Malaysia: pre-qualifying

Good news!

Not only have Alonso and Bottas been cleared to race, Manor Marussia have turned up and brought working cars with them. As expected, the Marussias are rather slow, but at least McLaren will feel better knowing they’re not at the back of the grid anymore.

Red Bull and Renault continue their hissyfit. Both are hinting they may quit, although the engine chaps are also considering buying a team of their own (maybe Toro Rosso).

In the first practice session Rosberg was three-tenths up on Raikkonen, who was half a second ahead of Vettel. Grosjean, Sainz, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Bottas, Kvyat and Ericsson followed, all of whom were pretty close together.

Hamilton suffered an engine problem which meant he set no lap time in the first session.

The second practice session was better for the Briton, who was fastest, about four-tenths up on Raikkonen. From driver-to-driver, a tenth separated Raikkonen and Rosberg, then Kvyat, Bottas, Massa and Vettel. Verstappen was over half a second down the road, followed by Ericsson and Ricciardo.

Bit surprised Raikkonen was faster than Vettel and Ericsson outpaced Nasr (after Nasr’s great start in Australia).

At the back of the grid, Manor Marussia were about three seconds off McLaren. If they get anywhere near points this season it’ll be a great result. Force India still look slow, and may be in danger of being overtaken by McLaren.

There’s an 80-90% chance of a thunderstorm, which will help teams with better downforce [may help Red Bull get into Q3].

Pole is very likely for Hamilton, but the odds are unlikely to be attractive and it’s always possible to bugger something up, (or for his engine to go on strike again).

So, the markets I checked for potential qualifying bets were Nasr/Ericsson for Q3, Ricciard/Kyvat for Q3 and Vettel/Raikkonen for top 3.

Unfortunately, even by the afternoon, the markets hadn’t got going whatsoever. So, no tip for qualifying.

My guess would be a Hamilton-Rosberg (or reversed) front row, with Ferrari next. Sauber to do well. How the weather comes in could be critical.

I believe qualifying is at 9am. The official F1 website used to offer local times for practice/qualifying/race starts, but due to the wonder of its redesign, this feature is now missing.


Morris Dancer

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