Malaysia GP (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) - March 30, 2014

I heard a joke today—apparently, Kimi is actually going to beat Alonso at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Malaysia!!!🤣

I am seriously counting down the days. This race could be an absolute banger, and I’m really hoping we see McLaren making some serious noise for a podium spot 👋

Jacob White49 said:I heard a joke today—apparently, Kimi is going to beat Alonso in Malaysia!🤣

So, Kimi hasn't beaten Alonso in a single race during his entire career? Please—enlighten us on why that’s supposedly hilarious and hit me with a joke while you're at it.

brightwolf48 said:So, Kimi hasn't actually beaten Alonso in a single race during his entire career? Please, enlighten us... tell us why that’s so hilarious. Give us a joke while you're at it, if you don't mind...

Yeah, I'd love to hear that too...

Red Bull might be playing games with those sensors again—risking a disqualification

neonfox65 said:Maybe Red Bull wants to mess around with the sensors again and risk getting disqualified.

I don't even get how this has anything to do with Sebastian Vettel. 😁
Sebastian Vettel's sensor wasn't an issue in Australia, and it wasn't an issue in Malaysia either... the only one having problems is Daniel Ricciardo's car.

stormybadger8 said:I don't see how that even links back to Sebastian Vettel... 😁
Sebastian Vettel’s sensor wasn't acting up in Australia, and it wasn't an issue in Malaysia either... the only one dealing with actual problems is Daniel Ricciardo's car...

which is kind of interesting in its own way...

how Sebastian Vettel never seems to have issues, while with Daniel Ricciardo, even when things seem fine, a problem inevitably shows up later on...

gentlecobra23 said:which is pretty interesting in its own right...

how Vettel never seems to have issues, while Ricciardo can have a perfect run and then a problem just pops up out of nowhere

Vettel never has problems... give me a break, did you even watch Australia or what?
🤣🤣🤣

stormybadger8 said:I find myself wondering, what on earth does any of this have to do with Sebastian Vettel? 😁
Vettel's sensor didn't cause any issues back in Australia, nor did it present any trouble during the race in Malaysia... at this stage, it seems the only car struggling with actual problems is Ricciardo's.

It was inevitable, wasn't it? Just as it was last year, Mark Webber was forced to shoulder the blame for every single technical failure within Newey's car. Now, it seems that heavy burden has been passed directly onto the shoulders of the newcomer in Newey's car.

It is nothing short of pure sabotage from the Red Bull Racing camp. They are doing everything in their power to push Cucumber into the spotlight, while the newcomer—who actually showed some real pace—is being completely sidelined after giving the four-time champion a run for his money.

Just imagine if you added a canned goods tycoon to the mix; he’d likely walk away from the entire Formula 1 circus in a heartbeat. 🤣

What kind of circus are we running with these owners? If they aren't pulling strings from the very start, then what exactly is the goal? Every era eventually reaches its expiration date, and the absolute dominance of a single team is certainly no exception to that rule.

As I have maintained in my previous observations, the owner of Red Bull Racing is an extraordinary individual. He essentially bribes Bernie Ecclestone to look the other way, ensuring they are permitted to run every single upgrade that teeters on the very edge of legality. Then, he resorts to public intimidation, acting like some unrefined brute by threatening, "just touch us and we’re out of Formula 1." Now, we see yet another masterstroke from Adrian Newey: engineering raw speed by burning through fuel at an excessive rate—exceeding 100 kg/h—simply to leave the competition in the dust. And yet, they still have the audacity to claim they might walk away from the sport? Please. They’ll be gone tomorrow; there is far too much money on the table for them to actually leave.

The FIA really needs to step in and rein them in; they’ve become far too arrogant and overconfident for their own good. 🤣

One can only wonder about the dynamic between Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen. 🙏

The Maestro is tearing down the track right now, driven by a singular, relentless obsession: to wipe that Cucumber off the circuit once and for all. But then again, when you're the Maestro, you have the likes of James Allison backing you up in your corner, don't you?

Fernando Alonso recently remarked that they haven't possessed an aerodynamic package this potent in quite some time. Is it possible we are finally seeing the fruits of their recent development efforts? 🙏

stormybadger8 said:Vettel never has issues, while Ricciardo always does... damn, did you even watch Australia or what?
🤣🤣🤣

Are you even reading what I wrote?

Ricciardo didn't have an issue, but Red Bull made sure it became one... And then suddenly it's just Ricciardo struggling, while Vettel's once-in-a-century problem is magically fixed for this race, leaving Ricciardo to deal with a situation that isn't even a real technical failure...

