Formula 1 2015 - championship

Alonso is fine...

Congratulations Lewis!

P1 for Race 1.

Can you say "Threepeat"?

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Simply stunning to see how big the gap really is between Mercedes and the second best Williams/Ferrari, 1.3 seconds, but then again, we already knew the gap would be quite big, this is simply a confirmation.

Qualification result

The word is that coming wednesday there will be a meeting with Renault about the ongoing problems, Helmut Marko was quite furious.
Both chassis of Red Bull and Toro Rosso are very good but the drivability is not good because of how the engine behaves and it seems to lack more power than in the last winter test, Red Bull spoke of a setback compared to the last winter test.

I do have a feeling that the software/electronica for the engine is different at Red Bull which explains the lack of pace compared to Toro Rosso.
Either Toro Rosso is simply not complaining about it, or the drivability of the engine seems to be a bit better at Toro Rosso.

Max Certainly did well, to bad that he had a big moment in his final attempt which meant he could not improve and thus did not make it into Q3.



One thing is sure, despite that Toro Rosso has two rookies behind the wheel this year, Carlos and Max both have made a good impression.

It is worse than i expected for Mclaren, they seem to have played on the safe side by not running the engine at full power.
If that is indeed the case, then obviously the reliability of the Honda engine is worrisome.

Apart from Mercedes on the first row and Mclaren on the last row of the grid, the gap between p3 1:27.7 and p15 1:29.2 is only 1.5 seconds.
With the cars this close in term of pace, a little mistake during qualifying, will be the difference between a place in the front or at the back of the grid.

It bodes well for a good season, to bad that Mercedes is so far ahead of the rest.

a reply to: earthling42

I couldn`t agree more with what you said.

Jos was also surprised that the STR10 is even better than what he thought it would be...when this can be considered a bad weekend for Max (we still have the race), it goes to show he is going to do alright...that`s also Max, Macau wasn`t a good weekend for him either with having to start at p24 and a restart, but even with a damaged car which didn`t felt alright during the race he was able to do the fastest lap of the field.

Carlos has been mixing up excellent weekends with OK and really bad weekends last year...he has done so far this weekend a really good one (they haven`t signed him up for nothing of course), let`s see if he can also stay stable this season.

It makes you think if TR and RB had more horsepower how the cars would perform after that, for a TR the car seems to be really good at the moment.

About Mclaren, with only 4 engines during the season and not being able to go full power shows also weakness in the engine, what do you have on all the horsepower if the engine won`t survive. So Mclaren is going to be a big "if" for the season, I suspect them to be able to go ahead some during the season, being able to compete with the midfield, but there also still could be a change they are capable to threaten Ferrari and Williams later on...it`s a big "if" with them, I also read the not full power reading might be a bit of cover story.

I think the battle for third place is going to be interesting and behind the top 6 can also be interesting to watch with a lot of cars close to one another.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

I also read the not full power reading might be a bit of cover story

If that would be the case then consider this year lost for Mclaren

But during practice the lap times were the same compared to their laptimes in Q1, so i don't thing this is just a cover story, they simply have been running with the same engine mapping as in the free practice sessions.

Local race time 01:00 here. Better have a nap first.

What is it 07:00 for my friends in orange?

i wouldnt write mclaren off just yet, but i think their main concern should be jensons moustache.

a reply to: Psynic

It is 4:30am, i did set the alarm clock at 5:30am but woke up an hour early, ready for the race

Edit: the start of the race is 6:00am local time.

a reply to: earthling42

I had exactly the same.

Watching Sport1 or RTL Germany ?

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Goodmorning

Sport 1, one Mclaren with a blown engine and Kvyat with a gearbox problem, that does not bode well for Renault and Honda.

Enjoy the race

Ohh, it seems that Bottas has injured his back yesterday, because of that he is not allowed to drive.

Well i know one person who is cooking of anger right now, the reaction of Jos was quite clear.
3 batteries and 3 engines left for the remainder of the season for Max

a reply to: earthling42

Good Morning to you too !

Pfff...terrible what Renault has done, not only lack of horsepower, but also reliability problems, but on a more positive note...

Great job from all the Rookies !

Rosberg seem to have a much more of a race set up, much better race pace for him.

Max did great, he was on M tire while the rest, except Perez, was on S, he only lost 10 seconds after 15 laps to P5 (Sauber), and he did a personal fastest lap on lap 30 with the same tires...very good. In 2 weeks time next change. Too bad Renault wasn`t blowing the engines in testing, you want the weak points to show up then and not now.

Carlos also did a fine job, only bad pit-stop. Nasr and Ericsson both performed well too, they have a better engine, but the car seems to be about the same as the STR10.

It could be an interesting dual between Ferrari and Williams for rank 2 this season. Let us hope Rosberg will be able to challenge Hamilton this year again to keep it also interesting up front.

I used to watch BBC, but they have now only half of the races, next race BBC again...the Germans aren`t that bad either, expect the commercials...BBC has first pick, so Monaco is at SKY (I started to skip that race after having watched it for almost 20 years, way too boring, qualifying is enough for me).

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Yes, agree, on the question if the drivability of the renault engine was to blame for the moment Verstappen had in qualifying yesterday, Jos answered that Toro Rosso also has this problem but that it should not be an excuse, Max was driving on the edge, the back of the car simply broke away from him. (oversteer)

So far, two renault engines (Ricciardo/Verstappen), one battery (Verstappen) and a gearbox (Kvyat) in one weekend.

