2017 Malaysia Grand Prix - Sepang, 29 September-01 October

[Jolle]

I made this point just after the last race. If Vettel goes much further behind then Hamilton being able to bring in an extra ICE into play and just taking a penalty starts to be a possibility to negate the new Ferrari ICE.

That is ASSUMING Ferrari PU is superior to Mercedes PU with conforming to reduced oil burning regulations. If that were to be the case, then we would have surely seen the new Ferrari PU making its debut in Monza. Nevertheless, I am eager to see what the new PU holds.

True. But like I say Hamilton may well have that option added to the fact that he has 2 engines that have only ran 2 races apiece so far. I wonder if it's because Ferrari have used up their turbo allocation. I always thought a ICE and Turbo were designed as a pair.

Ferrari introduced all their four TC pretty soon in the season indeed and that might come and bite them. I think it's safe to say they did this because there was a problem with the first (few) TC's. What we don't know is how strong the later ones are. I can imagine with less sharp tolerances and maybe a bit heavier, bit less on the edge, a TC should perform well all season. With the new no-token rules, they could take some risk in the early versions of a part and if that fails fall back on a bullet proof design for number four. To be very crazy, you now can design 4 very different PU's. One for all the low speed tracks or where you expect rain, lasting half the season and three that will only last a few races for high speed, or just one pure for Monza.... Last year, when your first design had a faulty seal or somewhere a bearing was slightly off or too light, you had a big big problem all season.

[zibby43]

Mercedes is bringing a host of updates and new parts to Malaysia and/or Japan.

Merc's last major aero update was in Spain. Should be very interesting to see what they bring to the table.

We already saw the new shark fin (more surface area) debut in Singapore. Doubt it was a huge help there, but I'm sure Merc wanted to get some real-world data on prior to rolling out the rest of the future upgrades.

Is Ferrari going to bring some updates as well? I think its time to bring the new PU....

Ferrari is bringing their 4th and final ICE to Malaysia. This unit will conform to the new 0.9l "flow rate."

They're going to have to re-use an "old" turbocharger unless they want to take a penalty.

Finally, it is unknown whether Ferrari will be able to introduce the 3D-printed pistons this season.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Mercedes is bringing a host of updates and new parts to Malaysia and/or Japan.

Merc's last major aero update was in Spain. Should be very interesting to see what they bring to the table.

We already saw the new shark fin (more surface area) debut in Singapore. Doubt it was a huge help there, but I'm sure Merc wanted to get some real-world data on prior to rolling out the rest of the future upgrades.

Is Ferrari going to bring some updates as well? I think its time to bring the new PU....

Ferrari is bringing their 4th and final ICE to Malaysia. This unit will conform to the new 0.9l "flow rate."

They're going to have to re-use an "old" turbocharger unless they want to take a penalty.

Finally, it is unknown whether Ferrari will be able to introduce the 3D-printed pistons this season.

3D printed steel pistons, that are supposed to be lighter and should perform better than the normal aluminium ones. The big question mark would be the reliability.

[F1NAC]

Every single time when Malaysia comes up

https://youtu.be/2XhNCpjybSQ?t=2m42s

[bonjon1979]

That is ASSUMING Ferrari PU is superior to Mercedes PU with conforming to reduced oil burning regulations. If that were to be the case, then we would have surely seen the new Ferrari PU making its debut in Monza. Nevertheless, I am eager to see what the new PU holds.

True. But like I say Hamilton may well have that option added to the fact that he has 2 engines that have only ran 2 races apiece so far. I wonder if it's because Ferrari have used up their turbo allocation. I always thought a ICE and Turbo were designed as a pair.

Ferrari introduced all their four TC pretty soon in the season indeed and that might come and bite them. I think it's safe to say they did this because there was a problem with the first (few) TC's. What we don't know is how strong the later ones are. I can imagine with less sharp tolerances and maybe a bit heavier, bit less on the edge, a TC should perform well all season. With the new no-token rules, they could take some risk in the early versions of a part and if that fails fall back on a bullet proof design for number four. To be very crazy, you now can design 4 very different PU's. One for all the low speed tracks or where you expect rain, lasting half the season and three that will only last a few races for high speed, or just one pure for Monza.... Last year, when your first design had a faulty seal or somewhere a bearing was slightly off or too light, you had a big big problem all season.

