I didn't sleep so could watch it live at 7am. Dozed off during the dreary commentary They should interject random shouting clowns in oddly timed races to keep people awake!
Alonso to Italian media: "We are front row material, and perhaps we have never been so close to the pole position. In my lap there were some imperfections, otherwise I would have done better. If we put together a clean lap in all three areas we will do a great qualifying" YEAHH!!!!!
Looks like the pecking order has not changed one bit from Australia, apart from Mercedes being a little further back. McLaren exactly where they were and will probably need some rain to get more than a couple of points.
Not sure it will change too much until the fly away races are over.. even though there's a 3 week gap between Malaysia and China, I don't expect the best of the rest (Mercedes and McLaren) to have caught up by then..
Best sector times combined: Lotus - 1:36.569 Red Bull - 1:36.583 Ferrari - 1:36.646 Lotus are the best in the first sector, Red Bull in the second and Ferrari in the third. Should be a good qualifying
I think Lotus are the team to beat. Red Bull again seem to be suffering from high tyre wear as did Mercedes in FP1, FP2 was better for them. Ferrari look quicker in low fuel runs and we know how quick they are in race conditions however if it rains in quali and in the race then it's up in the air again! Dry quali I think could be this: Vettel Raikkonen Webber Dry race: Alonso Raikkonen Hamilton (Optimistic) Wet Quali: Alonso Hamilton Rosberg Wet Race: Alonso Hamilton Rosberg A wild guess but thought I'd post them anyway
Yeah, I agree with this but I think that ,come race day, the rain will put the cat among the pigeons.
While listening to FP1, the commentary team had an interesting stat. Apparently during the entire Australian GP, Raikkonen only spun up the rear tyres on two occasions, so kept the wear to the absolute minimum. That's impressive driving to be quick and that gentle on the tyres.
More F1 Porn.... Phooar, look at those turning veins on that Sauber! http://somersf1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/malaysia-sepang-image-gallery-friday-fp1.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/22/tyres-malaysian-grand-prix?CMP=twt_gu Tyre strategy for the race.. If its a dry race, I would be very surprised if anyone even thinks about 2 stopping, looks like most will opt for a 3 stop and some, depending on how they burn up their tyres may even be forced to do 4. Wouldn't be surprised if most teams (the quick ones), opt to make it into Q2 by using 1 set of Hards in Q1 Once in Q2, use the options to get into Q3, depending on how many new sets they have left, use the Options again in Q3. Would leave them with 2 NEW sets of prime tyres, so could see them do the following tyre wise.. Medium > Hard > Hard > Hard Or if its rubbered in enough and the final stop is late enough.. Medium > Hard > Hard > Medium
http://intelligentf1.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/malaysian-grand-prix-friday-practice-2/ This guy was pretty spot on with his predictions for the last race with data from FP1 and FP2. Appears to be that Mercedes were optimizing race pace so it will be interesting to see if they simulate quali in FP3, where they could start. Red Bull may well be in the lead at the start but tyre deg seems to be same or worse than australia so I don't expect them to even be on the podium at the end. I think Raikkonen is still in the hot seat to win after showing even better single lap pace, meaning he could qualify even better and then the better tyre deg should see him walk it. I'm regretting having chosen Alonso to win. I can't see that happening unless rain intervenes AND he has some form of luck. I'm just hoping Mercedes can go forward during the race rather than backward which is circumstantial. If Sutil and Hulkenberg manage to keep on going longer they could compromise Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull strategies much like Sutil did in Australia.
