2015 Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang

[FoxHound]

RIC had car damage including to his front wing and KYV got punted off the track by one of the force India clowns.

They were being overtaken by ToroRosso on track and RIC had a similar pace to Kvyat despite the damage, i'm not saying the engine is great, but RedBull made it sound like it's solely an engine issue, but them fighting against their small sister team that is nowhere near RB budget wise just goes to show that they have more problems than just the engine and that their car is not as good as they think it is.

Anyways, i believe Hamilton should have pitted with his ~10 second advantage instead of waiting until Vettel was able to close the gap and overtake him, those would have been the 10 seconds he lacked at the end

+1

Also of note was the lack of pace relative to Torro Rosso prior to the incident.

[SectorOne]

Thinking about Mercedes decision to pit during the safety car, I wonder if the need to work the tyres hard to overtake didn't help their tyre life. The cars will always be more gentle on the tyres when in clean air taking ideal lines than in dirty air running in the dirty bits of track. Not sure it would have made enough of a difference but perhaps staying out and being clean air would have allowed them to manage the overall situation better. Or perhaps the result today was the best they could actually do in the circumstances. Perhaps that's why Hamilton didn't look as pi**ed as might have been expected on the podium and in the "cool-down" room.

That´s the thing. They took a Medium tire that was the fastest compound at the time and traded it for a slower tire and getting stuck in traffic.

They literally wasted a set of Mediums by only using a small amount of it´s total tire life.
Vettel and Ferrari used the full life of the Mediums and on top of that they got free cooldown laps behind the safety car.

[RZS10]

RIC had car damage including to his front wing and KYV got punted off the track by one of the force India clowns.

They were being overtaken by ToroRosso on track and RIC had a similar pace to Kvyat despite the damage, i'm not saying the engine is great, but RedBull made it sound like it's solely an engine issue, but them fighting against their small sister team that is nowhere near RB budget wise just goes to show that they have more problems than just the engine and that their car is not as good as they think it is.

Seriously, pay attention to the race, RIC even got told to let DK past due to the front wing damage getting worse. Just after that DK got punted off by a force India.

lol ... at least one Toro Rosso was in front of Red Bull during most of the race, and ToroRosso was in front of RB anyways when that incident happened... i seriously don't understand what you're on about

[Waywardism]

Have to give credit to Ferrari for how much they've closed the pace gap to make this win possible, and to Vettel for a faultless drive. Although nothing I've seen today makes me think they are serious contenders this year, they're still the best part of a second behind. It's going to be Mercedes all the way.

Mercedes threw this race away with bad strategy. Not the much talked about tyre call in Q1, they threw it away with the early pitstop behind the safety car. I think an air of complacency over their pace played a part here. Hamilton had lost +11s by the time he cleared the traffic, and lost more again by having to do more laps on worn tyres. This was most notable after Vettel stopped and was some 2s quicker than Hamilton. Had they stuck with a straight 3-stop with even stints I think it would've been very close between Vettel and Rosberg at the end. Reminds me a little of McLaren in the Whitmarsh years, though unlike McLaren I think Mercedes will pinpoint the mistake and not keep making it again and again and again.

Well done to Verstappen, youngest ever point scorer.

[SparkyAMG]

Excited for the rest of the season following this race.

Merc still the team to beat I think. Bit of complacency in their strategy this weekend - last season they had the pace advantage to all teams even whilst on the prime tyre, and I think they thought they'd have enough of an advantage today to be able to run 2x prime stints after the safety car came out.

As it turned out, they needed to push harder than expected and ended up eating their tyres and getting caught in no mans land compared to Ferrari.

Great job by Ferrari though - they're so much closer than anyone expected, and got everything right today. Very well deserved win, and despite not being a Vettel fan I was glad to see him on the top step in Ferrari colours. It clearly means a lot to him and the symbolism of this win wasn't lost on him.

Really enjoyed Toro Rosso finished ahead of Red Bull too. Nothing more than Red Bull deserve following all of their petty complaints and politics.

[djos]

i seriously don't understand what you're on about

Not surprising as you clearly weren't watching the race properly.

