F1 2008 round 2 - Malaysian GP, Sepang (21/03/08-23/03/08).

[Knowlesy]

And so, no sooner has the season started, than we are onto round two of the championship in sweltering Malaysia.

Will Ferrari look like a Grand Prix team again? Can the drivers manage the rear tyres in the heat without the TC to help? Or will it bucket down with rain and cause the GPDA to cry? The burning question for me though is will Felipe Massa be there this Easter weekend, or has DC "met" him since Australia?

I simply do not know. But I can't wait to find out.

Drivers standings

	Driver	Team	Nationality	Points
	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Britain	10
	Nick Heidfeld	BMW-Sauber	Germany	8
	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	Germany	6
	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Spain	5
	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	Finland	4
	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	Japan	3
	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	France	2
	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Finland	1

Constructors standings

	Team	Points
	McLaren-Mercedes	14
	Williams-Toyota	9
	BMW-Sauber	8
	Renault	5
	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	2
	Ferrari	1

Car graphics by www.andyblackmoredesign.com.

Malaysian GP: recent results

Year	1st place	2nd place	3rd place
2007	Fernando Alonso	Lewis Hamilton	Kimi Raikkonen
2006	Giancarlo Fisichella	Fernando Alonso	Jenson Button
2005	Fernando Alonso	Jarno Trulli	Nick Heidfeld
2004	Michael Schumacher	Juan Pablo Montoya	Jenson Button
2003	Kimi Raikkonen	Rubens Barrichello	Fernando Alonso

	Driver	Laptime
2007 fastest lap	Lewis Hamilton	1m36.701
2007 pole position	Felipe Massa	1m35.043
Lap record	Juan Pablo Montoya	1m34.223 (set in 2004)

Circuit stuff
Track map
Timetable
Event artwork

Forum links
Chat room
Predictions competition
Fantasy competition

Let the criticism of my incorrect stats commence!

[Ralf's Girl]

I would be very amused if Massa turned up with a couple of black eyes.

I'll be interested to see how the new-look, actually-perhaps-a-bit-difficult-to-drive cars manage on a different type of circuit. I think this weekend might be more of a marker of just how different things are going to be this season without driver aids and we'll see how much of the chaos in Australia was down to the track conditions and how much was down to the drivers struggling to adapt. That, of course, is assuming it's dry. Which it might not be. Bring it on.

[Sodemo]

Even if its dry it might still be interesting with all those high speed corners.

Dry or wet, it will be good to see how the cars and tyres last.

Does anyone know what spec Bridgestone are taking to Sepang?

As a total guess I would say it was the medium and hard compound, though I dont know for sure.

[andy_b]

Spotters guide has been updated for Malaysia and is availble here

[bosch!]

Even if DC has found Massa he will still have a few colours left

I read that Sepang has been resurfaced since last year so tyre wear and grip levels will be different to previous years

[Born Racer]

That three week gap between the first two races last year was cruel for us viewers/spectators. I'm raring to watch another Grand Prix.

[Cougar]

Ooooh nice one Knowlesy!

Seems 2004 was the year for lap records!

Looks like another early Sunday!! Where are those night races when you need them :P

[RaiseYourFist]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65876

Massa and Kimi both getting engine changes without penalty, ahhh its good to be in a red car isnt it?

[Marbot]

That'll be their 'free' engine change used up already then!

The weather forecast is very interesting with the usual oppressive humidity and heat,interspersed with warm heavy showers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0150

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/southeast_asia/

Another nicely done intro Knowlesy.

[bosch!]

Interestingly Sunday is homologation day so another engine failure could have long term implications for Ferrari

[Stefvh]

Originally Posted by RaiseYourFist

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65876

Massa and Kimi both getting engine changes without penalty, ahhh its good to be in a red car isnt it?

They did'not cross th e line, so, yeah, no penalty, that's the rule.

As for the other DNS.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

The burning question for me though is will Felipe Massa be there this Easter weekend, or has DC "met" him since Australia?

Certainly not or we would have known...

[mjstallard]

Originally Posted by martyn bott

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0150

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/southeast_asia/

The BBC's weather accuracy is poor generally (I can't find the study someone did on various online weather outlets but they didn't fare too well), but I'm clinging onto this forecast (recommended by the Met Office) as it's much more exciting:

http://www.worldweather.org/020/c00082.htm

[mjstallard]

oops, double post.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Certainly not or we would have known...

Rumour has it that Mark Gene was seen helping DC to kick the **** out of Massa.

[RaiseYourFist]

Originally Posted by Stefvh

They did'not cross th e line, so, yeah, no penalty, that's the rule.

As for the other DNS.

Well Raikkonen did more then 70% of the race winner's laps so iirc he should gets classified as finished, but whatever, its Ferrari they are more important to the FIA then all the other teams.

edit : grammar

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by RaiseYourFist

Well Raikkonen did more then 70% of the race winner's laps so iirc he should gets classified as finished, but whatever, its Ferrari they are more important to the FIA then all the other teams.

edit : grammar

I think that they have to complete 90% of the race in order to be classified.

[RaiseYourFist]

heh well hes exactly on the edge for that 58 x .9 = 52.2 he completed 53

[Stefvh]

IIRC, Button had no panalty in 2006, when he blew the Honda just meters before the finish line.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Stefvh

IIRC, Button had no panalty in 2006, when he blew the Honda just meters before the finish line.

Indeed.

If there is no penalty then I'll have to say that Ferrari still have their free engine change available to them.I could be wrong....again.

[RaiseYourFist]

Well I guess it will be a better race if Ferrari and McLaren fight for the win, but im just so sick of the scuderia....

[Gt_R]

Well, bad news. Ferrari will be around F1 for many more years.

And there are many other series that Ferrari don't participate in.

Well, so if you can't recover soon, or before your sickness worsens, we may have a cure for you.

[RaiseYourFist]

Well I wouldnt want them to quit F1 but if they can just not be so fast for a few years I would be happy.

Also I live in the US and here the only car channel we have is SpeedTV and they show only ALMS, F1 and Nascar.

[Dixie Flatline]

So, will Super Aguri line up for this race?

Toro Rosso is now in the shop window. Could Dietrich and Gerhard start siphoning resources away from Red Bull Racing to try to maximise the return on investment they would receive if/when Toro Rosso is flogged off to the highest bidder/billionaire?

[NAC]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Let the criticism of my incorrect stats commence!

But you have gone on record saying you dont make mistakes

I do love those graphics, nice intro

I take this means you will continue to preview each round??