Can anyone match the MGPW06? Will it rain? Will it pour? Will it even be able to run? Can Vettel take the fight to the next level, will Kimi be able to better him? Can anyone muster some excitement for the Malaysian GP? Will Alonso race? Bottas? Manor? At least there's no penis noses! please log in to view this image History: Pole 2014 / 2013 : Ham (1:59.431 - wet) / Vet (1:49.674 - inter) Winner 2014 / 2013 Ham (1hr40m26s) / Vet (1hr38m57s) please log in to view this image Better luck this time? please log in to view this image Last time out... 1 point: DHCanary, Pie!, TomTom94, Paco Montoya, di Fredsta!, Eat Sleep Watch F1 Repeat, exfat, ErnieBecclestone, SgtBhaji, Max Whiplash, dhel, happyal, jonnybaws, Dell Boy, ched999uk, BojackHCAFCman, StGeordie
Hamilton is just in a different league, what a start to the season. If we are counting on it raining, maybe he won't be so strong... But I am playing it safe with this one. It is also worth noting Nico is very strong round here. Other than that, lets say Kimi for the podium. Looked strong all weekend in Oz. Lotus for some points if luck is on their side this time and Sauber to be pushed back along with the Torro Rosso's. Massa + a rookie (or maybe Maldonado) to crash out. Mclarens will finish next year and Force india 6 months earlier. Redbull to have a strop.
Hamilton for me too, with Rosberg not very far behind, hoping for a repeat of Bahrain 2014, certainly don't want a repeat of the first race of the season... I've predicted a bit of a Noah's Ark finish, 2 by 2, reliability permitting, see Merc's coming 1-2, Ferrari 3-4 and Williams 5-6, 3 strongest cars right now.. Ferrari showed in Australia that their pre-season form wasn't a fluke.. They should good race pace, good down the straights and seem to have a less hungry engine, in one of the graphics, towards the end of the race in Australia, they showed that Williams of Massa and Vettel's Ferrari had the same amount of fuel usage.. After that, if the Lotuses finish, they could (should) be in the top 10, maybe Torro Rosso's and Saubers to be competing with Lotus for the odd point... Agree, FI to be just behind Red Bull (be very surprised if they've found 100BHP in a fortnight, this is a power circuit and they don't have it! Poor old McLaren, can see them being lapped at least once, again! Hopefully Manor will make it out of the Garages this time...
I want a dry qualifying and a wet race. Or mixed conditions in both. I see Red Bull struggling big time here, their power unit is a joke right now and Renault haven't had a lot of time to make big steps forward.
McLaren will suffer even more than at Melbourne as the track has lots of low speed corners and long straights, so their lack of hybrid power and general engine power is going to be really bad. 107% may even be an issue I think if Mercedes decide to be evil and bolt on the quick tyres in Q1 to get McLaren out (would they do that?). Hamilton for the win otherwise. Will let Rosberg have FP1, 2 and 3, then knee him in the nuts for qualifying again. Psychologically that will hurt Rosberg more if he thought he was doing well only for Hamilton to beat him again. Red Bull to complain that Renault is still rubbish, Pirelli are rubbish, the world is rubbish etc etc
I dont know if anybody else feels this way. But I think its going to be very painful to watch Alonso getting lapped more than once in that McLaren. That will be a very heart-breaking sight indeed. Although he is not one of my favourites – not because of his driving as he is one of the best, but because of his insistence on being No.1 in his team – I still think he deserves much better from McLaren. But I guess he made his choice and it's still too early to tell if it was a big boo boo. I think it will hurt to see him being overtaken by a Maurissa. I know Alonso will be fuming under that helmet.
I'm going to be the forum optimist and predict that McLaren will be much improved. They're still going to be lapped (safety car willing) but I think they may sneak a point or two. Step by step they are slowly getting there.
I would really love them to find something and at least fight in the middle. But they have a big reputation so maybe they will come good quickly I hope. I wouldnt mind seeing Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Vettel, Kimi, Ricciardo and Grosjean battling it out at the front right up to the flag.
I honestly think McLaren are going to surprise a few people and not be anywhere near as slow as they were in Australia. They've had 2 weeks with a full set of race data to sift through and work on the dyno's in Japan at getting their systems running to at least some degree, so if they haven't found anything at all on the engine/hybrid software side, then that's a massive concern. Obviously they'll still be nearer the back than the front, but i reckon they'll be more like 3 seconds off pole than 5. 2 seconds gain might sound like a lot, and it would be impossible for a fully developed car, but people really need to remember the reason the McLarens were THAT slow were due to systems effectively being turned off and a lot of performance is there by simply (learning how to) turning them on again. We're comparing a car with nothing really switched on versus a fully developed car other people with developed cars can't get near over one lap either. This is the first race we see just how much trouble McLaren could be in this year IMO.
I'm expecting another love letter from the BBC to Hamilton, as he gets pole, leads every lap and eases to victory again. I'll record this one so I can fast forward most of it I hope F1 this season is better than the first race.
I was stupid to think Rosberg had a chance last time. This time Ham all the way. Might even watch this race as its on the bbc
Rosberg to get pole, but Hamilton will win because it will rain and Rosberg sucks in the wet! So because of that I'm hoping for a dry race.
Well the race weekend hasn't started but Renault are already trolling Red Bull Renault admits a Formula 1 race-winning engine won't happen in 2015
You beat me to it.. Just saw that.. Little Red Horner will be sitting in the Corner even more pissed off now! Someone take the laces out of his shoes and take his belt off him...
