FIA Formula 1 Championship 2012

[niky]

Traditional race-end report.

2012 Malaysian GP Results:
Ferrari pull upset at rain-soaked Sepang!

A most amazing race this weekend at Sepang. The race, starting under wet conditions, was red-flagged within nine laps due to a *******ial downpour that threatened to stop the race entirely. Thankfully, in the waning hours of the afternoon, the race was restarted, and went the full distance.

Fernando Alonso, despite the ultimate lack of pace in his Ferrari F2012 in dry conditions, was a man on a mission. Up to fifth at the start, he managed to jump pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in a mad pit-lane shuffle. From then on, he was untouchable. In the treacherous conditions, Alonso was the fastest man on wet and intermediate tires, and dominated the middle of the race convincingly. Near the end, his Ferrari looked very vulnerable on a drying track, as Sauber's Sergio Perez started eating whole seconds out of his lead on every lap, but Alonso eventually held on to win. A truly masterful drive from perhaps the best driver on the grid today.

But the man of the race has got to be Sergio Perez. In the dry, his Ferrari-powered Sauber is probably the sixth fastest car out there, but during the race, he made fastest lap after fastest lap. He seemed set to overtake Alonso at the end, but with his front tires nearly destroyed and the overtaking lines around most of the track still very wet, he couldn't make a go of it. Second place will be very sweet, but the Sauber team nearly won its very first race today. Shame.

Despite once again landing in third place from pole position, Hamilton is a little less unhappy here at Malaysia than he was at Melbourne. His race pace was excellent, and the McLarens had a commanding lead at the start. He outdrove his team-mate Jenson Button and conserved his tires better, and was the only front-runner within shouting distance of the incredibly quick Alonso and Perez. He ends the weekend second in the championship, but it's unlikely Alonso will hold onto that lead for very long.

Mark Webber did a great job bringing in his Red Bull car in 4th, just four seconds off of Hamilton. Great pit-work from Red Bull and excellent pace once the track was dry brought Mark home in his second fourth place in two races.

Lotus Renault's Kimi Raikkonen, on the other hand, once again showed masterful driving, coming in fifth from a tenth place grid start (with a five place penalty for a gearbox change). He even found time to set the fastest lap of the race. Fantastic driving.

The other surprise of the day was Bruno Senna's sixth place for Williams. Like his countryman, Felipe Massa, Senna is under incredible pressure to improve his performance. Unlike Massa, he came through.

Rounding off the points-scorers, Di Resta, Vergne and Nico Hulkenberg get gifted points due to the misfortunes of the top teams. Michael Schumacher was lucky to reclaim tenth for a Mercedes team that once again seemed very vulnerable at the end of the race due to extreme tire degradation. Ross Brawn's boys will have to fix that problem right quick if they're to remain in the hunt for the championship.

The usual suspects are absent from the top ten. A rare mistake from McLaren's Jenson Button saw him ram into Narain Karthikayen's Force India as he outbraked himself into the corner. He had to pit for a new front wing, and had to work his way back up from the back of the field, but was unable to make his car work the way he wanted. He finished outside the points. Nico Rosberg's day was wretched, too. He struggled for grip everywhere.

Sebastian Vettel's race went from bad to worse as he fell behind at the start, scrapping with the midfield, eventually gaining a puncture as he overtook and collided with Karthikayen (bad luck for the Indian driver), and then finally succumbing to a gearbox failure near the end of the race. Confusion on the pit wall as the Red Bull team couldn't decide whether to let him finish (in a non-scoring 12th) or retire the car to avoid a gearbox change penalty. Wiser heads finally prevailed and brought him in before the checkered flag.

Felipe Massa was lost in a sea of backmarkers. With Fernando Alonso winning the race and Massa nowhere near the points, it seems more certain now that this could be Massa's last year at Ferrari.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso now leads the championship after two rounds, with what is arguably the slowest car in the upper midfield of F1. Who would have thought? Sauber falls to fourth in the Constructor's Championship, but is still close to Ferrari, and after this race, it seems certain that Sauber has the more complete and quicker race package.

The big question is: will Sergio Perez be going to Ferrari this year? While he may not want to trade an obviously excellent Sauber for a questionable Ferrari, it's likely that Ferrari's pace will improve as the season goes on. And, come on, what driver doesn't dream of wearing those iconic red coveralls?

