Malaysia Grand Prix 2009

[Famine]

I guess that's really why they call him the Ice Man...

*Famine calls shotgun on that for next round's F1 Picture Caption game*

 

[ExigeEvan]

And it's official!

And I missed all the racing Damn women.

 

[Famine]

Back-to-back wins for Button there then. And two of his three wins were in the rain.

 

[Tired Tyres]

It's now less than 10 minutes to 2 hours now. It cannot restart now. Button wins again. Do I get full Fantasy F1 points or half points?

 

[Roo]

Revised race results - from the end of lap 31, not lap 32:

1st Button
2nd Heidfeld
3rd Glock
4th Trulli
5th Barrichello
6th Webber
7th Hamilton
8th Rosberg

 

[FuryX21]

Kinda feel bad for Rosberg. He was in the lead for good while of the race and only got a 1/2 of a point to show for it.

 

[ExigeEvan]

@ Hamilton.

"Well that's a little less exciting"

 

[red7]

Ok, I really feel the fia needs to cut this starting the race in the later afternoon crap! That being said the racing was very entertaining and when the wet came total wet tire choice MADNESS!

 

[Famine]

Revised race results - from the end of lap 31, not lap 32:

1st Button
2nd Heidfeld
3rd Glock
4th Trulli
5th Barrichello
6th Webber
7th Hamilton
8th Rosberg

I don't get that at all. I've just rewatched to the exact moment the red flag dropped (as the stewards say).

The flag dropped as Button left turn 1 on lap 32 - as they say, 31 laps completed. But Glock was practically alongside him (not ahead, due to the Safety Car) when he crossed the line to start lap 32, still under race conditions. Glock can have been no more than 0.4s behind - so why's he been relegated to 3rd?

 

[Metar]

Odd race, odd result.

Helluva lucky result for Glock (it was a lucky call, after all, and Toyota themselves admitted that over RTL), well-played strategy by Heidfeld, and tough luck for Nico and Alonso, who both had lightning starts and an excellent first stint. Also, this Weekend's Idiot Double Facepalm Award (WIDFA) goes to Ferrari.

I guess that's really why they call him the Ice Man...

*Famine calls shotgun on that for next round's F1 Picture Caption game*

Sorry, Famine, but the "He's the Ice Man" was used earlier this week.

 

[Antti-san]

Well, that was...interesting! Too bad some drivers like Rosberg got shafted by the rain.

 

[Ardius]

As Button said: "what a crazy race!"

Brilliant action up until the race was stopped, there was great battling especially around the Alonso-train and the Toyotas and Brawns were trading places great stuff.
The tire choices were all over the place, Ferrari will once again be getting reject of the race I'm guessing for horrible strategies.

Kovalainen once again out on the first lap (hes quickly dropping his rating) and because of all the action at the front, we didn't see what was going on with the backmarkers, but I did see Piquet up in 11th-ish for a while.

Craaazzzyy race, I also tried out the CBBC commentary with Perry McCarthy and its not half bad actually! 👍

Great win (in fact, a Trifecta!) for Button (again), he showed very impressive pace when he overtook Rosberg in between pits. Amazing start for Rosberg, disappointing result for Trulli and lucky race for Glock. Also a nice reliable and consistent race from Barrichello too.

 

[red7]

Wondering what happened to Kubicas machine.

 

[GT4 genius]

I don't get that at all. I've just rewatched to the exact moment the red flag dropped (as the stewards say).

The flag dropped as Button left turn 1 on lap 32 - as they say, 31 laps completed. But Glock was practically alongside him (not ahead, due to the Safety Car) when he crossed the line to start lap 32, still under race conditions. Glock can have been no more than 0.4s behind - so why's he been relegated to 3rd?

I wouldnt be at all surprised if that changed in the next few days. Remember Brazil 2003, Raikkonen was given first place after Fisichella thought he had won in the Jordan, only then for Raikkonen to hand the trophy to Fisichella on the Wednesday after the race. Because Eddie Jordan lost his head with the stewards when he realised his correct telemetry put his driver in the lead two laps before the race was stopped, which is where they are suppose to get the finishing order from.

