F1 - 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

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F1 - 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

US TV Times:
Practice 1: Thursday September 28th, 11:00PM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Practice 2: Friday September 29th, 3:00AM EST , NBCSN
Practice 3: Saturday September 30th, 2:00AM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Qualifying: Saturday September 30th, 5:00AM EST , NBCSN
Race: Sunday October 1st, 03:00AM EST , NBCSN

Standings:
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari, 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari, 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 68
7. Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India, 68
8. Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India, 56
9. Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Toro Rosso, 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1, 34
Constructors
1. Mercedes AMG Petronas, 475
2. Scuderia Ferrari, 373
3. Red Bull Racing, 230
4. Sahara Force India, 124
5. Williams Martini Racing, 59
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso, 52
7. Renault Sport F1, 42
8. Haas F1 Team, 37
9. McLaren-Honda, 17
10. Sauber, 5

For more, including track data, analysis, and video please check out my full post on TOV Motorsports.

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Vettel starts last in this one due to powerplant issues in Q1.
Can he come from last to finish in the points? I think so, but would be surprised if he gets better than 5th.

Another amazing performance from Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in qualifying. They were 1.5 seconds off the pace in P2, then make gross changes in the setup overnight, then Hammy qualifies on the pole.

It's looking like another championship for Hamilton. They're good, and they're lucky. Singapore wasn't supposed to be a race that Mercedes could win, but three of their major rivals went out in the first turn, and Hamilton ends up in the lead.
 
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I'm disappointed with Haas, race engineering in particular. They had very fast trap speeds yet turned in slow lap times. Why on earth have they not dialed in more downforce on their cars? Additionally, their decision not to bring any [meaningful] updates in the second half is hurting them.

I hope we see a wet GP tomorrow. Maybe the aforementioned Haas can do better, MAG put on a great drive in the wet in Singapore. And I'd love to see Alonso get a shot at redemption after such a blistering start in Singapore.
 
Lewis is more likely to win in the rain. Verstappen would be his closest challenger - if he could keep a cool head.
 
Vettel can't buy any luck lately, in comparison to other years. Lewis has had good luck, but, as much as I'm no fan, I can't begrudge him good luck after what he went through last year.
 
Why did they quit racing at Sepang? I'm not understanding this. They spend tens of millions of dollars building these beautiful racing circuits. Sometimes hundreds of millions. And millions more every year just to maintain them. And Sepang was one of the best. Only to abandon them. And for what? Some garbage street "circuit" the likes of Azerbaijan? That duplicates the effects of racing from Brooklyn to the Bronx on side streets. It doesn't make sense. Sepang is / was a beautiful place for F1 racing.

And I'm not understanding the whole deal with Kimi's car? They had half of the day yesterday, and all last night to make sure that car was ready to go. Especially after finding problems with Vettel's car. They've got umpteen mechanics, and umpteen more engineers working on it. Complete with 247 laptop computers plugged into it. That analyze everything except the gloss level of the paint. And more tools than there are on the Ford assembly line. And they don't discover the problem until 5 minutes before the race? Sometimes the more I watch this sport, the less I understand it. Technology abounds. But common sense doesn't seem to exist. Either in the garage, or in the rule book.
 
"But common sense doesn't seem to exist. Either in the garage, or in the rule book."



I'm sure Vettel is wondering himself, as much as he came back in yesterday's race. Not enough time to catch the leaders but when the race is over and everyone is on their post race lap around, Vettel gets slammed in the left rear and his tire ends up on top behind him. At least someone gave him a piggyback ride back to the pits.
 
I think it was financial reasoning for Malaysia leaving the calendar. I believe the government backing disappeared. I'm surprised Petronas didn't get bugged for more money. Maybe they did, but just decided they spend enough already.

Oh, and I think they do analyse the gloss level of the paint. Red Bull's matte paint was found to be lighter.
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May be just me but it looked like Vettel was most at fault in the collision at the end. I also didn't appreciate the way he handled questions about it afterward. Great drive though.
 
Originally Posted By: DeepFriar
.....I also didn't appreciate the way he handled questions about it afterward.


How should he have handled it? He couldn't have been more calm about it. He gave his opinion. What more could he have said?
 
I thought it was clear there was blame on both sides. Probably more of it on Vettel frankly as he was visibly drifting into the turn leaving the other car nowhere to go. He Wasn't willing to take any possibility of blame. His unwillingness to at least say, "I'm not sure", looked unsportsmanlike given the circumstances. Typical German/Austrian type reply though - they love saying "It's not possible" when they disagree with you even when it's clearly possible. Just an observation.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
I think it was financial reasoning for Malaysia leaving the calendar. I believe the government backing disappeared. I'm surprised Petronas didn't get bugged for more money. Maybe they did, but just decided they spend enough already.


There's a growing movement in Aus to drop Melbourne also. It's costing about $60M per year at the moment and the numbers indicate that's not being recovered in incidental spending or tourism, so it's a loser. Malaysia are the same but the rumours are they'll leave it for a year or two while they work on re-negotiating from a clean slate. Silverstone did a similar thing.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
So you didn't appreciate that he didn't blame himself?


No I didn't, I usually react negatively when an adult responds with a guilty faced eight year old's lie, "He did it, he did it". It's beneath him to immediately blame another driver without at least seeing the playback. Now, if you want to defend the fact, or say that he should or would immediately lie, well, that's up to you.
 
Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Originally Posted By: Garak
I think it was financial reasoning for Malaysia leaving the calendar. I believe the government backing disappeared. I'm surprised Petronas didn't get bugged for more money. Maybe they did, but just decided they spend enough already.


There's a growing movement in Aus to drop Melbourne also. It's costing about $60M per year at the moment and the numbers indicate that's not being recovered in incidental spending or tourism, so it's a loser.


Shame really. Adelaide always had record crowds too and in a lovely city to boot but it wasn't enough to keep it there either. Maybe Liberty will wake up to being less of a robber baron than Bernie in this regard.
 
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