Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Here is the result of the 3rd practice session that has just ended :

Vettel quickest in final Sepang practice
Sebastian Vettel highlighted his position as favourite for pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix by going quickest in final practice at Sepang. The Red Bull driver posted the best time of the weekend with a lap of 1m36.435s near the end of the session, outpacing Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton by 0.133 seconds and the Force India of Adrian Sutil by less than two tenths. Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber was fourth fastest in a very evenly-matched session, the Australian just 0.178s adrift. Yesterday's pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen had to settle for fifth position after complaining about the handling of his Lotus. Although all drivers jumped onto the track right at the start of the session, it was the Caterhams of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde who set the early pace as the frontrunners took things easy. Ten minutes in, Raikkonen moved to the top of the times as he posted a 1m38s lap, soon to be bettered by Mercedes's Nico Rosberg and minutes later by Sutil in the Force India, the German the first man to lap in the 1m37s bracket. Rosberg returned to first post briefly before team-mate Hamilton outpaced him by over three tenths with a lap of 1m37.527s, still far from the pace set by Raikkonen on Friday. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the last man to complete a timed lap, the Brazilian not returning to the track until half the session was gone. Rosberg fitted the medium tyres to move back into first position with the first lap in the 1m36s at the 32-minute mark as Webber and Vettel sat at the bottom of the times, the Red Bull duo still seemingly struggling with the durability of the tyres.
Hamilton's first run on mediums with 20 minutes to go proved to be the fastest lap of the weekend, improving on Raikkonen's best from Friday by 0.001 seconds. Webber left the bottom of the times moments later, using the medium tyres to finish 0.045 seconds behind Hamilton. Vettel, still slowest with 16 minutes of the session left, completed his first lap on mediums to move into sixth position. Sutil jumped up to second place with less than 10 minutes remaining, finishing just 0.020s behind Hamilton.With just over three minutes left, Vettel set a new benchmark in the medium tyre-shod Red Bull, the world champion's 1m36.435s putting him over a tenth ahead of his closest rival. Except for a few off-track excursions, the session was incident-free.

1. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.435 -
2. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:36.568 + 0.133
3. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:36.588 + 0.153
4. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.613 + 0.178
5. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:36.806 + 0.371
6. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:36.807 + 0.372
7. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:36.822 + 0.387
8. Felipe Massa : Ferrari - 1:36.946 + 0.511
9. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:36.949 + 0.514
10. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari - 1:37.302 + 0.867
11. Pastor Maldonado : Williams - 1:37.359 + 0.924
12. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:37.538 + 1.103
13. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:37.685 + 1.250
14. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.690 + 1.255
15. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:37.936 + 1.501
16. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:38.294 + 1.859
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:38.376 + 1.941
18. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:38.425 + 1.990
19. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:38.995 + 2.560
20. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:39.717 + 3.282
21. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:40.209 + 3.774
22. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:40.495 + 4.060

At 09.00u will be the qualifying !

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session :

