It’s been a frustrating season for those hoping to see a bit more competition for the all-conquering Mercedes. They’ve won all bar one of the 15 races so far this year.
So it’s understable to see suggestions that their rivals are in good shape being met with a degree of scepticism.
The curious aspect of Mercedes’ season so far is that while they have only been beaten once, compared to three times last year and the year before, they have had far fewer one-two finishes.
This points to their occasional weaknesses: unreliability, poor starts, and driving mistakes. They are beatable, but only when the opposition is on top form. Arguably Ferrari squandered clear victory chances in Australia and Canada, and Red Bull did the same in Monaco.
Another of those such chances may present itself tomorrow. Friday’s long-run lap times showed the RB12s could extract superb pace from the soft tyres. Not wishing to miss a trick, in qualifying Red Bull had Daniel Ricciardo save one set of them for the race – a luxury no other driver inside the top ten enjoys.
Crucially for Red Bull they got both their cars ahead of the two Ferraris. Their best hope of beating Mercedes is to find a way past at the start and force the W07s to run in the heat of their wake at one of the hottest races of the year.
What are Red Bull’s chances of disrupting the Mercedes at the start? The problems hLewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have had getting their cars off the line this year have been well documented.
However Max Verstappen has had a run of poor starts in recent races, too. But he believes their problems are solved.
“After Singapore I talked with the team and we changed some things on the car and it seems to have worked,” he said, “hopefully we can keep improving in this way.”
“We have made some changes to the clutch so we shall see if it has improved tomorrow, so far everything looks positive.”
Sepang has one of the longest runs to turn one of the season. During qualifying there was a large amount of cement dust on the racing line across the first and third place grid spots where Hamilton and Verstappen will start from. But with more support races being run tomorrow it’s likely the worst of this will be gone.
It also bears pointing out the Mercedes drivers will be in no mood to play gently with each other. The drivers’ championship hangs in the balance, but the constructors’ championship title is as good as won by Mercedes – they will tie it up tomorrow unless their rivals have a very good day.
If Mercedes’ rivals can’t get the job done, the silver team stand to equal the longest winning streak for a team in F1 history. But they were in the same position once before this season: and their victory hopes disappeared when their drivers crashed into each other.
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Qualifying times in full
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.444 | 1’32.850 (-1.594) | |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’34.460 | 1’33.609 (-0.851) | 1’33.264 (-0.345) |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’35.443 | 1’33.420 (-2.023) | 1’33.604 (+0.184) |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’35.079 | 1’33.526 (-1.553) | 1’33.467 (-0.059) |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’34.557 | 1’33.916 (-0.641) | 1’33.584 (-0.332) |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’34.556 | 1’33.632 (-0.924) | |
7 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’35.068 | 1’34.538 (-0.530) | 1’34.319 (-0.219) |
8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1’34.827 | 1’34.441 (-0.386) | 1’34.489 (+0.048) |
9 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’35.267 | 1’34.431 (-0.836) | 1’34.518 (+0.087) |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’35.267 | 1’34.422 (-0.845) | 1’34.671 (+0.249) |
11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’35.166 | 1’34.577 (-0.589) | |
12 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’35.400 | 1’35.001 (-0.399) | |
13 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1’35.658 | 1’35.097 (-0.561) | |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’35.593 | 1’35.277 (-0.316) | |
15 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’35.695 | 1’35.369 (-0.326) | |
16 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1’35.605 | 1’35.374 (-0.231) | |
17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’35.816 | ||
18 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1’35.949 | ||
19 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’35.999 | ||
20 | Esteban Ocon | Manor | 1’36.451 | ||
21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1’36.587 | ||
22 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’37.155 |
Sector times
Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 23.818 (1) | 31.212 (1) | 37.802 (1) |
Nico Rosberg | 23.915 (2) | 31.248 (4) | 37.995 (2) |
Max Verstappen | 23.977 (4) | 31.227 (2) | 38.127 (6) |
Daniel Ricciardo | 24.016 (8) | 31.237 (3) | 38.108 (4) |
Sebastian Vettel | 24.002 (6) | 31.469 (5) | 38.113 (5) |
