# *SPOILER* Mailaysian Grand Prix discussion



## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

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I think the start may end up being a huge factor in this race. I started cheering the minute I saw JPM swerve around Webber. 

As expected, though, Schumi is setting the pace. JPM is alternately maintaining the status quo and catching up...

Dunno about you guys, but this race is actually pretty exciting. Gives me hope for the rest of the season.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

Is it just me, or does Rolex's timing display system really suck? Maybe I'll get used to it, but I miss the Tag stuff.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Jetfire said:


> Is it just me, or does Rolex's timing display system really suck? Maybe I'll get used to it, but I miss the Tag stuff.


Forget the TV timing, this is what you need 

http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/715.html


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

:supdude: :bigpimp:


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> :supdude: :bigpimp:


 Yeah, yeah, Ferrari won, sure. Blah blah blah. 

Seriously though, MS deserved the win again. Did you see those guys in the interview? They look like they've been awake racing for 24 hours straight. Seriously, they're way bushed. And it wasn't even as hot as it could've been down there.

Some interesting notes from this race. First, a BAR driver made the podium!!! :thumbup: I like how Schumi and JPM both aimed squarely at Button with their sparkling wine. Speaking of which, Bernie would save tons if he just filled those damn bottles with seltzer water. It's not like most of that ever gets drunk.

Second, while MS came in first by a mile, Barrichello was not so dominant. And in fact, he was clearly holding JPM back until he slipped.

Ferrari's chassis is definitely the one to beat this season, but I think Williams have a hit with their ugly FW26. Give it a season's worth of fine tuning. I wonder, though, if it will be enough of a difference to have been worth the testing time.

The crazy thing here is that Renault is now third in the constructors championship. Ralf's and Kimi's failures had something to do with that, perhaps, but that's still amazing. Maybe these new rules won't be such a disaster, after all.

Speaking of the failures (it's late and I'm really muddled), I am very concerned for McLaren's health. Kimi's an extremely talented driver and I really think that he's driving a serious underdog chassis at the moment. They need to get their act together, fast.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

I was following the live timing on the internet, I have noticed that Michael was faster than Montoya in the second and third sector, almost equal fast in the first sector.

Really shocking was how empty the tribunes were. I bet they couldn't even sell the half of the tickets. 

Have you seen Alonso's start ? :yikes: He passed *10* cars in the first lap.

I was also impressed with Bridgestone's performance on higher temperatures.


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## TeamM3 (Dec 24, 2002)

Schumacher's driving was flawless 

the Scuderia machine werks was flawless

Ferrari team work was flawless

Bridgestone  tires were flawless

they had no real competition, makes me wonder if anybody can ever challenge Schumacher without some kind of major technological discovery/advantage :dunno: 


I won't :blah: on any non-winner commentary  except to say my heart went out to Webber, despite the bright spot of his 1st row qualifying position he seemed to have a curse over his head right from the start and things only got worse from there   IMO the only chance of toppling the Shoe-master won't come from his current competition, they're no challenge to his skills, it will come from some new, natural talent like he was himself many years ago 

ps: yeah, the TV timing display stuff sucked, but I think some of that came from the local control, not from Speed Channel. When it was actually disp[layed it could have been better but provided the necessary info, the problem was it seemed to keep showing mostly pitstop count or nothing useful at all, there were large chunks of the race where I had no idea what the differentials were between the top drivers :dunno:


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

TeamZ4 said:


> Michelin tires were flawless


Pssst,... Bridgestone ... :eeps:


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## TeamM3 (Dec 24, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> Pssst,... Bridgestone ... :eeps:


oops, could of sworn he was on the M tire, it was late, yeah that's the ticket :eeps:


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## TeamM3 (Dec 24, 2002)

well I suppose the title did say SPOILER:

*Grand Prix Of Malaysia results*

1. Michael Schumacher, Germany, Scuderia Ferrari, 56 laps, Running

2. Juan Montoya, Colombia, Bmw-Williams, 56, Running

3. Jenson Button, England, British American Racing-Honda, 56, Running

4. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Scuderia Ferrari, 56, Running

5. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Wild Seven Renault, 56, Running

6. David Coulthard, Scotland, West Mclaren-Mercedes, 56, Running

7. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Wild Seven Renault, 56, Running

8. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Sauber Petronas, 55, Running

9. Cristiano Da Matta, Brazil, Toyota, 55, Running

10. R-Christian Klein, Austria, Jaguar Racing, 55, Running

11. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Sauber Petronas, 55, Running

12. Oliver Panis, France, Toyota, 55, Running

13. Giorgio Pantano, Italy, Jordan Ford, 54, Running

14. R-Gianmaria Bruni, Italy, Wilux Minardi Cosworth, 53, Running

15. Takuma Sato, Japan, British American Racing-Honda, 52, Running

16. Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungary, Wilux Minardi Cosworth, 52, Running

17. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, West Mclaren-Mercedes, 40, Running

18. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, Jordan Ford, 44, Running

19. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Bmw-Williams, 27, Running

20. Mark Webber, Australia, Jaguar Racing, 23, Running

Average Speed Race Winner: 204.384

Time of Race: 01:31:07

Margin of Victory: 05.0220 secs (edit: it was over 11 sec entering the last lap :yikes: , Schumacher slowed down)

R-ROOKIE


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Looking at info this morning, Rubens was on a different compound than Michael.