Raikkonen quickest in rain-hit second practice
Kimi Raikkonen beat Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa to the top spot in a close second Formula 1 practice session in Malaysia before rain intervened. A heavy shower approaching the hour mark ensured that the 1m36.569s that Raikkonen had done on medium tyres 36 minutes in would stand as the fastest lap of the day.
Raikkonen's Lotus, Vettel's Red Bull and Massa's Ferrari had all taken turns in front during the dry section, and they ended up filling the final top three, covered by just 0.092 seconds. The rain did not mean the end of the action. With similar conditions likely in both qualifying and the race, teams swiftly sent their drivers back out to sample both the wet track and the crossover to dry weather so they had some experience in case of rain later in the weekend. The warm ambient temperature swiftly dried the track sufficiently for slicks, but the track was never quite good enough for drivers to beat their early times.
Behind the top three, Fernando Alonso edged out Mark Webber for fourth, with Romain Grosjean next up.
The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were seventh and ninth, split by Paul di Resta.
Adrian Sutil held on to 10th despite a mechanical problem keeping his Force India in the garage during the rain delay. Nearly everyone managed to avoid drama when the rain came, although Nico Hulkenberg did spin his slick-shod Sauber in the pitlane entry. Giedo van der Garde rotated on the track, spinning his Caterham onto the Turn 14 run-off.
1. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:36.569 -
2. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.588 + 0.019
3. Felipe Massa : Ferrari - 1:36.661 + 0.092
4. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari - 1:36.985 + 0.416
5. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:37.026 + 0.457
6. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.206 + 0.637
7. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:37.448 + 0.879
8. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:37.571 + 1.002
9. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:37.574 + 1.005
10. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:37.788 + 1.219
11. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:37.838 + 1.269
12. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:37.865 + 1.296
13. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:38.068 + 1.499
14. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:38.645 + 2.076
15. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:38.738 + 2.169
16. Pastor Maldonado : Williams - 1:38.801 + 2.232
17. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:38.904 + 2.335
18. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:39.508 + 2.939
19. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:39.660 + 3.091
20. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:40.757 + 4.188
21. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:40.768 + 4.199
22. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:41.438 + 4.869

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session :

Mark Webber fastest in first practice :
Red Bull returned to the top in opening practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, as Mark Webber led the way at Sepang on Friday morning. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel was back in third, behind Melbourne winner Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus. The Finn had not joined the track until 55 minutes into the session as his mechanics worked to replace a KERS battery. But Raikkonen needed no time to get up to speed as he immediately put a 1m37.003s lap, 0.068 seconds down on pacesetter Webber and sufficient to split the Red Bulls.
Although Raikkonen was late out of the garage, he did not miss out on much running as it took 34 minutes for anyone to set a flying lap. Most of the pack waited in the pits for circuit conditions to improve, then set their fastest times in a 10 minute spell of short runs before switching to heavy fuel for the rest of the morning.
Those long runs featured significant pace drop-off as tyres wore, with Lewis Hamilton in particular complaining of his Pirellis being "destroyed". Behind Webber, Raikkonen and Vettel, Fernando Alonso put the leading Ferrari fourth, followed by Nico Rosberg's Mercedes.
Adrian Sutil followed up his star turn in Melbourne with sixth place, despite having to pit for repairs after damaging his Force India's wing on a kerb. Alonso and Sutil's respective team-mates Felipe Massa and Paul di Resta were seventh and eighth, with Hamilton and Romain Grosjean completing the top 10.
Elsewhere, form appeared similar to Australia, as McLaren, Williams and Sauber were all outside the top 10. Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez committed the only significant error of the session as he went off at Turn 14.

1. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.935 -
2. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:37.003 + 0.068
3. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing - 1:37.104 + 0.169
4. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari - 1:37.319 + 0.384
5. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:37.588 + 0.653
6. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:37.769 + 0.834
7. Felipe Massa : Ferrari - 1:37.771 + 0.836
8. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:37.773 + 0.838
9. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:37.840 + 0.905
10. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.915 + 0.980
11. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:38.173 + 1.238
12. Pastor Maldonado : Williams 1:38.673 + 1.738
13. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:38.830 + 1.895
14. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:39.054 + 2.119
15. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:39.204 + 2.269
16. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:39.208 + 2.273
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:39.284 + 2.349
18. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:39.567 + 2.632
19. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:40.728 + 3.793
20. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:40.996 + 4.061
21. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:41.163 + 4.228
22. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:41.513 + 4.578

