'Malaysia P2 Results'

[Panther_99FS]

Schumacher & Rosberg looking very fast (while Red Bull is still challenging the legality of the car).....

1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	-	28
2	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	0.361	34
3	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	0.363	30
4	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	0.524	34
5	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	0.681	33
6	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	0.719	27
7	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	0.961	29
8	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1.125	33
9	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1.139	22
10	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1.230	25
11	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1.272	35
12	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1.292	26
13	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1.453	20
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1.515	16
15	9	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	1.524	29
16	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	2.099	28
17	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	2.506	34
18	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	2.775	33
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	3.292	25
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	3.509	20
21	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	4.422	18
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	4.702	24
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	5.486	18
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	5.651	22

[Ferry_vO]

Qualifying results:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:37.813	1:37.106	1:36.219	14
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:37.575	1:36.928	1:36.368	14
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:37.517	1:37.017	1:36.391	14
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:37.172	1:37.375	1:36.461	19
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:37.961	1:36.715	1:36.461	13
6	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.102	1:37.419	1:36.634	14
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:38.058	1:37.338	1:36.658	14
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:37.696	1:36.996	1:36.664	14
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.151	1:37.379	1:37.566	16
10	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:37.933	1:37.477	1:37.698	17
11	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:37.789	1:37.589		14
12	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:38.381	1:37.731		15
13	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1:38.437	1:37.841		13
14	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.325	1:37.877		15
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:38.419	1:37.883		14
16	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.303	1:37.890		13
17	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.372	1:38.069		12
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:39.077			7
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1:39.306			9
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1:39.567			6
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:40.903			8
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1:41.250			8
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:42.914			4
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:43.655			6
		Q1 107% Time		1:43.974

[Ferry_vO]

Raikkonen will get a five place grid penalty for changing the gearbox, while Kovalainen will get the same for overtaking under the safety car in Australia.

Looks like both Lotus and Mercedes have overtaken Ferrari, who are now sorrounded by Saubers and Williams! P9 and P12, no doubt the italian newspapers will be even unhappier!
Red Bull not in the great shape of the last two seasons either, in P4 and P6 but perhaps they'll do better in the race like in Australia.
Both HRT's made it to the race, quite impressive after the double DNQ last week!

[wombat666]

FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting has attempted to quell the possibility of protests at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix by declaring that the rear wing being run by the Mercedes AMG Petronas team is legal.

The wing is thought to use the car's existing DRS system, specifically the movable section of the rear wing, to uncover a hole on the inside of the endplate, which then channels air to the front wing in search of extra performance. Rival teams, notably Red Bull and Lotus, have claimed that, with the driver dictating when the DRS system is employed, the system contravenes rules concerning movable aerodynamic devices, but Whiting has now reiterated his belief that there is nothing wrong with the concept, based on the fact that the hole remains partially uncovered when the wing is in its standard position. As such, he argues, it is difficult to determine that it is fully operated by the driver.

The threat of protests at the Australian Grand Prix failed to materialise, particularly after Mercedes endured a tough opening round, but remained ahead of the Sepang event as the Three Pointed Star's rivals attempted to either have the system outlawed or revealed in greater detail. While Whiting's ruling that the concept is merely 'an extension of current DRS technology' - an area in which driver intervention is allowed to influence the car's aero performance - attempts to head off such opposition, however, the announcement is more likely to remove the insinuation of illegality and force an official protest.

The other alternative, however, is that rival teams will now be forced to design their own version of the Mercedes wing, without the benefit of having its inner workings disclosed to all.

Whiting, meanwhile, has also ruled on an objection made in the opposite direction, after Mercedes questioned the way in which the Renault engine used by Red Bull and Lotus was operating. According to BBC Sport, the Brackley-based team had presented audio evidence claiming that the engine was cutting more than the four cylinders allowed by the regulations, possibly to gain benefit in either traction, fuel efficiency or aerodynamics, but Whiting has declared that, based on review of data from the engine, there is nothing untoward.

[Panther_99FS]

Pastor Maldonado has had another good qualifying session....(i.e. Massa replacement next year?)

