EnterF1's Malaysia Preview

A quick look at all the teams and my predictions!

Red Bull

It is fair to say that whilst Red Bull seem to have an advantage this season it is not quite as large as it was last season. Mark Webber showed us in Australia that his car was not quite up to scratch but Vettel just blew everyone away. Into Malaysia I would imagine that Webber will be making sure that his car is ready to compete up with Vettel. Red Bull have revealed that they will in fact be using KERS at Malaysia after it was absent in Australia because of 'reliability problems.' They are hoping that they have overcome these problems or there is going to be problems on track.

McLaren

McLaren had a remarkable come back from what seemed to be an achingly average winter testing; they will be hoping to further improve and close that gap to Vettel. Button should have had a good finish in Australia, possibly third, but a silly decision gave him a dooming drive through penalty. Button needs to prove him self heading into qualifying at Malaysia. The McLarens are bringing a new diffuser to Malaysia which should be worth a few tenths. In Australia they raced with a titanium diffuser which was quickly put together to accommodate their brand new exhaust system. They will be hoping the new carbon diffuser brings them closer to Red Bull.

Ferrari

The Ferrari's performance was far off what many were expecting. As usual Alonso was fighting that car round the track and putting it in a decent finishing position. Ferrari keep saying that Australia was not the best of the 150th Italia and that Malaysia will give a much better picture. I would expect the Ferrari to be fighting at the top again in Malaysia, or at least a lot closer. Massa will be somewhere around in the top 10 but nothing too impressive.

The Mid-field

Petrov's great drive last race for Renault showed us exactly why not to judge him because he was a 'pay' driver. Whilst we should not get carried away (It was only one race after all) I think it is clear that he will be fighting very hard to fill the gap that Kubica left. Heidfeld had an appalling last race and will want to show Petrov why he should be the first driver. I think we may see fireworks on track there.

The unfortunate disqualification of both Sauber's last week should not be judged. Both Sauber drivers pushed really hard to get where they were and put in two stirling drives. I am hoping we will see another points drive from both men especially Sergio Perez who was my driver of the race in Australia. The Sauber will truly be fighting with what is an extremely tight mid-field this season.

Mercedes are adamant that their car is worthy of more than what it did last race. Rosberg will be looking to once again say "I am better than Michael Schumacher." I find it hard to think that both cars will not be in the top 10 in Malaysia.

Force India and Torro Rosso were pretty standard in Australia. I will not be expecting anything different from each team. Maybe a little mixing with the top 10 but still firmly mid-field teams unlike Renault and Mercedes which will be fighting firmly.

Bottom of the Grid

Virgin and Lotus again were pretty underwhelming. You would think they would have made more progress into the mid-field but they are still struggling albeit not as bad as last year. In Malaysia they will be still pushing ever harder to get into the mid-field and into Q2. I think that would be their ultimate goal and in an unpredictable race such as Malaysia who knows?

I Can not see HRT in the race on Sunday although they think they will be fighting with Lotus and Virgin. I guess we will have to wait and see but I would not hold my breath!

Crazy Malaysian Weather

We once again look set for a weekend of crazy, unpredictable weather at Sepang. An unpleasant mixture of heavy rain, thunderstorms and humidity look set to even make or break the race weekend. We could see some mixing up of the grid like last year or we could see a few red flag's like in 2009. The one thing I am really looking forward to is seeing how the Pirelli's deal with such track conditions. It is certainly a point to keep an eye on.

Personal Predictions:

Qualifying  Prediction

1. Mark Webber

2. Sebastian Vettel

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Fernando Alonso

5. Jenson Button

6. Felipe Massa

7. Vitaly Petrov

8. Nico Rosberg

9. Michael Schumacher

10. Nick Heidfeld

Race Predictions

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. Sebastian Vettel

3. Fernando Alonso

4. Jenson Button

5. Vitaly Petrov

6. Felipe Massa

7. Nico Rosberg

8. Sergio Perez

9. Nick Heidfeld

10. Kamui Kobayashi

Call me crazy but I just have this feeling Mark Webber will get a DNF!

Posted by Sean Russell - Follow him on twitter @SeanRussellF1.

Like us on Facebook! »

More F1 Posts »

• 2012 Spanish GP: Hamilton and that 31 lap stint!
• Williams F1 Fire: Photos and video from dramatic post race inferno
• Lewis Hamilton blasts the rest away with pole in Spain
• An absolutely mega F1 prize you can win with the Lotus F1 Team
• Remembering Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna
• 2012 Bahrain GP: Vettel returns to the top, and Rosberg escapes penalties
• Sebastian Vettel takes his first pole since 2011
• 2012 Chinese Grand Prix: Thrilling late overtaking and tyres falling off the cliff
• Nico Rosberg takes his first pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton
• 2012 Malaysia GP: Sergio Perez 2nd in Malaysia – but does the race need to start earlier?

Last Comment Posted »