They're going to take a pen for the Turbo charger at some point. With Hamilton more than a race win ahead, you're going to see mercedes eek it out for as long as possible with the hope that they seal the championship before the last race.

[TAG]

The fact that Hamilton was able to use his Barcelona PU in Singapore is a little bit worrysome.

[Restomaniac]

The fact that Hamilton was able to use his Barcelona PU in Singapore is a little bit worrysome.

For Ferrari? Damn right it is. Like I said engine 3&4 have only done 2 races each and engine 4 was turned right down in Italy due to no pressure from anyone if you remember.

[mkay]

The fact that Hamilton was able to use his Barcelona PU in Singapore is a little bit worrysome.

For Ferrari? Damn right it is. Like I said engine 3&4 have only done 2 races each and engine 4 was turned right down in Italy due to no pressure from anyone if you remember.

AMUS is reporting that they may have issues with PU3 and may be looking to take engine penalties before the end of the season.

[Restomaniac]

The fact that Hamilton was able to use his Barcelona PU in Singapore is a little bit worrysome.

For Ferrari? Damn right it is. Like I said engine 3&4 have only done 2 races each and engine 4 was turned right down in Italy due to no pressure from anyone if you remember.

AMUS is reporting that they may have issues with PU3 and may be looking to take engine penalties before the end of the season.

I cannot read German So thanks

[Phil]

The fact that Hamilton was able to use his Barcelona PU in Singapore is a little bit worrysome.

For Ferrari? Damn right it is. Like I said engine 3&4 have only done 2 races each and engine 4 was turned right down in Italy due to no pressure from anyone if you remember.

AMUS is reporting that they may have issues with PU3 and may be looking to take engine penalties before the end of the season.

And where exactly are they reporting this?

[Moose]

My expectation of who'll be faster where:

https://i.imgur.com/hFgbrLs.png

To me, this is a pretty clearly Mercedes track.

Nice graphic, but we have to remember that more time is lost in the slow corners than the fast ones. There are quite a lot of slow corners here. Also Ferrari was better in the fast corners of S2 in Spa. I don't think the track favors Mercedes at all. It should be really close, and it wouldn't really shock me if Ferrari takes pole or wins.

Quite a lot of slow corners? Like where? At Hungary we got a pretty Clear picture of the cut off for where the Ferrari's low speed advantage kicked in - it's somewhere around 120-150k/h. The only turns that are that slow on the track are 1, 2, 4, 9 and 14, and 4 and 14 are pretty borderline.

[zibby43]

Is Ferrari going to bring some updates as well? I think its time to bring the new PU....

Ferrari is bringing their 4th and final ICE to Malaysia. This unit will conform to the new 0.9l "flow rate."

They're going to have to re-use an "old" turbocharger unless they want to take a penalty.

Finally, it is unknown whether Ferrari will be able to introduce the 3D-printed pistons this season.

3D printed steel pistons, that are supposed to be lighter and should perform better than the normal aluminium ones. The big question mark would be the reliability.

Absolutely agree. I think your final point is one reason why they may not make their debut this seasons.

[zibby43]

For Ferrari? Damn right it is. Like I said engine 3&4 have only done 2 races each and engine 4 was turned right down in Italy due to no pressure from anyone if you remember.

AMUS is reporting that they may have issues with PU3 and may be looking to take engine penalties before the end of the season.

And where exactly are they reporting this?

+1

Haven't been able to find this anywhere. And who is the "they" in this scenario?

[Phil]

AMuS - Auto Motor und Sport.

And i have already searched all their articles, didnt find a thing.

[FrukostScones]

the tyres will be melting... that is for sure.

The temperatures should be relatively cool this time of year in Malaysia. Actually it is the rainy season... I wish for rain!

???
rainy season...
before they changed the calendar slot maybe.

it will be scorching hot:
http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/ ... ecast.aspx