For certain, all eyes will be on Perez come April at the Shanghai Grand Prix, whatever uniform he will be wearing, but it's Lewis Hamilton who goes into China with the strongest chances of winning the 2012 Championship. But if Shanghai is just as topsy turvy as Melbourne and Sepang were, you won't find me complaining!

[CVT]

The race started at 4PM and ended around 6:30PM(?)....

15.2K:froggy:

[Monseratto]

Narain drives for HRT Racing. Sauber won their first GP in 2008 Canada with Robert Kubica.

[niky]

The race was red flagged due to rain. The red flag conditions lasted almost an hour.

Narain drives for HRT Racing. Sauber won their first GP in 2008 Canada with Robert Kubica.

Thanks for the corrections. Should have proofed earlier. Too late to edit.

But this is still the best news for Sauber for the longest time.

[Retz]

Sauber denies suggestions that Perez was ordered to not attack Alonso in Malaysian GP

Peter Sauber has denied any suggestions that Sergio Perez was ordered to not attack Fernando Alonso for victory in Malaysia - because it would prevented engine partner Ferrari taking an important win.

Perez was closing in on Alonso for the lead of the race in Sepang when a call came on the radio late on for him to take care.

His engineer told him: "Checo, be careful, we need this position, we need this position"

Shortly after that order was made, Perez ran off the track and lost valuable time – which cost him any chance of overhauling Alonso for a shock win.

more......
Sauber denies suggestions that Perez was ordered to not attack Alonso in Malaysian GP - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

[Retz]

^

conspiracy? or accident lang talaga ang nangyari kay Perez sa lap 50?

[docgorio]

Conspiracy theorists will argue all they want but it was a truly BRILLANT drive by Sergio Perez!!!

Peter Sauber crying and they say it's a plot???????? C'MON GUYS!!!!!!!!!!

[niky]

^

conspiracy? or accident lang talaga ang nangyari kay Perez sa lap 50?

Come in 2nd to Alonso in front of all the other front-runners. Ferrari offers you Felipe Massa's seat.

Come in 1st in front of Alonso. Ferrari offers you Alonso's seat.

I think people are expecting too much of Perez. The track was obviously slippery, and he was on slicks. It was always going to be difficult to get around Alonso, and he had visibly worn his front tires all the way down catching up to him.

When you rip off fastest lap after fastest lap on a drying racetrack, you're not going to have much front rubber left when you pull up behind the leader.

[Monseratto]

Sana mag banzai charge si Kobayashi pagpumalpak ang mercs sa race... But a Kimi win would suffice also.

[niky]

To say Ferrari is off the pace is an understatement. The car completely sucks. Alonso should be 10th, but Grosjean is playing a tire strategy game.

Q2 was amazing... First dozen drivers within 3/10ths of a second. Vettel suffered from running the old spec chassis versus Webber. He picked the old car because it felt more comfortable, and he paid the price. He simply could not break 1:36, no matter what he did.

Mercedes was always going to do well here. Sector 2 and 3 are very high speed sections...those high speed sweepers in Sector 2, in particular, suit the Mercedes DRS system, as they can balance the car through those high speed corners better.

Note, though, that Nico is half-a-second faster on that pole lap... Which suggests his race pace with DRS off won't be so bad compared to the McLarens. And he won't have to dice with them till they clear the Saubers and Kimi, who don't have the horsepower needed to overtake Mercedes easily.

[niky]

I wonder if Vettel will gamble on taking the new exhaust lay-out for the race... Webber's fastest qualifier wasn't bad, just a tenth off of McLaren.

And before I forget... Kobayashi to win...

[Monseratto]

Button's pit stop screwed up. Just blew his chance of catching up Rosberg... Rosberg leads by 22 seconds.

[Monseratto]

2nd place Kimi holding up everyone behind him.

[Monseratto]

Lap 50: KImi loses 10 places in 2 laps...Rosberg leads by 25 seconds over Vettel.

[Monseratto]

Nico Rosberg wins!!!
Grabe ang laban sa likod!
Best race so far!

[koda181]

At long last!!! Nico wins his 1st F1 Grand Prix!

[Super Inggo]

The best race so far. Nice one nico rosberg

[CoDer]

RB is in the game!

Poor tire strategy on Vettel. He should start learning from Webber.

[Monseratto]

Even without a win, consistency is showing the way...

[fourtheboys96]

RB is in the game!

Poor tire strategy on Vettel. He should start learning from Webber.

afaik, webber made 3 stops. vettel gambled on 2 stops because of grid position. good gamble based on the results.