[FullRangeMan]

Maybe with Colin Chapman...(no no).
Raikkonen pointed the fastest lap from the race too.
Lotus is a fast car this year, the low ball was McLaren...

[a.wayne]

That's only because they have Button leading now, the proverbial   has been that never was ......

[a.wayne]

What a cracking race ! When was the last time Lotus won a race ?

Didnt Kimi win one last year also ...?

Before that ? the last time the late great Aryton Senna drove  for them , making it their last real victory , not like the current WWF1 show we have  today . 

[FullRangeMan]

Didnt Kimi win one last year also ...?

Correct, Kimi won in Abu Dhabi in 2012.
Much better than Massa and Ferrari.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqxjJlsEBe4

[FullRangeMan]

McLaren asked apologies to Red Bull for a faulty ECU that they supply to all the teams.
It contributed to the bad Mark Webber performance in Melbourne-AUS yesterday.
This unit had a software prob what forced a restart on this ECU at the warmup lap that led Webber loss various positions from second to seven.

This ECU works with the telemetry, I suppose it do the auto starting racing, hence the poor start from Webber.
McLaren provides this same ECU for NASCAR and INDY.

[avahifi]

McLaren is having a lot of trouble getting consistent speed from their newly designed car for this year.  They switched to a pull rod front suspension and seem to be having the same teething problems that Ferrari did last year with this general design.

Lotus seems to have a good handle on tire wear and that is one reason Kimi won the first race along with the fact that he is one of the few truly great drivers.

It looks like an interesting season to come.  NBCSP is providing better coverage then I had expected, aside from too many and too long commercials.  The race commentators do look pretty out of place in their new garish plastic too big and too sterile set.  It looks like it was designed for tennis or whatever, not motor sports.

Frank Van Alstine

[mgalusha]

It looks like an interesting season to come.  NBCSP is providing better coverage then I had expected, aside from too many and too long commercials.  The race commentators do look pretty out of place in their new garish plastic too big and too sterile set.  It looks like it was designed for tennis or whatever, not motor sports.

I was expecting the worst from NBC but I was pleasantly surprised, they offer it live, which I can record and watch early the next morning while my wife is sleeping, splendid.

[FullRangeMan]

Lotus seems to have a good handle on tire wear and that is one reason Kimi won the first race along with the fact that he is one of the few truly great drivers.

Lotus suspension is very well adjusted, it allow Kimi do only two tire changes, RedBull and Ferrari made three.
The TV speakers informed the Ferrari logistics of race is all made ​​in Maranello and is passed on during the race for the team.

[FullRangeMan]

Italian newspaper La Stampa protest that Massa is ahead of Alonso again in the Malasia GP starting grid:
http://www.lastampa.it/2013/03/23/sport/formula-1/2013/sepang-vettel-si-riprende-la-pole-la-ferarri-c-e-massa-poi-alonso-B4NAbAVOBtiYEtYGqHjSxK/pagina.html

[FullRangeMan]

Malasia GP starting grid:
1 - Sebastian Vettel (ALE/RBR-Renault) - 1m49s674         
2 - Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) - 1m50s587  - a 0s913
3 - Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) - 1m50s727  - a 1s053
4 - Lewis Hamilton (ING/Mercedes) - 1m51s699  - a 2s025
5 - Mark Webber (AUS/RBR-Renault) - 1m52s244  - a 2s570
6 - Nico Rosberg (ALE/Mercedes) - 1m52s519  - a 2s845
7 - Jenson Button (ING/McLaren-Mercedes) -  1m53s175  - a 3s501
8 - Adrian Sutil (ALE/Force India-Mercedes) - 1m53s439  - a 3s765
9 - Sergio Pérez (MEX/McLaren-Mercedes) - 1m54s136  - a 4s462
10 - Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault) - 1m52s970  - a 3s296*
* Raikkonen penalty 3 position on grid for blocking Nico Rosberg at Q3.