[Phil]

Regarding Mercedes 3 stops vs Ferraris 2: i fairly certain Mercedes could have made the 2 stopper work if they hadnt thrown away their first set of 'perfectly fine' tyres during the safety car. That put them in an awkward place strategy wise in that a 2 stop wasnt enough and had to extend it to 3. The other big side effect is that they [Lewis] through traffic lost 10+ seconds on the stop and traffic. Then to add to it, they found themselves competing with Vettel on options vs. them on primes. The high temperature didnt help as they had high tyre degredation. Vettel/Ferrari were extraordinary in how long they could make the option last.

If Mercedes had stayed out to retain track position, i do wonder if Vettel had not won it anyway. Up until the safety car, Vettel was able to stay within Hamiltons DRS (eventhough it was still disabled). That was quite eye opening. Tenperature played a huge role, but Malaysia is an anomoly race in that sense.

Also, what is interesting - Ferrari were way quicker in the speed traps, so i am fairly certain that Mercedes was running a lot more downforce. That probably helps them in all areas under normal track temperatures in regards to tyre wear and df tracks, but here in malaysia.... Nope.

[ylk1]

Oh Man!!
Mercedes threw away their chance to have perfect victory score. shame.

[AnthonyG]

Regarding Mercedes 3 stops vs Ferraris 2: i fairly certain Mercedes could have made the 2 stopper work if they hadnt thrown away their first set of 'perfectly fine' tyres during the safety car. That put them in an awkward place strategy wise in that a 2 stop wasnt enough and had to extend it to 3. The other big side effect is that they [Lewis] through traffic lost 10+ seconds on the stop and traffic. Then to add to it, they found themselves competing with Vettel on options vs. them on primes. The high temperature didnt help as they had high tyre degredation. Vettel/Ferrari were extraordinary in how long they could make the option last.

If Mercedes had stayed out to retain track position, i do wonder if Vettel had not won it anyway. Up until the safety car, Vettel was able to stay within Hamiltons DRS (eventhough it was still disabled). That was quite eye opening. Tenperature played a huge role, but Malaysia is an anomoly race in that sense.

Also, what is interesting - Ferrari were way quicker in the speed traps, so i am fairly certain that Mercedes was running a lot more downforce. That probably helps them in all areas under normal track temperatures in regards to tyre wear and df tracks, but here in malaysia.... Nope.

The Ferrari could stay out longer than the Merc, if they'd stayed out during SC and pitted ater a normal distance. They might could have ended up in traffic as well.

[stuartpengs]

i seriously don't understand what you're on about

Not surprising as you clearly weren't watching the race properly.

Just watching a Christian Horner interview on BBC, he seems to think Red Bull were beaten fairly and squarely by Toro Rosso.

[Waywardism]

The Ferrari could stay out longer than the Merc, if they'd stayed out during SC and pitted ater a normal distance. They might could have ended up in traffic as well.

That's true but then they would've been clearing cars on very worn tyres.

[henra]

Although nothing I've seen today makes me think they are serious contenders this year, they're still the best part of a second behind.

I doubt it. The first Williams ended 70s behind. That's a whopping 1,3s per Lap that the Ferrari was faster.
Yes, the strategy made the scales finally tip towards Ferrari today, but even on a similar strategy it would have been pretty close between Ferrari and Merc today. Close meaning 0,1s per Lap in favor of Merc Maximum. (1 additional pitstop partly compensated by somewhat higher possible pace might have meant Seb ending up somewhere between 5s and directly behind Lewis had they also gone for a three stopper.
More difficult to judge is what a 2 stopper for Merc would have meant. Would have been the better strategy for Merc in any case.

[SectorOne]

The Ferrari could stay out longer than the Merc, if they'd stayed out during SC and pitted ater a normal distance. They might could have ended up in traffic as well.

Still better then tossing the tire away after 5 laps and knowing you will for a fact get out in traffic with a slower tire.

[erlik]

As I understand, merc used all of their tokens and ferrari still has some. This can make season more intersting... Anyway I doubt Ferrari will have more than clear 2nd place in Wcc and maybe Vettel will have chance for 2nd in Wdc.

[FoxHound]

@phil

+1
I'd go along with that assessment.
The early pitstop killed Mercedes strategy, throwing away the early set of tyres was a hammer blow.
In the first 5 laps of a race, if your strategy isnt compromised and it aint raining... stay out!
Track position and clear air is worth time...