I wonder if the team figured to different compounds based on iffy weather to make sure someone was up front?


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

Pinecone said:


> Looking at info this morning, Rubens was on a different compound than Michael.
> 
> I wonder if the team figured to different compounds based on iffy weather to make sure someone was up front?


Probably. Hedging can't be all bad--especially if you can still grab the pole and 3rd starting positions.


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## F1Crazy (Dec 11, 2002)

Poor choice of tires and strategy for Rubens cost him the podium. I think they were looking for 2 stops and adjusted the strategy during the race after realizing the mistake. Bridgestone clearly closed the gap to Michelin and there is no better chassis than Ferrari. Have you seen how well sorted out that car was? It almost drove itself, kudos to Schumi for the setup.

I think there is still a chance for others to catch Ferrari, well, at least for Williams and Renault but, like I said before the season, they need Michelin to do that for them...


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## Motown328 (Jun 4, 2003)

Alex Baumann said:


> I was following the live timing on the internet, I have noticed that Michael was faster than Montoya in the second and third sector, almost equal fast in the first sector.
> 
> Really shocking was how empty the tribunes were. I bet they couldn't even sell the half of the tickets.
> 
> ...


It was National Election Day in Malaysia. So I bet that hurt attendance.


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

F1Crazy said:


> Poor choice of tires and strategy for Rubens cost him the podium. I think they were looking for 2 stops and adjusted the strategy during the race after realizing the mistake. Bridgestone clearly closed the gap to Michelin and there is no better chassis than Ferrari. Have you seen how well sorted out that car was? It almost drove itself, kudos to Schumi for the setup.
> 
> I think there is still a chance for others to catch Ferrari, well, at least for Williams and Renault but, like I said before the season, they need Michelin to do that for them...


It was amazing watching Michael do a lap from the in car camera, less steering motion than a street car being driven at 2/10s.

For track junkies, notice the one position turn in, and hold until the track out point. AWESOME.


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## WAM (Jan 30, 2002)

Pinecone said:


> Looking at info this morning, Rubens was on a different compound than Michael.
> 
> I wonder if the team figured to different compounds based on iffy weather to make sure someone was up front?


Yes, on saturday, I thought that it was the right decision for Rubens to start on the harder compund to cope with the expected high temps.

I just find it amazing that MS can get it to rain so that conditions are optimal to suit his softer compound tires! :yikes:


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

WAM said:


> Yes, on saturday, I thought that it was the right decision for Rubens to start on the harder compund to cope with the expected high temps.
> 
> I just find it amazing that MS can get it to rain so that conditions are optimal to suit his softer compound tires! :yikes:


Yeah, he has an uncanny way of lucking out--both in equipment choices and potential track mishaps. A friend of mine always says he'd rather be lucky than good. Of course MS is both. I guess that makes it the best of all possible worlds.


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

F1Crazy said:


> Poor choice of tires and strategy for Rubens cost him the podium.


I think being Spoonface's team-mate cost him the podium. 

I wonder how much his "lack of pace" was poor choice or strategic planning. The Williams (JPM) clearly had the pace to keep up with Spoon, the big gap at the end was due to JPM smartly pulling up to make sure he finish the race for some valuable points, since Jr. has already blown a gasket. At the beginning of the race Reubens was clearly holding up JPM to allow Spoon to build up a big lead. Once JPM got by Reubens he was making up a second a lap for the next few laps. The Michelins performed well enough.

Although I'm not certain if JPM would have caught up to Spoon if he got in front of Reubens, but why take the chance?


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

Here we go again. Sometimes I wonder if JPM really believes the stuff coming out of his mouth, or if he's doing this just to generate press.

http://www.planet-f1.com/Home/story_14755.shtml
Kinda funny to read his rants on other drivers. The "blue ferrari" comment was classic.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

The HACK said:


> Here we go again. Sometimes I wonder if JPM really believes the stuff coming out of his mouth, or if he's doing this just to generate press.
> 
> http://www.planet-f1.com/Home/story_14755.shtml
> Kinda funny to read his rants on other drivers. The "blue ferrari" comment was classic.


 :lmao:


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