It feels like they're just holding Ricciardo back to sell this narrative that Vettel is the superior driver. Just imagine if the current champion had driven a water-logged Camaro for the first race and walked away with 18 points less... things would look very different. But instead, everyone blames the FIA and the sensors, when in reality, they're just stifling poor Ricciardo after he put in a hell of a drive.

Someone should start a betting pool on how many breakdowns Vettel's car has compared to Ricciardo's. Right now it's 1:1, but after Malaysia, we're looking at 2:1...

Brian Campbell36 said:...Just imagine if the owner of a soda company decided to quit Formula 1🤣

What a joke of an owner. If they aren't pulling stunts right from the jump, then what? Everything has an expiration date, including one team's dominance.

And it isn't even an original move either.🙂
Do you even know whose tactic it is to threaten leaving Formula 1?🤣

gentlecobra23 said:...

A sensor lasts 400 hours total, provided it gets recalibrated after every 100 hours.😉 So, if it’s reliable and performs well during the first GP weekend, you'd expect it to hold up through the second, third, fourth, and so on.
In theory, one single sensor can handle an entire season in one car without any issues.

But if someone is being a complete idiot with their sensors, they're definitely going to run into trouble again...
The massive screw-up Red Bull Racing pulled was that these morons only bought five sensors, and there aren't any new ones available.
🤦 And I highly doubt the FIA would let Red Bull Racing just, say, grab a sensor from the STR car.
😬 They almost certainly know exactly which serial number is calibrated for which specific car, so there's zero chance they're trying to pull a fast one on them.

So this whole thing with Ricciardo isn't actually that big of a deal; they probably just picked the best one out of those five for Vettel, but damn, clearly the other four are total junk...
It's likely a similar story with Perez at Force India... his gear failed in Australia too, so he could easily have problems again in Malaysia...
Though, honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if the sensor isn't even the actual issue, and something else on these cars is causing all this sensor-related hell...
In the end, some stupid little detail might be different, constantly causing the same crap while these guys have absolutely no clue what the root cause is.
😉 Plus, electronics can be incredibly finicky for no apparent reason.

I once installed thermal probes and regulators on the exact same machine, and get this...😁 You put the probe and regulator on Zone 1 and it works flawlessly for years, but you put them on Zone 2 and it treats you like a total amateur, giving constant weird oscillations and random nonsense.
Then you strip it all down, put in brand new parts, and it still doesn't work right. So you check everything systematically—everything is identical, you check the wiring, voltage, resistance, and it's all perfect, exactly like Zone 1...
Then you lose your mind, take the regulator and probe from Zone 1 and slap them onto Zone 2, and it still won't work properly.

So you take the parts that were messing with you, move them to Zone 1, and lo and behold, they work perfectly. Then you swap the part from Zone 2—which had been running fine on Zone 1 for years—back to Zone 1, and suddenly it works just like it's supposed to. 😵
By this point, you’re already losing your mind. You end up shouting every curse word in the book, stepping outside for a quick cigarette just to cool off, and swearing at the damn regulator because it’s driving you insane. 😬
Then, after a little while, you head back in only to find the stupid thing is working again. You honestly have zero clue why it wasn't working before or why it's working now, which just makes you even more pissed off. 🤣

jadeseal7 said:We really need to point out that Kimi Räikkönen was actually better than Fernando Alonso today. 😁 Just like how everyone was claiming he was slower last time...

Look, we're all stoked that Kimi is showing speed... because if he is, it means the Maestro can push even harder and find another six tenths. 🙂

Hey, any idea if there’s going to be a stream available for qualifying?

It’s pretty funny how much they're hiding their cards during this FP3 😁

cosmiccyclist8 said:Hey man, any idea if there's gonna be a stream for qualifying?

Hopefully... 🤣 though we'll probably need one just to get through all those commercials... 🤣

cosmiccyclist8 said:Hey Max, any idea if there's going to be a stream for qualifying?

Dammit...

stormybadger8 stormybadger8 said:Anyone need anything? I'm around. BBC One live stream No drama with the installations...
gentlecobra23, that’s basically what you get. Android versions. 😁

I tried both ways and they both work perfectly.
The only real downside I can see is that the stream is lagging about ten seconds behind the actual broadcast, but honestly, who cares? It’s hardly a dealbreaker.😁

Anyway, Malaysia is going live right here:
Catch the qualifying and the race live on BBC One.

😉

😬

thanks

It’s dropping like it’s coming straight out of a busted power line—is this actually Coulthard live right now?

Kishaaaaaa!

What a total washout