10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - Malaysia

[Super Tourer]

In the next of our previews we head off to Malaysia

10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview – Malaysia.


2004 Race Result – 56 laps

1.M.Schumacher Ferrari 56 1:31'07.490
2.J.P.Montoya Williams/BMW 56 1:31'12.512 5.022
3.Jenson Button BAR/Honda 56 1:31'19.058 11.568
4.R.Barrichello Ferrari 56 1:31'21.106 13.616
5.Jarno Trulli Renault 56 1:31'44.850 37.360
6.David Coulthard McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:32'00.588 53.098
7.Fernando Alonso Renault 56 1:32'15.367 1'07.877
8.Felipe Massa Sauber/Petronas 55 1:31'27.195 1 Lap
9. C.da Matta Toyota 55 1:31'33.594 1 Lap
10.Christian Klien Jaguar/Cosworth 55 1:32'07.028 1 Lap
11.G.Fisichella Sauber/Petronas 55 1:32'24.626 1 Lap
12.Olivier Panis Toyota 55 1:32'38.018 1 Lap
13.Giorgio Pantano Jordan/Ford 54 1:32'23.137 2 Laps
14.Gianmaria Bruni Minardi/Cosworth 53 1:31'29.590 3 Laps
15.Takuma Sato BAR/Honda 52 1:25'54.251 Engine
16.Z.Baumgartner Minardi/Cosworth 52 1:31'11.143 4 Laps

Retirements
Kimi Räikkönen McLaren/Mercedes 40 laps Transmission
Nick Heidfeld Jordan/Ford 34 laps Gearbox
Ralf Schumacher Williams/BMW 27 laps Engine
Mark Webber Jaguar/Cosworth 23 laps Spin


2004 Fastest Lap: Montoya – 1:34.223 on lap 28


2004 Grid – gap pole to last 6.82 seconds

1 M.Schumacher Ferrari 1'33.074 - -
2 Mark Webber Jaguar/Cosworth 1'33.715
3 R.Barrichello Ferrari 1'33.756
4 J.P.Montoya Williams/BMW 1'34.054
5 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren/Mercedes 1'34.164
6 Jenson Button BAR/Honda 1'34.221
7 Ralf Schumacher Williams/BMW 1'34.235
8 Jarno Trulli Renault 1'34.413 1.339
9 David Coulthard McLaren/Mercedes 1'34.602
10 C.da Matta Toyota 1'34.917
11 Felipe Massa Sauber/Petronas 1'35.039
12 G.Fisichella Sauber/Petronas 1'35.061
13 Christian Klien Jaguar/Cosworth 1'35.158
14 Olivier Panis Toyota 1'35.617 2.543
15 Nick Heidfeld Jordan/Ford 1'36.569
16 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi/Cosworth 1'38.577
17 Z.Baumgartner Minardi/Cosworth 1'39.272
18 Giorgio Pantano Jordan/Ford 1'39.902
19 Fernando Alonso Renault – No Time
20 Takuma Sato BAR/Honda – No Time


Read a review of the 2004 race:
http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr715.html


Recent Winners

2004 M.Schumacher Ferrari
2003 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
2002 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW
2001 M.Schumacher Ferrari
2000 M.Schumacher Ferrari


Recent Polesitters

2004 M.Schumacher Ferrari
2003 Fernando Alonso Renault
2002 M.Schumacher Ferrari
2001 M.Schumacher Ferrari
2000 M.Schumacher Ferrari



Facts and Stats – Malaysia


The 1st Malaysian GP was in 1999 - won by Eddie Irvine.

The 2003 race marked Fernando Alonso’s 1st pole position and podium finish and Kimi Raikkonens 1st GP win.

Michael Schumacher scored Ferrari’s 150th pole position here in 2002

The 2004 race saw to more first’s in F1 – Webber’s 1st front row start and Button’s 1st podium.


Official Race Website
www.malaysiangp.com.my/

[Super Tourer]

Looking ahead to the race.

After a long off season wait we hoped that Melbourne would answer many of the questions we have been pondering during winter testing. Unfortunately, the weather intervened which left many cars ‘out of position’ on the grid and several questions unanswered.

