Malaysia GP - Discussion **spoilers**

[Big Kev]

Was it that bad then?

Honestly, I think these new rules have really screwed F1.

The qually is a joke now. I actually fell asleep and missed the last 5 cars to run in Q1 and TV over here doesn't even show Q2, just a few choice highlights of the last few seconds of key laps.

As for the race, nothing much happeed until about 15 laps from the end. Good tussle between Ralf and the two Williams cars and a prang between Webber and Fisi and that was about it.

At least MS isn't running away with the title!

[Cutter]

Honestly, I think these new rules have really screwed F1.

The qually is a joke now.

Agreed. Its sort of "artificially" competitive.

[Scottie]

[Cutter]

It makes you wonder how long Ferrari will tolerate their
current weakness [seemingly] and still be the only team
seriously supporting Max & Burnie against any future rival GP series.

[Blitzer]

I find it very interesting at the moment. Who would have thought Jag would be doing so well + a Toyota on the podium last night. I don't like the pit stops, all these blokes standing around doing nothing. So far, these 2 races have been more entertaining for me than a lot of the races last year, mostly because the reds aren’t leading.

I'm still making up my mind, but so far I like it

[Big Kev]

The new rules certainly aren't increasing the passing moves

Code: Select all

Grand Prix 2005 '04 '03 '02 '01 '00 '99 
=======================================
1. Australia 5   9   38  19  18  13  41 
2. Malaysia  7   20  16  27  47  31  11 

[Blitzer]

[spoonsports]

i was shocked when i saw kimi blew his tyre. He was in contention to grab at most 2nd...Not too sure if he could've caught the spaniard...but trulli is truly possible *badoom ching*. Great fun with the 3 man tussle and very much a pity webber and fish crashed =[
overall interesting last few laps

[Cutter]

I don't like the pit stops, all these blokes standing around doing nothing.

Makes you wonder how long it will be before someone goes...
"Hmm we're paying a high wage for skilled specialist F1 technicians,
We fly them all around the world, paying accom etc.
And all they do is look at the wheels twice a race....."

Even the second or third guy on the fuel hose is more value for money.

[VIPEROSI]

I had to laugh at Fisichella running away from webber...clearly he knew who was to blame.

Is the guy stupid though? he claimed he was driving around the corner like every other lap and webber came out of no where to hit him. If that is how he takes the corner no wonder his tyres were screwed...

What he failed to mention was how mark was almost an entire car length in front and that despite being incrediblly off the pace with no hope of retaining a position he tried to out brake him on the dirty side of the track, and ended up locking a brake as a result of going in way to hot and sliding sideways into him. You could see how he lost control through the slow motion replays with his wheels turned on opposite lock.

Very dissapointed we didnt see our man get his well deserved podium. He has a serious chance of fighting for the lower podium positions of the championship this year if not the number 1 spot!. Williams always comes strong every year later in the season but seem to be picking up a bit quicker this year.

[CLP]

I I don't like the pit stops, all these blokes standing around doing nothing.

i was thinking the same thing as i was watching it! i think they've really screwed this part up and lost much of the frantic action in the pits... Zzzzzzz

better choice would be to go back to setup they had in the 80's .. no refueling, but tyre stops allowed.. always made it a gamble to come into the pits for fresh rubber knowing that your opponents were slowly but surely getting away on their old and busted rubber (thinking of Gerhard Berger's first GP win here )

CLP

[Rots]

I fell asleep. I just find F1 racing so friggin boring... I honestly tried once again to "get into" the sport last night and just passed right out - for the record; no grog had been consumed . Think I managed 15 laps into it before falling asleep on the couch.

They need to scrape the entire thing and start fresh. Clearly its flawed and there are only so many bandaids available before you run out.

Oh, and the majority of cars look so ugly this year with all their little wings and shit all over them. Now I think of it, the V8 supercars look very bland this year as well, not a half decent paint job anywhere, but the racing was quite good this weekend considering how its been during the previous years.

[StanDaam]

I sooo agree with you Viper, and then Brundle says it was 40% Webbers fault!! Like he was meant to assume that Fizzy was gonna go in way too deep on the inside, on dirty track, with no tyres left and slide out of control ... maybe Webber assumed he would have a brain instead!! ... *starts deep breathing and goes and lies down

[Exar Kun]

I think Brundle actually attributed it 60:40 in Webber's blame. Bloody silly. Which driver SLID into the other driver? The stewards saw it in Mark's favour though and gave Fisi a warning. Surprising start to the season so far. Toyota are much stronger than anyone thought they would be and even Williams are doing better than what all their off season reports were saying they would do. And RBR are doing very well indeed. They'll probably begin to suffer once we get back to Europe and develeopment really kicks in on some of the other teams. Ferrari need that new car badly. They made a mistake by sticking with the old car - no doubt they would be around Renault's pace if they had introduced a new car at the start of the season anyway. McLaren not quite as strong as suspected yet I don't think they have really shown their hand yet. BAR having a shocker. Or, should I say Honda. Button will surely be out of there at the end of next year now.

@ Rots: I agree F1 is in a shambles. It's certainly not a good time to get into the sport. Unless you're a Ferrari fan you have to go back to the mid 90s to find a time when it was quite accessable to the TV spectator (although our coverage was even worse back then). At the very least, this season should be interesting. Watching a Ferrari fight back ala '03 will make for some good viewing up ahead. Probably another one of those seasons that will be fun to read about when it's over whilst the actual races are processions.

[Chaz]

I agree with Rots...

