2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

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mario
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by mario »

MaxZero wrote:This race was a superb demonstration of the new regulations, i never thought very much of the races in Malaysia but it was superb fun, theres hope for the Hungaroring yet ^_^

The Rudderless Russian reminds me of Glock in the Toyota at Australia 2008, can't remember why he got off line and was launched but it looked very similar.
Best image of an airborn F1 car? i vote this --> http://j.mp/fF2O9P

I wonder, is that Flugplatz? The cars tended to become airborne as they went over the crest of the hill there (which, given that the corner was named after a former airstrip nearby, is somewhat appropriate). I think that I prefer this one though:
Image

Myrvold wrote:
mario wrote:
Wizzie wrote:BREAKING NEWS: Adam Cooper is reporting that Alonso has also been given a 20 second penalty for causing a collision. Has no effect to his finishing position. Hamilton's now 8th behind Kobayashi.

Hmm, I admit that in both instances I think the penalty is a bit excessive. Hamilton moving across on the straight was marginal - it looks more like he started to move to the left, straightened up a bit and then proceeded to continue moving to the left. To me, at least, it wasn't as if Hamilton was wildly swerving across the path of Alonso, and it was no more severe than what most other drivers were doing (like Buemi and Alguersuari in the opening laps when they were fighting each other, or Vettel off the line, since he made several moves both to the right and left to block Hamilton).
As for Alonso clipping Hamilton's rear tyre, that is an even sillier penalty to levy. It just looked like Alonso slightly misjudged the closing speed between himself and Hamilton and simply moved slightly too late to the right to attempt to pass him. It was a slightly clumsy mistake by Alonso, but hardly worth investigating, let alone penalising - since it was just that, a mistake. There was no malice or intention to hit Hamilton,

In fact, I must say that the stewards have been a bit harsh with their penalties for this race - why was Buemi given a 10 second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane? Yes, unlike the Alonso and Hamilton situations, this was a clear cut transgression - but normally that would have been just a drive through, not a stop and go.

[EDIT] Actually, on reviewing the evidence, perhaps Buemi's penalty wasn't so harsh - the stewards say that he was clocked at 120.6kph in the pit lane, which is a long way over the speed limit, and might explain the harsher penalty.


I do think there are some sort of agreement regarding the start and how many moves you can make.

Hamilton's penalty is fair, he did move more than once, it's as easy as that.¨

Let's count togheter.

1. He leaves the corner at the right side, begins a slow and normal crossover.

2. He then turns the car faster to the left (that means, he have made one move by turning to left. You can clearly see that the car moves)

3. He then turns right, you can se he is moving away form the line the car does have(away from the ideal line), and make a right turn.(second move)

4. He then makes the car go left again, back to the ideal line (this is move three)

5. He then places the car more to right when getting to the far left on the track (this can be counted as the fourth move).

When the rules state that you can only make one move, FIA have said they are going to be more strict on this, I can't see what's wrong with it.

My issue is that the move that Hamilton made was similar to the defensive moves that other drivers made during that race. Take Petrov trying to defend against Massa on lap 44 - he exited the corner normally, whereupon Massa moved to Petrov's left. When Massa moved to the right, so did Petrov, before he moves back to the left to cover Massa, which surely counts as more than one change in direction.
The point I'm trying to make is that whilst Hamilton may have made more than one move, his actions were not exactly dissimilar to that of others, and at the time nobody seemed to suggest that what Hamilton was doing was any worse than anybody else. Whilst Hamilton's actions attracted the stewards, and earned him a penalty, I'd have preferred it if that standard was applied consistently, and throughout the field, not just applied to the front runners because they are the ones who get the most airtime. But, I suppose it's not really worth arguing over - everybody has accepted the penalty, and are moving on, and I guess so shall we.

Valrys wrote:And it turns out both HRT cars retired for safety reasons, as opposed to outright failures

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90621

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

In the case of Karthikeyan, it sounds as if the high water temperatures he had could have potentially caused a mechanical problem if left unchecked, so you might as well bring him in beforehand and save the engine from blowing (since they'll need that engine again later in the season). As for Liuzzi, I guess that the car must have been handling pretty badly (he lost about five odd second a lap once that problem emerged) - but if he had finished, and been classified, then HRT would have been ahead of Williams in the WCC.

