Formula 1 Jam

Giancarlo Fisichella put his Renault on pole in the Malaysian Grand Prix with a super quick time of 1:33.840. Button followed closely behind and Rookie Nico Roseberg giving Williams a lot to cheer by quaifying in the top of the second row.

Michael Schumacher recieved a setback before qualification blowing up his engine and costing him 10 grid places. Massa did a double change by blowing one more Ferrari engine in practice(he lost one in Bahrain). Coulthart made it a perfect pattern blowing the 3rd Ferrari engine of the weekend(that too before qualification).

Massa qualified 16 after not setting a time in the second session. Coulthart surprized everyone with a P3 time in session 1 but got knocked out of session 2. He looked to be going fast when the time ran out with 2 corners to go. Schumi out qualified Kimi and Alonso to be placed 4th he will start the GP from 13th(considering Ralf will now change an engine). Ralf blew his engine after setting the fastest session 2 time and could not get a car in time for the 3rd session he will start in 20th. This seems like a bad weekend for Ferrari engines.

I was actually surprised by the 3rd session times of Montoya, Kimi and Alonso… more so by Alonso he was almost 2 sec off the pace off Fici… Do I smell strategy…

Qualification Results:

Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault)
Jenson Button (Honda)
Nico Rosberg (Williams-Cosworth)
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
Mark Webber (Williams-Cosworth)
Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes)
Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes)
Fernando Alonso (Renault)
Christian Klien (RBR-Ferrari)
Ralf Schumacher (Toyota)
David Coulthard (RBR-Ferrari)
Rubens Barrichello (Honda)
Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-BMW)
Nick Heidfeld (Sauber-BMW)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Scott Speed (STR-Cosworth)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (STR-Cosworth)
Christijan Albers (MF1-Toyota)
Tiago Monteiro (MF1-Toyota)
Takuma Sato (Super Aguri-Honda)
Yuji Ide (Super Aguri-Honda)

(This is not the Starting grid for the GP)

Now to the strategy…
Firstly some observations from the third qualification session:

Driver - Top Time - Laps
Giancarlo Fisichella - 1:33.840 - 22
Jenson Button - 1:33.986 - 19
Michael Schumacher - 1:34.668 - 23
Juan Pablo Montoya - 1:34.916 - 18
Kimi Räikkönen - 1:34.983 - 18
Fernando Alonso - 1:35.747 - 22

Now the intresting thing to note is the number of laps. After that many laps the drivers had enough to get their fastest lap… atleast Fici, Schumi and Button got thier fastest laps in the last few secs. Montoya, Kimi and Alonso got thier top times in the mid part of the session. Alonso seemed to be going fast after his change in tyres but backed off towards the end when it seemed Fici would take the pole… I believe Renault has used a split strategy…

Last Year Alonso won using a 2 stop strategy stopping at lap 21 and lap 40 off the 56 lap race. Fici might be on the same strategy… his pace was unnerving in the last lap setting the fastest sectors in every sector when he was placed at 7th setting laps close to 1.5 sec off the pace. Alonso will most definately be on a 1 stopper, Kimi and Montoya will probably be on the same too… The rest of the top runners will be on 2 stoppers for sure. Considering the comparitive pace of Alonso wrt to Mc Larens, I expect him to stay atleast 5 laps longer on track.

Michael will prob start with a full load of fuel on his car and pace himself for a 1 stopper to get him a podium place with strategy. But with bottom half of the top also mostly going for a 1 stopper will mean a really tough race for the multi time world champ.

First corner will be important and considering the Renaults are back to their quick starting selfs again I would expect Fici to retain his lead untill the first pitstop for sure. Roseberg’s fiery pace will definately help him fight with the Renault and the Honda of Button should not be underestimated.

My predictions for the race: (im actually not very confident with predictions here coz one safety car will change all the dynamics of the race beyond recognition)

1. Giancarlo Fisichella (He looks too good this weekend… and He is definately in the best place to seal the win.)
2. Nico Roseberg (This rookie is simply amazing and I hope he is not overrun by the force that is Kimi, Alonso and MSc behind him.)
3. Alonso (Kimi, Alonso and MSc are on similar strategy but my bet is with the Spaniard)