Long term forecast shows 60%+ chance of rain throughout the weekend. Should be interesting indeed. If it does stay dry, the teams are expecting tire problems anyway: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74109 === "Bridgestone predicts soft tyre challenges Formula 1 tyres supplier Bridgestone is expecting teams to face another big challenge with the use of the softer compound at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Teams struggled with the softer tyres during the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, with graining causing drivers to have serious issues after a few laps. For the first time, Bridgestone will take a soft compound to Sepang for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, and the company is expecting similar issues."
All I can say is ....That's Good news, I'am watching it on TV, not standing in it.. I like a wet track to show who has the most talent on it.
Rain at Sepang doesn't surprise me .. what does surprise me is the fact that almost every F1 they've had there has been rain free .. and given it rains there almost daily that is quite amazing. This year could be a little different however, as they've delayed the start by a few hours and the last couple of years with the earlier start they missed the afternoon thunder-storm by a matter of minutes. So this year we could be starting right in the middle of it.
I don't understand this part. Bridgestone knows about the tyre wear...yet they're still bringing the soft ones here? There's no way they can change the allocation to hard and medium tyres?
Love F1 in the rain. It's a whole level of ballsy more than F1 in the dry. On another note, remember at Australia how empty the Brawn cars and crew uniforms were of sponsorship decals/patches? Anyone else here think it will be different this weekend?
Remember the race... 2001? 2002? Where it suddenly started to pour and everyone was sliding around, except Schumi and Rubens, who kept on going as if it was dry, driving circles around everyone else? Those were the days... *sigh*
Good news for Glock. He really flew in wet weather testing. He even said that he was hoping for some wet races as the car was so good in the wet. It'd be nice to see two separate winners in two races.
No, the FIA wants a step between the tires to make it harder on the drivers and make a better show. So for every race they'll be forced to race on one set that's not really not optimal.
at first i thought that would be interesting. but now i think it's ridiculous. in fact, why even bring 2 compounds? forcing a gap between the compounds just makes it into a spectacle.
Both Jenson and Rubens are very good in the wet, so it's still looking like a Brawn domination. Also, Vettel may be the best wet weather driver on the whole damn grid, so look for him to move up quite a bit, despite his penalty. Also look for Piquet and Nakajima to embarass their team and reputation even further.
+1 As someone said elsewhere, it's kind of "hokey". OTOH, the consensus here is F1 needs more "spectacle" and this gap in tire performance certainly appears (after one race) to be adding to said spectacle. They'll figure it out - Maybe you need to compromise setup in order to get your car working on both compounds..... Returning to topic, a really wet race (which seems likely given the new start time) should be friggin' awesome. Cheers, Ian
I agree. At least if it rains the 2 compound mandate will be waived. Rain will make the oversteer worse and the cars even less stable. Front row will be a huge asset as the first lap accidents will be behind those lucky two. What's the over/under on safety car laps?
No i dont believe so. Mainly due to the fact that pretty much straight after the race on Sunday down here in Melbourne, all the gear was packed up on the Sunday night, and due to Melbourne having a 24hour airport, the majority of it would of been flown off the Malaysia on the Monday. That leaves a couple of days before Thursday practice, so theorectically they could fly out all the new team gear, new Decals, new body panels prepainted or even just the new paint. It seem unlikely to me. Maybe just new and bigger Virgin decals for now. You might not see the new livery untill Round 4 in Bahrain, which is the first GP outside of the Asian region. But then again there is a quite a gap between Malaysia (Round 2) and China (Round 3), so it could be then as well. I personally, cannot wait to see the new scheme.
On the other hand, the wet tires might be the right compound, and using a wet tire at all, in the race, means that they don't have to use both dry compounds. Of course, with the cars pushing the limits of mechanical grip, a wet race could be more of a "spectacle" than they wanted.
Bad news for all the drivers with KERS in their car.... they'll be electrocuted! It will be like throwing a toaster in a bath tub!
You beat me to it. Not only does it take balls to race in a downpour, it's another level entirely to hit the "200 AMPS, PLEASE!" button while you're soaking wet.
Good news for Hamilton. Remember the wet race last year towards the end of the year? He kicked everyones ass in the rain. I was very impressed.
Well, lets just hope he'll pick the right tyres for the wet race. the way i look at it, it's been raining pretty madly here..so, lets hope for a wet race