Speaking of which, Williams were dire today - OK, both drivers were afflicted by mechanical problems, but they had no pace whatsoever today. Unless they can bring a big upgrade to China - which is unlikely, given the quick turnaround required - they might be in for another difficult weekend. What is also worrying is that Team Lotus were relatively close on pace to them - and this is before Team Lotus bring in their new floor and exhaust package in Spain, which is likely to give them a sizeable performance boost.

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Sorry, but it was such a dramatic picture that I couldn't help myself from posting it first.
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Myrvold
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Myrvold »

Sure that an airport close to "flugplatz" is called "flugplatz". An airport called airport is a bit strange. (Flugplatz is the german word for airport).

Well, it looks like Petrov makes two moves, would've liked more than a replay from the feed to know though. It could be a natural move to left.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by watka »

Things we learnt from the race today:

1. Vettel is scary fast. He was able to comfortably beat the McLarens even with the penalty of carrying around faulty KERS. Just wait until Red Bull get a reliable KERS system!

2. Renault are a match for Ferrari, and will overtake Ferrari as the 3rd best team in the next few races as Ferrari go back to the drawing board on the aero.

3. DRS and KERS are doing a good job regarding overtaking. We didn't see too many cars just steaming past each other down the straights, most of the moves were made going into the breaking zones.

4. Button is likely to win a race or two this year based on pure strategy alone, as he did last year. A great tactician and great tyre conservationist.

5. Similarly we could see a Sauber podium at somewhere like Montreal with the way that their car treats its tyres.


Agree or disagree?
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Marco »

Image


Off Topic: THIS is race car pornography.
Does someone have this picture in wallpaper size, please?
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QuickYoda41
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by QuickYoda41 »

Ferrim wrote:I saw a few overtakes that looked a bit stupid, the speed differentials were too big in my opinion. But this is Malaysia and there's always been lots of overtakings here.

I had the same feeling, too. I remember when Kovalainen was just lapped before the start/finish line by Alonso, I had the feeling that actually a Lotus could overtake a Ferrari there with a DRS if they happen to be in a situation like this.

Still, there were some very nice moves, as well, I enjoyed the race. Nick's start and podium made it still better. :) Also the performance of Webber and Kobayashi was good, only thing I felt sorry for was Perez's retirement.

And a last thing: I don't see Vettel unbeatable now, the others were hindered just too much today. (Hamilton and Webber's problems and Heidfeld's brilliant start also gave Seb an advantage) I predict now Vettel not winning China which is quite close. :P
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MaxZero
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by MaxZero »

mario wrote: I think that I prefer this one though:
Image


Also superb, they both illustrate the fat back wheels looking awesome





Opinion of the the Beeb's commentary team was lukewarm after Australia, how do you all think they faired on their second stab?
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J Washburn Stoker
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by J Washburn Stoker »

MaxZero wrote:Opinion of the the Beeb's commentary team was lukewarm after Australia, how do you all think they faired on their second stab?

Brundle is still settling in to the lead role. In the early stages he has far too much to say in too short a time and ends up talking too quickly, interrupts himself, leaves sentences unfinished, and so on. I didn't notice any obvious mistakes (like naming the wrong driver on screen), unlike last time.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by TomWazzleshaw »

MaxZero wrote:Opinion of the the Beeb's commentary team was lukewarm after Australia, how do you all think they faired on their second stab?

Brundle did a commendable job as lead commentator but David seemed quiet at times. Maybe he's afraid of interrupting Martin or something like that but it was the only flaw I found between the two of them.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by nome66 »

Marco wrote:
Image


Off Topic: THIS is race car pornography.
Does someone have this picture in wallpaper size, please?


Lookin big in the back
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Salamander
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Salamander »

Wizzie wrote:
MaxZero wrote:Opinion of the the Beeb's commentary team was lukewarm after Australia, how do you all think they faired on their second stab?

