Malaysia Grand Prix (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) March 29, 2015

So, I caught something interesting on ESPN yesterday. They mentioned how the folks over at Ferrari were basically saying the biggest thing Vettel brought to the table was his "calm."

It’s exactly what I’ve been preaching for years—you can’t come from some high-strung, emotional place and expect to win a title with Ferrari. It just turns the chaos up to eleven. You have to be cold and systematic to actually get those guys in line. That’s why for the last 40 years, Ferrari titles have only gone to calculated Northerners—think Lauda, Schumacher, Schekter—and that’s why Vettel will too. When Ferrari had two "emotional" drivers—Alonso (the hot-headed Southern version) and Massa (the weak-willed Southern version)—everything went south fast. Raikkonen was chill, sure, but he was indifferent; he just coasted on the leftovers of the Schumacher era. What about the local talent they tried in Ferrari over the last 40 years? Fisichella was a disaster; Badoer was a disaster; Capelli was a disaster; Alboreto folded when he actually had a shot. Alesi? He just broke the whole system. Things only started looking up once Berger arrived, though he wasn't fast enough to actually deliver titles—he just cleared the path for Schumacher. And obviously, you have to be a "team player" at Ferrari more than anywhere else—that was Schumacher’s specialty, and Vettel is going to grab even more titles because his commitment is even higher.

I guess we would have seen a real battle between Vettel and Hamilton at the end if they'd stuck with the Mercedes strategy and gone for three stops.

crimsonstag84 said:I guess we would have seen a real battle between Vettel and Hamilton at the end if they'd stuck with the Mercedes strategy and gone for three stops.

I suspect otherwise. If it weren't for the safety car, Mercedes would have absolutely shredded their tires. Without that intervention, Vettel likely would have overtaken Hamilton by lap 8 or 9 at the latest. Or, more realistically, Hamilton pits while Vettel stays out for another ten laps, ultimately winning by having one or two fewer pit stops under his belt.

One shouldn't overlook the fact that without the safety car, Mercedes might have been forced into four pit stops just to survive. The tire degradation was simply that severe.

stormybadger8 said:I'm not buying this idea that Merhi had anything to do with Kimi being stuck behind him. 🤷
Just click the link and look at the data. 😉
Merhi was actually a headache for Jenson Button, who couldn't even get past him before the restart (lap 6), so he was just stuck right on his tail and wiped him out immediately when they went again. Pretty sure Button said something to that effect too. 🤔
Meanwhile, Kimi needed an entire extra lap just to reach Merhi. 😉
At the restart, he was 5 seconds back, so Kimi was actually trailing more than Merhi was.

Kimi's issue wasn't getting blocked; it was just that his pit stop timing meant he couldn't catch the back of the pack in time. Just compare Kimi's times under the SC to everyone else's and you'll see. 😁

If Merhi was really the bottleneck, how do you explain this?
Lap 5: Merhi 2:24.906, Kimi 1:49.747
Lap 6 (restart at end of lap): Merhi 2:23.195, Kimi 1:57.757... Kimi was about 5.7 seconds behind Merhi at the end of that lap. 🤔
Lap 7: Merhi 1:52.666, Kimi 1:46.534—Kimi's already 0.400 ahead of Merhi...

Man, I just read this on GPUpdate...
Räikkönen was clipped by Sauber's Felipe Nasr at the final corner and had to complete an entire lap at slow speed and, while a subsequent Safety Car period enabled him to close the gap to the pack, Manor Marussia debutant Roberto Merhi was still a few seconds behind the group at the restart, costing Räikkönen time.

crimsonstag84 said:I guess we would have seen a real battle between Vettel and Hamilton at the end if they'd stuck with the Mercedes strategy and gone for three stops.

What kind of logic are you using to come up with that bold claim?
Qualifying tires eat up about 30% of their life in just three laps. Plus, you've got massive degradation differences because the track surface changes after thirty laps compared to the start, not to mention how much more the tires wear when the car is heavy with fuel...

Bottom line: there’s zero theory suggesting Hamilton could have lasted more than maybe 8 laps at the start. That much is obvious, considering his ceiling was only those 14 laps on fresh rubber during the second half of the race...
Honestly, even if he could stay out, he’d just be sitting there 2-3 seconds slower than the Williams cars and the rest of the pack behind him...

