Tag Archives: malaysia

Two weeks, two tyre choices and two very different results for Jenson Button

In Australia Jenson Button made a very brave tyre call that effectively won him the race, he made it work but it gave him the opportunity to win. A week later and he sat on the grid with the softer option tyres whilst everyone around him was on the harder compound – and finished the race in 8th place 2 behind Lewis Hamilton who’d started behind him on the harder tyres.
Jenson’s race didn’t get off to a flying start as he found himself behind the Ferrari’s, a stop on lap 8 put him on the harder tyres and on a clear part of the track which he used to his advantage to put in some fast times which were out of sync with his rivals and in the process he jumped most of them, but, he’s now two thirds of the way into the race on the hard tyres which [...]

Sebastien Vettel finally gets that win as Red Bull show their form at last

Sebastien Vettel took a flawless victory in the Malaysian heat which he essentially won in the first corner after he managed to squeeze Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg out. Mark Webber almost had him at one point but a sticking right front air gun and a blistering out lap from Vettel put pay to that chance.
With the McLarens and the Ferraris out of position it was only Hamilton who really made any impression on the other drivers as carved his way though the field though ultimately he only finished just ahead of Massa and Button. Alonso also deserves a mention for nursing a downshift problem through the whole race distance before his Ferrari engine expired two laps from the end, he was close to taking Button even with his problems that would have meant the car was unpredictable under breaking and unbalanced in some of the slower turn ins.
Adrian Sutil [...]

Friday practice in Malaysia – Lewis Hamilton takes the day

The practice sessions on Friday were dominanted by the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton as he seeks to put Australia behind him as fast as possible. The other McLaren of Jenson Button, the two Mercedes and the Red Bull of Sebastien Vettel have all shown pace through the sessions.
Practice 1
In first practice Hamilton lead the way with Button and the two Mercedes in close pursuit, the Renault of Kubica was also still showing the pace that he had in Australia. The new teams were much closer to the back of the pack with the Virgins and the Lotus’ mixing it up together and the HRT Cosworth cars just behind them.
It seems that the Williams cars were either practising long runs or are very slow here. With the Ferraris and the Red Bulls down the order they might not have been the only ones.
1. Hamilton [...]

Looking ahead to Malaysia – what’s in store at the next race?

The Malaysian Grand Prix has had a few shows in the past and has been a Ferrari stronghold at times but it’s the torrential rain that it’s famous for. Last year was the worst rain in recent history though for race day and the race had to be abandoned after just 36 laps with the win eventually going to Jenson Button though he only got half points.
The race retains it’s late afternoon start time so we’ll be hoping that the rain we had last year doesn’t make a reappearance on Sunday. The forecast doesn’t look that great though with Sunday having the least chance of rain at only 80%. If it does rain all weekend then the track is likely to be very green and the tyres will have a hard time, though if it rains in the race this won’t be an issue.
McLaren are trying to manage expectations ahead [...]