2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

[shinji]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

What do you expect from a race?

[Libertango]

Ferrari let Massa finish in front of Alonso ?

[TomWazzleshaw]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

Where the hell have you been for the past 2 hours? This race has been pretty good.

Except the battle for P1.

We can gloss over that bit.

[S951]

well done to massa aswell despite his problems beat alonso

[ADx_Wales]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

Where the hell have you been for the past 2 hours? This race has been pretty good.

Was it bollocks, no thunderstorm, no real change for lead outside of pitstops, only person overtaking was Kobayashi, the DRS mayaswell have been used to let cats through doors.

[J Washburn Stoker]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

Just because you don't like the winner, or you expected the driver to win, doesn't mean the race has been predictable or boring.
No vettel fan, but the rest of the results were great to see with the battles and position changes.

My thoughts exactly.

[pablo_h]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

Where the hell have you been for the past 2 hours? This race has been pretty good.

Was it bollocks, no thunderstorm, no real change for lead outside of pitstops, only person overtaking was Kobayashi, the DRS mayaswell have been used to let cats through doors.

But button and heidfeld on the podiums for bathplug sake!

edit: And DRS may well work, propblem was RBR KERs didn't work. Imagine what webber could have done if the KERs was working on the RBR. The fact is that DRS worked well, only the KERs didn't work.
And in case you forgot HEIDFELD. In melbourne was out driven by petrov. Is this race he was 2nd after the first corner, and ended up on the podium in 3rd. And Button finished 2nd, ahead of Hamilton

[DonTirri]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

You know... Even if there wasn't rain... there is a race behind no.1 too.
So you can take your bathplugging angst somewhere else and if you still insist on complaining, you might aswell head to the autosport forums.

Anyhow, I knew Vettel was going to win by lap 4, but it didn't bother me since the racing was damn exciting. Koba/Schuey duel, Alonso/Hamilton duel until Failonso bathplug up, Webber/Massa and Webber/Heidy on the last few laps... Good stuff man, good stuff.

Flight of the Petrov was amusing, the commentator in the finnish tv commented that he last time he remembers the steering wheel coming off during race was 91 in Phoenix when Häkkinen had the wheel of his lotus fall to his lap.

Solid work from Renault, Two podiums in two races is quickly making a case of them returning into the "Big four" after a few downyears. And am I the only one who thinks that maybe Hamilton's car got damaged a bit in the collision with Alonso too? Maybe his rear tire was damaged, thus needing another pitstop?

Oh and Kobayashi takes points again!

[ADx_Wales]

In the 9 years since having a german in a well built car running away with proceedings with a deadbeat teammate suffering possible team disadvanages, all these rule changes, all these gimmicks, have ended up with the same bloody thing happening.

[pablo_h]

double post as I'm using a proxy to steal UK BBC

[Cynon]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

Where the hell have you been for the past 2 hours? This race has been pretty good.

Was it bollocks, no thunderstorm, no real change for lead outside of pitstops, only person overtaking was Kobayashi, the DRS mayaswell have been used to let cats through doors.

On my end, I saw passing moves actually happen. If you want a battle for the lead then ban the RB7 and make them use the RB6 or something else. At this rate, the Driver's Title is coming dangerously close to being over already. If Vettel wins the next two races with this kind of dominance, you might as well write the whole Driver's Championship off.

Both Renaults looked very competitive, but their innovative method of overtaking cars, which are supercross-style jumps, didn't work so well.

[GwilymJJames]

Is there any chance that Massa could end up in trouble over the supposed lack of fuel?

Vettel's just called one of the Renaults a Lotus. Fool.

[Valrys]

In the 9 years since having a german in a well built car running away with proceedings with a deadbeat teammate suffering possible team disadvanages, all these rule changes, all these gimmicks, have ended up with the same bloody thing happening.

Someone call the waaaaaaahmbulance.

Seriously, I can give you a free pass today because you're a Hispania fan, but jesus, that was a decent race compared to some of the snooze-fests we've had over the past few years, and I thoroughly enjoyed it start to finish.

