Malaysia Grand Prix 2009

[zed300]

Bernie,Bernie,Bernie. Oh well you can't do anything.....er....everything right.
Better luck next year.

Besides the lottery time start, it was a great race to watch,(Bernie got that bit right)well half of it anyway.
Button still yet to win, not being babied by the pace car.

 

[Ardius]

Despite that, I think Jenson can win quite easily without safety car intervention.
In fact, in both these races he looked certain to take a dominant victory if it wasn't for them!

 

[Slick Rick]

Did anyone see the lightning bolt that struck the stadium I missed it , is there a pic or vid?

 

[Ardius]

Did anyone see the lightning bolt that struck the stadium I missed it , is there a pic or vid?

The screen was a bit busy being zapped..... The only way we could tell there was lightning was because we lost the picture momentarily....so how could we see the lightning?

Unless you mean when it hit other parts of the circuit, in which case, yes I did indeed see it from time to time.

 

[KSaiyu]

You didn't listen, now perhaps you can learn from this Bernie.

I was surprised by the Mclaren's KERS effectiveness and Ferrari's team management this whole weekend. Oh and what the hell where those Toyota mechanics thinking playing musical chairs behind the cars! Do they really think there won't be any pictures on the web/in magazines....

 

[Ardius]

I was surprised by the Mclaren's KERS effectiveness

Like I keep saying, its a bonus in race craft but not in laptimes. Don't be fooled by qualifying and practice, the KERS system does have a significant advantage.

We saw the same thing in Melbourne, with Hamilton and Alonso being the best examples of it.

 

[F1GTR]

FELIPE, BABY, STAY COOL!

 

[Bram Turismo]

 

[fasj6418]

That was a great race while it lasted. Too bad the horrible start time didn't allow them to restart. It wasn't raining that much in the end, but there was no light.

Such a shame. Rubens would get at least a podium on raining conditions. Lewis would also move up.

Wow Ferrari, just because i support Massa you have to start behaving like this? They need a quick turnaround for China. RBR's performance shows us that it's not all about the diffusers. Good stuff.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Did anyone see the lightning bolt that struck the stadium I missed it , is there a pic or vid?

That wasn't lightning. It was Kimi's KERS failing again.

Looks like ol' Belly finishes first behind the SC once again. Crazy race, but enjoyable.

 

[Dazzla]

It was a very exciting race while it was still running. I would've liked to see them just wait another 15-20 minutes as it looked like the weather cleared up.

I'm quite happy with the way Lewis finished considering he started pretty far in the grid. Did any of you guys watch his apology before the race started? I think it was pretty good at resolving the issue and gave us an idea of what led him to lie to the stewards.

Massa seemed like a whiny jerk, I was surprised to see him talking like that when he wanted the clear visor or whatever. Very unprofessional to say the least. Have you guys seen that photo of Kimi getting ice-cream? That's going to cause quite a stir too.

 

[Touring Mars]

Total blunder having the race so late, but then again, nothing they could do about that rain... Button was very impressive again - and the actual racing on display today was a real tonic - reminded me of why I bother to watch the sport! Funnily enough, I am beginning to wonder if my worries about F1 are not entirely coming from the internet... great to have all those disappointing headlines blown away by the action on the track.

 

[Ardius]

^Indeed, good racing all around, and might I add the aero regulations seem to be doing their job too, some good slipstreaming battles.

It was a very exciting race while it was still running. I would've liked to see them just wait another 15-20 minutes as it looked like the weather cleared up.

I'm quite happy with the way Lewis finished considering he started pretty far in the grid. Did any of you guys watch his apology before the race started? I think it was pretty good at resolving the issue and gave us an idea of what led him to lie to the stewards.

Lewis' apology didn't resolve the issue of who was to blame at McLaren, but I guess we won't ever find that out.
I think Lewis needs to get out of McLaren, he's way too trusting in them and its damaging his reputation.

It was impossible for them to race later if the weather cleared up....you do realise it had gone dark just after the 2 hour mark? It was already cutting it fine with the amount of light available without taking into consideration the weather.
Not to mention they wouldn't allow it anyway because the 2 hour mark had passed.

Massa seemed like a whiny jerk, I was surprised to see him talking like that when he wanted the clear visor or whatever. Very unprofessional to say the least. Have you guys seen that photo of Kimi getting ice-cream? That's going to cause quite a stir too.

Do I need to point out he wasn't the only one whining? All drivers are like that, especially when the situation is like that.
Though Massa was a bit OTT, at least Rob Smedley added some comedy to it

See a photo? I saw him do it live! Grabbed his ice cream, grabbed a can of coke and walked off in shorts and sandels.
To top it all off, only moments later we have the BBC interviewing one of the Ferrari mechanics (can't remember which one, wasn't Stefano) and he said "oh, we'll be getting Kimi back in the car if we think a restart is happening"
Kimi was already off hitting the clubs when the rest of the grid were told the 2 hours were up.

 

[Metar]

Not to mention they wouldn't allow it anyway because the 2 hour mark had passed.

Depends. At the 2007 European GP, the race-organizers decided to suspend the countdown after the red-flag, and despite taking two and a half hours, the race was completed to it's full distance.

 

[Ardius]

Depends. At the 2007 European GP, the race-organizers decided to suspend the countdown after the red-flag, and despite taking two and a half hours, the race was completed to it's full distance.

Well, I suppose in this case they had apparently stopped the race clock, as Brundle mentioned it, saying the race clock had stopped at 57mins but the real time clock was still going. So they might have been hanging on to try and continue the race beyond 2 hours.

