Malaysia predictions

[Mark]

Who thinks that Brawn will get another 1-2 in Malaysia, or will Ferrari or McLaren catch them up? What about Williams or Toyota?

[pino]

I am sure Jarno will fight for the win :D I don't care about others :p :

[Robinho]

fast corners have to be good for the Diffuser 3, punching out of the hairpins, good for the Kers teams.

Brawn have to be favourites at the moment for at least this race, can't see anyone doing anything significant to their cars between now and Friday.

Toyota, BMW and Red Bull look the most likely challengers, not sure where Ferrari fit in, they seemed to have trouble heating the hard tyres, so maybe the hot weather will help. and if it rains will that give the Diffuser teams an even bigger advantage or will it be a lottery?

BBC weather has heavy rain showers every day til friday for Kuala Lumpur in their 5 day forecast - could be a wet one?

[Psycho!]

BBC weather has heavy rain showers every day til friday for Kuala Lumpur in their 5 day forecast - could be a wet one?
On planetf1.com they predict rain as well....So,expect Vettel and Rubens to shine....It's very close and with those conditions it will be even more difficult to undertand the real speed of some teams...Also, with such conditions expect some crashes as well ;) .
+Brawn have not tested in rain,have they?

[Robinho]

if it rains i tip Button, he's great in the rain, altho Rubens is probably his equal

[Tazio]

and if it rains will that give the Diffuser teams an even bigger advantage or will it be a lottery?

BBC weather has heavy rain showers every day til friday for Kuala Lumpur in their 5 day forecast - could be a wet one? Can't the Non-Bandit difuser cars just crank more downforce own the rear wing if it's a rain race!

[Mark]

Can't the Non-Bandit difuser cars just crank more downforce own the rear wing if it's a rain race!

Well they all can. And apparently the advantage of the diffuser arrangement is that it makes the rear wing work more efficiently. So it can generate the same downforce for less drag.

I'm no aero-expert but I think that would give the biggest advantage on high-speed high-load circuits, much like Malaysia!

[555-04Q2]

I think the layout of the Malaysian track will even out the diffuser gang vs the kers gang. We should see some pretty close times during practice, quali and the race.

[ioan]

Well they all can. And apparently the advantage of the diffuser arrangement is that it makes the rear wing work more efficiently. So it can generate the same downforce for less drag.

I'm no aero-expert but I think that would give the biggest advantage on high-speed high-load circuits, much like Malaysia!

Any car needs a certain amount of front and rear downforce.
Front downforce is mostly generated by the front wing.
Rear downforce is generated by the rear wing and the diffuser.

The more downforce you get from the diffuser the less you will need from the rear wing in order to obtain the same amount of rear downforce.
This means that with a superior diffuser you need to run less angle on the rear wing and thus generate less drag.

IMO given the new rules regarding the rear wing's position the airflow from the diffuser will have minimal direct aero effect on the rear wings performance.

[jens]

Considering the ruination Jarno got in Australia, it's time for a conceptual revenge to compensate the losses [5pt loss in WDC/WCC is a huge loss, it will be costly by season's end :( ]. I hope he is really fired up to fight back, I as a spectator certainly am. This must be a podium finish as a consolation, anything less is unacceptable! Trulli has usually been quick in Malaysia, Toyota has usually been quick there, so the cards are there. After disappointing beginnings into the season in Oz in '05 and '08 JT striked strongly back at Sepang.

The other guy really motivated will be Vettel. Lost a podium in a dramatic collision, which made him emotional in team radio. But he is also a guy, who can make a blinding performance after previous frustration. Recall Fuji '07, which brought tears into his eyes - one race later (in China) he made it up with a 4th-place finish! Despite 10-place grid penalty, I hope for a storming drive by Seb, and even more so in the wet.

Admittedly Brawn GP will be hard to beat, and also in the wet (they have quick wet-weather drivers + a great tactician in Ross), so the fight will be for "best of the rest" for P3 behind them in "normal circumstances". Besides the two above-mentioned guys Ferrari should be better (although they may struggle in rain more), Glock and the BMW's are capable of a great performance too.

