Malaysian GP 2010 - Sepang

[WhiteBlue]

PDF download here!

F1 TIMETABLE

Fri 02 April 2010
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30

Sat 03 April 2010
Practice 3 13:00 - 14:00
Qualifying 16:00

Sun 04 April 2010
Race 16:00

I'm opening the Maylaysian GP thread a bit early because I have a proposal. How would it be if we open the respective thread always with general information like the bits from the FiA page above. As soon as available we could also add some information from the FiA media center - like the nominated driver steward, the schedule of press conferences, weather forcasts and the results of the sessions.

[mx_tifoso]

Why do you have to be so formal about it? Just add the info if you wish to do so.

Kudos on the great map+info though!

The Australian GP isn't even under way yet and we already have this thread.

[ESPImperium]

10 day weather fourcast from MSN: http://weather.msn.com/tenday.aspx?weal ... ast:tenday

I am liking what i am seeing so far.

[gibells]

Cannot wait for some more racing. Please please more rain. Because based on Oz, good though it was, there seems to be very little chance of getting around people in stable conditions.

[andrew]

Sepang is quite a good track with pleanty of overtaking opportunities. I like what I'm seeing on the long range forecast but my worries are that is a safety car start (totally pointless) and the race length could be shortened.

[dave34m]

Sepang is quite a good track with pleanty of overtaking opportunities. I like what I'm seeing on the long range forecast but my worries are that is a safety car start (totally pointless) and the race length could be shortened.

Must be a real good long range forecast

[meves]

Fortuantely you don't need much long range weather forecasting there, the rainy season is from November to March (although April is still very wet). The usual course of events is it's dry in the morning and early afternoon the clouds build and it rains a lot through the afternoon.

The usual sites are beginning to realise that it's likely to rain, so it could be outboard motor time again!
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/231281/sepang-weather-update-heavy-showers-forecast/

[WhiteBlue]

It is time they do something about this problem. Four fly away races for the start of the season isn't ideal either. Bernie needs to find another solution.

[Miguel]

Wikipedia has a nice table with the average weather in Kuala Lumpur. Amazing. 16 days of rain in April (slightly less than Donostia-San Sebastian in November) and a whooping 250mm of rain (50% more than my home city in November, which I would consider pretty rainy). And then, yeah, basically everybody agrees that it mostly rains on dusk. Who had this great idea of running the race at dusk in March-April? Odds are it will rain.

EDIT: Talking about the race, if other teams don't come up with a blown wing solution similar to McLaren, they will have a huge disadvantage. While it wasn't that noticeable in Bahrain, the MP4/25 had 4 km/h advantage over Renault, 7 over Ferrari and an incredible 15 km/h advantage over Red Bull (maybe overconfident regarding their speed, and completely forgetting about top speed). Having this top speed advantage without sacrificing downforce in the corners is key to overtaking.

[jddh1]

I tip Seb Vettel to finally pick up his first win of the season.

[jon-mullen]

Here's Button's pole lab from last year, @ 1:35.181 (fueled for start). Q2's fastest lap was Button @ 1:33.784.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I tip Seb Vettel to finally pick up his first win of the season.

It's shaping up to be a real cluster-fu(k as rain is on the bill of fare.
On the positive side for Vettel, unlike last season where he got into engine trouble early, this season he has low miles due to a retirement.
He could, and might opt for a new lump, and save the power-plant he used in OZ for a less demanding track.
Personally I think his jinxed season start may not have run its course.
Depending on the way the race develops he may find himself in a position of peril if he's not on the front row, due to a wet or varying precipitation in Quali.

[Sean H]

with rain looming, it will be a battle between LH and Alonso.

[raymondu999]

Let's not forget Vettel is amazing in the rain too. He dominated Monza 2008 on a dry setup

[Poleman]

Let's not forget Vettel is amazing in the rain too. He dominated Monza 2008 on a dry setup

Yea sometimes sh*t happens... Seriously now he seems to be OK too...not as Fernando and Lewis but at least close to their levels...I cant recall any other spectacular drive in the wet for Sebastian till Monza 2008.