Malaysia preview

[monkeyboy1976]

Some pics from Sepang today (none of the new Spyker yet):-


White lined tyre. It was not an April fool's joke.






You were saying?

[Tom]

Is that Charlie Whiting inspecting the Ferrari?

[ginsu]

Indeed, that is Charlie...

A few more pics that I found interesting.

Ferrari has gurney flaps on the horizontal upper edge of the diffuser AND the vertical edge! I don't think I have seen that before. All in all, it should increase the airflow through the opposite side that the gurney is located.




Serrated Gurney Flap, should make for less drag than a conventional gurney flap.

n addition, the 0.05C Gurney flap was serrated with different heights of 0.01C to 0.05C separately. In comparison with the baseline clean configuration results, it was found that the model with plate Gurney flaps can indeed increase the lift-to-drag ratio at moderate-to-high lift coefficients for the wing, and the greatest increment was obtained for the 0.01C Gurney flap. The effect of Gurney flap on the increment of lift-to-drag ratio tends to be not significant with the increase of sideslip angle. Moreover, the 0.05C serrated Gurney flap provides the best performance among the serrated Gurney flaps.

I just thought this was too funny! Toyota finishing touches on the front wing?




Renault Engine

[leomax]

For those who want to follow practice 2,live now
http://www.eurosport.com/formula1/malaysia-gp/2007/livefullpage_mtc172560.shtml

thats coz he was having problems with the engine...

I have never heard of such a thing ,any news/link of the same?

[joseff]

Who wants to take a guess at what excuse fisi will use this week?

Reigning Malaysian Grand Prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella overcome a bout of flu to record the second fastest time in practice at Sepang, even if he admits the car is still lacking grip compared to the test last week.

We have a winner!

Fisi: Couldn't cope with the extreme humidity/heat...had the flu or to that sort plus the car is just not good enough.

[bizadfar]

With the weather forecast for rain..its good news for Kimi..and not so for Alonso or Mclaren..remember Brazilian GP 2003..Kimi was in a class of his own..probably 2nd only to michael at Spa in 2002...Ferrari know their Bridgestones very well...Mclaren,Renault have switched to Bridgestones after a long time..so it ll take some time to perform with new brand of tyres....Hamilton with only 1 race exp will struggle..wet races are always scary...only the exp drivers come out of them...alive.

Excuse me ?

Are you forgetting the most recent and best judgement, Hungary ??

Alonso and JB owned everyone, Kimi was slwoer than Pedro =/

it is not bad or good for anyone. :S

thats coz he was having problems with the engine...

JB's pace was good and he was also slightly quicker than Alonso. Kimi if you notice had a different front wing. Plus being it after the first pitstop, it looked like the supposed changes they made did not improve the car. He was not having any problems with engine. Just lack of pace in the car.

As i remember kimi was slow after first pit stop ,pedro was closing in..

Correct, and that is why he crashed. Trying to let Pedro past, he didn't see the car infront was slowing down to obey blue flag.

yes...Alonso was terrific in Hungary,but on superior tyres...JB got the victory coz the top runners were out of the race...even though he drove well ... starting from 15th in that one..and Raikkonen was nt slow even once in the race(P1 in qual)..no one o.t. him until he was out of the race

Tyres were similar to JB's. I would put it down to better setup to use those tyres for sure. JB got the victory because he was matching Alonso's pace or even faster. It would've been closer for sure, but he has a very good chance to overtake Alonso anyway. Fact is JB WAS a front runner that race despite his engine grid penalty in the early stages. Jenson started 14th in a cluster fu*k and remained there for some time. Or you could say JB failed to capitilize in the beginning, have to watch it again to see.

[f1.redbaron]

From:

http://www.f1technical.net/news/5341

In the final shoot-out the Toyota team brought the crucial new tyre runs forward due to the threat of rain, which didn't materialize.

A question - what is a "tire run"?

[joseff]

I think you misread it

it is: (new tyre) run
not: new (tyre run)

ie. the hot laps you set on new tyres. They bring the schedule forward.

[f1.redbaron]

I think you misread it

it is: (new tyre) run
not: new (tyre run)

ie. the hot laps you set on new tyres. They bring the schedule forward.

you know what? I think I did!

I've just reread the whole thing, including the following quote from Vasselon"

Various things didn’t work out but mainly we got it wrong with the weather forecast. We were expecting a shower in the last moments of Q3 so we brought our new tyre run forward and that cost us a few tenths.

Thanks

[icef1mkd]

well, this topic previews Malaysia, but the weekend is well under away.

I have a question then:
we know Rubens and Heikki have switched to their T-cars (Rubens during Quali, Heikki during the 3rd free practice)

Will they start tomorrow with those T-cars?

ps: Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates it

[Ciro Pabón]

Is the field becoming narrower. Or is it the track?


Nice constant trend, don't you think?

[icef1mkd]

please, can someone answer my question (the post above Ciro)?

and another one...

so let's say Massa set the pole with the softer tyre...so he starts tomorrow with the same specification, right?

thanks

[ruud.]

Some pics from Sepang today (none of the new Spyker yet):-


White lined tyre. It was not an April fool's joke.

i think the line is a new / temporary indication to make the compound differences visual?

[DaveKillens]

Yup, the white marking on a groove indicates the softer compound.
Well, McLaren, Ferrari, BMW, and Williams are progressing while so far this weekend just confirms that both Renault and Honda have got it wrong, and have to make major design changes, and very soon.
Qualifying was exciting, both Ferrari and McLaren have the best pace, who can sustain it for the entire race? I have a personal theory about Kimi. Ferrari have always been fully aware of the big picture, the final outcome of the titles. Maybe they have decided against an engine change and have instead decided to run reduced revs, a certain fourth, probably third or second rather than starting mid pack and risking more? Ferrari probably have great race pace, and Kimi will be able to hold his own even running 500 revs less.

[checkered]

I have a personal theory about Kimi. Ferrari have always been fully aware of the big picture, the final outcome of the titles. Maybe they have decided against an engine change and have instead decided to run reduced revs, a certain fourth, probably third or second rather than starting mid pack and risking more? Ferrari probably have great race pace, and Kimi will be able to hold his own even running 500 revs less.

Even if they're doing just that, they'll never admit to it. Still, those two are the most logical options and that is not just your impression, but seems to be forming as a more general consensus among commentators. Despite the overall projected confidence, remarks about the engine (and protecting it) have been uncharacteristically inconsistent for Ferrari, so I believe the problem is/was very much a real one and Kimi (who said it was a decision that everyone took part in) is going to "take one for the team" in Sepang.

Is the field becoming narrower. Or is it the track?

Too early to call. Melbourne certainly isn't representative, a good car and a good setup counts for less there (with regard to performance) than on purpose built tracks, since one must make a lot more compromises than on purpose built tracks. Do the graph after Bahrain and we'll have something more tangible to discuss. If weather doesn't come into play, that is ...