Less than a week later here we are once more, setting the scene for another encounter in the quick-fire nature of this opening phase of the new season. As a result not too much has happened here in the realm of Blog HQ, apparently I aged again - a detail I neither approve of or recommend as a future course of action, but despite my objections it occurred. Moving on from that unfortunate event, I was almost cultured once more, but my lack of planning ability killed that idea off, initially my venture was planned for last weekend, but firstly I misread the listings. Doing that once is a little daft, but only mildly foolish, yet making a similar error twice is organisationally terminal my traditional precise clarity failed once again - plotting and planning for a Saturday night.... only to find the run concluded on the Friday. As a result trying to pull something together for that venture didn't allow for anyone else to react or fit into their schedules ruining everything I'd planned for. On the bright side I hadn't built the accompaniments and printed things so if there is ever a future opportunity, I shall need to be better prepared.
Back to the more important and vastly more interesting world of F1, a sense of deja-vu is building surrounding this weekend when we consult the weather forecast for the area and there is a lot of rain pending. The tropical climate of the region is famous for monsoon rains, rain that brought a halt to both the 2009 and 2012 races - the former having to be cancelled and half points awarded, and made the concept of a Kimi ice cream break infamous. While Webber was consulting other drivers on track conditions and the prospect of restarting the event Raikkonen sat in the garage in his shorts and had an ice cream... Even though the FIA have gotten increasingly soft whenever the rain begins to fall, a little bit of moisture might be needed to make the Sepang layout more interesting as a race, as the prospect of the dual DRS this time round has generated mixed feelings amongst spectators as to the impact it'll have come Sunday... if it stays dry.
The Track
We didn't get too far before we run smack into a dreary Tilke-drome this is only race two and here is the first of many, Sepang was the designer's first contribution to global frustrations - and I'd love to say things got better with time, but they didn't...cough, cough... Bahrain. But that might be a little harsh the track isn't all bad, there are some genuinely decent corners, not just in relative terms to some of the others on the lap. Than again in comparison to turn 1, the Valencian Street track seems like an immensely preferable concept, the first couple of corners beggars belief at how it was allowed into production. I'm fairly close to falling into insanity from time to time, but that sequence is almost the very definition of lunacy... seriously Mr Tilke, why...
After those insults the concept of corners, the rest of the track is a vast improvement, everything from turn three to the hairpin at 9 is enjoyably and almost flows, something that is continually missing from these modern efforts. Even though it does remain blighted by those health and safety tarmac run-off areas - although the one outside of turn 8 sent Petrov into the air in the Renault Squadron machine in 2011. I understand the point of these things, to allow people to rejoin after going off, but allowing people to gain an advantage by running off the track - in Fairness to Sepang there is an astroturf margin at the trackside to limit the effect.
The remainder of the lap used to be vilified here at Blog HQ, with its decreasing radius corners becoming irritating during filming of the track videos, but that has eased over time - not so much on the penultimate corner. Because the other blog cars have stuggled with understeer, a weakness that is exploited by those sorts of corners, now the new machine is much more elegant through the corners and makes driving them much more enjoyable, but then again that's Myria for you.... anyway while I extract my mind from that place again, all that remains of the lap are the two DRS zones thankfully with independent detection zones. Their placement seems foolish, bordering on pointless - stick the overtaking assistance where passing is already possible instead of opening up other opportunities... the mind boggles. As a result we might see people just drive past each other with ease, there may be some strategic use because the two zones are so close, and pack racing - if such a thing exists - could be very dynamic.
That only leaves one thing left to do - unleash the latest video from HQ, where I take Myria to two different Malaysian circuits - of course these are the only two Malaysian circuits I can load into rFactor to drive around. Adding to the developing feature of finding potential alternatives to the current designated venue.
Erm... next question... with the changing conditions on a unique circuit the results and performances virtually mean nothing in preparation for this weekend, the track is wildly different and the climate is so much warmer. Cars of today are very temperature sensitive, so the tropical heat could really re-arrange the pecking order, last year high temperatures made Lotus really quick while the cold helped Sauber. Then of course there is the impending threat of monsoon rains - and in the wet first attempt at qualifying, McLaren were much less worse off and Rosberg was in a world of his own at the front. Torro Rosso also have a really quick car in questionable conditions - pace not win this weekend but adaptability to the rainfall. That is of course if the FIA allow racing to occur in anything other than faint drizzle before the increasingly heavy hand of health and safety gets in the way again.
In the middle of the pack lies the very definition of complete uncertainty, Force India and Sauber are the quickest of that division. Not that we've really seen anything of Hulkenberg after his car didn't make the start due to fuel issues, how that will turn out on a faster high downforce circuit, no one knows least of all me. Williams however probably have to deal with an increasingly displeased Maldonado who ranted at the team on Saturday, and then binned the car on Sunday, making all kinds of friends there, instead of trying to make some progress.
Back in division three Marussia have finally caught and passed Caterham - or more accurately Bianchi has caught and passed them... Chilton well less so. Both him and Van Der Garde are a long way off their respective team-mates and Jules is beating Pic at the front of the division. Should the conditions go a little bit mental for the race it would not be too much of a stretch to see Bianchi at the bottom of the points. It is nice to see things making progress at the bottom of the field, still it is a shame that the likes of Minardi and Super Aguri are no longer back there, oh well things change.
The 2013 Malaysian GP may be another rain soaked affair, where the safety car gets more miles than any of the grid, but in these early stages of a new season no-one can ever be completely sure what is going to happen. Unpredictability played a large part in the opening races of 2012, where One-stop Perez almost won this race last year, in the Sauber, so hopefully intrigue and insanity will take over, and who doesn't like a little madness in a Sunday afternoon.
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