Edit: Ah, the press conference, Vettel looks like he's been in a sauna, Button looks a tad ruffled, and Heidfeld looks like he's just sauntered to the fridge and back.

[J Washburn Stoker]

Malaysia better be better than this, or thats it, I'm quitting F1 for good. They cant race, they cant entertain, and even when they try its mind numbingly dreadful.
Yes hooray for Petrov, but if the rules to help overtaking dont work, what is the bloody point.

Discuss.

[ADx_Wales]

Malaysia better be better than this, or thats it, I'm quitting F1 for good. They cant race, they cant entertain, and even when they try its mind numbingly dreadful.
Yes hooray for Petrov, but if the rules to help overtaking dont work, what is the bloody point.

Discuss.

Im not watching china live, so "its a start".

[Ferrim]

Will Maldonado make it to the end of the first lap without hitting anything?

Fixed

The answer is: this

That was hilarious! He accepted your challenge and managed to stay out of trouble during the first lap. Then he proceeded to crash!

Alguersuari on Spanish TV: "dábamos un poco de pena en la pista" = "We were a bit pitiful on track"

Great race overall, and it was very nice to see Heidfeld driving the Jordan to the podium. The Toleman Benetton Renault Jordan Lada Bahahahahar Enstone Racing F1 Team's car is clearly competitive this season, and it even comes with self-destruction software.

[Mister Fungus]

It was a great race, lots of overtaking. Kobayashi overtook Schumacher 3 times FFS. This is what I want from F1, it doesn't matter if there was no battle for the lead that's up to the constructors. Don't understand the whining, it's completely irrational.

[sswishbone]

Overall a fantastic race in my opinion, had that incredible start from Heidfeld, Webber fighting back from a terrible start, the Alonso/hamilton duel, the Heidfeld/Webber duel, the Kobayashi/Webber duel, That fabulous Hamilton, Buemi and Schumacher three into one corner move, Petrov's paris dakar code switch, Alonso's brainfade and masterful tyre conservation at the front two slots of the field. For a track I normally have no major love for this featured a tonne of action and incredibly brave maneouvres, if this can happen here, lord knows what thrillers we'll get at Montreal, Spa or Interlagos!

[TomWazzleshaw]

Overall a fantastic race in my opinion, had that incredible start from Heidfeld, Webber fighting back from a terrible start, the Alonso/hamilton duel, the Heidfeld/Webber duel, the Kobayashi/Webber duel, That fabulous Hamilton, Buemi and Schumacher three into one corner move, Petrov's paris dakar code switch, Alonso's brainfade and masterful tyre conservation at the front two slots of the field. For a track I normally have no major love for this featured a tonne of action and incredibly brave maneouvres, if this can happen here, lord knows what thrillers we'll get at Montreal, Spa or Interlagos!

Hell the new regulations may make Valencia and Budapest bearable this season.

[Cynon]

Overall a fantastic race in my opinion, had that incredible start from Heidfeld, Webber fighting back from a terrible start, the Alonso/hamilton duel, the Heidfeld/Webber duel, the Kobayashi/Webber duel, That fabulous Hamilton, Buemi and Schumacher three into one corner move, Petrov's paris dakar code switch, Alonso's brainfade and masterful tyre conservation at the front two slots of the field. For a track I normally have no major love for this featured a tonne of action and incredibly brave maneouvres, if this can happen here, lord knows what thrillers we'll get at Montreal, Spa or Interlagos!

Hell the new regulations may make Valencia and Budapest bearable this season.

Pretty sure Valencia will still suck, because Tilkedromes + Spec racing = Generally good racing. Valencia has never had a good race with ANYTHING other than maybe some tools on rFactor. As for Budapest, you might get passing into turn 1... but what about everywhere else?!

[DonTirri]

Malaysia better be better than this, or thats it, I'm quitting F1 for good. They cant race, they cant entertain, and even when they try its mind numbingly dreadful.
Yes hooray for Petrov, but if the rules to help overtaking dont work, what is the bloody point.

Discuss.

Im not watching china live, so "its a start".