Besides, everyone is totally ignoring the fact that almost everyone pitted, not just Mercedes...

The ones who stayed out:
Sainz (on fresh tires for 14 laps) drops about a second and a half between his best lap after the restart and his final lap before pitting.
Perez & Hulk (on fresh tires—Perez for 17 laps, Hulk for 15—and knowing how gentle Hulk is on rubber) and lo and behold, both drop roughly 2 seconds between their best lap after the restart and their last lap before hitting the pits.
And aside from Vettel, that would’ve been it. 😉

Now look at Vettel:
Vettel vs Hamilton
It’s not a huge sample size, but Vettel’s third lap was faster than his second, while Hamilton’s third lap was already half a second slower than his second... maybe he was already struggling with the Haas while navigating traffic. 😬
Vettel’s times are incredibly consistent from the restart all the way through 16 laps... the spread is only about 0.9 seconds. 😳
The guys who stayed out on fresh mediums were actually dropping more time, even though they spent less time on track and had brand new tires...
Now imagine what it would've been like for the Ferraris once you look at Hamilton’s later (and shorter) stint on new mediums, where he dropped 1.6 seconds from start to finish.
Man, he would've been down at least 3-4 seconds over those imaginary 11 laps on used mediums. They knew that perfectly well, which is exactly why they happily ducked into the pits under the Safety Car. 😉

Samuel Ruiz4 said:Man, I just read this on GPUpdate...
Räikkönen was clipped by Sauber's Felipe Nasr at the final corner and had to complete an entire lap at slow speed and, while a subsequent Safety Car period enabled him to close the gap to the pack, Manor Marussia debutant Roberto Merhi was still a few seconds behind the group at the restart, costing Räikkönen time.

Maybe I missed something🤷
but looking at the timing, it doesn't look that way to me.🤷

Killer race, props to Ferrari 🙏

Feel bad about that penalty for Force India, especially for Hulk... 😢

All in all, aside from a few brainless calls by the stewards yesterday, I just hope Ferrari actually tries to stay on Mercedes' heels. Maybe we'll get an interesting season after all... 👍

I want to apologize to everyone here—after rewatching the race, I’m convinced Vettel actually outpaced Rosberg and Hamilton ON TRACK. Honestly, I was watching it the second I woke up, half-asleep and barely processing anything before I drifted right back to sleep... totally blanked on it at first 😬 and all without the commentators, too—had to keep it quiet since my brother was sleeping. Actually, maybe I should've just stayed asleep... the whole race was kind of a letdown.

stormybadger8 said:I'm not buying this idea that Merhi had anything to do with Kimi being stuck behind him. 🤷
Just click the link and look at the data. 😉
Merhi was actually a headache for Jenson Button, who couldn't even get past him before the restart (lap 6), so he was just stuck right on his tail and wiped him out immediately when they went again. Pretty sure Button said something to that effect too. 🤔
Meanwhile, Kimi needed an entire extra lap just to reach Merhi. 😉
At the restart, he was 5 seconds back, so Kimi was actually trailing more than Merhi was.

Kimi's issue wasn't getting blocked; it was just that his pit stop timing meant he couldn't catch the back of the pack in time. Just compare Kimi's times under the SC to everyone else's and you'll see. 😁

If Merhi was really the bottleneck, how do you explain this?
Lap 5: Merhi 2:24.906, Kimi 1:49.747
Lap 6 (restart at end of lap): Merhi 2:23.195, Kimi 1:57.757... Kimi was about 5.7 seconds behind Merhi at the end of that lap. 🤔
Lap 7: Merhi 1:52.666, Kimi 1:46.534—Kimi's already 0.400 ahead of Merhi...