Eliminados no Q2:                                 
11 - Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Renault) - 1m37s636
12 - Nico Hulkenberg (ALE/Sauber-Ferrari) - 1m38s125
13 - Daniel Ricciardo (ASU/STR-Ferrari) - 1m38s822
14 - Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari) - 1m39s221
15 - Paul di Resta (ESC/Force India-Mercedes) - 1m44s509
16 - Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault) - sem tempo

Eliminados no Q1:
17 - Jean-EricVergne (FRA/STR-Ferrari) - 1m38s157
18 - Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams-Renault) - 1m38s207
19 - Jules Bianchi (FRA/Marussia-Cosworth) - 1m38s434
20 - Chalres Pic (FRA/Caterham-Renault) - 1m39s314
21 - Max Chilton (ING/Marussia-Cosworth) - 1m39s672
22 - Giedo van der Garde (HOL/Caterham-Renault) - 1m39s932

[won ton on]

Alonso or Raikkonen for the win.

[avahifi]

Some teams are wondering if Lotus has a tire wear advantage because Pirelli uses a 3 year old Renault Lotus F1 car for designing their race tires (which all teams must use).  The thought is that the suspension layout on the old Pielli test car is very similar to the current Lotus cars and was designed by the same people now at Lotus.

Perhaps this is why Lotus seems to have a tire wear advantage so far this season.  Tomorrow will tell us a lot more as tire wear at this upcoming race is forecast to be horrid (unless it rains).

Frank Van Alstihe

[won ton on]

Maybe they should have offered one of their own cars to help develop the Pirelli's. Time to stop the whining and get on with it.I thought Pirelli used the old Toyota to do the developing.

[a.wayne]

Nothing to it really, Lotus advantage is not in tire wear and Kimi is no master at tire saving,  it's just the way they lay the plot out, I'm sure we will see this unfold over the next 3 races ....


Now ask yourself , why would Webber be 2.5sec slower than Vettel, a driver he has proven to be faster than on many occasions in the past ...

Yes, the saga continues....

[eclein]

I was expecting the worst from NBC but I was pleasantly surprised, they offer it live, which I can record and watch early the next morning while my wife is sleeping, splendid.

Same here, and I'm very pleased with coverage so far its essentially the same format formula Speed used (even having Varsha sit in on some races). Buxton cracks me up and the synergy between all just keeps growing.

Tires, Tires, Tires.....F1 continues to amaze me with how damn close they are time wise regardless of equipment and personnel. Jets on wheels that steer really, really well...LOL!!!!!   


Update: Do any of you guys run a timing/scoring app on a tablet (android is mine) while watching live sessions? If so which one??  Twitter is wild to follow during sessions I've found also......

[carusoracer]

I just ESPN's F1 app for my iPad.

Works fairly well. The app from F1 timing is very cumbersome.

[Crimson]

This race is Vettel's to lose. Very small rear wing, 1.5 seconds ahead of Massa. Something's up.

Timing app-wise, F1's own free streaming on a laptop (Mac Air) seems to be the best out there, IMO.

[FullRangeMan]

Massa= four tire changes!
Seems in F1 win is in the tires as well in Indy win is in the fuel refilling stops.

OBS.: Formula Indy will start today, a great competition too.

[carusoracer]

Go Hamilton!  Too bad he did not have the pace at the end having to conserve fuel. Rosberg would have passed him.
Strange Vettel would jeopardize the teams 1' 2 

[Davey]

I found it a quite boring.

Obviously this has been brewing the past few years, but it's glaringly obvious (after today) that the multitude of rules have taken the racing out of the drivers hands.  I appreciate the fact there are tire/fuel/etc concerns, but to have all the top runners effectively stop racing halfway through the event is irritating.

The NBC guys are doing the best they can, but they don't have a clue of what type of strategies are playing out during the race, so they can't convey that to us (the viewers.)  It must make for a very puzzling presentation for those who are newer viewers and don't follow F1 closely.

When the highlight of the race was Hamilton driving into the McLaren pit, you know your sport has a problem. 

Cheers,

Dave.