Has it ever been harder to pick a running order between teams? This time yesterday I felt McLaren were in the pound seats for the rest of the season. The car looked as quick as the Red Bull and they had bags of momentum with the development they've brought to the first two races. Now I'm not sure. Vettel is the form driver right now. No disputing that, he's started this season in the rampant fashion he ended the last. However, the car leaves Malaysia looking less dominant than when it arrived. There was an air of invincibility after Australia, but they look beatable now. Worth noting that both him and Button managed their tyres brilliantly today. Button looks as if he's going to be a contender. He went the wrong way on quali set up but got faster and faster in each stint as he added front downforce. If he'd started the weekend with the setup he finished it with I think it would've been very tight between him and Vettel, both in qualifying and the race. Hamilton has started the season well. But why was he so slow on the prime tyres? He didn't seem able to preserve the tyres whilst maintaining a competitive pace. His succes will depend on whether this is a one off which can be rectified by a simple set up change, or whether his driving style doesn't suit the tyres, or wears them out too fast. Webber looked good today. At first I thought it was going to be one of those typical Webber races where he digs himself into a hole. But in fact the loss of KERS left him defenceless at the start. He drove a brilliant recovery on a different strategy to pull himself back into contention though. His battle with Kobayashi was thrilling. Alonso. Seemed to be outperforming his car when he was all over the back of Hamilton, I didn't feel it would be possible for him to get a podium on merit but the pace was there in the race. An error obviously undid all his hard work, but the Ferrari looks handy in race trim. Perhaps the Ferrari is inherently light on its tyres (something they have a reputation for but didn't show in Melbourne) allowing him to push harder in the race. The Renaults. They seem to have a car capable of mixing it with the frontrunners. I don't think either driver will challenge for the title though, which again leaves me lamenting the loss of Kubica because I think he could've been a contender. All in all I think Vettel is favourite, but he won't have it all his own way. I think both McLarens and Alonso are in the hunt. And with Webber and the Renaults all capable of taking large amounts of points away, and the unpredictable element brought by the Pirellis championship momentum could swing very quickly. I still think we're in for a thriller.
Agreed. Looks like being fascinating! Red Bull are definitely going to be nervously looking at Mclaren now, and Mclaren are just going to gain confidence. Button I think is beginning to show a bit more the class act he is, I felt that at times he almost seemed second to Hamilton last year (rather than one the same pace), but not so far this season. Renault and Ferrari could be in close competition for a lot of this season, Massa seems to be solid, but he's not going to challenge for the championship, and I don't feel Alonso will this year. He's normally such a consistent, quick driver, and he's made uncharacteristic mistakes so far. In the midfield its hard to tell, Mercedes I feel should be stronger, and Sauber are really shining, Williams aren't showing their pace because too many things keep going wrong, and Force India's drivers seem capable of overcoming the shortfalls in their car, I don't think the cars pure pace should be faster than Toro Rosso, but they finished that way around today. At the back, Lotus are clear of Virgin who have a gap to HRT. I'd like to see Lotus really challenge for Q2 in China, but realistically the back 3 aren't going to make much progress this year I feel, despite their promises.
Red Bull are probably a cut above everyone else at the moment, and when we get to the aero tracks like Barcelona and Silverstone, Red Bull should easily dominate. Vettel is feeling confident (that's 4 wins in a row?), and Webber is still a strong teammate, but doesn't look at ease in the car like Vettel does. This time they didn't look that superior in qualifying or the race. Perhaps Newey can be caught this year. Ferrari are bringing significant updates to China, and even bigger updates to Turkey. They are also working on a flexi wing, which should give them a lot more speed and make the car much more driveable. Recent comments suggested they could have the flexi wing as early as China, but we'll have to wait and see. The good thing for them is that the car looked easier to drive then what we saw at Melbourne, but still understeering and lacking downforce. The race pace today was also impressive and the Felipe Massa we saw today drove like a Ferrari driver. Well done to him!
Don't put your shirt on it. I got 30-1 on Mcllroy before the start - and look what happened to him !!
Vettel is looking good, but lets see what happens when he ends up in traffic. Looks at last year, on only 2 occasions did he ever finish higher than he started, and on both of those occasions it was only by one place. In fact on several occasions he started P1 and went backwards. Once off the front row of the grid he tends to slip back and McLaren are getting closers and closer to knocking him off pole.
Yea. Button is worth an each way bet, he seemed very confident concerning his tyre management, which is something Lewis is a tad concerned about.
I think KERs will screw up RB chances if they dont get it sorted soon. I dont understand why Renault have it sorted and the RB don't, packaging probably.
If Vettel wins in China, which would be a miracle with those Mercedes engines killing him in the straights. Will really leave him in a good place to control the next 3 grand prixs even if KERS is sorted out or not.
I'm not massively opposed to Vettel winning the WDC again, I just don't want anyone to run away with it (except Hamilton/Button/di Resta ).
6-7 grand prixs wins are the magic numbers for vettel considering, Red Bull and McLaren are really the only 2 teams in the fight atm with Renault and Ferrari taking the rear.
Hamiltons problem was because he flat spotted his option tyres in qualifying and had no options to use during the middle stint. So he was forced to use a set of used Primes and constantly having to defend from Mark and Alonso. This is why his pace was so slow. Jenson drove beautifully but he pitted a few laps later and was on brand new fresh primes and no pressure from anyone. The only title contenders I can honestly see is Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso because Webber, Button and Massa just cannot get the best of their team mates over the course of the season, just look at last year. Roll on China where it will be another very close race.
I think Button has a creditable chance of winning. He doesnt have the qualifying pace of Hamilton but He is just as good on race pace plus his tyre management is better. Lewis needs to adjust to the tyres, He has a habit of flat spotting them which is ruining his races.
I'm not sure about that with Jenson , he looked pritty solid on those hards compared to Lewis and that's one of the things McLaren cant just sort out in the aero tunnel overnight. I reckon he is within a shout this year.
Bando, I'm with you, Button is highly capable and appears to hold the edge on the tyre management issue, I might even put a couple of quid on it.
I think Button is looking very capable this season. He went the wrong way on setup in qualifying and that cost him. He had the pace and he had the race craft. 7/1 to win in China. I'm very tempted.
yer it does look tempting for china, nearly did it for Monza before the practice sessions last year, was 12/1 at the time. Was so happy Alonso beat him to it though lol, because I would of been gutted. You could also put ã10 on Lewis 4/1, waste ã20 but if either one wins you get ã20 back minimum, or ã50 from Jenson.
I have just put my winnings from the Grand National of ã4.25 on Button winning the Chinese GP which should net me a staggering ã9.56 paddypower.com
