The Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix 2012

[HandyNZL 1]

Pheeweeee...doesn't time fly when you're having fun?

Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that they likely lads were racing around Albert Park in Australia? Well, guess what hombre? In a short 72 hours (or so) the likely lads will be waking up in Malaysia and getting ready for Free Practice One.

So....here are this weeks questions requiring answering:

1 Will Mercedes fare better here? They have two massively long straights to make use of their ingenious front wing stalling device (and for those of you that are not sure what all the fuss is about, basically, when they open the DRS, the flap uncovers a little duct that runs down the wing supports, into the back of the car, along the body, past the driver, down the nose, down the wing pylons and out some ducts and thus stalling the front wing to re-stabilise the car aerodynamically).

2 What will the gap between Massa and Alonso be this weekend at the end of qualification?

3 Who will Massa crash into this race?

4 McLaren ran light on fuel in Aussie and had to depower the cars to make it to the finish, yet were still pulling away by 8/10ths of a second a lap for awhile there....will they 1 - 2 here, and will they do it effortlessly?

5 Can Kimi get inside the top five?

6 Will Maldonado bounce back (off the wall...hahahahahahaha) here and make amends and score some decent points?

7 Will Senna once again underwhelm me?

8 Will Nico run a tidy lap and beat Schumi in qually, or will Schumi put his lucky undies on again and make good on the promise shown in Aussie?

9 Will Nico Hulkenberg score points this race?

10 Can HRT qualify inside 107%?

11 Is Steady Eddies still doing a big plate of chicken fried rice for 3 Ringit? (and by big, I mean, not able to finish eating in one sitting)

12 Does anyone know where the Heineken promo-girls are at these days? They were staying at the same hotel as me, and frankly, the brunette with the dimples was damn fine......

[BradSpeedMan 6]

12 Does anyone know where the Heineken promo-girls are at these days? They were staying at the same hotel as me, and frankly, the brunette with the dimples was damn fine......

at my hotel...

[HandyNZL 1]

Those ho's!!! Women...can't trust 'em....one minute saying Kiwi accent is the best in the world, then they're off flouncing around Brad and his South African accent...

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Those ho's!!! Women...can't trust 'em....one minute saying Kiwi accent is the best in the world, then they're off flouncing around Brad and his South African accent...

You know how it goes... altho it brokn inglish them kinda likeit... YEAH likeit alot they do...

[HandyNZL 1]

Did you catch the cricket? Or blink and miss it like the rest of us?

What is this cricket I talk of, anyways? Jimmeny...

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Did you catch the cricket? Or blink and miss it like the rest of us?

What is this cricket I talk of, anyways? Jimmeny...

I would'nt dare mention the word cricket if I were you...

[AleHop 0]

On a dry weekend we'll get a good load of information about the cars. Pray for no rain.

[JHS18 0]

On a dry weekend we'll get a good load of information about the cars. Pray for no rain.

We've already had one dry race. Let's mix it up and have some rain.

And by rain I mean a properly good, Malaysian thunder storm. Throw the red flag away and see who really is the best of the rain racers. What could possibly go wrong?

I'm joking, but hopefully it is another good race. I'd like to see some rain to mix it up a bit at some point in the weekend, whether in qualifying meaning a jumbled grid, or half way through the race...

Looking forward to it already. May even watch it online given my inability to not look for the results. But don't hold me to that.

[Quiet One 15]

There are no dry races at Malaysia. A dry race there is one with no rain and only 90% of humidity

[BradSpeedMan 6]

There are no dry races at Malaysia. A dry race there is one with no rain and only 90% of humidity

It also means a great deal of race postponement and Kimi going for another Ice-ceam. Hope Lotus has that ready for him...

[AleHop 0]

It also means a great deal of race postponement and Kimi going for another Ice-ceam. Hope Lotus has that ready for him...

It's in his contract.

[LabradoRacer 2]

Pheeweeee...doesn't time fly when you're having fun?

Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that they likely lads were racing around Albert Park in Australia? Well, guess what hombre? In a short 72 hours (or so) the likely lads will be waking up in Malaysia and getting ready for Free Practice One.

So....here are this weeks questions requiring answering:

1 Will Mercedes fare better here? They have two massively long straights to make use of their ingenious front wing stalling device (and for those of you that are not sure what all the fuss is about, basically, when they open the DRS, the flap uncovers a little duct that runs down the wing supports, into the back of the car, along the body, past the driver, down the nose, down the wing pylons and out some ducts and thus stalling the front wing to re-stabilise the car aerodynamically).

I'd asked James Allen whether Mercedes could solve their tire degradation problem soon. His reply:

They have some head scratching to do, I reckon they could be on pole in Malaysia and China and go backwards in the race pretty fast. It’s about the DRS as much as anything, but tyre deg is an issue.

I agree with him unwillingly.

[LabradoRacer 2]

I don't think RBR will win, as they've a top-speed deficit. Well, I don't want them to.

[LabradoRacer 2]

There are no dry races at Malaysia. A dry race there is one with no rain and only 90% of humidity

[Massa 0]

1 Will Mercedes fare better here? They have two massively long straights to make use of their ingenious front wing stalling device (and for those of you that are not sure what all the fuss is about, basically, when they open the DRS, the flap uncovers a little duct that runs down the wing supports, into the back of the car, along the body, past the driver, down the nose, down the wing pylons and out some ducts and thus stalling the front wing to re-stabilise the car aerodynamically).

