Props to Phil. Again I wonder if he was running development specs in last year's races. Odds on that it will rain at some point tomorrow. Without it some teams might be in tire trouble. Bernie and Pirelli may be playing a bit too "smart" with the tire specs. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just cannot give full credit to Massa for beating Alonso twice so far in qualifying, just as I cannot fully give credit to Vettel for yet another pole position. This qualy session just like the last was all about who crossed the line last with the best tires. Vettel went in for fresh inters and of course he was going to be quicker than everyone else, come on right? It was a gamble for Vettel and it worked. Rain laps during qualifying say nothing between top drivers on the field in top machinery. What really interested my was Nico laying down serious pace in Q2, no one was going to touch him in Q3 with his pace in every sector either. They really surprised me. Hamilton coming ahead of him in the rain again really bugs me as much as Massa beating Alonso does. So far Nico/Massa has been quicker than Hamilton/Alonso until some odd circumstance shows up, and we cannot deduce anything from odd circumstances such as a track drying or period rain varying in levels of wetness. It's quantum mechanics out there when that stuff happens folks.
FA gives credit. Malaysian GP: Alonso says Massa's form a boost for Ferrari - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
It's not really a B.S penalty. Having seen the footage, Rosberg came up to a left-right corner combination behind two cars fairly close together that were not on a fast lap. The first of these two cars got well out of the way of Rosberg but the second (Raikkonen), didn't bother to get out of the way causing Rosberg to have to lift off. If this incident had happened to Raikkonen, I'm pretty sure he would have been complaining about being blocked during a fast lap.
Vettel actually might be able to win this, he hasn't run any laps on his options Hard tires. Alo, Massa & Ham behind him have 4, 5 & 4 laps on theirs respectively
John It's why they race. All the scientific factors get thrown out when there are variables you can't control. Face facts; the fastest guy is on pole position. All this talk about diffusers, winglets etc doesn't mean much unless the driver can extract the utmost from a car regardless of conditions. As Mike Tyson famously said 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face' Kevin
Nico has been quicker than Hamilton? I can only remember that happening in Q2 in both races. As we know, Q3 and the race are the only performances that represent the drivers' positioning. Nico didn't out-qualify Hamilton in either race so far this year, and wasn't leading Hamilton when his car broke down. Massa has certainly shown to be Alonso's equal this year, and has been quicker than him in both Q3 sessions.
GREAT quote by Tyson. It is so true, and that's what separates a good driver from a great one...the ability to adapt after getting punched in the face. Ferrari and RBR were the smartest guys as they pitted their drivers for fresh inters while everyone else stayed out to continue pushing their times down. How that translates into the race today will be interesting, as Mercedes, Force India and Lotus were showing the best pace on slicks and RBR was struggling just to reach Q2 (on the mediums, specifically). It should be a great race, because I have NO idea of how it will shake out. Tyson may throw a few more punches to the face with variable/extreme weather conditions.
Q3 in both qualifying sessions so far has been riddled by odd circumstance. I can hardly draw any conclusions about anyone's qualy pace based on that. All I know is during Q2 under 'normal' circumstances Nico was much quicker. And in Q2 everyone is putting their best foot forward to make it to Q3. Q3 usually yields a taste quicker times due to the surface rubbering in more but the effort is no different unless in Q2 a driver sets a pace so quick they know for sure they're going through. ANd I know that is not the case with either Mercedes drivers.
I think drivers just want to throw a fast enough time out to make it to Q3. If they're not in first position, they won't go back out to run another hot lap and sacrifice a set of tires. How many times did McLaren/Ferrari lead Q2 in races last year, fooling us into thinking RBR lost a step only to see Seb finish Q3 on pole? I'm wrong on Hamilton...he was faster in all 3 quails in Australia and obviously the race. Nico was faster in Q1 & Q2 as well as Practice 1 & 2 in Malaysia. Hamilton was faster in Practice 3 and Q3. Nico had some serious pace in Q2 (hopefully he can put it to good use in the race later) but he didn't adjust when the plan changed. It's what I said about him coming into the season: He's fast enough to be LH's equal (or faster) under perfect conditions or if he's not pressed but tends to unravel once there is any form of adversity.
+1 Well said. I wouldn't go quite that far!..... McHam is arguably as quick as anyone out there right now. I don't think Nico is quite in his league. Cheers, Ian
Are you certain? His Q2 times were much faster than Q1..I would assume he used his Option hards to get to Q3. They have serious tire degradation issues though, so I'm not certain there is much of an advantage even if he didn't use a set. I still think that he used them to post his Q2 time...remember he was towards the bottom of the grid in Q1 on his standard tires.
?? Being pedantic, there's no such thing. To avoid confusion; - 4 compounds (hard, medium, soft and super-soft.) Of which two (plus inters & wets) go to each race. - The prime is always the harder of the two at any race. Option obviously the softer! - They've got hard & medium this W/E; Ergo the prime is the hard and medium the option. FWIW, China will be medium & soft. Bahrain hard & soft. They'll announce the next few races soon. Cheers, Ian
While the goal is to make the cut, doing "just enough" has a way of biting you on the derrière. What looks "safe" with two min. to go can evaporate fast.
Argh! [See above.] We gotta get this right guys or total confusion will reign! More than it already does of course! In fact, are you saying he didn't run the prime in qualy? Or the option? Cheers, Ian
I was just going with the initial statement. I believe Vet used his options in Q2, because the times were much quicker than his Q1 times, which I believe were on his primes (I assumed we were talking hards/mediums, but when freshmeat said "option hards" I figured I must have missed something). If he's saying he didn't run the primes in quail, then I don't think that is necessarily a good thing, right? That means they have NO confidence in running that tire on their car.
Happened to Ferrari one year. It can be a gamble, but usually it's a safe bet. You have an idea of what the cars can do by the end of Q1.
Hard as in the orange stuff. Vettel never ran those at all in qualy. It's a tire strategy just like how they went out so late in Q1, almost not making it through Q2.
Indeed. OK, so he has his full compliment of the primes. Used a couple (3?) sets of options. I haven't checked the data, but "they" were saying the primes were actually *quicker* than the options I believe. I'm not sure I believe that'll prove to be the case in the long run(s ) While generally a big fan of (reasonable) rain in the race, I really hope this one stays dry so we can get a feel for "real" pace under varying fuel loads. Hasn't happened yet...... Cheers, Ian
Just got done watching it. Still think Alonzo can have a good run from third, however Hammy is usually a pretty good guy off the line so he better get on it quickly...