[UltimateDanGTR]

In australia, BMW, Red Bull, Ferrari, Toyota and Williams all showed that they can win. Brawn also did, and they were the winners. Mclaren wont be ready for wins until at least Spain. So you have potentially 7-10 drivers capable of winning. However, anyone bar Rubens and Button will have to get past the two Brawns, and I think although all already indicated are capable of that, I think Brawn will once again win. I reckon Button to win especially if it rains, although if it rains anyone can win so who knows what happens then. But the others will be challenging.

[N. Jones]

Who thinks that Brawn will get another 1-2 in Malaysia, or will Ferrari or McLaren catch them up? What about Williams or Toyota?

If it rains then I look for the best drivers in the wet to be on the podium:

Hamilton, Alonso, Barrichello, in whatever order.

[christophulus]

The pessimist in me says Williams will fall back thanks to their usual focus on the tight, twisty tracks. McLaren won't be a million seconds off the pace like they say, but any points will be down to the misfortunes of others.

Ferrari should be back on form, BMW and Red Bull pushing hard but aside from a mechanical fault I'd ultimately go for another Brawn 1-2.

But if it rains? Who can tell :)

[V12]

I reckon pace wise it will be pretty much as you were, but with less of that Melbourne "randomness" affecting the final race results, assuming it doesn't rain of course...

[Ari]

Am very surprised they're offering $67 for Webber to win in Malaysia. Considering Vettel has shown what the car can do and Malaysia is looking wet who knows. Webber has shown he can drive in the wet as well. Webber was not given a chance to prove anything on Sunday except that broken cars don't go as fast as ones that aren't broken. I'm puting down a tenner!

[jjanicke]

In australia, BMW, Red Bull, Ferrari, Toyota and Williams all showed that they can win. Brawn also did, and they were the winners. Mclaren wont be ready for wins until at least Spain. So you have potentially 7-10 drivers capable of winning. However, anyone bar Rubens and Button will have to get past the two Brawns, and I think although all already indicated are capable of that, I think Brawn will once again win. I reckon Button to win especially if it rains, although if it rains anyone can win so who knows what happens then. But the others will be challenging.

Did I miss something?? When did anyone come close to passing the Brawns in Australia? No one did. Actually Rubens was the one who did all the passing, but that was helped out by a SC. That SC happened to help all the other drivers as well, with the exception of Button.

Button and Brawn GP were the class of the field and I would expect something similar to OZ if we see a safety car again in Malaysia.

My prediction:

Button the Rubens will the be cars to beat

Hot on their tails BMW & RBR ...

... with Williams, Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault and Toyota slightly behind. But Massa and Hamilton have to find a little speed. They were both slow but with compromised strategies.

STR and Force India pulling up the rear.

[Valve Bounce]

It was time to do the pickems for Malaysia, my first this year as I forgot last week :bigcry:

Suddenly, I realised that the F1 order is, indeed, gone topsy turvy, and I just didn't know who to pick and who to leave out. People who I would not pick last year are suddenly well up the order, and the guys who I picked regurly had to be left out.

This has resulted in a fascinating 2009 season as we no longer have the same same boring procession. The interesting thing, of course, is which of the non rebel diffusers will come up with an interim semi-rebel diffuser. And even more interesting is that Rubens had his diffuser smashed by Kovi at the first turn and raced for the entire race without a diffuser at all.

I can hardly wait for next Friday's practice to begin.

[jjanicke]

1 race in and I couldn't agree more. We had a couple SCs which of course made for tighter racing (well at least one of them did). But that shouldn't obscure the evidence of some "real" racing.

Great starter and this has turned out to be just as unpredictable a 2nd try.

[ShiftingGears]

I think that the Brawn will still be the best car but they won't win the Malaysian round.

[F1boat]

I think that Brawn GP will win another 1-2, but I guess that Ferrari, Renault and McLaren will be closer and maybe better than Red Bull, Toyota and BMW. We have to wait and see, though.

[Valve Bounce]

I think that the Brawn will still be the best car but they won't win the Malaysian round.