 

[the Interceptor]

I don't get that at all. I've just rewatched to the exact moment the red flag dropped (as the stewards say).

The flag dropped as Button left turn 1 on lap 32 - as they say, 31 laps completed. But Glock was practically alongside him (not ahead, due to the Safety Car) when he crossed the line to start lap 32, still under race conditions. Glock can have been no more than 0.4s behind - so why's he been relegated to 3rd?

The guys on German pay tv explained that when the race is red-flagged and not being started again, the grid will be accepted in the order they crossed the start-finish-line the lap before.

 

[Nicksfix]

Jenson Button , you da man !!!!!! , congrats

Brawn GP - 2 for 2

 

[Metar]

The guys on German pay tv explained that when the race is red-flagged and not being started again, the grid will be accepted in the order they crossed the start-finish-line the lap before.

Who's doing the pay-TV (Premiere, right?) commentating? Don't they get the same commenting by Wasser and Danner?

 

[the Interceptor]

Who's doing the pay-TV (Premiere, right?) commentating? Don't they get the same commenting by Wasser and Danner?

Fortunately not. The Premiere coverage is done by journalist Jacques Schulz and Swiss former F1 driver Marc Surer, and both do an excellent job.

 

[Metar]

Oh, how I envy you (and the BBC-ites). RTL's coverage is absolutely worthless - now, they don't even have Niki Lauda's pieces of wisdom.

 

[the Interceptor]

Well, the quality of the corverage on RTL actually is the reason why I got myself pay-tv.

 

[Metar]

I'd also like to raise a point Vettel complained about in an interview: This is the second time in as many weekends that the RBR's automatic anti-stall fails. In Melbourne, it was just a Friday - but here, it stalled Vettel's car while still on the gravel! He complained that it'd be easier just to give them a third pedal for those cases - would that be legal?

 

[the Interceptor]

The way I understood what he was on about, he complained there's too much electronic stuff in the cars, and not enough manual control. Therefore, he said that he sometimes wishes they'd have the three pedals instead of electronic nannies that go wrong and spoil his race.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Great race until it was halted. Especially Brawn's tactics and Button being able to put in enough flying laps so that when he came back out, he kept the lead.

I guess now that the experiment in twilight races has been shot down. I don't think Ecclestone should be blamed for it though; his idea was to get more audiences by having the races broadcast at a time that was better for Europeans. If he's trying to get more fans in the door, hat can only be a good thing.

I would have kept watching the whole thing, even if it was stopped, but can't stand the Australian commentators. I do, however, think there was more passing in thirty laps than there was for most of last season ...

 

[Bram Turismo]

Can anyone refer me to the page about the point earnings? I'm looking at formula1.com and I'm seeing that everybody's earnings has been split into 2, Button got 5, Heidfeld 4 and Glock 3. When was this decided?

 

[Metar]

The way I understood what he was on about, he complained there's too much electronic stuff in the cars, and not enough manual control. Therefore, he said that he sometimes wishes they'd have the three pedals instead of electronic nannies that go wrong and spoil his race.

My interpretation was that it's a shame (schande!) that the electronic systems don't do their job - as in, it's alright that they replace manual controls as long as they work, which they didn't. He's right to complain - after a single error, the whole system should be reviewed to prevent a second occurrence, like this one.

Can anyone refer me to the page about the point earnings? I'm looking at formula1.com and I'm seeing that everybody's earnings has been split into 2, Button got 5, Heidfeld 4 and Glock 3. When was this decided?

Race stopped at the halfway mark and not the required 75% distance for full points.

 

[mPWRD]

I didn't get to watch the race... stupid time difference... 2:00 in the morning here? ridic. anyway... did heidfeld honestly work his way up? or did he just pass spinning cars in the rain?

 

[Metar]

I didn't get to watch the race... stupid time difference... 2:00 in the morning here? ridic. anyway... did heidfeld honestly work his way up? or did he just pass spinning cars in the rain?

Strategy. With his heavy fuel-load, he pitted for Extreme Wets while the others already pitted once for slicks, and thus saved himself a stop. He then saved himself another one while the others switched to Inters, and back to Extreme Wets. Heidfeld: One stop, everyone else: Three to four stops.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Smart indeed. I haven't been able to watch the race either, but how was Toyota's pace? Were it the pitstops that held Trulli off of that second spot or did something happen to him in the race?

