Malaysian Grand Prix

[daan]

I thought it was exceedingly funny that the team who deliberately didn't finish in Australia in order to get a new engine for this race, was the only team to have an engine failure during the race.

And Trulli & Toyota truly surprised me with their pace all through the race.

 

[kensei]

I'm so 'appy for my guy Trulli. He drove a wonderful race. Early days yet to say if the Toyota is for real but they sure looked good yesterday. Nice drive for Ralphie too...

I hope my McLaren team can figure out how to add just a little bit more speed to the car, it's all they really need (and some luck). At least the Merc engine's aren't grenading this year (shockingly).

I smiled watching Button's engine blow up. That made me happy like a school girl. BAR got way to cocky with their success last year and are being smacked back into reality this season.

Red Bull...wow. Just, wow.

Heidfield. I was very happy to see him on the podium. The poor guy deserved it and drove a steady and nice race. Way to go. As much as I hate to admit it the Williams isn't THAT bad this year, it can only get better too.

Alonso, ok...he did well. He is growing on me. If Trulli had managed to get around him on the first corner though it might have been a different story.

JV's F1 career is over. Plain and simple. No more excuses...it's over. It's about time too. If he makes it to Imola I'll be shocked if he ever drives again after that. Eveen the Jordon drivers looked better than JV...

Albers...go back to the DTM, you have no future in F1, you can't punt people off the track to pass them like you are known for in the DTM. Sucks to be you.

Don't count Ferrari out. Everyone seems to forget that we have yet to see the new 2005 car.

 

[fangorn_forest]

This was the best F1 race I've seen since I started watching F1. While it was an Alonso runaway upfront, there was some great racing going on behind him. Did anyone else catch the three car battle between Ralf Schumacher and the Williams boys. That was one of the best battles I've ever seen in any racing series, period. And what about Schumacher, Klien and Raikkonen going practically nose-to-tail over the finish line. Then there's the overall performance of the Toyotas, which I would classify as the second fastest cars, behind only the Renaults. We mustn't forget the Red Bulls either, they have what amounts to a 2005 Jaguar and here they are giving the Ferraris a good thrashing. The Mclarens have yet to show what they are truely capable of, and it should be quite impressive when they do. All in all, this was one very exciting race, and I'd love to see anyone try to say Formula One is boring now.

 

[Carl.]

Standings after two races:

1 - RENAULT 26 pts
2 - TOYOTA 12 pts
3 - REDBULL 11 pts
4 - FERRARI 10 pts
5 - WILLIAMS 10 pts
6 - McLAREN 9 pts



Who could have guessed that??

I must say I completely retract from what I've said in my fist thread about Ralf a while back . Well, my apologies, good choice finally! (Good luck not being destroyed by Trulli though)

Oh, and great race! Nice battles on the track, especially the one with Webber-Heidfeld-Ralf (Gotta love the absence of team orders ) 3 well deserved places on the podium. At some point I was actually afraid that Alonso would collapse on the podium, they looked so much exhausted.

JV's performance shows again that the end is near, unless some miracle happens. And even if it does happen, Sauber looks like they definitely could use a replacement sponsor for Red Bull, even Massa was lapped, so a miracle would mean something like finishing in the points because of other teams bad luck. Le Mans Jacques... Le Mans.

now back to that damn FF1 team... RENAULT, RENAULT and RENAULT. Click. (had Fisichelle, McLaren and Davidson for that race)

 

[livemusic]

Standings after two races:

1 - RENAULT 26 pts
2 - TOYOTA 12 pts
3 - REDBULL 11 pts
4 - FERRARI 10 pts
5 - WILLIAMS 10 pts
6 - McLAREN 9 pts



Who could have guessed that??

Yeah, McLaren scoring, what´s up with that?

 

[Sureboss]

As I understand it a 'tank slapper' is motor-bike terminology (SP?) when a bike suffers oversteer at high speed and the rider attemps to correct it and causes the bike to fish tail his thighs slap against the bikes fuel tank hence 'tank slapper'.