1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	01:37.813	01:37.106	01:36.219	14
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	01:37.575	01:36.928	01:36.368	14
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	01:37.517	01:37.017	01:36.391	14
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	01:37.172	01:37.375	01:36.461	19
5	9	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	01:37.961	01:36.715	01:36.461	13
6	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	01:38.102	01:37.419	01:36.634	14
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	01:38.058	01:37.338	01:36.658	14
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	01:37.696	01:36.996	01:36.664	14
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	01:38.151	01:37.379	01:37.566	16
10	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	01:37.933	01:37.477	01:37.698	17
11	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	01:37.789	01:37.589	-	14
12	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	01:38.381	01:37.731	-	15
13	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	01:38.437	01:37.841	-	13
14	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	01:38.325	01:37.877	-	15
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	01:38.419	01:37.883	-	14
16	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	01:38.303	01:37.890	-	13
17	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	01:38.372	01:38.069	-	12
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	01:39.077	-	-	7
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	01:39.306	-	-	9
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	01:39.567	-	-	6
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	01:40.903	-	-	8
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	01:41.250	-	-	8
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	01:42.914	-	-	4
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	01:43.655	-	-	6

[Wing_Z]

Amazing how the Lotii have bracketed RBR! Excellent effort from Grosjean.
Mercedes haven't done as well as I thought they might - this is perhaps the best track for their aero advantage.
The car looks made for Schumacher though, quite good to see him perform again.

Lewis on pole again... maybe a win this time?
Although the weather is going to be a big factor, and we'll see the usual scramble when it rains.

Great to see how close the frontrunners are: P2 - P8 covered by no more than 0.3 of a second!

Pastor Maldonado has had another good qualifying session....(i.e. Massa replacement next year?)

I suspect Perez might be closer than we think.

[Ferry_vO]

Bernie, if you read this: I would rather get out of bed an hour earlier than having to sit through yet another rain break.....!

[wombat666]

Bernie, if you read this: I would rather get out of bed an hour earlier than having to sit through yet another rain break.....!

Bloody idiot should STFU re Melbourne becoming a 'Night Race' and bring Malaysia forward to a 14:00 start time.
I was stationed throughout the area [Malaysia-Singapoore-Indonesia] several times and it rained at 16:00 almost each day........well, maybe 99/100.

[Ferry_vO]

Go perez!!

[wombat666]

Maybe one lap too late and out on the hard rubber!!!!
Great drive by the young bloke whatever the outcome.

PS: Epic drives by Alonso and Perez, great runs by 'The Iceman' [in the Renault] and Senna, idiot of the weekend [again] goes to Grosjean.

[Panther_99FS]

I suspect Perez might be closer than we think.

[Wing_Z]

Heh... go Perez, alright!
Pity Kamui couldn't put it together, the Sauber chassis does seem to treat its tyres very well.
Lotus seem to think their car is worth more than 5th place, be interesting to see a "conventional" race result for them.
I'll just post these as I am in the right time zone:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	2:44:51.812	8	25
2	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+2.2 secs	9	18
3	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+14.5 secs	1	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+17.6 secs	4	12
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	56	+29.4 secs	10	10
6	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	56	+37.6 secs	13	8
7	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	56	+44.4 secs	14	6
8	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	56	+46.9 secs	18	4
9	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	56	+47.8 secs	16	2
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	56	+49.9 secs	3	1
11	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+75.5 secs	5
12	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	56	+76.8 secs	15
13	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+78.5 secs	7
14	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+79.7 secs	2
15	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+97.3 secs	12
16	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	55	+1 Lap	19
17	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	55	+1 Lap	20
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	55	+1 Lap	24
19	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	54	Engine	11
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	54	+2 Laps	21
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	54	+2 Laps	22
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	54	+2 Laps	23
Ret	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	46	Brakes	17
Ret	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	3	Spin	6

[Wing_Z]

Easier to read than last year's version, the world-famous-only-at-SOH F1 Leader-board, now in bars.
Just in time for China...



Lewis has stated he is after consistency this year, and is demonstrating that a couple of thirds is better than anything else which includes a DNF.