I has us all waiting again. I never dreamt that they would get a podium in Melbourne, let alone pole and win. We only have three days till prac and that will give us a hint.

I mean, when we saw the fast testing times. many here thought they were just running light to get sponsors. Who would have dreamt a 1-2?

[ShiftingGears]

I has us all waiting again. I never dreamt that they would get a podium in Melbourne, let alone pole and win. We only have three days till prac and that will give us a hint.

I mean, when we saw the fast testing times. many here thought they were just running light to get sponsors. Who would have dreamt a 1-2?

I didn't believe it until the grand prix weekend.

Although on raceday, I was surprised at how little a gap Button pulled, considering their dominant qualifying display.

[Dave B]

My only prediction is that the weather will be unpredictable.

[samuratt]

Brawn GP 1-2 all over again, that is if Mr Barrichello still remebers how to drive a car. His mistakes at Melbourne looked to my like rookie mistakes...

Apart from that I hope that Ferrari and Renault improve a little their performance, because to me they looked like the loosers at Albert Park.

After the Branws I can see Vettel an Kubica fighting again for the podium, and maybe Rosberg (his opening laps at Australia did impress me).

[christophulus]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/03/31/will-brawn-dominate-again-in-sepang-malaysian-grand-prix-preview/

Pretty good preview of the race. A question mark over whether the KERS will overheat if it's humid and whether it'll destroy the tyres even faster.

Oh, and an 80% chance of rain on Sunday. Should be fun :)

[Valve Bounce]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/03/31/will-brawn-dominate-again-in-sepang-malaysian-grand-prix-preview/

Pretty good preview of the race. A question mark over whether the KERS will overheat if it's humid and whether it'll destroy the tyres even faster.

Oh, and an 80% chance of rain on Sunday. Should be fun :)

When it rains in KL, it really buckets down. Visibility approaches zero. When I was there in 1975-76, I remember that I left the course just before the rain hit and I had to stop the car under a bridge because I could not see anything. And one of the grandstands collapsed after I left.

A twilight race at Sepang is just plain dumb.

[cosmicpanda]

not to worry. F1's portable dry microclimate will be turned on for this race.

[keysersoze]

If it rains I want a camera on Massa at all times, as well as the production crew instructed to be ready to cut to Massa's in-car camera at any moment. :D

[AndyRAC]

I really wonder whether the Brawn's pace in Australia was their 'true' pace, and whether they have something in hand. Seeing as they hadn't run a full race distance in testing they could have been running conservatively. Who knows?
Looking forward to finding out though.

[yodasarmpit]

If it rains I want a camera on Massa at all times, as well as the production crew instructed to be ready to cut to Massa's in-car camera at any moment. :D
:D

[Tazio]

I really wonder whether the Brawn's pace in Australia was their 'true' pace, and whether they have something in hand. Seeing as they hadn't run a full race distance in testing they could have been running conservatively. Who knows?
Looking forward to finding out though.
However, a ‘senior source’ within Brawn GP has told the Guardian the team chose not to show its full hand and had speed in reserve.

“I think, basically, that if someone is two-tenths off us they can feasibly win the race but, if we’re half a second in front, which is probably where we are at the moment, although we don’t necessarily look like that, it is just foolish to just annihilate people all the time,” he said.

“I think we have a little bit in the bag. ;)

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=45416&PO=45416

[stevie_gerrard]

I think Toyota and red Bull will be out to spoil the party a bit, and Ferrari will probably be stronger than last week. I wouldn't say its a nailed on 1-2 for Brawn, especially with the rain, but you can't see too much past that at the moment.

[Mark]

it is just foolish to just annihilate people all the time,”

Especially with the engine regs as they are. You need to win the race but as slowly as possible! Gone are the days when you'd see Williams' 30-60 seconds up the road at the finish because they're just going to bin the engine.

[cosmicpanda]

But you see McLarens 60s up the road instead, like last year ;)

[Triumph]

Jenson for the win and Lewis for another much-better-than-expected performance. :-)

[jjanicke]

I really wonder whether the Brawn's pace in Australia was their 'true' pace, and whether they have something in hand. Seeing as they hadn't run a full race distance in testing they could have been running conservatively. Who knows?
Looking forward to finding out though.

