Malaysian GP - Hot, humid and hectic
Sepang, 23 March
Last Sunday we were racing in Australia and today, free practice has got underway for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of the world championship. It’s a format the Formula 1 circus will get used to in 2012 as, this year, there are no less than seven sets of “back-to-back” races. It’s a punishing schedule, but this particular trip to what is the other side of the world for all the teams is perhaps the toughest: there is always a rush to get ready for the opening round of the season, the working day tends to be longer when the cars are new and after Melbourne, the teams then had to start work almost immediately in the physically draining heat and humidity of Sepang.
Races one week apart also mean the Scuderia’s F2012 is largely unchanged since the opening act in Albert Park. However, in a bid to wipe out all causes of Felipe Massa’s inability to get a coherent performance out of a car that appeared to suit him perfectly in winter tests, the Brazilian had a new chassis and some other parts were also changed. On top of that, the engineers had planned a packed programme, as everyone at Scuderia Ferrari has been working flat out to increase the performance level of the F2012 as it strives to catch the quickest cars on the grid. At a normal test session, carrying out aerodynamic evaluations can be quite a straightforward task of comparing different settings, but when you also have to fit in understanding the tyres, searching for outright speed over a single lap for Saturday’s qualifying and getting a well balanced car to be kind on tyres over a long run on Sunday, then life gets more complicated. However, a trouble free three hours of practice for both cars meant every item on the Job List was ticked off come the chequered flag to end Free Practice 2 at 3.30.
Dominating the afternoon time sheet were the McLaren and Mercedes teams: pole man from Australia, Lewis Hamilton was fastest for the former, followed by Michael Schumacher second for the latter, with their respective team-mates, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg third and fourth. Fifth ahead of Fernando was Daniel Ricciardo for Toro Rosso.
Last Sunday we were racing in Australia and today, free practice has got underway for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of the world championship. It’s a format the Formula 1 circus will get used to in 2012 as, this year, there are no less than seven sets of “back-to-back” races. It’s a punishing schedule, but this particular trip to what is the other side of the world for all the teams is perhaps the toughest: there is always a rush to get ready for the opening round of the season, the working day tends to be longer when the cars are new and after Melbourne, the teams then had to start work almost immediately in the physically draining heat and humidity of Sepang.
Races one week apart also mean the Scuderia’s F2012 is largely unchanged since the opening act in Albert Park. However, in a bid to wipe out all causes of Felipe Massa’s inability to get a coherent performance out of a car that appeared to suit him perfectly in winter tests, the Brazilian had a new chassis and some other parts were also changed. On top of that, the engineers had planned a packed programme, as everyone at Scuderia Ferrari has been working flat out to increase the performance level of the F2012 as it strives to catch the quickest cars on the grid. At a normal test session, carrying out aerodynamic evaluations can be quite a straightforward task of comparing different settings, but when you also have to fit in understanding the tyres, searching for outright speed over a single lap for Saturday’s qualifying and getting a well balanced car to be kind on tyres over a long run on Sunday, then life gets more complicated. However, a trouble free three hours of practice for both cars meant every item on the Job List was ticked off come the chequered flag to end Free Practice 2 at 3.30.
Dominating the afternoon time sheet were the McLaren and Mercedes teams: pole man from Australia, Lewis Hamilton was fastest for the former, followed by Michael Schumacher second for the latter, with their respective team-mates, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg third and fourth. Fifth ahead of Fernando was Daniel Ricciardo for Toro Rosso.
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