Malaysian Grand Prix

[Icy Gull]

In yet another twist the Mercedes which was supposed to be the car that would be quickest here, was way off the pace in practice.

Hamilton over a second slower than Vettel in 2nd practice, which is a massive gap in F1

All set for qualifying this morning. Could be another interesting weekend.

Are Mercedes sandbagging? Can't think why they would be though.

 

[Beach Hut]

Vettels car broke down, this could be quite a race

 

[Blue3]

This season has seen loads of twists and turns

 

[clippedgull]

This season has seen loads of twists and turns

 

[Hillian1]

Oh dear, Vettel out already it looks like.

 

[Beach Hut]

Oh dear, Vettel out already it looks like.

Hamilton is no angel at times but real karma this for Vettel

 

[sjamesb3466]

Vettel to start from the back of the grid! ��

 

[Frutos]

What a shame.

 

[Hillian1]

Vettel to start from the back of the grid! ��

Have the McLaren's not got any Grid penalties this race?

 

[sjamesb3466]

Have the McLaren's not got any Grid penalties this race?

Not that I have seen but still time for them!

Wonder if Max will equal things up tomorrow by taking Lewis out at the start?

 

[Frutos]

Wonder if Max will equal things up tomorrow by taking Lewis out at the start?

I can't imagine he'd want to do Vettel any favours after Singapore.

 

[Hillian1]

Rain possible for Q3

 

[sjamesb3466]

I can't imagine he'd want to do Vettel any favours after Singapore.

He does worry me though, great talent but needs to learn how to stay out of trouble. Wasn't his fault in the last race but most incidents have been of his own doing

 

[Titanic]

Hamilton on pole
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Ricciardo
Bottas

 

[sjamesb3466]

All Lewis has to do tomorrow is make sure he gets on the podium and he will take a huge step towards his 4th title. A win tomorrow and he will be very hard to beat

 

[drew]

Well the good news is that a Hamilton win and Vettel failing to secure a point will mean Hamilton can afford to take 2nd place in the remaining GPs and still win. Be interesting to see what Ferrari do as Vettel didn't even get out of the garage for qualifying so must be doubts whether they can sort it enough by tomorrow for him to get some points! Deep joy.

 

[FatSuperman]

Damage limitation tomorrow for Seb, perhaps the Ice Man will be able to hold his spot for him. Might be a bit of a battle between Lewis and Kimi but I suppose unlikely, hope we see a bit of a race

 

[Hillian1]

What time does the race go off tomorrow?

 

[SeagullofMalaysia]

What time does the race go off tomorrow?

7AM BST IINM (2PM in Malaysia, but I might be fooled)

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Well the good news is that a Hamilton win and Vettel failing to secure a point will mean Hamilton can afford to take 2nd place in the remaining GPs and still win. Be interesting to see what Ferrari do as Vettel didn't even get out of the garage for qualifying so must be doubts whether they can sort it enough by tomorrow for him to get some points! Deep joy.

It's reported to be a broken turbo - quick and easy to replace and they carry spares - they tried to use a secondhand one for qualifying to avoid a grid penalty but this failed on his out-lap in Q1 so effectively giving him a 20 place grid penalty. D'oh, poor management decision? Only saving grace is that he can now replace lots of engine parts and not suffer any further loss of grid position.

They're putting new turbo / engine / gearbox in over night which ought to give him reliability to the end of the season - but might all be too late ....