in a slower car to beat one Mercedes! Even better if you believe the rubbish that he is overrated and can't drive without the blown diffuser

Pure class!

Yes, great for SV, great for F1, great for us fans, viewers. The only people who knocked him were jealous Alonso fans and overexcited Australians trying to big up the otherwise likeable Ricci. He has been behind the ever impressive Kayak most of the weekend and alonso qualified a karmic Last.

[Jasandjules]

I am just hoping there will be rain say 1/3rd into the race. If that happens I can see Vettel challenging for the second step comfortably.

[Matt_N]

Dr Z said:

Speed traps seems to tell a different story?

POS	DRIVER	KPH	TIME OF DAY
1	F. MASSA	326.8	17:08:15
2	P. MALDONADO	325.4	17:18:26
3	K. RAIKKONEN	325.4	17:28:30
4	V. BOTTAS	325.2	17:06:25
5	M. ERICSSON	324.1	17:06:36
6	R. GROSJEAN	323.3	17:19:01
7	S. VETTEL	322.6	17:07:24
8	S. PEREZ	322.0	17:17:30
9	N. HULKENBERG	321.9	17:05:27
10	F. NASR	321.3	17:10:23
11	N. ROSBERG	318.4	17:05:14
12	L. HAMILTON	318.3	17:28:31
13	D. KVYAT	318.2	17:05:51
14	D. RICCIARDO	315.8	17:14:10
15	M. VERSTAPPEN	315.6	17:28:32

I reckon those Ferraris are going to be very difficult to overtake indeed, particularly for the Mercs and the Ferraris are a bit better with their tyres too.

Interesting, thanks.

[theAmerican]

Matt_N said:

Lewis was on a hot lap with Rosberg and Bottas ahead of him on the circuit.

Rosberg visibly slowed down, pretty much baulked Lewis by making him move off the racing line to pass and then had the cheek to get on the radio asking what lines Lewis is using!

The radio message replays are delayed, so the timelines probably reversed. ie Rosberg asks the question of his engineer, gets no info and then decides to let Ham through so he could study his wet lines. Pretty shocking really

[London424]

Dr Z said:

Speed traps seems to tell a different story?

POS	DRIVER	KPH	TIME OF DAY
1	F. MASSA	326.8	17:08:15
2	P. MALDONADO	325.4	17:18:26
3	K. RAIKKONEN	325.4	17:28:30
4	V. BOTTAS	325.2	17:06:25
5	M. ERICSSON	324.1	17:06:36
6	R. GROSJEAN	323.3	17:19:01
7	S. VETTEL	322.6	17:07:24
8	S. PEREZ	322.0	17:17:30
9	N. HULKENBERG	321.9	17:05:27
10	F. NASR	321.3	17:10:23
11	N. ROSBERG	318.4	17:05:14
12	L. HAMILTON	318.3	17:28:31
13	D. KVYAT	318.2	17:05:51
14	D. RICCIARDO	315.8	17:14:10
15	M. VERSTAPPEN	315.6	17:28:32

I reckon those Ferraris are going to be very difficult to overtake indeed, particularly for the Mercs and the Ferraris are a bit better with their tyres too.

Don't forget that's everyone with DRS open, during the race the front car won't have it...is that 20-30 kph difference?

[Dr Z]

London424 said:

Dr Z said:

Speed traps seems to tell a different story?

POS	DRIVER	KPH	TIME OF DAY
1	F. MASSA	326.8	17:08:15
2	P. MALDONADO	325.4	17:18:26
3	K. RAIKKONEN	325.4	17:28:30
4	V. BOTTAS	325.2	17:06:25
5	M. ERICSSON	324.1	17:06:36
6	R. GROSJEAN	323.3	17:19:01
7	S. VETTEL	322.6	17:07:24
8	S. PEREZ	322.0	17:17:30
9	N. HULKENBERG	321.9	17:05:27
10	F. NASR	321.3	17:10:23
11	N. ROSBERG	318.4	17:05:14
12	L. HAMILTON	318.3	17:28:31
13	D. KVYAT	318.2	17:05:51
14	D. RICCIARDO	315.8	17:14:10
15	M. VERSTAPPEN	315.6	17:28:32

I reckon those Ferraris are going to be very difficult to overtake indeed, particularly for the Mercs and the Ferraris are a bit better with their tyres too.

Don't forget that's everyone with DRS open, during the race the front car won't have it...is that 20-30 kph difference?

Seem to remember it is about 10-15kph. During the dry part of the qualifying, the Mercs and Ferrais were pretty much neck and neck in Sectors 1 and 3, whilst the Ferrari drops 0.5s from the Mercs in Sector 2. Predicts a show of racing skills between the Ferrari and Merc drivers if the faster Mercs are behind the Ferraris. However, we have seen that Ferrari race pace is actually better than quali pace in Melbourne, so I would predict that Vettel should be able to hang on to the Mercs reasonably well in the race tomorrow even if the Mercs get ahead of him.

[WholeNewDude]

the most damning thing for me today was not that rosberg (might have) blocked hamilton, it was that he felt the need to get on the radio and ask for advice on... wait for it... what the racing line was. Not engine modes, diff settings, brake balance, braking points... but the racing line. the most fundamental aspect of driving a car around a track. the thing you have to get right before you work on where you accelerate, where you brake, everything else. it's quite frankly embarrassing.

[Mermaid]

WholeNewDude said:

the most damning thing for me today was not that rosberg (might have) blocked hamilton, it was that he felt the need to get on the radio and ask for advice on... wait for it... what the racing line was. Not engine modes, diff settings, brake balance, braking points... but the racing line. the most fundamental aspect of driving a car around a track. the thing you have to get right before you work on where you accelerate, where you brake, everything else. it's quite frankly embarrassing.

The knives are being polished