Yesterday’s rain during Qualifying caught Mercedes out on track on an older set of tires which may or may not work out to their benefit depending on if it rains again today. Sepang has been eating tires, which was expected, and the Medium compound has a durability as well as a speed advantage that was not. Mercedes should have more fresher tires than most of the other teams because of their mistake.
A mistake that might not be so easy to undo is McLaren’s decision to go with an entirely new chassis this year that has proven to be decidedly inferior so far. Most teams are using tweaked versions of last year’s forgoing a development cycle because of the pending engine change in 2014 to a 6 cylinder turbo charged plant from the current 8. This is going to mean major design changes so essentially the MP4-28 is a dead end and a waste of time.
It’s not the only problem McLaren has had to face. Their Engine Control Unit which they supply to all teams crapped out in Webber’s Red Bull at Albert Park last week and was mostly responsible for his poor start.
Hulkenberg will be in the backup Sauber after fuel system probelms prevented him from racing last week. The whole car has been shipped back to Switzerland for evaluation.
Pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:49.674 | 13 |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:50.587 | 15 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:50.727 | 14 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:51.699 | 15 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:52.244 | 14 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:52.519 | 14 |
| 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:52.970 | 12 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:53.175 | 14 |
| 9 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:53.439 | 12 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:54.136 | 16 |
| 11 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:37.636 | 7 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:38.125 | 12 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:38.822 | 12 |
| 14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39.221 | 14 |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:44.509 | 10 |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:37.867 | 10 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:38.157 | 8 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:38.207 | 7 |
| 19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:38.434 | 8 |
| 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:39.314 | 6 |
| 21 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:39.672 | 8 |
| 22 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:39.932 | 6 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 25 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 18 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 15 |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 12 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 |
| 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 8 |
| 7 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 6 |
| 8 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 4 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 2 |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | 30 |
| 2 | Lotus-Renault | 26 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 23 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 10 |
| 5 | Force India-Mercedes | 10 |
| 6 | McLaren-Mercedes | 2 |
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Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Rosberg
Grosjean
Massa
Raikkonen
Perez
Hulkenberg
Gutierrez
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Or someone makes a mistake.
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Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Rosberg
Massa
Grosjean
Raikkonen
Hulkenberg
Perez
Vergne
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