Paul
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Post by Paul on Apr 4, 2007 6:40:23 GMT 1
Heavy rain is forecast this weekend for the Malaysian GP, the worst of which will hit on qualifying
ITV3 are showing live qualifying at 6.30am. I don't think ITV have ever shown Malaysian GP quali live!
There are doubts over Kimi's engine after in overheated in Australia (surprise surprise...). Chances are he will change it, but I can see him still making the podium regardless
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Post by -Big Dan- on Apr 4, 2007 11:49:38 GMT 1
I thought they'd done away with that farcical engine penalty rule.
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Post by paulgilb on Apr 4, 2007 12:11:33 GMT 1
I thought they'd done away with that farcical engine penalty rule. It now only applies on the Saturday and Sunday - drivers can use any engine they like in the Friday practice sessions.
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Post by paulgilb on Apr 7, 2007 22:04:12 GMT 1
Grid for Malaysia: 1 Massa 2 Alonso 3 Raikkonen 4 Hamilton 5 Heidfeld 6 Rosberg 7 Kubica 8 Trulli 9 Schumacher 10 Webber 11 Kovalainen 12 Fisichella 13 Sato 14 Button 15 Liuzzi 16 Speed 17 Davidson 18 Wurz 19 Albers 20 Sutil 21 Coulthard (engine change) 22 Barrichello (engine change)
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Apr 8, 2007 16:54:04 GMT 1
Very good race. I'm shocked that McLaren were able to beat Ferrari without retirements or mechanical failures. Alonso was clearly helped by Hamilton's great start which held up the Ferrari's, but it is clear that McLaren do have the pace! It was very poor for Massa to make a mistake like that, but for Heidfeld to hold out for 51 laps ahead of the Ferrari was excellent. Hamilton v Raikkonen made great drama at the end.
I felt very sorry for Rosberg having to retire after such a good race. Wurz was excellent this weekend also
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Kristofferson67
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Post by Kristofferson67 on Apr 8, 2007 20:18:35 GMT 1
Wurz was awesome!
Such a shame he couldn't have qualified higher because of gear box problems. Think he will have scored some points for sure.
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frag
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Post by frag on Apr 8, 2007 21:26:44 GMT 1
Very good race. I'm shocked that McLaren were able to beat Ferrari without retirements or mechanical failures. Alonso was clearly helped by Hamilton's great start which held up the Ferrari's, but it is clear that McLaren do have the pace! It was very poor for Massa to make a mistake like that, but for Heidfeld to hold out for 51 laps ahead of the Ferrari was excellent. Hamilton v Raikkonen made great drama at the end. I felt very sorry for Rosberg having to retire after such a good race. Wurz was excellent this weekend also I was about to say something similar! Very good race, great to see Hamilton's moves in the first 10 laps.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Apr 9, 2007 0:09:52 GMT 1
Great race for McLarens and 2 podiums for Hamilton Rosberg was so unlucky after racing so strong during the race, Massa's race was shocking to say the least! It was pretty funny when Ron Dennis didn't even make eye contact to Raikkonen after the race.
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Post by Zodiac on Apr 9, 2007 2:42:53 GMT 1
Excellent race from Hamilton again. I wouldn't wish to tempt fate but if he keeps on at this rate then he'll hopefully be winning races before long. Nice to see McLaren doing well today. They seemed genuinely pacey, whereas Ferrari never looked like hitting the heights they did in Australia. Hopefully, this augers well for the rest of the season and we'll have a good, open contest.
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Post by Maximo Mark on Apr 9, 2007 18:01:24 GMT 1
Did Felipe Massa think it was 2002?!
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Apr 10, 2007 13:07:45 GMT 1
Did Felipe Massa think it was 2002?! Harsh! To be honest, it isn't him outbraking himself that I have a problem with, it's that he somehow didn't have the pace to repass Heidfeld's BMW and Kimi's ailing Ferrari The key point that Malaysia highlighted was that when everything is goin well for Ferrari like in Australia, they will dominate. But when things go wrong, they don't have a driver of the calibre of Schumacher or a tactical mind of the calibre of Brawn to steal wins and podiums. Incidentally, the rumours that Ross Brawn is to go to Honda after his sabbatical have started up again. Honda were idiotic to get rid of all of their good people (Dave Richards, Geoff Willis, Willem Toet), so if they can't get someone good, they will lose their star driver as well I suspect...
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Post by paulgilb on Apr 10, 2007 13:30:12 GMT 1
A few random facts:
1. The last time that the first two races of a season were won by different teams was 2002 (Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher won the first 2 races before Ferrari dominated the rest of the season). The last time the first three races were won by different teams was in 1990 (Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Riccardo Patrese for McLaren, Ferrari and Williams).
2. The last time that the first 2 races of the season saw the same 3 drivers on the podium was in 2001 (Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard).
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frag
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Post by frag on Apr 10, 2007 17:25:17 GMT 1
Very difficult to see a team other than McLaren or Ferrari winning races this year... might happen once or twice, if Renault improve or the front-runners have off-days and engine changes. But as there won't be any engine change penalties in Bahrain, and there's little time for other drivers to improve, I'd say that 1990's record looks safe.
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Apr 10, 2007 19:04:21 GMT 1
I agree that Ferrari and McLaren will dominate. Although I wouldn't rule out an utterly bonkers race (like Hungary last year), where a BMW or Renault could take an unexpected victory. Monaco is the best chance for a real upset I expect, as the softest tyres will really struggle to last through a stint.
Because of the engine freeze from last year, and the change of the Friday practice rules, I don't expect many engine failures this season.
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Post by Maximo Mark on Apr 14, 2007 14:58:38 GMT 1
Qualifying results:
1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:32.652 2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:32.935 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:33.131 4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:33.192 5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:33.404 6. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:33.710 7. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:34.056 8. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 1:34.106 9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:34.154 10. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 1:34.399 11. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams-Toyota 1:32.915 12. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 1:32.935 13. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.082 14. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 1:33.294 15. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:33.624 16. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:33.731 17. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.984 18. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.024 19. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.333 20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.280 21. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull-Renault 1:35.341 22. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.533
I think that's the same top 5 for all 3 races, but in different orders? Great performances from Hamilton and Heidfeld again. Renault looking off the pace again in parts, I can't see anyone getting close to BMW soon, and I also can't see them getting close enough to the top 2. They'll be third throughout the season I think.
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Post by paulgilb on Apr 14, 2007 17:34:07 GMT 1
Massa was 22nd in first race.
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Post by Maximo Mark on Apr 14, 2007 18:16:51 GMT 1
Oh yeah, haha. He was one of the five quickest though!
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Apr 14, 2007 19:26:41 GMT 1
Renault started the season being quite close to BMW, but now they are well in with Williams and Toyota for the 4th best team. I think BMW will remain as close to the top 2 as they are now but not get any closer. In some circuits (I'm thinking Monza and Indianopolis), they will be closer though
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Apr 15, 2007 15:19:01 GMT 1
Exceptional racing from Hamilton and Heidfeld yet again!! What happened to Alonso that race? The Red Bulls were running very strongly, they were the 4th best team today. Shame they retired
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Apr 15, 2007 19:16:14 GMT 1
The RBs did have a good race and DC was on fire But once again, brilliant race from Lewis, especially the last stint on the harder tyre. Still a bit concerned about his engine though for the next race with the puffs of smoke coming out. Hopefully will be ok.
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