[Official] Rate the Grand Prix: Malaysian Grand Prix 2015

[Born Racer]

What's your score?

[steve_r]

7. Good race. Surprise result. Some good battles and different strategy's. It died down a bit at the end.

Those predicting the death of F1 after just one race were wrong.

[Paradise City]

Surprise winner, Verstappen and Sainz electric, Raikonnen too, Red Bull humbled, lot's of argy-bargy throughout the field. 9

[TheNo1F1Fan]

8.
Great excitement of who's gonna be the winner, good overtakes from Verstappen and Kvyat getting his first points at his Red Bull season.

[pirenzo]

8/10

There was some great racing throughout the field, and an intriguing strategic battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. The only thing missing was a decisive wheel-to-wheel scrap for the lead. Ferrari fighting and winning makes me more optimistic about the rest of the season, especially since Nico Rosberg seemed thoroughly second best today.

[GT6]

Surprisingly good race so it gets an 8 from me

[Sodemo]

It was quite entertaining, not a classic.

I was hoping for rain at the end.

Good to see Ferrari win again.

It got a 7 from me.

[Oldtony]

Originally Posted by steve_r

7. Those predicting the death of F1 after just one race were wrong.

I'll pass judgement on the race when I see it in 24hrs time thanks to the TV sell out to pay.
Maybe F1 will survive in the rest of the world but I think it is dead as a major sport here in Australia with only delayed highlights available on FTA TV.
Add Danny's struggle with an un competitive RB and the signs are not good.

[bjohnsonsmith]

After Melbourne, it couldn't really have got much worse. It was an intriguing race, which I think for once was helped by the early outing of the SC. Some teams took advantage of the opportunity to pit for tyres and others took advantage of staying out and not pitting, as Vettel and Ferrari did. Plus there were some good battles mid-field. Who'd have thought STR would come out on top of RBR? 7.

[Aysedasi]

8 for me. Lots of overtaking and Mercedes very much on the back foot. Enjoyed the race far more than I have for some time.

[F1Pete]

The race constantly made me think about Redbull whining about the Mercs. Are they going to whine about Ferrari now? I guess Renault will feel 100% of Redbull's wrath.

Lots of overtaking is good and having a track that allows for it is even better. Bottas making it stick on Massa at the end was good to see between team mates.

[wnut]

7 for me. Good to see both Vettel and Ferrari win. Good solid race, I hope we have more!

[stripedcat]

Yeah - I'll go with 7 as well. Good to see the Ferrari take the win. Plus, as was mentioned - we had some decent battles down the field - Kyvat, Sainz, Verstappen, Kimi and Bottas. It certainly made up for Australia. It's good that they were close wheel-to-wheel battles and not just straight DRS - the drivers did have to work for them.

[brands]

A good race which gives hope for the rest of the season.

5

[JeremySmith]

I gave the race a 7, I like Sepang

[JacobP]

Nice sprint race. With lots of wheel to wheel racing in the mid-pack. The Mercedes radio messages were priceless. And when did the last time both Red Bull get lapped by race leader and also finished behind both Toro Rossos?

[Lancsbreaker]

8. Lots of overtaking, particularly by the youngsters, and it offers the hope for an interesting season. End of race a bit dull, despite Merc's insistence that Lewis and Nico were on for catching Seb

[Beryl]

9. Fully entertaining race. More action throughout the field than most 'classics' and an upset win that was in doubt until the last 15 laps.

[Greem]

9. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing the last few years being mixed as if in a hand blender.

[Jordan 199]

Complete opposite of the first race. Dislike Vettel, but happy to see the possibility of a closer fight for the title between teams this year. Lots of good fights throughout the field at many different times. An 8 for me.

[Neil22]

Gave it an 8. Totally enjoyable.

[Taxi645]

6. Was a good race, but I do think we are happy too please in this regard. If this had been the finish differences in a MotoGP of F3 race there would've been an outcry. People are just too much used to seeing the F1 field being pulled apart this much. Keep in mind again only the first 7 (barely) in one lap.

The race was interesting because of the safety car made the situation more interesting both at the front and more so the midfield. That's why the first half was interesting and things started to die down in the second half, the SC situation mixed everything up, but in the end the difference in competitiveness between the teams pulls the race apart. Without the SC it could've been equally boring as Melbourne except for Ferrari being much closer this time.

What I liked:
- Ferrari win (battle at the front)
- Decent race because of SC
- Performance from the youngsters


Still underneath this SC entertained race there's still the underlying truth that the F1 field is still and has always has been too far apart.

[mikuni]

Originally Posted by Taxi645

there's still the underlying truth that the F1 field is still and has always has been too far apart.

This made me laugh. Maybe you just don't like F1 if it has "always been" too far apart. F1 is not a parity formula.


I enjoyed the race and gave it an 8. Not full marks because the safety car moved the cars around through the grid, which resulted in the majority of the passing. The cars were really just finding their places again, but it was very enjoyable to watch.

Good to see Ferrari mixing it up with Mercedes. I'm liking the prospect of the season ahead.
1 LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES 43
2 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI 40
3 NICO ROSBERG MERCEDES 33
4 FELIPE MASSA WILLIAMS 20
5 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FERRARI 12
6 FELIPE NASR SAUBER 10
7 VALTTERI BOTTAS WILLIAMS 10
8 DANIEL RICCIARDO RED BULL RACING 9
9 NICO HULKENBERG FORCE INDIA 6
10 MAX VERSTAPPEN TORO ROSSO 6

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by mikuni

This made me laugh. Maybe you just don't like F1 if it has "always been" too far apart. F1 is not a parity formula.

And I have not claimed it should be, but actively pulling the field apart by handing out performance bonuses to the fastest teams is the stupidest thing you can do if you like close racing. Which any normal motorsport fan would like. Unfortunately the interests of the money always prevails the interests of the sport.

In my view F1 should be the pinnacle of motorsport, the pace of the cars, the quality of the racers and the quality of the races. So no, I haven't really liked F1 the last few decades. To me it is a circus not a sport, put up to to get the money and publicity where the people that are pulling the strings want it to go. I don't feel ashamed to confess that the only reason I'm following F1 again is because I've been a Max Verstappen fan for the last ten years.

What I do love is what F1 could be, but that's just wishful thinking.

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by Taxi645

. Without the SC it could've been equally boring as Melbourne except for Ferrari being much closer this time.

I actually think that the safety car may have robbed us a closer race for the win. Vettel's winning margin was more or less the same gap that he pulled out whilst Hamilton was stuck in traffic after the safety car pulled in, meaning that his 2 stop strategy worked better.

I asked the question on the general race thread, because I am not sure whether the result would ahve been the same without the safety car. Thinking about it more, I think we may have seen a closer finish without. I'm still not certain though.

I also think there was enough going on to suggest that the race would have been good even without the safety car. However, I agree that it did spice things up a bit, and the Force India's backed up cars creating some groups ontrack that would not have been there for example.