[Official] Round 2 - Malaysian Grand Prix

[Born Racer]

It's slightly surprising to think we've had that many Malaysian Grands Prix; it doesn't seem that long that it's been running.

That's a magnificent introduction, frostie. Bravo Sir.

[Peter Mallett]

All the top times are pretty close, compared to Australia. Seems from FP3 that the Macaroons are improving. Force India looking very feisty and and the Red Bulls in their usual place. Interesting to see Alonso beaten by Massa and Kimi struggling this morning.

[kurski]

Heikki Kovalainen was Caterham (Sepang) pixbox talking with Tony Fernandez.

[gregtummer]

An hour until qualifying.

Anyone know what the weather forecast is for qualifying?

[Peter Mallett]

Raining in session 2. Top ten, Ros/Web/Ham/Rai/Sut/Mas/Alo/But/Vet/Per. Fastest 1:36.449 to 10th 1:37.342.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by bella

if we're looking at random couple of quid bets, what about vergne for a podium?

That would be a miracle!

[Peter Mallett]

Paul Di Resta.

It's the team's fault guvnor!

[Peter Mallett]

Q3 starts in inters. Vettel on slicks?

F1 timing info.

[Peter Mallett]

Looks like Vet for pole.

[Peter Mallett]

Vet/Mas/Alo/Ham/Web/Ros/Rai/But/Sut/Per. 1:49.674 to 1:54.136.

[Razzzor]

Vettel with a wet setup? He was nowhere in the dry part of quali.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Massa/Alonso should be interesting. Lucky 7th for Kimi?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Paul Di Resta.

I wasn't too impressed with those interviews (Sky and R5 Xtra) to be honest.

I think you win as a team and lose as a team. So someone on the pit wall makes a mistake, you don't shout about it. S**t happens. I didn't hear his team moaning when he stuffed it at the end of the Brazil GP.

Maybe he's feeling under pressure with Sutil coming back? Whatever he's still got a fast car so maybe he'll do the job tomorrow.

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

I wasn't too impressed with those interviews (Sky and R5 Xtra) to be honest.

I think you win as a team and lose as a team. So someone on the pit wall makes a mistake, you don't shout about it. S**t happens. I didn't hear his team moaning when he stuffed it at the end of the Brazil GP.

Maybe he's feeling under pressure with Sutil coming back? Whatever he's still got a fast car so maybe he'll do the job tomorrow.

Compare DiResta with his compatriot Andy Murray. Neither of them interview well, although Murrey has improved a lot.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Fantastic intro, thanks frostie.

Vettel's on pole, so everything is back to normal. However, Massa's also on the front row but I suppose this achievement will be short lived. .

Hope I can get to watch this live rather than BBC extended highlights.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Vettel's on pole, so everything is back to normal.

.

Well, not really, remember last weekend...



Should be a good race, wet or dry, but I'm ready for a long race in case of yet another Malaysia red flag.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

Well, not really, remember last weekend...



Should be a good race, wet or dry, but I'm ready for a long race in case of yet another Malaysia red flag.

I was being facetious, maybe I should have added a .

[Marbot]

Raikkonen hit with three place grid penalty. He'll now start 10th.

[Knowlesy]

di Resta seems very unhappy. Almost as if he seems resigned to a mid-grid career and he can't be arsed to bother anymore.

Sutil is impressive to make matters worse. If he beats him in the race tomorrow I think he might actually cry.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Raikkonen hit with three place grid penalty. He'll now start 10th.

Just to make things more exciting.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

di Resta seems very unhappy. Almost as if he seems resigned to a mid-grid career and he can't be arsed to bother anymore.

Sutil is impressive to make matters worse. If he beats him in the race tomorrow I think he might actually cry.

Yeah, can't work any of this out! Where has the fire come from with Sutil?!

Speaking of which di Resta needs to find an extra gear and quick otherwise it'll be goodnight Vienna for him!

Elsewhere, massively impressed with Massa's consistency and form so far this weekend.

The fact that he and Alonso are so close surely means that the car/setups have been led/developed with both drivers in mind and not just one like they were for most of last season.

The hole Ferrari set up poses a multitude of questions for all of us going forward I feel.

I don't think it matters whether Kimi is 7th or 10th on the grid, if all's ok race wise.

McLaren seem more comfortable but still a long way off?

Maldonado back to smashing his teammate in qualy, even if it's only to get into Q2 at present because the car's rubbish!

Sauber's interesting, Gutierrez is really pushing Hulkenberg very hard indeed?

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Maldonado back to smashing his teammate in qualy, even if it's only to get into Q2 at present because the car's rubbish!

Painful to see a team like Williams' effectively fighting for 9th place in the constructors championship. If they're not careful, Marussia and Bianchi will be out to steal some cash, and maybe even score a point or two!

Apparently, Williams' are considering going back to their 2012 exhaust setup. That's not good news.

[m355y]

So happy for Massa at the moment. It's so easy to forget just how good he was in his first three and a half seasons at Ferrari. He pushed Schumacher, he matched and beat Raikkonen, he showed brilliant qualifying pace and came within one lap of winning the World Championship. Then he had a brain injury and I think it's unsurprising that its taken him this long to get close to being the driver he was.

What's really nice is that Ferrari have kept faith and patience in him, his career could and nine times out of ten probably would have been over with three years in the doldrums. But ever since Monaco last season, he's steadily been getting his mojo back.

I'd love to see him win tomorrow and hope he does so much.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Painful to see a team like Williams' effectively fighting for 9th place in the constructors championship. If they're not careful, Marussia and Bianchi will be out to steal some cash, and maybe even score a point or two!

Apparently, Williams' are considering going back to their 2012 exhaust setup. That's not good news.

Amazing how close Bianchi has been to Williams, Bottas especially, the entire weekend. They're (Marussia and Bianchi) getting closer not further away from Williams. Very worrying times for the team.

[AussieTimmeh]

Interesting. I see the qualifying at Toro Rosso is back to status quo, with Vergne dropping out in Q1. Will be interesting to see if the positions between the two Toro Rosso drivers change during the race like they usually did last year, provided neither car has another mechanical failure.