[Bacchulum]

I think F1 is super, always has been, always will be.

[hankstar]

Fisi was a hero and paid the price - and took Webber with him. Webber kept his line and would've been hoping that Fisi would keep his grip and that they'd both get out of the corner safely. MW gave GF enough room to make the turn, but of course we know what happened next. Exactly the same as when Ralfy tried the same thing.
Of course in hindsight you can say "MW should've hung back and cut up the inside when GF slid past" but MW isn't psychic and would've done what he always does - not give an inch more than he absolutely has to. It was a frickin shame, and much much more than 40% GF's fault. MW was driving brilliantly.

Onya Bacchulum: F1 rocks - but as for rules...

I do like seeing how good one set of tyres can be - these guys seem as quick as ever atm. But I would like to see one tyre stop - without fuel - and maybe make it mandatory. And as many other fuel stops as you like. Could make the pits interesting again.

I would really like to know if the gits who change the rules (seemingly every bloody year) actually talk extensively with teams and drivers about how the changes could possibly affect racing. Perhaps a poll wordwide amongst the people who help finance much of F1: fans (by actually buying sponsor's products and team merchandise and manufacturere's cars and watching the races) would be good. And how about some common bloody sense?

I'd also like them to f-ck the aggregate qually rules off quick smart. It's fine if the weather's constant but, as we saw in Melbourne (imho the WORST place on earth to test aggregate qually rules), if the weather changes and f-cks you, there's no way you can atone for it on Sunday morning. I don't know the F1 honchos' reasoning for agg. qual., but the old system worked fine and noone had any complaints, really. What's wrong with one hotlap on Saturday with a qual setup, one on Sunday with a race setup and that's that?

One more thing: one engine per race would be a common sense thing, too. Random attrition is going to nail some drivers when they least expect it. Although atm it wouldn't matter how many engines you let BAR have, they'd shit themselves and die eventually anyway

Maybe if the gods want to limit budgets they can enforce time limits on testing/development or just place a budget cap on teams?

[/babble]

Go Webber!!!

[Nigel]

Sir Frank said Mark had "The Stuff" and last night we got a glimps of it. FOr the first time in years we see someone trying to pass aggressivly but fairly. Problem is, F1 has been a no pass zone for so long, that most of them dont know how any more.

Also Well done mark in avoiding the first idiot RS. And well done for the battle with HH and RS. You showed Bollocks

[Sarsippius]

Well I was completely shocked last night, was all set to go to bed but on a whim thought I'd briefly check what was on and it was the GP, wtf the GP is actually on in Darwin now lol.

Anyway I was also thinking wtf when Brundle was half blaming Webber for that incident, I think he did have a point in that he placed a bit of trust in Fisi to do the right thing which Fisi didn't do. Fair enough to fight for position but Fisi fucked up plain and simple, he had no tyres left and tried to pull off a late braking pass on a car that was a couple seconds quicker per lap at that stage of the race. Mark even left a cars width on the inside of the turn, can't do much more than that.
The worst part was it all happened after the superb driving by Mark to keep his position after almost being taken out but Ralph.

[CLP]

But I would like to see one tyre stop - without fuel - and maybe make it mandatory. And as many other fuel stops as you like. Could make the pits interesting again.

IMHO mandatory pitstops in motor racing are THE stupidest idea ever.

By all means "encourage" pitstops by other means (eg control tyres which by design won't last an entire race, or control fuel tanks which likewise can't hold enough fuel for an entire race). This means that when a driver comes into the pits they actually NEED to be there!

Seeing a driver come into the pits to replace a perfectly good set of tyres simply because the rules say they have to is just stupid and to be honest takes away a lot of the drama associated with motor racing...

CLP

[hankstar]

Wellllllll, I did say "maybe" after all

Mandatory or not, just one pitstop for tyres would make my day

[Rots]

Can't say I am a fan of mandatory pit stops as well. A race should be won on the track, not won by who has the best pit stratergy. They need two events... one called "the drivers champsionship" and the other "battle of the pit jockeys".

Sure, the rest of the team is highly important and its not all about the driver, BUT, when the race is on I couldn't give a monkeys mutant ARSE who's got the best pit crew - I just want to see good battles on the fast part of the track, not in the slowest lane.

Oh well, whats it matter what I say.. it's not like they will change F1 to what I want it to be

[Bacchulum]

I would really like to know if the gits who change the rules (seemingly every bloody year) actually talk extensively with teams and drivers about how the changes could possibly affect racing. Perhaps a poll wordwide amongst the people who help finance much of F1: fans (by actually buying sponsor's products and team merchandise and manufacturere's cars and watching the races) would be good. And how about some common bloody sense?

No, Max doesn't ask anyone hence the GPWC.

The stewards saw the Fisi/Webber incident as Fisi's fault but they only gave him a warning (I suppose after they let Schuey off in Melbourne they couldn't do much else )
I guess Brundle really doesn't want to see overtaking from his comments.
Why bag someone for trying to pass when it was the other bloke who couldn't control his car?
BRING BACK MURRAY!!!!!

[steve_w05]

Just my opinion, but I reckon we'll see a bit more of the type of incidents that took Webber out. He's a real threat to the other drivers. He's not part of "the club". meaning, he didn't buy his seat in formula one, he earned it the hard way by driving talent alone.

[Nigel]

Just my opinion, but I reckon we'll see a bit more of the type of incidents that took Webber out. He's a real threat to the other drivers. He's not part of "the club". meaning, he didn't buy his seat in formula one, he earned it the hard way by driving talent alone.

THats a very good point.