I wouldn't have thought they'd do this very often though because of the mayhem it plays with TV schedules.
And in any case, they wouldn't have been able to in this race because the light had gone by that time, it would have been just as unsafe as running in the wet conditions.




Anyway, although Ferrari are having a season of despair, they seem to be able to at least make us laugh:

Yeah, baby!!!

*jokes shamelessly stolen from autosport forum

 

[mPWRD]

Makes you wonder what they're doing at Ferrari, eh? Massa's a baby throwing a fit and Kimi's getting ice cream...

Domenciali: "Aww... little Michael... that lap was excellent! You want a cookie, now?"
*turns to Luca*
"Kids these days..."

 

[RACECAR]

Makes you wonder what they're doing at Ferrari, eh? Massa's a baby throwing a fit and Kimi's getting ice cream...

I've never heard Massa on the radio like that before, totally not what I was expecting. As for Kimi, well naturally its more chilled out atmosphere with him, I mean he is the Iceman

 

[Nasadus]

You guys do know that all the radio communications are delayed. He probably said that 10 minutes earlier, before the race was even stopped. It remains funny though.

 

[Dazzla]

Total blunder having the race so late, but then again, nothing they could do about that rain... Button was very impressive again - and the actual racing on display today was a real tonic - reminded me of why I bother to watch the sport! Funnily enough, I am beginning to wonder if my worries about F1 are not entirely coming from the internet... great to have all those disappointing headlines blown away by the action on the track.

The race was definitely late. It began at about 1:30AM my time

 

[mPWRD]

2:00 AM my time... why couldn't they have held it earlier? Ahh.... Bernie, Bernie. When will you ever learn? You do have a fan base in the states...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It was 7pm my time, the broadcast was delayed until 11pm and the actual showing took place after 11.30 because So You Think You Can Dance is in the habit of ignoring its timeslot and running for as long as it likes.

Anyway, I'm just wondering how the results from Malaysia are going to affect the diffuser appeal. Nick Heidfeld was off the pace all weekend, but he was running second when the results were finalised because he'd played his pit strategy so well and had timed his stop just right; Kubica was cometitive in Melbourne because he'd done his strategy right, too. The Red Bulls were carving their way through the field, and if the race had remained relatively dry, I expect they would have kept that pace up, pace they carried over from Melbourne.

As Ferrari are their own worst enemy right now, it's hard to judge how they fall on the scale here. They were doing alright in the practice sessions ntil they screwed up with Massa and then took a gamble on Raikkonen's tyres that simply didn't work. As it stands, Renault are the only one of the four teams to lodge a protest that really have anything to complain about, and that seems to be more to do with the design of the car than anything else.

 

[Open Addict]

It was 7pm my time, the broadcast was delayed until 11pm and the actual showing took place after 11.30 because So You Think You Can Dance is in the habit of ignoring its timeslot and running for as long as it likes..

You're like me, need to get HD so you can view it on ONE HD. That telecast started at 7ish pm Adelaide time.

Sucks not having HD, Stayed up unitl 1:30 am to see them cancel, what a shimozzel. But i guess there were tv audiences and commercial's that needed to be shown.

 

[nissan tuner]

Why did kimi retire? I didn't remember him wrecking the car

 

[prisonermonkeys]

You're like me, need to get HD so you can view it on ONE HD. That telecast started at 7ish pm Adelaide time.

Sucks not having HD, Stayed up unitl 1:30 am to see them cancel, what a shimozzel. But i guess there were tv audiences and commercial's that needed to be shown.

As much as I'd like One HD, we don't get it. Hell, I don't even get Channel Seven, but then I don't think anybody gets it with anything resembling a watchable quality. I didn't mind staying up at all, I just hate the Australian commentators and their Webberphilia. They're worse than James Allen; I could make an entire thread out of why they're so bad fromthe way Cameron McConville seems to think there's no difference between driving a V8 Supercar and a Formula One car to the way they're overly critical of the drivers making tiny errors but ignore Webber's or the way they simply form sentences out of strings of buzzwords (it's especially funny when they pose it as the form of a question to a driver). They're like that guy at th circus sideshows who claims to have proof of alien life, but when you pay five ollars to get inside his booth, you find that all he's got is a cow fetus suspended upside down in blue liquid. All Rust and McConville do is call what they see on-screen, like Raikkonen going onto extreme wets. Martin Brundle, on the other hand, will actually tell you why it's so risky and why Raikkonen will be lacking grip, especially if it's going to be a few laps until the rains come.

 

[Dazzla]

Why did kimi retire? I didn't remember him wrecking the car

Hmm...I don't recall him retiring either. Perhaps he was penalized for something?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Wikipedia lists him as finishing last, two and a half minutes behind Button.

 

[RACECAR]

Strange, I don't remember seeing him retire either. I know for a fact Kubica, Kovaleinan and Vettel(or so I believe) were out, but I don't remember Kimi being listed as out.

 

[Dazzla]

Or wait, Ferrari gambled and put on wet tires on Kimi, and I remember hearing on the radio that he said the tires were completely finished by the time the rain came about.

I also remember hearing one of the commentators say that Kimi did not pit to change the tires and was still out there on his worn out wets.

Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

[nissan tuner]

I also remember hearing one of the commentators say that Kimi did not pit to change the tires and was still out there on his worn out wets.

He drove into the pits for new tires, that's the last ive heard of him

 

[NapoleonMikey]

maybe they just considered him as retiring from the race when he said even if they restart the race he wouldnt go back out. i belive that was about the same time as him having changed out of his racing suit and putting on some dry clothes and getting some ice cream while everyone else sat out in the rain.