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Sepang International Circuit – Malaysian GP. First edition 1999 and since then its layout has never been changed. There are some high speed corners with changes of direction but also two long straights and slow corners. Very wide the roadway. The climate is tropical, with a high level of humidity and a high risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Two drs zones: back straight and start-finish straight with two different detection point.
Tyre: Hard(orange stripe) and Medium(white stripe) a very conservative choice but here the tire wear will be high, also because the asphalt surface is abrasive and Pirelli expects an average of three pit stop for this race.
Last week in Melbourne we have seen a great victory for Raikkonen. His Lotus seems to be well balanced and with a low tyre wear. The Finn scored his fastest lap at the end of the race with a set of tyres fitted by as many as 22 laps. Good pace race for Ferrari, while Vettel was very fast in qualifying but in the race, perhaps due to the low temperatures, his RB9 has suffered in tyre management. Rosberg and Hamilton: better on a flying lap than in race. Mc Laren: a negative surprise with a lot of problems.
Sepang circuit is a completely different track, so we'll see what will happen in this week end.
- The winners of Malaysian GP (last 5 editions)
2008 Raikkonen – Ferrari
2009 Button – Brawn Mercedes
2010 Vettel – Red Bull Renault
2011 Vettel – Red Bull Renault
2012 Alonso – Ferrari
- Pole position: (last 3 editions)
2010 M Webber – Red Bull Renault
2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault – pole time 1m 34.870 – second free practice 1m 36.876 (gap: 2.006)
2012 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes – pole time 1m 36.219 – second free practice 1m 38.172 (gap: 1.953)
In the last two editions the improvement between the second free practice session on Friday afternoon and pole position was around 2 seconds.

Today is March 21. His birthday. Unforgettable Ayrton; an extraordinary man and a legendary champion.

A little reminder for this weekend :

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Track info characteristic
Course Sepang International
Circuit output : low
Route length : 5.543 km
full throttle : 63 percent
Race distance : 56 laps = 310.408 km
Tire wear : medium
Lap record : Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) 1:34,223 minutes
brake wear : low
Gasoline consumption : medium

Friday :
1st Practice session : 03:00u - 04:30u *
2nd Practice session : 07:00u - 08:30u *
Saturday :
3rd Practice session : 06:00u - 07:00u *
Qualifying : 09:00u *
Sunday :
Race : 09:00u *

* = CET

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

next week for alonso will be the 200th gp in his career

21/03/1960
01/05/1994 ayrton senna
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malaysia gp
stefano domenicali words
"The good performance of both our drivers mean much, because we offer an excellent launch pad on which to build a competitive season and I'm happy for both of their results. Refer to the Ferrari leading the constructors' championship is an excellent reward for those who work hard, both here and on the track in Maranello, "notes yet, while maintaining a prudent stance. "Obviously it's only the first step of a long season, this is the time to analyze and evaluate all data collected in Melbourne and quickly prepare to face the next weekend in Malaysia."

Timo Glock 18th March 1982
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Happy Birthday to your 31st anniversary

Damn, didn't know we had already started

I told ya: ''this is the year of kimi'' !!