I think they had some time in hand. From a few posts above, and how Button was able to control the pace.


I think Toyota and red Bull will be out to spoil the party a bit, and Ferrari will probably be stronger than last week. I wouldn't say its a nailed on 1-2 for Brawn, especially with the rain, but you can't see too much past that at the moment.

Button has proven to be very fast in the wet. His first, and up until last Sunday, only victory came in just such weather.

[dj_bytedisaster]

A couple of things that I would predict for Malaysia.

* The one who's fastest in the last qualifying segment has a good chance to start from pole. It's only a chance though, as we have to wait how many teams protest the fastest drivers car and how many stupid reasons the stewards come up with to hand out 10 position grid penalties.

* The Virg... - no, that particular genius is out of the bottle since Melbourne, isn't it. Well, the sexually still rather low experienced cars will be so far ahead of the rest they'll start from pole even after being given a 10 positions grid penalty :laugh: (hm, sounds like a Chuck Norris fact)

* if it rains we can hope for some real magic from some of the rainmasters, like Vettel, Fisichella, Sutil, Barrichello. And we will be seeing Piquet spinning off even before reaching the first corner. Kimmi will have the decency to do a couple of laps for the spectators before stuffing his car into the nearest stretch of concrete wall.

* Piquet will use KERS to get to the site of his crash even faster.

* If it doesn't rain the soft compound tires may last a whole lap, but only if the drivers are extremely cautious.

* Ferrari will suffer another blow, because after Kimmi did his traditional car-into-wall slamming, some part of Massa's car will pack in and Michael Schumacher can get off the command stand to have a beer or twelve with his ol' mate Ross Brawn when the latter celebrates his second 1-2 finish

[jjanicke]

wow... a lot of Kimi "hostility" these days. One mistake and you're chump change around here. ;)

My prediction is that Kimi will surprise. :)

[dj_bytedisaster]

well, Kimmi did some chump heroics last year as well, so he had it coming ;)

[Valve Bounce]

wow... a lot of Kimi "hostility" these days. One mistake and you're chump change around here. ;)

My prediction is that Kimi will surprise. :)

Before or after he comes out of the bog??

Also, I wonder whether any of the other teams (Macs) will be sporting a rebel diffuser.

[jjanicke]

well, Kimmi did some chump heroics last year as well, so he had it coming ;)

Like? Monaco qualifying. What else?

[Dave B]

My prediction is that Kimi will surprise. :)
What, and actually finish a wet race? :eek:

[Ari]

Am very surprised they're offering $67 for Webber to win in Malaysia. Considering Vettel has shown what the car can do and Malaysia is looking wet who knows. Webber has shown he can drive in the wet as well. Webber was not given a chance to prove anything on Sunday except that broken cars don't go as fast as ones that aren't broken. I'm puting down a tenner!

mmmmmmm.....

[jjanicke]

What, and actually finish a wet race? :eek:

He's very fast in the wet but finishing hasn't been his strong suit (Spa '08) :)

He's too damn good to remain in this sustained drought. P2 today might have been some kinda of indication.

[ShiftingGears]

What, and actually finish a wet race? :eek:

Is it surprising? Last time he did it was 2 races ago.

[ShiftingGears]

He's very fast in the wet but finishing hasn't been his strong suit (Spa '08) :)


Only because he was pushing for a win in a car that really wasn't capable of it in those circumstances. Massa would've pushed for the win if he had any chance of beating them without steward intervention.

[jjanicke]

Only because he was pushing for a win in a car that really wasn't capable of it in those circumstances. Massa would've pushed for the win if he had any chance of beating them without steward intervention.

Kimi owns Spa. And he's got Malaysia's number as well, I think he will do well.

[F1boat]

Kimi owns Spa. And he's got Malaysia's number as well, I think he will do well.

I hope so. He is a great personality and in his day, an amazing driver! I wish him well today and tomorrow :)