Malaysian Grand Prix 2013, Kuala Lumpur - Race 2/19

deuse said:
Wonder how many pit stops there will be at this race?
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Well, it's quite a long lap... so end of lap 1? :p

PS I'm not complaining about the tyres. I quite like the chaos and panic among the pit crews and the fact that the fastest car doesn't always win - the best car wins.
 
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Medium and hard, same as last year. compounds being softer across the board should keep it interesting though.
 
Cheers. Shouldn't be any problems then, as its only the Super Softs and possibly the Softs, depending on temperatures, that seem to have the insta-graining problem.
 
Skeeter said:
I thought the problems were made worse by it being cold?
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Actual degredation increases in high temps, as in the rubber melts and wears down quicker, more chance of blistering and other problems. The cold means the tyres don't heat up, don't get gripping and slide through corners, which introduces graining and can do so VERY quickly. The graining doesn't really seem to go away, while proper tyre wear seems to take at least some time under normal circumstances. The tyres seem worse this year in that there is a very narrow zone where the tyres work, too cold, too hot, tyre go bye bye. Tyre just right, boom, it will last forever(not really, it just won't have as many issues).

this_is_gav. I get what you're saying, and the overall best car should win, but the tyres are still a joke.

We had a situation in the first race where Vettel lost time by trying to pass Sutil, he may well have improved his final position in the race if he'd held 4-5 seconds back from Sutil and just cruised around, the tyres wear faster as the aero is way less effective following people meaning less grip in corners and more sliding, more tyre wear, more graining. Vettel's pace dropped off not because Sutil had the faster car, but because Sutil was in clear air and Vettel wasn't. One of the reasons Kimi's race went so well after 7-8 laps was he wasn't that close to Ferrari before Vettel/Ferrari's pitted, he didn't follow too much for too long, and also went noticeably slower in qualy(took less life out of those tyres). After the other guys pitted, he was often running in clear air, while others were often following.

The tyres being so poor and working in such a narrow window means cars are punished for pushing to catch the guy infront, they are punished for trying to pass the guy infront, they are punished for trying to qualify at the front. This isn't conducive to good racing.

So for me, the tyres have to be FAR better, I want to see the best car over a race win, not the fastest, but if that meant Kimi's qualy pace sucks, his race pace is great, but more often than not he's punished for trying to overtake people, thats bad. If Vettel or whoever else has most races with a lead, clear air and by default better tyre wear in most situations/races, its a stupid advantage. Don't forget that Vettel was doing well till he pitted and followed around a guy on a different tyre/strategy, ruining his race completely, while Kimi ran a different strategy meaning he stayed out longer and had more air when he did pit.

Ultimately if 3 other cars went with different strategys, Kimi could have ended up behind Sutil, had his tyres ruined, and Vettel was in clean air and run off to a victory.... this is what I hate about crap tyres.
 
Lotus team have always gone well here. Can't wait.. Didn't realise it was back to back..

Wonder if new Internet will be able to cope with skygo. Looking doubtful
 
Nismo said:
Yep, anyone know if Sky are still covering this?

GP2 (and 3) are always high on entertainment, it's like the single seater version of touring cars :D
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Sky are covering GP2 at Malaysia. The feature race is on about 3am on saturday and the sprint is about 4am sunday, both live. Practice and qually are both live on friday.
 
Nismo said:
GP2 (and 3) are always high on entertainment, it's like the single seater version of touring cars :D
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Yea some enjoyable racing, quite looking forward to it.

Will be interesting to see how Mitch Evans goes. I'm well chuffed Tom Dillmann has got a race seat too... Heres hoping he can keep it for a full season.
 
Regarding McLaren and their woes, and the talk of reverting to last years car, is there anything technically or legally not allowing them to bring last years car (with whatever changes it needs to make it 2013 compliant) and run it alongside the 2013 car?

i.e. use FP1 as a test session for the 2013 car so they can get a grip on developing it, but then revert back to the old car for the rest of the weekend if they know it will be quick(er) until such a point that they can rely on the new car all the time.

I know they would never realistically do this, and I'm sure it would be a massive challenge on resources, but is it theoretically possible?
 
Nismo said:
Regarding McLaren and their woes, and the talk of reverting to last years car, is there anything technically or legally not allowing them to bring last years car (with whatever changes it needs to make it 2013 compliant) and run it alongside the 2013 car?

i.e. use FP1 as a test session for the 2013 car so they can get a grip on developing it, but then revert back to the old car for the rest of the weekend if they know it will be quick(er) until such a point that they can rely on the new car all the time.

I know they would never realistically do this, and I'm sure it would be a massive challenge on resources, but is it theoretically possible?
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McLaren has ruled out the idea of reverting to last year's car, despite the difficulties it is facing with its 2013 challenger.

Jenson Button could manage no better than ninth in the Australian Grand Prix after a weekend where McLaren admitted it was surprised by how far off the pace it was.

Its problems, allied to the fact that the 2012 car ended the year as the pace-setter, led to talk in Australia that the team could update last year's MP4-27.

However, following analysis by its engineers of where the 2013 car is lacking, McLaren is convinced that sticking to the current model is the best way forward.

Its stance has been sealed by the fact its data suggests the car is not lacking downforce, but its operating window is too 'peaky'.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106141
 
^^ I know all that, I doubt it will actually happen. McLaren will persevere rightly or wrongly, time will tell.

What I'm asking is would it be within the rules for one (or both) drivers to use the 2013 car in FP1 to help develop it, then switch to the (probably faster and more consistent) 2012 car for FP2 onwards?
 
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I think it must be possible, pretty sure you'd have seen concrete comments on it by now if it wasn't allowed within the rules. McLaren need to hope they are right with the potential the new car has, as the one at the end of last year was consistently one of the fastest cars.
 
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