PastyHusty

7AM your time for the next GP in Malaysia. That one isn't so bad if you get an early night. The rest will be at good times of the day, until the last two - China & Japan.

It'll be tricky predicting for the Malaysian GP. Q2 will take place in the middle of the night, so we'll have to predict based on Q1! Hopefully the weather will be good. That'll make the task much easier for us all.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

For anyone who missed the press conference:

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/2683/732.html

DrTagnian

What did you expect in a Minardi? And looking at our predictions, everyone expected him to retire.

How many hours before the race does Q2 take place?

PastyHusty

4 hours. I got the start time of the race slightly wrong before when I said it was starting at 7AM your time. It's 7AM for me and 8AM for you and Lizzy. All of us have Q2 taking place in the middle of the night..

PastyHusty

After an interesting race in Australia in which we got to see how the new, but silly, rules had an effect on racing, it's on to Malaysia where we are likely to learn more about what effect the new rules will have on F1.

Many drivers will start this weekends race with the same engines they used in Australia. The hot conditions in Malaysia combined with their usage in Australia will no doubt create a situation where technical failures are bound to happen.. but what we don't know yet is, how bad will it be!?

What effect will the hot conditions have on tyres!? Australia didn't have the kinda of temperatures that are expected in Malaysia this weekend, so blistering and problems are bound to happen in regard to tyre wear.


Friday's Practice sessions brought the usual unpredictable times as the teams tested out different set-ups. F.Massa managed to set the fastest lap - 1:35.608 - but as you can see, a time that is slower than all but 4 of the drivers in Saturday's Qualifying session, and to be fair - it's not hard to go faster than a Jordan or Minardi. McLaren were consistantly fast (2nd & 4th) along with Toyota (3rd and 5th) with Renault also in the top 10 (6th & 9th) M.Schumacher recorded a time which was over one and a half seconds slower than Massa and which put him 16th. Heidfeld and Sato were also low down (15th & 14th)

Saturday's Practice sessions brought faster times, but not a substancial change in positions for all. Toyota were still high (1st & 4th) as were Renault (3rd and 6th) with Red Bull joining them at the front of the field (2nd & 5th) McLaren slipped a bit ending up 7th & 11th. Ferrari were still not in the top 10, but Schumacher was convinced that they would be better in Qualifying - oh how wrong he was.


Saturday's Qualifying Session
1. F.Alonso. 1:32.582
2. J.Trulli. 1:32.672
3. G.Fisichella. 1:32.765
4. K.Raikkonen. 1:32.839
5. R.Schumacher. 1:33.106
6. M.Webber. 1:33.204
7. J.P.Montoya. 1:33.333
8. N.Heidfeld. 1:33.464
9. J.Button. 1:33.616
10. C.Klien. 1:33.724
11. D.Coulthard. 1:33.809
12. M.Schumacher. 1:34.072
13. F.Massa. 1:34.151
14. R.Barrichello. 1:34.162
15. A.Davidson. 1:34.866
16. J.Villeneuve. 1:34.887
17. N.Karthikeyan. 1:37.806
18. T.Monteiro. 1:37.856
19. P.Friesacher. 1:39.268
20. C.Albers. 1:40.432

Impressive for Renault, Toyota, McLaren and Williams - which is actually what the practice sessions predicted would happen. Red Bull, Ferrari, BAR and Sauber are between positions 9th and 16th with the times suggesting that the race could be very close between those teams. Jordan and Minardi are in a class of their own, unfortunately.

I predict another fine race for Renault, an improved one for McLaren and an average one for Ferrari - they'll surely be pleased when the 2005 car is ready for racing. Toyota and Williams should be strong, but it remains to be seen exactly how the new rules will play out for each team. Hopefully we'll see a fantastic race as the heat and type of track should give us plenty of excitement in terms of incidents and overtaking chances.

What does everyone think of the new qualifying format?

DrTagnian

All are to prevent Schumacher from driving away with the title again.

If you look at the fact the two qualifying times will be aggregated, I think that's a pretty good idea. This way drivers have more chance than 1 lap only. On the other hand, you may not get any surprising results, which we do want to see ofcourse. I don't really get why they put the second qualifying session on the Sunday. But as long as we get to see a good race, it's fine with me.

Pole Prediction
F Alonso

My Top 8
1. F Alonso
2. J Trulli
3. M Schumacher
4. R Barrichello
5. G Fisichella
6. K Raikkonen
7. M Webber
8. N Heidfeld

3 to retire
- A Davidson
- C Albers
- T Monteiro

Fastest Lap
F Alonso

I'm all for Alonso this weekend.

PastyHusty

I have to agree. I'd much prefer to see him beaten by the other teams actually catching up on their own initiative. This way it does seem a little hollow, but I can't deny it's really good and refreshing to see different results and positions during sessions.

I just wonder how it'll all pan out when Ferrari introduce their 2005 car. Will they be dominant once again!? If so, will the FIA introduce more new rules to try and stop Schumacher. One day he will be stopped, but I'd rather it be through the other teams hard work or him retiring.


You stole my thoughts and wrote them in your post!

I like how the first session is actually meaningful now in that it does more than set up the running order for the second session. That could be easily done by using a computer program to pick names at random. I also like how the drivers can't make a mistake and get away with it - certainly makes for a more interesting race!

What I don't like is the timing of the second session. It makes predicting hard and ruins pre-race talk! Newspapers can't realistically comment on what could happen and the fans only have 3 hours to chat about, that's if they're in the right time zone.. I'll wake up tommorow and have no idea what the grid is when I go down to watch the race - unless I have a quick check beforehand. That's weird.


Me too!

Pole Prediction
F.Alonso

I might do my race predictions now. Then again, I'm tempted to do them moments before the race starts. If only my TV up here in my room had a good quality picture..

PastyHusty

Malaysian GP Predictions
Top 8
1. F.Alonso.
2. K.Raikkonen.
3. G.Fisichella.
4. M.Webber.
5. J.P.Montoya.
6. M.Schumacher.
7. J.Trulli.
8. J.Button.

3 To Retire
- R.Schumacher
- C.Albers
- C.Klien

Fastest Lap
F.Alonso


I may change these just before the race starts.

EliteHorse

Or you could change them after the race. No one would notice.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Another race to forget today for me.