So when a driver turns in to the slide to correct it and the car snaps back in the opposite direction Brundle and Allen will nearly always refer to this a a 'tank slapper' as they are both big biking enthusiasts (SP?)

Hope this explains the comment Sureshot

i see what you mean, but i've never heard it in F1 context, should be calle dsomething different.

 

[kensei]

Le Mans Jacques... Le Mans.

Ha! Think of all the excuses, for lack of pace, JV could come up with over the course of a 24 hour race. He already nails it in 1.5 hour races.

 

[Drift260Z]

whoooo!!!! GOOOOO ALONSO!!!!!! sorry, Renault/Alonso fan here. I belive it could be Alonso's year(knock on a lot of wood). I hope Ferarri does mediocre because come on, it's been long enough. I mean 6 consecutive championships? enough is enough. I hope this doesn't become another 2003 season. remember, Ferarri had a slow start but caught up halfway and it went all the way up to Suzuka and it ended up Michael(grrr). that was a tough break for Kimi though, he seems to have gone downhill since. well, yea.....









rock.

 

[darkfinal]

I personally dislike Alonso, he has one of those faces you could just punch But you know, he did well, but wasn't an awesome drive at all

Well... I'd really punch that square-faced of Ralf

I dunno why to hate alonso. He hasn't been on enough races to make a definitive image of him, he only does his work, overtaking as much racers as he can (as he always did, in 80% of the races he did, he ended at least 5 or more positions above his starting grid position), even when he had a worse car than Trulli in 2003. He isn't friend of the press, he hates it indeed, so he doesn't look so friendly in the interviews.

But, well, he has something that makes him an idol in Spain. In 2002, no one watched F1 here (excepting some lonely fans of Pedro Martínez DE LA ROSA, like me ), but now, F1 is the most watched sport in Spain, well not really, F1 is lightly below Soccer. He was the Man of the year in 2004. And I do love him.

And, well, he always gave the best of him. And he has to be the good enough to bring Renault from the fifth position on constructor's championship on 2002, to the 3rd (almost 2nd) pos on 2004. And, of course, he is the first spanish leading the F1 championship. I really hope that the F2005 of Ferrari wouldn't be as fast as Renault this year - that would bring Alonso and Fisichella the best opportunity of their whole life.

PD: I heard that Ferrari said in the Diario della Gazza that thei are looking for Alonso for the next season. Huh. I dunno if that's good or bad for him. Being another easily-winner with the perfect car... a Barrichello's clone???

 

[TheChemist]

I was very pleased to see the Renault's pull away with another victory, but I was really sad for Kimi when his tire blew - he should've done so much better.

Oh, and how about RBR?

 

[Grip]

looks like RBR Got some points again.

Toyota did look quite good, looks like they are gettiong with the program.

 

[Jay]

I was dissapointed to see Webber get taken out He had a real good chance to get on the podium.

 

[Cadfael]

Standings after two races:

1 - RENAULT 26 pts
2 - TOYOTA 12 pts
3 - REDBULL 11 pts
4 - FERRARI 10 pts
5 - WILLIAMS 10 pts
6 - McLAREN 9 pts



Who could have guessed that??

I have not been very much in touch with happenings during the off season and what has been going on... are Redbull a totally new team? Or are they an old team renamed? If they are new... that is amazing! Toyota, I can understand, they did said as much at the teams inception... all is going to plan.

Le Mans Jacques... Le Mans.

Now that I can go with! I have an inkling he would do very well in that series.

 

[Cadfael]

PD: I heard that Ferrari said in the Diario della Gazza that thei are looking for Alonso for the next season. Huh. I dunno if that's good or bad for him. Being another easily-winner with the perfect car... a Barrichello's clone???

But... look towards the 2007 season... or maybe the next?