It appears Kimi was indeed being held up while attempting to close the gap to the field behind the Safety Car. In fact, during the live broadcast, he even went as far as to ask his race engineer whether he was permitted to overtake a car that was essentially crawling along the track. Furthermore, following the conclusion of the race, he explicitly stated that he had been stuck behind a Sauber while under the Safety Car:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-..._Malaysia.html

graniteharbor502 said:It appears Kimi was indeed being held up while attempting to close the gap to the field behind the Safety Car. In fact, during the live broadcast, he even went as far as to ask his race engineer whether he was permitted to overtake a car that was essentially crawling along the track. Furthermore, following the conclusion of the race, he explicitly stated that he had been stuck behind a Sauber while under the Safety Car:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-..._Malaysia.html

Yeah, could be Ericsson. He pulled out of the race right around then, so he might’ve been the one blocking him. 🤔

Ericsson went flying off the track—they actually had to use a crane to haul his car away 😬

Ashley Ramirez4 said:Ericsson went flying off the track—they actually had to use a crane to haul his car away 😬

Wait, didn't ZKJ skip out on using that virtual SC entirely?

neonfox65 said:I want to apologize to everyone here—after rewatching the race, I’m convinced Vettel actually outpaced Rosberg and Hamilton ON TRACK. Honestly, I was watching it the second I woke up, half-asleep and barely processing anything before I drifted right back to sleep... totally blanked on it at first 😬 and all without the commentators, too—had to keep it quiet since my brother was sleeping. Actually, maybe I should've just stayed asleep... the whole race was kind of a letdown.

He definitely had Rosberg, but didn't Hamilton just dive into the pits right as he was closing in? Still, yeah—with those fresh tires, he would have picked him off eventually.

What a race. Huge congrats to Vettel and Ferrari—honestly, though, the way Red Bull obsessed over Mercedes' dominance was just ridiculous. They should either step up or go find a local karting track to play in; I’m exhausted by all their whining.
If Mercedes uses the same tire strategy as last year, they're in serious trouble...

If Kimi hadn't messed up—or rather, had his usual luck—the fight for the top would have been even more exciting. Unfortunately, it feels like he's lost that spark—that drive—and I don't think he'll bite anymore. He tends to blink first in a duel, so I doubt he'll be much of a factor this season.

Can't wait for the next race—though at this rate, Lewis and Nico might actually have to work together just to give Ferrari a chance.

Ashley Ramirez4 said:Ericsson went flying off the track—they actually had to use a crane to haul his car away 😬

Maybe he just pulled a disappearing act. 😬

A rather intriguing breakdown of the race... 🙂

http://formula1.ferrari.com/en/malaysian-gp-lap-by-lap/

darkmarlin16 said:Wait, didn't ZKJ skip out on using that virtual SC entirely?

Actually, there was a technical glitch with the virtual pit limiter.😛

Honestly, if you ask me, Ferrari really needs to find a way to force Mercedes into burning through their tires during qualifying. If they can goad them into shredding those rubber sets now, it might just give us a much better shot at things come race day—at least, that’s how I’m reading the whole situation.

Drew Bennett68 said:Honestly, if you ask me, Ferrari really needs to find a way to force Mercedes into burning through their tires during qualifying. If they can goad them into shredding those rubber sets now, it might just give us a much better shot at things come race day—at least, that’s how I’m reading the whole situation.

That is certainly my own impression of the situation as well.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:Man, I just read this on GPUpdate...
Räikkönen was clipped by Sauber's Felipe Nasr at the final corner and had to complete an entire lap at slow speed and, while a subsequent Safety Car period enabled him to close the gap to the pack, Manor Marussia debutant Roberto Merhi was still a few seconds behind the group at the restart, costing Räikkönen time.

Well, you certainly read it right then! Kimi was actually stuck behind Nasr, who was already trailing way behind Button and Merhi, neither of whom were even near Alonso.
just look at this photo, you can't even see Nasr or Kimi in the shot.

Someone actually had the nerve to ask why Kimi had to pit for a second time by lap 14. It wasn't because his tires were shot; it was because he ran straight into that little train of cars stretching from Hulkenberg in 4th all the way down to Kvyat in 11th. check out this other photo and instead of wasting precious seconds trying to pick them off one by one on track, he just hauled the whole damn line into the pits at once—except for Verstappen, who ended up pitting right alongside him.

rowdyrider12 said:A rather intriguing breakdown of the race... 🙂

http://formula1.ferrari.com/en/malaysian-gp-lap-by-lap/

Someone really put a lot of effort into putting this together!
😁