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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