Sunshine and showers
As always the weather could play the deciding role in this weekend’s Malaysian GP with blistering hot conditions giving way to thunderstorms.
Thursday should see the first of the wet weather with thunderstorms forecast for much of the day. A high of 36 and a low of 24’C are expected for the day.
However, the weather should clear ahead of Friday’s two practice sessions. A high of 36 and a low of 23’C have been forecast together with a North Easterly wind of 6mph.
The sweltering conditions will prevail on Saturday as well with no chance of rainfall during the day’s only qualifying session. Both the morning’s two practice sessions and Qualifying One are expected to take place under clear and sunny skies, with the day’s high reaching 37’C.
However, the weather conditions will take a turn for the worse on Sunday and there’s a strong chance rain will fall during the afternoon’s 56-lap Malaysian GP.
Forecasters are predicting sunny spells as well as thunderstorms for the day. A high of 34 and a low of 25’C are expected together with a 2mph North Easterly wind.
News Source:
Planet-F1
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FIA clarification dents BAR's engine plans
Jenson Button and Takuma Sato could be docked ten places on the Malaysian GP grid if BAR goes ahead with its plans to race with new Honda engines in round two of the Championship.
Although both drivers were classified in race one, the Australian GP, neither actually finished the race, as BAR called them into the pits at the end of the penultimate lap.
The team’s reason for doing this was they had hope to exploit a loophole in the new engine regulation that states that a driver’s engine may be changed after just one race should he fail to finish that event. And having a new Honda engine instead of one that’s a race-old in the heat of Malaysia would be a huge advantage for BAR.
However, the FIA have put a dent in BAR’s plans after issuing a statement clarifying the new regulation.
“A distinction will now be made between failing to finish and choosing not to finish,†an FIA statement said.
“The former is normally accidental or beyond the control of the driver, while the latter is not.â€
“In order to ensure the purpose of the regulation is fully respected, and unless the reason is completely clear, in future we will require the team of any driver who fails to finish the first of two races to explain the circumstances surrounding the retirement to the stewards of the meeting.â€
This means that should either Button or Sato race with a new engine at Sepang the matter will be referred to the stewards and they could face a ten-grid slot penalty.
The FIA’s clarification comes just hours after Toyota slammed BAR “exploiting†the regulations.
"There has been a lot of controversy surrounding loopholes in the new rules but exploitation of such grey areas is against our understanding of racing," said Luca Marmorini, the technical director of Toyota's engine programme.
News Source:
Planet-F1
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Ferrari preview the Malaysian GP
Ferrari drivers Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher look ahead to round two of the F1 World Championship, the Malaysian GP...
Rubens Barrichello: "In a way, people are having to work for two races at a time, rather than working on the limit for one, so in Sepang we will see how the cars really perform. This is the real test. I have a certain mileage on my engine and I will have to look after it. It is an unknown for us. Is the car tough enough to keep on going? Will I have to pace myself? There are a lot of question marks, but I will be out to enjoy the experience: tyres, drivers and engines must all last to the very final corner."
"Michael has less mileage on his engine so he will probably be able to run more laps in free practice. But we operate as a team at Ferrari and so that will be good for me too. Over the course of the year, managing the situation if me and Michael end up out of synchronisation in terms of whether we are doing our first or second race with the same engine will be an interesting situation. I don’t know if that will arise with us too often, given our good reliability record. But it is a probability. At some tracks, as a driver you need more laps to get comfortable and that will certainly apply when we visit a new circuit, like in Turkey for example, where we need to learn the track."
"We have two very good guys, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, testing for us and that meant Michael and I were able to have a break, which is going to be very important in such a long season."
Michael Schumacher: "The start of this Championship was very different to last year's. I scored zero points at the Australian GP and not the usual ten. Those that see this as a problem are welcome to; I don't see one. There will be a new hand dealt in Malaysia and I think that we have a chance of doing well."
"As ever the heat and humidity will play a very important role in determining who has managed to prepare best for the race. This year there is also the uncertainty generated by the new rules: most teams at Sepang, in fact, will be using engines that have already been employed for a whole grand prix weekend. More, facing qualification and race with a single set of tyres is not easy. So we have to wait to see exactly how this all plays out on the track. I can only state that Ferrari has, in recent years, been extraordinarily reliable."
"The circuit is an interesting one, as I have said in the past. It is very wide and so offers the chance to experiment with different racing lines. This is something we don't often encounter on the tracks we race on. At Sepang you have to try out different trajectories before opting for the ideal one. I'm not to sure what to expect from the Grand Prix of Malaysia. In the past few years the relative strengths displayed in Australia and Malaysia have always alternated. What is certain is that I can't wait for the race and that I want to score my first points in 2005, naturally as many as I can!"
News Source:
Planet-F1