Brundle did a commendable job as lead commentator but David seemed quiet at times. Maybe he's afraid of interrupting Martin or something like that but it was the only flaw I found between the two of them.


IIRC, Brundle was pretty quiet when he first got in the booth, as well. I think it's just a case of Coulthard finding his place in the commentary.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by DanielPT »

I think that was a highly entertaining race. We had drama, overtaking, guys improving late in the race, a guy recovering from a bad start, lots of midfield fighting, 2 surprise podium finishes (I wasn't expecting Button to fare that well), a couple of guys fading... It was one of the best Sepang races in dry weather. I also have a praise for DRS since, gimmick or not, it actually improved racing. Looking forward to China!
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by madmark1974 »

Hmm, to me there was something a bit 'lacking' in the overtaking action today, apart from maybe a few of Kobayashi's battles, we didn't see a lot of like-for-like action, most
of it was due to somebody being on a different strategy, or being on worse/better tyres, and in the end most of the passes were inevitable such was the performance difference
between cars in different 'phases' of their race. Generally the top 3 finishers weren't really involved in much wheel to wheel action and were able to get to the end due to conservative
driving, whereas the 'battlers' such as Webber, Hamilton and Alonso all overdid it. Obviously Webber came out better as he always seemed to plan to make 4 stops and didn't need to
conserve as much as the McLarens and Ferraris who were trying to race each other and save the tyres all at the same time.

I feel quite bad for complaining about all of the overtaking, but aside from the overtakes around the back of the circuit, none of it was really very unexpected. As usual, most of the
best action came from Kobayashi.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by DanielPT »

Heidfeld writes a letter to Kubica.

My respect for Heidfeld went off the charts right now. He truly deserves to win a race...
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Jeroen Krautmeir »

DanielPT wrote:Heidfeld writes a letter to Kubica.

My respect for Heidfeld went off the charts right now. He truly deserves to win a race...

Now this is the type of guy which is rare to find nowadays. Really hope that once Robert comes back, he gets a permanent drive at some good team. Respect, Herr Nick.
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mario
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by mario »

DanielPT wrote:Heidfeld writes a letter to Kubica.

My respect for Heidfeld went off the charts right now. He truly deserves to win a race...

It's nice to see that Heidfeld is wishing Kubica all the best, and that letter is quite touching - it's heartening to see that there is still some camaraderie between the drivers.
As for winning a race, well, he might have a chance in Monaco - like it's predecessors, the R31 has excellent rear traction (we've seen how quick they are off the line), and arguably the R31 is closer to the pace than the R30 was.

Back to the Malaysian GP, and to Perez; it seems that the debris that fell from Buemi's car was a 6kg block of ballast! Unsurprisingly, when it hit the chassis, it did a huge amount of damage - it has punched a hole clean through it and writing it off. Zehnder, the team manager, went as far as saying that it looked like a bomb had gone off in the back of Perez's car, which destroyed the ECU in the process (hence Perez's loss of power).
Unsurprisingly, Perez is being given a new chassis for China, whilst the old chassis will be returned to Hinwil to see if it can be repaired (although the initial inspection suggests that it may be too badly damaged to repair). http://www.yallaf1.com/2011/04/12/perez ... -shanghai/ and http://www.sauberf1team.com/en/news.cfm ... x_-_Update
Interestingly, it seems that Sauber are still doing well at tyre preservation - Kobayashi was able to get away with just two tyre stops in Malaysia, and, presumably, if Perez had not had to retire he might well have done the same. That said, they weren't the only ones - Team Lotus also made just two stops, as did Toro Rosso. However, Alguersuari was very slow at the end of his final stint, whilst Heikki was still setting good times, so it seems that Team Lotus were the better of the two when it came to tyre degradation.

Incidentally, there is another side issue - if, as it is being reported, a 6kg chunk of ballast did come loose from Buemi's car, surely that means that, technically, his car would have been underweight for a substantial portion of the race? Moreover, the FIA might want to have a serious word with Toro Rosso - it was bad enough that they were shedding bodywork across the track in qualifying and causing a red flag, but loose ballast is a potentially much more serious affair.

