Once again I used up most of my good material yesterday for Qualifying, which is ok I guess since unless there are surprises or someone blows up or parks there’s just not a lot to talk about; and if you’re not going to cover all of Qualifying and cut it so you can carry your lame Scuderia Marlboro UPC suck up fest and repeat everything everybody knew 2 weeks ago there’s hardly any point at all.
Pick any random race from last year and you have almost exactly the same Starting Grid. Michael Schumacher once again underperforms and Kamui Kobayashi does better than expected. Everyone made the 107% limit so we start a field of 24.
As we approach the actual race there are 2 scenarios- rain and not rain.
If it doesn’t rain then the drivers and teams who waited in the pits until the last 2 and a half minutes of Qualifying (warm up and hot lap) may have done themselves a favor in terms of tire wear since Sepang is notoriously tough because of the heat and cornering. On the other hand everyone might start a fresh set of Wets which will be exciting racing. If dry they are predicting 3 or 4 pits. The bottom 14 get a chance to start Hards (weather permitting) and run some tire strategy. Right now the forecast is for temperatures in the high 80s, 70 – 80% humidity, and a 60% chance of scattered Thunderstorms (if there is lightning they Red Flag the race because it’s just not safe).
Nothing I’ve seen yet has changed my overall opinion, which is that it’s McLaren and Red Bull and everybody else. Hamilton and Button will be running handcrafted Titanium underwings that they’re running their exhausts back to front over to improve downforce. The exhaust direction is not unique, all the other teams are doing the same thing but their wings are Carbon Fiber.
Pretty tables and discussion below.
Once again the Q-Laps field gives an indication of tire and engine wear during qualifying. If it rains, of course, tire strategy goes out the window.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 01:34.9 | 12 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:35.0 | 19 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 01:35.2 | 17 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:35.2 | 15 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:35.8 | 14 |
| 6 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 01:36.1 | 9 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:36.3 | 13 |
| 8 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 01:36.3 | 9 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:36.8 | 17 |
| 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:36.8 | 13 |
| 11 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:37.035 | 12 |
| 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:37.160 | 13 |
| 13 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:37.347 | 12 |
| 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37.370 | 12 |
| 15 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:37.496 | 15 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37.528 | 10 |
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37.593 | 9 |
| 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 01:38.3 | 8 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 01:38.6 | 8 |
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 01:38.8 | 8 |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:40.6 | 8 |
| 22 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:41.0 | 7 |
| 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 01:41.5 | 7 |
| 24 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 01:42.6 | 7 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 25 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 18 |
| 3 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 15 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 12 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 10 |
| 6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 8 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 6 |
| 8 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 4 |
| 9 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 2 |
| 10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | RBR-Renault | 35 |
| 2 | McLaren-Mercedes | 26 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 18 |
| 4 | Renault | 15 |
| 5 | STR-Ferrari | 4 |
| 6 | Force India-Mercedes | 3 |
81 comments
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Author
Vettel
Hamilton
Button
Alonso
Heidfeld
Massa
Webber
Petrov
Kobayashi
di Resta
Author
Only pitted once.
Author
Hamilton picks up another set of Hards too.
Author
fucked up pit strategy is the norm fo McLaren, not a surprise.
Author
Author
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Hamilton
Webber
Petrov
Heidfeld
Massa
Schumacher
Kobayashi
Author
Author
Author
Author
Most pit stops of anyone.
Author
Vettel
Button
Hamilton
Alonso
Petrov
Heidfeld
Massa
Webber
Kobayashi
di Resta
Author
Author
After hearing his rear wing isn’t working.
Alonso loses his front wing.
Hamilton may have a flat.
Author
Vettel
Button
Hamilton
Heidfeld
Massa
Webber
Alonso
Kobayashi
Petrov
di Resta
Author
broken steering column
Author
Vettel
Button
Heidfeld
Hamilton
Massa
Alonso
Kobayashi
di Resta
Schumacher
Author
Vettel
Button
Heidfeld
Webber
Massa
Alonso
Hamilton
Kobayashi
Schumacher
di Resta
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