Kimi Raikkonen | 23.961 (3) | 31.560 (6) | 38.052 (3) |
Sergio Perez | 24.013 (7) | 31.755 (7) | 38.423 (8) |
Nico Hulkenberg | 24.107 (10) | 31.819 (8) | 38.458 (10) |
Jenson Button | 24.182 (12) | 31.919 (9) | 38.307 (7) |
Felipe Massa | 23.977 (4) | 31.989 (11) | 38.456 (9) |
Valtteri Bottas | 24.066 (9) | 31.955 (10) | 38.484 (11) |
Romain Grosjean | 24.225 (13) | 32.111 (14) | 38.665 (13) |
Esteban Gutierrez | 24.153 (11) | 32.026 (12) | 38.686 (14) |
Kevin Magnussen | 24.287 (14) | 32.206 (16) | 38.549 (12) |
Daniil Kvyat | 24.330 (15) | 32.175 (15) | 38.796 (15) |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | 24.364 (16) | 32.089 (13) | 38.797 (16) |
Marcus Ericsson | 24.474 (19) | 32.437 (18) | 38.905 (18) |
Felipe Nasr | 24.617 (21) | 32.354 (17) | 38.978 (19) |
Jolyon Palmer | 24.369 (17) | 32.558 (19) | 38.898 (17) |
Esteban Ocon | 24.470 (18) | 32.769 (20) | 39.212 (21) |
Pascal Wehrlein | 24.505 (20) | 32.796 (21) | 39.180 (20) |
Fernando Alonso | 24.668 (22) | 33.040 (22) | 39.369 (22) |
Speed trap
Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | Mercedes | 335.6 (208.5) | |
2 | Esteban Ocon | Manor | Mercedes | 332.1 (206.4) | -3.5 |
3 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 330.2 (205.2) | -5.4 |
4 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | Renault | 329.6 (204.8) | -6.0 |
5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 328.9 (204.4) | -6.7 |
6 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 328.8 (204.3) | -6.8 |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 328.3 (204.0) | -7.3 |
8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 327.9 (203.7) | -7.7 |
9 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 327.2 (203.3) | -8.4 |
10 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 327.2 (203.3) | -8.4 |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 326.9 (203.1) | -8.7 |
12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | Ferrari | 326.7 (203.0) | -8.9 |
13 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 326.4 (202.8) | -9.2 |
14 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | Ferrari | 326.3 (202.8) | -9.3 |
15 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 325.5 (202.3) | -10.1 |
16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 325.3 (202.1) | -10.3 |
17 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 324.8 (201.8) | -10.8 |
18 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 323.9 (201.3) | -11.7 |
19 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 322.6 (200.5) | -13.0 |
20 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Honda | 322.0 (200.1) | -13.6 |
21 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 321.6 (199.8) | -14.0 |
22 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 317.1 (197.0) | -18.5 |
Remaining tyres
Pirelli recommends maximum stint lengths of 17 laps on the soft, 23 laps on the medium and 28 laps on the hard tyres.
Driver | Team | Hard | Medium | Soft | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New | Used | New | Used | New | Used | ||
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Felipe Massa | Williams | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Sergio Perez | Force India | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Jenson Button | McLaren | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Esteban Ocon | Manor | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Over to you
Will Red Bull find a way to beat Mercedes in Malaysia? Can Ferrari get in the mix?
And where will Jenson Button finish in his 300th race? Share your views on the Malaysian Grand Prix in the comments.
2016 Malaysian Grand Prix
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- Dramatic Malaysian GP gets strong rating
- 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
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Khaiwong
1st October 2016, 18:53
Haryanto gets his tyre allocation?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
1st October 2016, 18:55
Essentially Lewis Hamilton needs to make a poor start… and we have ourself a motor race…
x303 (@x303)
1st October 2016, 20:23
If Hamilton has poor Stuart then it’s in the bag for Rosberg. Hardly exciting @jureo.
parlew0
1st October 2016, 20:56
Stuart needs to stop interfering!
badger (@badger)
1st October 2016, 21:11
It’s bernies new idea to help competition, both Mercedes drivers have to carry a man named Stuart.
SaraJ (@sjzelli)
1st October 2016, 23:47
At least its something to bring lif
Palle (@palle)
1st October 2016, 21:18
How will the Stewards react when Stuart is disrupting the race?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
1st October 2016, 21:53
Good one :D
JeffreyJ
2nd October 2016, 0:30
If it stays dry I really dont see how Merc is going to lose this one.
They have a massive speed advantage on the straights and even if a rb will get in front at the start, with DRS to boot its no contest
CarWars (@maxv)
2nd October 2016, 6:52
Depends how well they can follow if behind red Bull, brake and engine management and such. Malaysia is humid and Hot, tough for eniges as well.