Round 02: Malaysia - McLaren vs. Who?

Still some unanswered questions. 


Red Bull? Mercedes? Lotus? Perhaps Ferrari to bounce back and deliver a stronger performance after a poor showing in Australia? Seems highly unlikely, at least during dry conditions. However, the weather is the trickiest in Malaysia, and a dry race is currently out of the question if you read the forecasts for this weekend. Expect showers to pop up at random hours during practice, qualifying and the race. Add that all up and you've got a promise of a chaotic weekend. The obvious key element for success will be a strong reaction towards rapidly changing conditions.

Dark clouds above the race track in Kuala Lumpur

After displaying a flawless performance last weekend, Jenson Button will be looking to duplicate that form in Malaysia. And weather conditions seem to be playing to his hands. Hamilton will surely not settle for a lower position than his teammate. After finishing behind Button and Vettel in Australia, he will be focusing on replicating the qualifying form and keeping up to pace with his teammate this time.

The Red Bulls will surely want to chase the McLarens for a win this time around. However, because it's only been a week since the last race, there wasn't much time for any new parts and aero elements to develop and fit on the cars. Therefore, performances are expected to be pretty much the same, if we are looking at a dry qualifying session. Nevertheless, Red Bull are relying on their race pace and will be praying for a few thunderstorms, perhaps even sending out Vettel for a rain dance in the paddock.

Hamilton on his fastest lap in 2011 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Lotus have kept their word of joining the front runners. In qualifying last weekend, Grosjean was the only man close enough to the McLarens, proving that the car has enough pace to compete for a podium at least. The Frenchman will need to focus on finishing the race this time, while Kimi Raikkonen must be on his toes during qualifying. The Lotus E20 seems quite quick during qualifying, with a race pace similar to the front runners and most importantly, it can manage the tyres fairly well. Expect them to prove a serious threat for the big guns.

Mercedes also play a big part in the chasing pack behind McLaren. The two Germans were on scrub tyres during qualifying, so their pace over one lap still remains a big question mark. Tyre degradation made them suffer during the race, and surely it will be no different here, as the temperatures are much higher. If anything, they can only rely on strong showers to switch to inters and wets during the race, otherwise they are most likely going to struggle to keep up on the slicks.

Having endured a terrible qualifying last weekend, Ferrari made up for a small part of it during the race. Alonso finished 5th, pushing the car way over its limit, while Massa was horrendously slow, almost being caught by the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen, but retired before such a shocking pass would take place. Alonso mentioned that they will not bounce back this weekend, so, again, unless there are showers, the Ferrari seems way off the benchmark, unfortunately.

Williams struggling in wet weather in Malaysia

The current forecast shows strong thunderstorms all weekend, although this could change very quickly and we may as well be in for a dry race for all we know. Nevertheless, it's no rocket science that this Malaysian weekend is expected to top the race in Australia in terms of...well, everything! More info on weather and the track in a new post in the upcoming days.