From what i understand, it is that the engine output is not regularly distributed, but also engine braking seems to be a problem.

Frans Tost will surely have a discussion about that pitstop, it has cost Carlos an even beter result and thus points for the team.
He certainly did well this weekend, as did Nasr and Ericsson.

There was news about a meeting on wednesday between Renault and the Red Bull camp because Helmut Marko was not happy with the engine failure and the drivability last friday.
But as it stands now, i think this is the last year for Renault in F1 if there is no solution found during the next 4 or 5 races and Renault starts to deliver what it promises.
That is quite a clear message from the Red Bull camp.

I quite agree on the duel between Ferrari and Williams, this should be fun to watch

Last few seasons i watched sky sports on an online stream, now i have sport1 HD but i miss the coverage of Sky, they are simply the best in my opinion when it comes to presenting the whole race weekend.

a reply to: earthling42

I always liked BBC, but Marting Brundle went to SKY and the new guy gives me a headache. I used to watch Olav Mol on RTL, but I left him alone after it came clear to me why his name is Mol...that guy keeps missing everything, and I got sick of him too after a while.

RTL Germany and BBC still do a fine job and are free...having to pay for just a handful of F1 races isn`t just worth it for me.

Renault really screwed up, less horsepower would only be partly acceptable if they are reliable and drivable...these are 3 things which are bad. If the engines keep failing, Max will be in the same position as last year with grid penalties...at least both him and Carlos don`t have to go for the Championship.

And Renault was talking about a month ago to maybe wanting a full Renault team ?...they should first start to make better engines before they can even starting to think about going down that road.

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
a reply to: earthling42


Rosberg seem to have a much more of a race set up, much better race pace for him.

Pfft.

Lewis dropped him at will.

I don't know where you get the idea Rosberg ever challenged Lewis last year?

He rammed him a few times and the factory supplied Lewis with defective equipment a few times, but "challenged"?

I don't think so.

90% change of rain showers and thunderstorms expected Sunday afternoon, so most likely rain.

Weather forecast Malaysia favourable for Max Verstappen

And with Max being a good rain racer (he was much faster last year as all of the more experienced F3 drivers in all wet races), we could see a repeat of `01 when his dad was driving...


It would be something if he`s able to get on the podium, winning would be even more great of course...but being the youngest driver on a podium would still be awesome.

Both free practices were driven under a sunny sky and warm temperatures.
McLaren Honda starts to show its potential, while the laptimes are still below par, there is certainly a good progression from the team, they are already high up in the list when it comes to topspeed.
Although the Renault teams lack power and topspeed, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were in and close to the top ten with Kvyat even on p4 although he had to stop early due to gearbox problems.
But Verstappen, Sainz and Ricciardo were able to complete both practices without an engine or gearbox failure.
An update from Renault is expected after the chinese grand prix according to the commentator.
Ferrari is close to Mercedes and i'm quite curious how they will perform in qualifying, it would not suprise me if they managed to beat one of the Mercedes cars or both.
Especially the Mercedes powered cars seemed to be slower than in Melbourne and during the pre-season tests, could this be due to the new directive to measure fuel pressure?
Furthermore it was noticed that the Mercedes powered cars seemed to cope with the same difficulties to keep the car on track when entering into a corner.
Manor Marussia although they slowest cars on track enjoyed a good friday with both cars running without problems aside from one of the cars spinning of the circuit due to oversteer in the second practice.

a reply to: earthling42

Both Ferrari drivers had a bad qualifying lap in Australia, they could be a little bit ahead of Williams in actual speed.

It would be nice if Ferrari was a bit closer to Mercedes after all, but I don`t expect them to be able to split them.

Red Bull is starting to show they might start to challenge Williams after all.

McLarren/Honda, is already creeping up towards the midfield so it seems...there seems to be a really competitive mid field this year, which is good. Lotus, Sauber, Torro Rosso and a bit later on McLarren are going to be teams 8 till 16 probably.

Once McLarren moves up to the midfield, Force India will most likely end up on spots 17 and 18.

It could be that Mercedes is hampered by the new fuel rules already, but the conditions are so different now with high humidity, high temperatures and high tyre degradation...it could also be just the totally different conditions. This will be a good test for the rookies to see how they are going to cope with tyre degradation in the race, or rain...

Looking at the latest weather reports of Sunday afternoon, there will be thunderstorms for sure, only when will be the question. The forecast gives now between 12pm and 2pm, and between 4pm and 5pm. Race will start 3pm local time. So they might race in between the thunderstorms, or there`s probably about 50% change rain will fall somewhere during the race...

Sepang, Malaysia

a reply to: BornAgainAlien





Here is a more detailed weather report, it seems that both, qualifying and race will take place in wet conditions.

a reply to: earthling42

Max said he liked how the car was feeling after P2, the balance was also good in the fast corners according to him...and with rain you want to drive a car which feels like that.

It would be nice if he can redeem himself with this race for the bad luck he had in Australia...I will settle for a nice top 5 for him...the conditions will probably be as they always are at Sepang with rain, fierce short showers, which doesn`t make it a whole wet race.

And with Max having a really good car feeling, changing conditions are suited just right for him to get more out of a car as to others (only the amount of really good drivers in F1 nowadays is much higher as in the past)...but if he doesn`t make terrible mistakes, and conditions are changing and the car set up is good, he will be able to show some good stuff for sure.

At least I hope we have more of interesting race as to Australia.