After all, we saw the injuries that Massa suffered when he was struck on the head by that heave spring, and that was about 1kg, albeit travelling at high speed. I'd dread to think what injuries could be caused by something with six times the mass - if it could punch through the chassis and destroy the ECU, what sort of injuries could it have caused if it punched through the cockpit safety cell instead?
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by TomWazzleshaw »

I've always wanted to know what exactly do the teams use as ballast?

Back on topic and that's simply insane. Any pictures of the damage it caused to Perez's car?
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Bleu »

Buemi's car wasn't underweight in final scrutineering so I assume without lost ballast it would have been at least 646 kg (isn't 640 limit). And while cars had still more than half of the fuel at that point, certainly it wasn't underweight there. Maybe lighter than some of the others though.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by watka »

Toro Rosso should be fined for this, that's just dangerous.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Enforcer »

mario wrote:Incidentally, there is another side issue - if, as it is being reported, a 6kg chunk of ballast did come loose from Buemi's car, surely that means that, technically, his car would have been underweight for a substantial portion of the race? Moreover, the FIA might want to have a serious word with Toro Rosso - it was bad enough that they were shedding bodywork across the track in qualifying and causing a red flag, but loose ballast is a potentially much more serious affair.


Presumably there's more than 6kg allowance for fluid & rubber loss during the race that they ended up not needing for this race. Or they could've decided Buemi's race was going nowhere and turned the engine down to save it and ended up using 6kg less fuel than they had originally calculated. The only other explanations I can think of is that either no one in STR has a working calculator and the car is overweight, or the FIA let it slide because something came off during the race.

I'd hope the latter isn't right because some unscrupulous individuals might design something to detatch mid-race and lighten the car.

Oh wait, that already happened in the 80s, didn't it?
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Phoenix »

Enforcer wrote:
mario wrote:Incidentally, there is another side issue - if, as it is being reported, a 6kg chunk of ballast did come loose from Buemi's car, surely that means that, technically, his car would have been underweight for a substantial portion of the race? Moreover, the FIA might want to have a serious word with Toro Rosso - it was bad enough that they were shedding bodywork across the track in qualifying and causing a red flag, but loose ballast is a potentially much more serious affair.


Presumably there's more than 6kg allowance for fluid & rubber loss during the race that they ended up not needing for this race. Or they could've decided Buemi's race was going nowhere and turned the engine down to save it and ended up using 6kg less fuel than they had originally calculated. The only other explanations I can think of is that either no one in STR has a working calculator and the car is overweight, or the FIA let it slide because something came off during the race.

I'd hope the latter isn't right because some unscrupulous individuals might design something to detatch mid-race and lighten the car.

Oh wait, that already happened in the 80s, didn't it?


Closest I can think about is the well documented Tyrrell ballast affair back in 1984, but no parts from the car were actually detaching during mid race, fortunately.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by J Washburn Stoker »

Wizzie wrote:I've always wanted to know what exactly do the teams use as ballast?

Tungsten, I believe. Denser than lead, cheaper than gold, not radioactive like uranium.
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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by dr-baker »

Apparently, Perez's retirement from the Malaysian GP was not caused by debris/ballast from a Toro Rosso after all!

Autosport.com wrote:Technical director James Key has said his team still does not know exactly what Perez hit in the race - but a part from a Scuderia Toro Rosso car, as first suspected, has now been ruled out with the Italian team confirming its cars were not missing any items at the end of the event.

"It was quite an odd incident actually," Key told AUTOSPORT. "Sergio hit what he believed was a piece of wing or something, because it must have been big enough for him to see.

"It appeared to come off the car in front, which was a Toro Rosso, but subsequently we found out that they also found some damage on their car, so it looks like this piece was lying on the ground beforehand."

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Re: 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Discussion

Post by Warren Hughes »

Maybe Enoch needs to retract his ROTR award then?
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