Shumy has been around a while now, and he will not be around much longer I reckon. If Alonso does go to Ferrari next year, look on it as grooming for taking over when Shumy hangs up his helmet. Point of fact, the reason the Big Red car racers are looking at him also has something to do with Shumy admiring him... not just his racing skills. And if tradition is followed, even though MS may no longer race for them, he will still be involved with the team in some way. He will want a good one to take up his mantle.

 

[Blake]

I smiled watching Button's engine blow up. That made me happy like a school girl. BAR got way to cocky with their success last year and are being smacked back into reality this season.

Indeed, it was "trulli" (bad pun) beautiful to see those Hondas go up in smoke, almost brought a tear to my eye.

Great race though, that action with Ralf, Webber and Hiedfeld was magic, loved it. I was horribly dissapointed when Webber was knocked out of the race, and I dissagreewith the ITV commentators opinion that it was mostly Mark's fault.

Do you all know how long I've been waiting for Toyota to shine? Well basically since 2002,it's just great to see all that money and promise finallydevelop into a result.

So far I feel that:
BAR's 2005 car = the reliability of McLaren's 2004 "A" car.
Toyota's 2005 car = 2004 BAR car, the biggest improvemment in the off season
Renault look strong, but not 2004 Ferrari strong, and I'm somewhat fearful of the F2005, hopefully it's not the demise of competition for 2005. Though somehow I think Bridgestone will keep Ferrari slower than their 2005 car 'should be'.

I know I've been bagging out the FIA all weekend, but I have to say the race was good, I'm not brave enough to say it was the fault of the new rules, but I won't say the new rules had nothing to do with it.

Anyway, great race, great result and it looks like being a competetive season. 👍

Blake

 

[Sureboss]

I was dissapointed to see Webber get taken out He had a real good chance to get on the podium.

50-50 incident imo.

webber must have known that fisi (might be wrong) had crap tyres, but still went round the side of him. poor driving on both parts.

 

[Blake]

But Fisi really should have realised that trying that hard was pointless anyway, he was never going to hold the position for long. Plus Fisi has been officially warned for the incident.

Blake

 

[darkfinal]

Point of fact, the reason the Big Red car racers are looking at him also has something to do with Shumy admiring him... not just his racing skills. And if tradition is followed, even though MS may no longer race for them, he will still be involved with the team in some way. He will want a good one to take up his mantle.

I always thought Schumi mostly admired Raikkonnen, not Alonso... Maybe it has something to do with Flavio Briattore? He is a strong man in F1 so he could manage something with Ferrari...

Or who knows, Alonso is doing same career than Schumi (MS began his carrer in Renault if I remember well) and he's seeing a Mini-Me in Alonso I thought about M. Gené's opinion, but I don't think that Ferrari is hearing him

 

[Nasadus]

Right now when i look at the F1 field i see one driver who shines out above the rest,in everything he does.Mark Webber.Just watch how he drives the car and how he behaves out of the car.No one drives as smooth as him(except Schumi) but he will be gone soon.He hardly(actually never) makes mistakes(so far).Even though i am a big fan of Kimi i see that Webber is the future.

 

[VeNoM_NY_USA]

I always thought Schumi mostly admired Raikkonnen, not Alonso... Maybe it has something to do with Flavio Briattore? He is a strong man in F1 so he could manage something with Ferrari...

Or who knows, Alonso is doing same career than Schumi (MS began his carrer in Renault if I remember well) and he's seeing a Mini-Me in Alonso I thought about M. Gené's opinion, but I don't think that Ferrari is hearing him

Pre-Ferrari Michael drove for the Benetton F1 team, which later became the Renault F1 team we have today. He made his F1 debut in 1991 in a Jordan in a one race appearance. The next season was his first with Benetton. Just a little clarification.

 

[VeNoM_NY_USA]

Right now when i look at the F1 field i see one driver who shines out above the rest,in everything he does.Mark Webber.Just watch how he drives the car and how he behaves out of the car.No one drives as smooth as him(except Schumi) but he will be gone soon.He hardly(actually never) makes mistakes(so far).Even though i am a big fan of Kimi i see that Webber is the future.