2 What will the gap between Massa and Alonso be this weekend at the end of qualification?

3 Who will Massa crash into this race?

4 McLaren ran light on fuel in Aussie and had to depower the cars to make it to the finish, yet were still pulling away by 8/10ths of a second a lap for awhile there....will they 1 - 2 here, and will they do it effortlessly?

5 Can Kimi get inside the top five?

6 Will Maldonado bounce back (off the wall...hahahahahahaha) here and make amends and score some decent points?

7 Will Senna once again underwhelm me?

8 Will Nico run a tidy lap and beat Schumi in qually, or will Schumi put his lucky undies on again and make good on the promise shown in Aussie?

9 Will Nico Hulkenberg score points this race?

10 Can HRT qualify inside 107%?

11 Is Steady Eddies still doing a big plate of chicken fried rice for 3 Ringit? (and by big, I mean, not able to finish eating in one sitting)

12 Does anyone know where the Heineken promo-girls are at these days? They were staying at the same hotel as me, and frankly, the brunette with the dimples was damn fine......

1) The question's longer than the answer. You'd be perfect for American sportscasting.

2) The Gap? I think Massa shops at Children's Place.

3) If not, Massa will come crashing into your heart with his tear-jerking redemption story, crawling back from the near-death of his life in 2009 and the absolute-death of his racecraft the subsequent year to win. He's so good at racing in the wet, he drives like it's soaked every week.

4) Lights-Out Lewis isn't going to be on the podium ever again in his entire career.

5) Well seventh place warranted a "suck it" so I guess fifth place will be asking for even more. I just hope "it" is an ice cream. It's toasty out there today.

6) It's funny because "Mal" means bad and he's a terrible driver.

7) Senna underwhelmed you? I actually thought it was a pretty good movie.

8) No one ever explained his pink latex driving gloves to me. I hope the lucky undies aren't of a similar material.

9) If it rains, he's on the podium. He'll be the first of the umlaut-ed racers to do that this year.

10) They can probably lap the track in 107 seconds. Were in the 102s last year.

11) I was wondering what Cheever had gotten up to, with his commentary stint now over.

12) Could probably find 10,000 nicer looking ladies in the bleachers than the ones on the grid AINEC. Could probably find a few better looking guys than some of the grid girls I've seen.

[brambilla 0]

Qualifying :

1. Rosberg

2. Hamilton

3. Button

4. Schumacher

5. Raikkonen

6. Vettel

7. Grosjean

8. Webber

9. PDVSA

10. Alonso

Race:

1. Button

2. Hamilton

3. Raikkonen

4. ... I really could'nt care less, after watching the Mercs go backwards, I'll get p**sed and fling something at the TV

[Insider 0]

Will Kimi race if it rains?

[mikathegreat2 2]

I wanna see Kimi eat an ice pop again otherwise the race weekend will be a waste of time!

[AleHop 0]

Was it ice man or ice cream man?

I think I've earned another lolly pop.

[Caesar 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeUzcoAnXEA&feature=player_detailpage#t=33s

[JHS18 0]

Official word on the weather:

Last weekend, conditions progressively got better with each day at Melbourne and funnily enough the early prediction points to things switching the other way for round two of the campaign.

Friday is expected to remain dry for both 90-minute practice sessions. It will be mainly sunny with some partial cloud cover from time to time, but thunderstorm potential is extremely low and there should not be any downpour. Air temperature will reach 32 degrees Celsius during the heat of the afternoon.

Saturday could certainly be interesting, although a dry final practice session is most likely. Sepang storms tend to get going late in the afternoon and with qualifying beginning at 16:00 local time, allied to a slight increase in CAPE, then the action could be electric in more ways than one. Maximum air temperature will be slightly lower at 31 Celsius.

On Sunday, potential energy in the atmosphere increases once again and there is a good chance that the grand prix could be rain-affected. Memories of 2001 and 2009 aren’t too far away with a forecast like we have at the moment. As with Saturday, conditions will start off dry with some sunny periods in the morning, but cloud is expected to build readily towards mid-afternoon and the 16:00 start time and at the time of writing there is a high chance of storms, with a maximum temperature of 31 degrees.

In summary, we’re looking at a dry day on Friday, potential for a storm on Saturday and Sunday is likely to be wet at some stage. I will continue to monitor the thunderstorm outlook over the coming days in the lead-up to the Malaysian Grand Prix, and will publish a further update on Thursday.

http://f1weather.com/2012/03/19/f1-malaysian-grand-prix-weather-early-forecast/

[HandyNZL 1]

We shall see...we shall see....

I remember lots of Malaysian races where commentators are going on about "rain in the next twenty minutes" and shots of Google weather screens on the pitwall with "Rain: Next Five Minutes", and not a drop falls the entire race.

So any weather report should be taken with a pinch of salt.....I was working up there for two weeks once and everyday it was supposed to rain according to the weather man, and it rained only once, and only for twenty minutes.

[JHS18 0]

Haha yeah, know what you mean. It seems in F1 it rains when they don't expect it, and it remains dry when they think it is going to rain.

My predictions if it should rain:

• Bernd Maylander to feature in the race more than HRT.
• Someone to describe conditions as "undriveable"
• The red flag to come out
• Jenson Button to win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9955lZQL0vU

[mikathegreat2 2]

Haha Ron Dennis FAIL!!

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Expect Ferrari to really struggle in this race, Pirelli has chosen medium and hard for this race...

It's gonna be real fun to watch....