One thing we did learn was that Renault’s off season speed did convert into genuine race pace, although Fisichella was unchallenged for pole due to the rain in qualifying, the effortless way he streamed to victory coupled with Alonso’s searing pace (once he was released from behind Villeneuve’s Sauber) mark Renault out as the team to beat in Malaysia. Tyres will be key at Sepang, the fact that Renault’s Michelin’s looked barely used after the race will be a worry for other teams that struggled on tyres.

McLaren were favourites to do well at Melbourne, once again the weather intervened to put their cars way down the grid or not even on the grid in Kimi’s case, so it will be intriguing to see how they fare up against Renault this weekend.

Trulli contrived to turn a front row starting slot at Melbourne into a non point scoring finish, blaming tyre wear after opting for the softer Michelin tyre. It’s likely to be much harder on tyres in Sepang, so we will see if it is purely down to a wrong tyre choice, or if Toyota has genuine tyre wear issues.

Meanwhile, BAR will introduce a new front wing (the 4th evolution since the new car was launched) for Malaysia. It’s believed that BAR’s performance problems stem from struggling to get heat into the tyres, Button looked downbeat after the last race, BAR also became the first team to exploit a loophole in the new engine regs by retiring the cars before the flag opening up the possibility to fit new engine for Sepang. This is a loophole that needs filling quickly

There is talk of Ferrari bringing forward the debut of the F2005, maybe to Bahrain, a decision will be made after testing this week, the fact it is being considered suggests that Ferrari are worried that teams already running 2005 cars could open up a gap over these opening few races. Once again we hope to see the real pace of Ferrari in Sepang (weather permitting) if MS had got a reasonable grid slot in Melbourne it would have been interesting to compare the cars. As it was, Ross Brawn’s strategy helped Rubens to score a result they probably didn’t expect after qualifying.

Williams will be hoping for a bit more after a solid start to the season by Webber. They will have new bits coming onto the car over the forthcoming races, so hopefully we can see them fighting for wins in the future.

RBR proved to be a revelation at Melbourne, the weather help to a certain extent but DC drove really well and ran at a good race pace almost scoring a podium on the way – on paper it should be harder to do this time out if the Renault’s, McLaren’s and Ferrari’s get a clear run in qualifying, but there is nothing to say that RBR won’t be competitive in Malaysia.

So to the winner, I would have to say that Renault look strong, great pace coupled with a car that’s sympathetic on it’s tyres looks like a great combination for Sepang. McLaren haven’t been able to show their true colours yet, so I expect it to be a close fight between the two teams – I’m going to stick my neck out and go for an Alonso win – his pace in Melbourne was stunning.



Weekend Timetable

Local time/UK time

Friday 18th March
Practice 1 – 11:00 to 12:00/03:00 to 04:00
Practice 2 – 14:00 to 15:00/06:00 to 07:00

Saturday 19th March
Practice 1 – 09:00 – 09:45/01:00 to 01:45
Practice 2 – 10:15 – 11:00/02:15 to 03:00
Saturday Qualifying – 13:00/05:00


Sunday 20th March
Sunday Qualifying – 11:00/03:00
Race (56 laps)–15:00/07:00

Convert the timetable to your local time
http://www.formula1.com/race/timetable/733.html


Live Timing
http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/733.html


Circuit Map
http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/733.html


UK TV Schedule

Malaysian Grand Prix on ITV1 and ITV2

Qualifying 1 - Sat 19 March 1320-1505 (ITV1)

Live race - Sun 20 March 0640-0900 (ITV1)

Race rpt - Sun 20 March 1500-1730 (ITV1)

Highlights - Mon 21 March 0015-0115 (ITV1)

Highlights - Mon 21 March 0030-0120 (ITV2)

http://www.itv-f1.com/TVSchedule.aspx

(Please check times with your TV guide before recording the race!)



Drivers Table
1 G.Fisichella 10
2 R.Barrichello 8
3 Fernando Alonso 6
4 David Coulthard 5
5 Mark Webber 4
6 J.P.Montoya 3
7 Christian Klien 2
8 Kimi Räikkönen 1


Constructors Table
1 Renault 16
2 Ferrari 8
3 Red Bull/Cosworth 7
4 Williams/BMW 4
5 McLaren/Mercedes 4

[Pitstop]

Thank you ST, brilliant and informative as always.