I agree, I like Kimi and Alonso both, but I see Webber as the guy who could follow in Michael's footsteps (not in terms of dominance, but attitude, driving style, etc). I would love to see him in a red car after his Williams contract expires. Does anyone know when that would be?

 

[livemusic]

are Redbull a totally new team? Or are they an old team renamed? If they are new... that is amazing!

It´s Jaguar´s 2004 cars renamed, which is even more amazing.

 

[kensei]

I hope this is a sign of things to come with Toyota but it is too early to say for sure. Their performance was inspiring in Malaysia but lets see how they do over the next few races, then we will know if they are the real deal.

The other thing to watch for is when the teams hit Europe, or post Imola, they usually introduce upgrades to their cars which up their performance. Lets see what Toyota does then.

Trulli is my #1 driver, IMO he is one of the best on the grid....so I hope Toyota is the real deal.

 

[darkfinal]

Pre-Ferrari Michael drove for the Benetton F1 team, which later became the Renault F1 team we have today. He made his F1 debut in 1991 in a Jordan in a one race appearance. The next season was his first with Benetton. Just a little clarification.

Aah... All those things happened when I was 3 years old I saw Schumi driving in a blue-ish car soooo.... Thanx for the correction

Now seriously, when I hear about Senna, Fittipaldi, Lauda, Piquet... I imagine some old, slow, noisy and lowly fiable cars. I saw a few days ago a Senna's video doing his fastlap in Monaco in 1990. OMFG that was a F1 car? A rounded wheel? The gears outta the wheel? He was bouncing and fighting "against" his car. I'd really enjoy being in that epoque, but well...

 

[VeNoM_NY_USA]

No problem man. I'm not much older than you. I didn't start following F1 at all till I was about 15. Since I have become obsessed and read tons on Formula 1 history.

 

[Cosmic]

I was so happy seeing the title in the newspaper, it said : ''Schumaher needs a new ferrari with new technology''. I was like , okey
And when I read on it said that he had problems with his tires. LOL.
I'm still happy that Alonso won 👍

 

[Carl.]

I have not been very much in touch with happenings during the off season and what has been going on... are Redbull a totally new team? Or are they an old team renamed? If they are new... that is amazing!

RBR is Jaguar, with better sponsoring (Red Bull), Better engines (Cosworth) and what looks to be a very relieved Coulthard!
​

 

[fangorn_forest]

Jaguar used Cosworths last year as well.

About the Webber-Fisichella incident, I wouldn't blame either for it. Webber was ust trying a clean pass around the outside, and Fisi tryed not to get into him, but I think because of his worn tires, the back end stepped out. An unfortunate incident for sure, but nobody's fault.

 

[kensei]

Jaguar used Cosworths last year as well.

About the Webber-Fisichella incident, I wouldn't blame either for it. Webber was ust trying a clean pass around the outside, and Fisi tryed not to get into him, but I think because of his worn tires, the back end stepped out. An unfortunate incident for sure, but nobody's fault.

I gotta agree. Fisi had the line and due to tire wear slid up the track into Webber. Watching the reply Fisis's car totally slipped out from under him, and he wasn't even turning in aggressively. He blew the brakezone but if Webber wasn't there he would have simply taken the corner wide, like Alonso's line.

If anything Webber shut the door down on him and gave him no room. Webber is known for his wide car and not giving an inch...but still.

It's 50/50 but if i had to point a finger I'd point it at Webber for trying the pass on the outside. Fisi had the line, Webber should have backed off. But that is so subjective...

 

[Blake]

Webber had given Fisi like 3 car widths, Webber had no control over Fisi's car, and Fisi was the one who got his car crossed up. Plus think in the long run, Fisi should have let Webber take the position because Fisi wouldn't have been able to hold it for much longer anyway. But racing's racing and these things happen.

Blake