2 podiums in 2 races, I bet those guys are running around with huge smiles on their faces now eh? Ferrari has really been a disaster in the first two races though, and everybody bashing on Mclaren...

 

[Ardius]

I guess now that the experiment in twilight races has been shot down. I don't think Ecclestone should be blamed for it though; his idea was to get more audiences by having the races broadcast at a time that was better for Europeans. If he's trying to get more fans in the door, hat can only be a good thing.

He should be blamed for it...anyone could have told you this would have happened and it did. They plan these calendars many months in advance, but clearly they don't take the weather into consideration, which is obviously a large flaw. Next time they should, because if they hold Malaysia next year at the same time, it will just be red-flagged again unless they are very lucky with the weather.

Can anyone refer me to the page about the point earnings? I'm looking at formula1.com and I'm seeing that everybody's earnings has been split into 2, Button got 5, Heidfeld 4 and Glock 3. When was this decided?

Its always been the case, its in the rules, a race that doesn't meet 75% race distance has the points halved.
The last time this rule was used was 1991 Adelaide in similar circumstances (though in that case they didn't finish more than 12 laps).

Smart indeed. I haven't been able to watch the race either, but how was Toyota's pace? Were it the pitstops that held Trulli off of that second spot or did something happen to him in the race?

2 podiums in 2 races, I bet those guys are running around with huge smiles on their faces now eh? Ferrari has really been a disaster in the first two races though, and everybody bashing on Mclaren...

Strategy caught Trulli out (and everyone else). He was the last victim of Glock's charge with intermediates.
Toyota's pace is not in question at all, they are very fast, though still not anywhere near Brawn (as I suspected, they have been still hiding pace and Button really let us see the true pace when it counted, completely smashing Rosberg's lead).

Brawn are being careful with their pace and trying to preserve their cars as much as possible - I think they may be the best team come the end of the season in terms of reliability purely because they seem to be being so careful.
They certainly are not running as flat out as some of the other teams are, because when Button laid down some laps to catch Rosberg in between pit stops he was far, far, far faster than the Williams or the Toyota.

Expect Toyota at the top in China though, along with the strong Williams too, depending on the diffuser appeal.

 

[Metar]

Smart indeed. I haven't been able to watch the race either, but how was Toyota's pace? Were it the pitstops that held Trulli off of that second spot or did something happen to him in the race?

At the start, Trulli and Rosberg overtook Button, with Rosberg flying into the lead and Trulli fending off Button for much of the first stint. In the first round of stops, Button snagged the lead. However, like most other top guys, Trulli didn't switch to Intermediates, and that allowed Glock to charge past him.

Trulli was on podium course, so, like the other top runners, Toyota took no chance and put him on the Extreme Wets. Glock, meanwhile, was well out of the points, so they risked nothing by putting him on Inters - the only one in the field - and Toyota themselves, during RTL's stoppage-time interviews, admitted that "it was a wild shot, not some strategic decision - otherwise we would've put Trulli on the same tyres." Like Rubens' and Nick's drives at Silverstone, Glock was on the superior tyre, and moved from nothing to 2nd when the race was stopped.

But that's rain luck. In the dry, the Toyotas ran very solidly - same pace as the Brawn and Williams cars, at the lead, and rapidly widened the gap between them and the train behind Alonso.

2 podiums in 2 races, I bet those guys are running around with huge smiles on their faces now eh? Ferrari has really been a disaster in the first two races though, and everybody bashing on Mclaren...

It looks to me as if McLaren did the transition to midfield-team strategy far faster than Ferrari did - perhaps from their experiences in 2004 and 2006? - and it pays off: While Hamilton drove strongly to 3th-4th place at Australia and points today, Ferrari made a series of blunders that come from their old dominance days: A single qualifying run in Q1 was all they needed last year. The gamble with Raikkonen, though a catastrophe, isn't really much different from Force India's identical strategy: Stuff that midfield teams do in order to profit from weather. Hey - it worked for Winkelhock last time around when the race was red-flagged.