Well sayonara then, don't let the door hit you in the arse on your way out.
moron.

[TomWazzleshaw]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ8TP8vxruM

For those who missed it watch this before FOM take it down.

[sswishbone]

I'd be surprised if Valencia was made compelling by the new reegulations, but Budapest could be, with the tight lines and awkward chicanes getting tonnes of marbles on them...

[fjackdaw]

I was right, Vettel has won, the only thing that made this race exciting was.....

...my coma. wont be watching China live.

You know... Even if there wasn't rain... there is a race behind no.1 too.
So you can take your bathplugging angst somewhere else and if you still insist on complaining, you might aswell head to the autosport forums.

Seconded. ADx_Wales always throws a massive strop if the pole-sitter wins. I don't think Formula 1 is the sport for you, to be honest. The race was packed with incident... just because there was no monsoon or massive smashes, doesn't make the race boring.

[Cynon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ8TP8vxruM

For those who missed it watch this before FOM take it down.

What the bathplug was that bump doing there in the first place?! O__o

[S951]

I thought it was an interesting race wasn't boring at all plenty of entertainment

[mario]

Need I say more? That said, Brundle was a bit worried that Petrov might have hurt himself in the process - that was a very heavy landing, and with nothing to cushion the blow, he must have taken a bit of a battering.

Oddly, in some ways Alonso benefited from that clash with Hamilton - although he lost track position, it looks like he might have damaged Hamilton's floor in the process, and the extra stop at the end put Hamilton back behind Alonso in the end.
And that podium for Heidfeld was just what he needed to shut the critics up after Melbourne - and he had to defend pretty hard or the final few laps. Perhaps, though, if Webber didn't have that KERS problem, he might have been able to pass Heidfeld - still, to get 4th after such a difficult start was a decent recovery effort.

Is there any chance that Massa could end up in trouble over the supposed lack of fuel?

Vettel's just called one of the Renaults a Lotus. Fool.

I suppose in theory he could - the rules say that you must have at least 1kg of fuel left in the tank after the race so the stewards can take a sample for analysis. More likely, though, the team will have told Massa to stop out on track so he'd still have at least 1kg in reserve, so he'll probably get away with it, although the FIA are probably not entirely happy with this tactic (Webber was supposed to have done the same in Australia, hence why he pulled over immediately at the end of the race).

On my end, I saw passing moves actually happen. If you want a battle for the lead then ban the RB7 and make them use the RB6 or something else. At this rate, the Driver's Title is coming dangerously close to being over already. If Vettel wins the next two races with this kind of dominance, you might as well write the whole Driver's Championship off.

Both Renaults looked very competitive, but their innovative method of overtaking cars, which are supercross-style jumps, didn't work so well.

True; unless McLaren are able to eke a bit more performance out of the car in the next few races and can take a lot of points out of Vettel's lead, it looks like Vettel will walk away with the title pretty comfortably. OK, with Heidfeld backing Hamilton up at the start, he was able to build a nice gap right from the off and take it relatively easy from there on in, but even so, he looked like he had a fair bit still in reserve when he needed it (such as when Button was closing in before Vettel's last stop).
You're right, though, that behind him there was a lot of on track action; we saw Webber, Alonso, Kobayashi, Di Resta and Petrov all fighting for position during the race. And whilst both Renaults were a little sluggish at the start, they picked up their pace later on in the race, and if Petrov hadn't crashed, would have had a double points finish. In fact, if he hadn't crashed out from 7th place, Renault would be ahead of Ferrari in the WCC (they'd both have 36 points, but Renault would be ahead since they have scored more podium finishes).

[TomWazzleshaw]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ8TP8vxruM

For those who missed it watch this before FOM take it down.

What the bathplug was that bump doing there in the first place?! O__o

Interestingly the bump is at the exact point where the asphalt runoff ends.

[shinji]

Im not watching china live, so "its a start".

Well sayonara then, don't let the door hit you in the arse on your way out.
moron.

Sorry, but that's not on. Not here.