Raikkonen takes emphatic victory in season opener :
Kimi Raikkonen played a two-stop strategy to perfection to beat Fernando Alonso to victory in an enthralling Australian Grand Prix. All predictions of tedious Red Bull domination proved way off the mark, as Sebastian Vettel finished third, overshadowed by the Lotus and Ferrari. The champion's team-mate Mark Webber was only sixth after a poor start, behind Felipe Massa's Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, while Force India driver Adrian Sutil also led for long periods. The superiority Red Bull had displayed in all the weekend's dry running so far was never evident in the race. Webber immediately plunged outside the top five with a poor start, and Vettel was unable to get away from the fast-starting Massa and Alonso, who both passed Hamilton on lap one.
Raikkonen overtook the Mercedes soon afterwards, and then closed in on Vettel, Massa and Alonso to make a four-car lead train. All the frontrunners pitted very early to get rid of their fragile super-soft tyres.
The order among that quartet remained the same into the second stint, but they had to fight their way through those running longer, including Sutil - who had started on mediums and found himself in the lead by lap 15.
Vettel, the Ferraris and Raikkonen were soon on the Force India's tail. They could not pass though, and Sutil was able to make his first pitstop at the same time as Vettel, Massa and Alonso made their second, bringing the Force India onto the same sequence as the victory contenders. Alonso pitted a lap before Sutil and Vettel and was able to leapfrog both. Sutil stayed ahead of Vettel in the pits but was overtaken into Turn 3 a lap later. Vettel could not put any pressure on Alonso however, even as the Ferrari had to battle through drivers on other strategies - including Hamilton, with whom the Spaniard had a spectacular dice before getting clear.
By this time, Raikkonen's strategy had come into play . He stayed out until lap 34, a dozen laps longer than the other leaders, making it clear that Lotus was going for a two-stop to their three. That left him with a comfortable lead over Alonso and Vettel when they made their third stops, and although the Ferrari initially began carving chunks from the Lotus's advantage, once Alonso had used his new-tyre grip, the gap stabilised.
Raikkonen was therefore able to claim victory by 12 seconds, as Alonso pulled 10s clear of Vettel.
Massa faded in fourth after a very strong first half of the race.
Hamilton was next up, having had to abandon his intended two-stop strategy and pit for a third time. Webber made a quiet recovery to sixth, just behind Hamilton, whose team-mate Nico Rosberg retired with electrical problems. Sutil stayed with the leaders until he finally had to take on super-softs with 12 laps to go. They did not last as he had hoped, and Sutil had to be content with seventh, just ahead of team-mate Paul di Resta.
Jenson Button finished ninth for McLaren, while Romain Grosjean completed the scorers, holding off Sergio Perez and Jean-Eric Vergne. Nico Hulkenberg failed to take the start due to a pre-race fuel system problem on his Sauber. Pastor Maldonado spun off at Turn 1 before half-distance, and Daniel Ricciardo retired a sick-sounding Toro Rosso. Jules Bianchi dominated the backmarker pack in 15th.

1. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:30:03.225
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +12.451
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +22.346
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari +33.577
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +45.561
6. Mark Webber Red Bull +46.800
7. Adrian Sutil Force India +1:05.068
8. Paul di Resta Force India +1:08.449
9. Jenson Button McLaren +1:21.630
10. Romain Grosjean Lotus +1:22.759
11. Sergio Perez McLaren +1:23.367
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso +1:23.857
13. Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber +1 lap
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams +1 lap
15. Jules Bianchi Marussia +1 lap
16. Charles Pic Caterham +2 laps
17. Max Chilton Marussia +2 laps
18. Giedo van der Garde Caterham +2 laps

DNF:
19. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso +19 laps
20. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +32 laps
21. Pastor Maldonado Williams +34 laps

Fastest Lap : Kimi Raikkonen : 1:29.274
Pitstop Sutil : 2
Bat.2 Teams : Hamilton > Webber
Gr.Pos. Rosberg : DNF

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

constructors standings
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
7 STR-Ferrari 0
8 Sauber-Ferrari 0
9 Williams-Renault 0
10 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Caterham-Renault 0

driver's standings
1 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Lotus-Renault 25
2 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 18
3 Sebastian Vettel German Red Bull Racing-Renault 15
4 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 12
5 Lewis Hamilton British Mercedes 10
6 Mark Webber Australian Red Bull Racing-Renault 8
7 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 6
8 Paul di Resta British Force India-Mercedes 4
9 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 2
10 Romain Grosjean French Lotus-Renault 1
11 Sergio Perez Mexican McLaren-Mercedes 0
12 Jean-Eric Vergne French STR-Ferrari 0
13 Esteban Gutierrez Mexican Sauber-Ferrari 0
14 Valtteri Bottas Finnish Williams-Renault 0
15 Jules Bianchi French Marussia-Cosworth 0
16 Charles Pic French Caterham-Renault 0
17 Max Chilton British Marussia-Cosworth 0
18 Giedo van der Garde Dutch Caterham-Renault 0
19 Daniel Ricciardo Australian STR-Ferrari 0
20 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 0
21 Pastor Maldonado Venezuelan Williams-Renault 0
22 Nico Hulkenberg German Sauber-Ferrari 0

2013 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX
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Fri 22 March 2013
Practice 1 03:00 - 04:30
Practice 2 07:00 - 08:30
Sat 23 March 2013
Practice 3 06:00 - 07:00
Qualifying 09:00
Sun 24 March 2013
Race 09:00