The Stig Posted 3 April 2007 Posted 3 April 2007 Lets here peoples thoughts and predictions, Kimi may have to change his engine over the course of the weekend which of course will mean the dreaded 10 place grid drop! Would make for a very interesting race if that happens, I can't see anyone other than Kimi winning it, all though if he has the engine swap I think it will be one of Massa or Alonso What do the people of FT think?
Leicfox Posted 3 April 2007 Posted 3 April 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix - Pre-Qualifying Readers of our Formula One analysis last year will be aware that we published two previews over the weekend, one that looked at qualifying and the other once grid positions were known that analysed the race. As far as the data is concerned, under the current system, qualifying is far less reliable than in days of old as several factors influence the final positions such as differing fuel loads depending on race strategies. Therefore, until discernible qualifying patterns emerge, we’d rather give early pointers to the weekend for those who wish to take a position on a possible race outcome pre-qualifying. Our principal recommendations will come post-qualifying as statistically grid position is crucial. For example, at Sepang six of the eight winners came from the front row and all but one of those from pole. If there is an interest to be had at this stage then it rests with the Ferrari drivers. The same constructor has won the first two Grand Prix in 12 of the last 20 years and tellingly for Raikkonen, 14 of the last 17 winners of the second race of the season either won or failed to finish the season’s opener. As none of the retirees from Australia could be fancied to win this weekend that’s a strong pointer for Raikkonen especially as in the three races when this didn’t happen, the winner of the first race failed to finish. The results of those 17 races would suggest that failure to finish in either of the first two races is highly influential to the outcome. If Raikkonen does win then in our view he’s nailed on for the Championship because the eight to win the first two over the last 20 years all went onto to claim the title. Failure to complete is Raikkonen’s biggest danger this weekend and that’s certainly a possibility as we’ve examined driver/constructor performance in the extreme conditions that can prevail in Malaysia and reliability over the first two races. Two other drivers that we are interested in this weekend are Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber and we’ll be examining their prospects once qualifying is known. SOS.
isaidno Posted 3 April 2007 Posted 3 April 2007 1 : Alonso 2 : Hamilton 3: Massa I think Raikkonen will get tangled up at the 1st corner
Deathside Posted 3 April 2007 Posted 3 April 2007 Lets here HEAR peoples thoughts and predictions My prediction: It will be a race of two halves
The Stig Posted 3 April 2007 Author Posted 3 April 2007 lets here hear... WHATS WRONG WITH ME TODAY?? My spelling ability has died! that's two posts of mine today which i've mucked up! form now on im only going to use basic words so I can't spell them wrong!
isaidno Posted 3 April 2007 Posted 3 April 2007 WHATS WRONG WITH ME TODAY?? My spelling ability has died! that's two posts of mine today which i've mucked up! form now on im only going to use basic words so I can't spell them wrong! done it again !
Asha Posted 5 April 2007 Posted 5 April 2007 1 : Alonso2 : Hamilton 3: Massa I think Raikkonen will get tangled up at the 1st corner i say the first 20 cars do meaning it's 1-2 finish for Spyker 1 Sutil 2 Albers EDIT: and Kimi makes a great third after pushing his car for the remainder of the easter hols to find that the next weekend they were sposed to be in the desert somewhere...
Leicfox Posted 7 April 2007 Posted 7 April 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix, Stat On Sports. As far as we are concerned there can only be one winner this weekend and that’s race favourite, Felipe Massa. Five of the eight previous winners at Sepang won from pole and over the last five years, his team have a 71% success rate leading from the front. But even more significant is the fact that in the 13 races that a Ferrari driver has started in pole with the team having won the previous race, they have won 12. Admittedly nearly all those were achieved with the greatest driver to have raced, but even so, Massa has to be our recommendation at 2.02. Car failure or rain would appear to be his only obstacle because neither second (Alonso), or third (Raikkonen) has a great record of winning from their position. If the top four from qualifying finish in similar positions then it would be for only the second time in eight years and in the other six, at least one of the top four has failed to finish. Raikkonen is the more likely candidate to drop out because he’s done so in 4/6 here, whereas Alonso has always finished but Ferrari have been more reliable than McLaren (retirements compared to 6 for Mclaren). Lewis Hamilton made it 6/6 three weeks ago for a McLaren driver finishing in the top three from the second row and has a great chance of doing so again here at 2.54. However in four of the last five years, McLaren have failed to get both cars home, so a very good chance that one will drop out this weekend. Nico Rosberg drove one of the best races three weeks ago finishing seventh from 12th but Williams have a poor record here – half their cars have failed to finish including four of the last five and Rosberg has yet to finish on the three occasions that he has started in the top 10. We’d sell his finishing position at 12-15 with Sporting which means you’d lose if he finishes sixth or better.
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