[ADx_Wales]

Nah its ok Ed, familiarity breeds contempt and it appears people are very familiar with me.

The door always hits my arse on the way out, I consider it a form of excercise.

[McDuck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ8TP8vxruM

For those who missed it watch this before FOM take it down.

That was a scary off. I wonder if he had any steering column issues before the jump?

[shinji]

Nah its ok Ed, familiarity breeds contempt and it appears people are very familiar with me.

The door always hits my arse on the way out, I consider it a form of excercise.

It lowers the tone is what it does.

[LionZoo]

I suppose in theory he could - the rules say that you must have at least 1kg of fuel left in the tank after the race so the stewards can take a sample for analysis. More likely, though, the team will have told Massa to stop out on track so he'd still have at least 1kg in reserve, so he'll probably get away with it, although the FIA are probably not entirely happy with this tactic (Webber was supposed to have done the same in Australia, hence why he pulled over immediately at the end of the race).

Although you can design the tank so that it always preserves 1 kg worth of fuel. However, for strategy's sake, I don't think it's worth it as you might as well get to the finish and try to figure out how to deal with the FIA later rather than stop on track and not having the points in the first place.

[Nin13]

I would first like to say all those who said there is no overtaking in F1 should take another look at the race.
May be DRS or KERS or tyre wear but there were some brilliant overtakes like Webber(without KERS) on Massa.

And I think Pirelli are doing really great not to thing like what Bridgestone did like softs could last entire race. Current tires are very good I think.

Also I'll like to say Congratulations to Vettel on winning and Button having a good sensible race finishing 2nd.
And what about Heidfeld, where are all the people who thought Heidfelds career was over. Where are they now. He had great start, then overtook a compromised Hamilton, did not do a mistake and got a podium.

Good race by Saubers who are proving that they can save tires. Kobayashi only driver on 2 stopper.

Also good race by Di Riesta to get another point. And he seems to be doing much better than Sutil so early in season. All credits to Paul.

About Mercedes, I think, they were very bad, bad car, bad strategy. They kept out Schumacher out for couple of extra laps when he was clearly losing time, sometimes almost 3-4s a lap. In 6 extra laps he did before his 3 stops, he lost around 10-15s. And cost him place to Kobayashi.

And about Hamilton- Alonso incident. It was just racing incident.
And good to see that Massa finish ahead of Alonso, no team orders early on in season.

[Mister Fungus]

Interesting that the Sauber again had one less stop then everyone else, not sure how many stops Perez did before his race was ended. Is Sauber really soft on it's tyres, or was it (again) a gamble that worked?

[eytl]

OK, ADx_Wales is entitled to his point of view. That's that.

But I thought that was a really interesting race, and it's exactly what the new regs were designed to do. You have all these factors that you have to get right - basic car design, tyre life, KERS, DRS - and whilst indeed Vettel was pretty much able to stroll from the front again, especially thanks to Heidfeld being in 2nd in the first stint, 2nd to 8th was a movable feast. It's about positioning yourself for the last stint throughout the whole weekend. So a terrific race, I thought - will need to rewatch before writing the review.

[Ferrim]

I saw a few overtakes that looked a bit stupid, the speed differentials were too big in my opinion. But this is Malaysia and there's always been lots of overtakings here.

[pablo_h]

Nah its ok Ed, familiarity breeds contempt and it appears people are very familiar with me.

The door always hits my arse on the way out, I consider it a form of excercise.

It lowers the tone is what it does.

Agree, it's a bit 'off'.

[ADx_Wales]

I'm not gonna get all childish by countering everyones comment about me with a "no I dont/wont", maybe some of my comments are out of sync with everyone else's opinion on the start of the new season, maybe 22 years of watching it on TV and not actually going to one squints my opinions even more...

...If I cant say what I think, and if you cant argue against it, whats the point in having a forum. I'm not wrong, you aren't wrong either.

[Ferrim]

No one has impeded you to say what you think, no one has impeded any of us to argue against it. Everyone has said that they disagreed with you and one particular person has been a bit rude against you, one out of ten or more. So no need to make a bit thing out of it.