Malaysia: Free Practice 3
Saturday, and the third and final free practice session. After the excitement yesterday of a somewhat fragile Red Bull and yet more evidence that Ferrari are losing the proverbial plot, there doesn’t appear to be a whole heap of news today.
At some point presumably the stewards will decide if ‘le bull rouge’ is safe to drive (even though it has already passed all mandatory FIA crash tests), and I’m sure we’ll be informed at their leisure.
As for the track, it’s still dry, and the weather map suggests it’ll stay that way for the remainder of the upcoming one hour practice session. This is bound to annoy the teams who seem keen to get some wet testing in before a potential wet race start.
ITV aren’t providing viewers (I’ll stop staying ‘UK’ viewers, given most of the world appears to be able to tune in using a simple proxy trick), with live video this session, so we’ll be tuned into TVlizer. It’s not great quality broadcasting, so if you hear of anything better please shout.
Also, we have the obligatory live timing link.
Also, if you’re on European time and braved an early morning start, then very well done. We appear to have completely ruined our body clocks this past 8 days, so next year we’re planning on going to every flyaway, just to get a lie in!
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:58 amlou said:
i’ll second that!
and again im up and ready for an hour of FP3! wil get some slepp and then its quali! Just curious but what are the times for the barain gp? daytime i hope!
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 amSteven Roy said:
Fri 04 April 2008
Friday Practice 1 08:00 - 09:30
Friday Practice 2 12:00 - 13:30
Sat 05 April 2008
Saturday Practice 09:00 - 10:00
Qualifying 12:00
Sun 06 April 2008
Race 12:30
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:01 amlou said:
Me, Christine awake yet?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:01 amChristine said:
Hi Lou,
Friday Free Practice in Bahrain is at 10am their time, which is 1pm our time.
Basically, all on at a much more sensible time
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:02 amlou said:
thata what i like to hear!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:05 amChristine said:
Watching the Eurosport feed, with French commentary.
me says: “Translate for us.”
Like I am suddenly fluent in French!?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:06 amme said:
so, david’s car managed to hold to together for a lap. charlie will be pleased
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:06 amJourneyer said:
Well, you can always ask Franck to do it for you. :p I’m off to F1f. You can join the chat there too!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:07 amlou said:
hahaha was just about to ask if anyone had any idea what they were saying - its been afew years since i did french
im just gonna listen to the enigines and watch the timeings block out the strange language 
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 amNelson said:
Hello! I’m here. That TVLizer thingie is ugly.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 amme said:
we’re back to 4 race gearboxes for this session, am guessing people will be a bit wary of running them too hard, too early.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:10 amme said:
like a stop-frame animation. sound is okay though, and like lou said, hearing the engine is enough.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:10 amChristine said:
I am finding that I can’t tell what car it is until it’s right up close…
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:13 amme said:
wheel cam?
the french commentary are discussing 4 race gear boxes and kovi steering wheel issues… maybe.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:13 amlou said:
is it only me or bis Button getting that tiny bit more coverage this week?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:15 amme said:
maybe the tv guys are fans?
it could be that they had such a good showing last week that they’ve created a bit of interest.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:15 amNelson said:
I can’t hear anything.
Well, I must be blind. I can only tell apart the williams, ferrari’s and mclaren’s.
I’m having a bit of a debate here, ITV Live Feed or Fox Sports LA. Does the ITV feed have commentary and commercials?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:16 amme said:
if it rained overnight, presumably there’s zero grip out there again.
cars aren’t looking too shabby in the final corner though.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 amme said:
during qually and the race, yes.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:21 amlou said:
i may give up with tvlizer i have nooo sound so am watching blury cars. its like i have my glasses off!
may wait to see if i magically get sound back….
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:22 amme said:
kimi v.fast during this early stage. lost a bunch of pace in the final sector though.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:24 amme said:
no probs, can tell you what we see / hear.
at the moment we’re watching a williams circle. presumably it’s kaz, and he’s in 18th place.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:26 amme said:
both bulls on track, but not showing signs of much speed. x2 str currently ahead of them
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:27 amme said:
hamilton’s taking the session very easy. just a single sighter lap from the guy, while his teammate has managed 6. kovi’s back in the garage too.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:29 amlou said:
oh dear. have they done the safety checks or whatever they were tolj thy needed to do? or are they being cautious? thats hopeful thinking isen’t it?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 amSteveintheUK said:
I’m Here, Sorry for being late. Was waiting for my ITV.Com F1 Engine alarm clock, why no live feed for this seesion?
TVLizer, eurosprt Fra, sound but no video, I don’t speak french
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 amChristine said:
RBR have been cleared to race:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65980
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 amSteven Roy said:
Air temp is climbing and humidity dropping so probably no rain but the times should get slower
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 amlou said:
Barrichello is almost a second slower than button? he not having as greater time as he had in Aus
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 amChristine said:
Webber’s up in third, so things can’t be that bad… touch wood.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 amSteven Roy said:
It took me three attempts at loading TVLizer before I got pictures
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 amme said:
completely inexplicable. there wasn’t last week either, but no-one ever confirmed why.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:33 amxd9001 said:
which channel on tvlizer for live video
Thaks
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 amlou said:
Super Aguri really off the pace.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 amChristine said:
335
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 amme said:
wow, they really are! that’s an abysmal showing.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:36 amSteven Roy said:
http://www.tvlizer.com/content/view/203/335
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:36 amChristine said:
Vettel in 3rd, yet another fast free practice for him.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 amSteveintheUK said:
Thanks Fifth time lucky for me, boy that picture quality was really worth the effort.
How did Weber get up to fourth?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 amHugo said:
Tell me about it I will be watching the race from 1:00 am to 3:00 am tomorrow
Hello from Mexico, is good to be writing back again here, it seems ferraris are doing well on P3, by the way the window for ESF is bigger using jbl
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 amme said:
i really want to see some wet weather action. if only to see if all the fears are unfounded.
if we get all the way to the race without any damp track testing, it could be absolute chaos…
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:38 amme said:
hello mexico
what’s ESF / JBL?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:39 amSteven Roy said:
Hugo
Can you post the url for jbl?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:39 amme said:
coulthard joins him too.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 amHugo said:
The same way Vettel did to be third
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 amlou said:
so its definatly going to be a wet race then?
would u look at that more button coverage! well worth the early start!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 amChristine said:
Raikkonen and Massa match times exactly in S1 and S2, then Massa is 1 tenth faster in the last.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 amme said:
well they said 90pc chance of rain today and it isn’t wet. so unless this is the dry 10pc, i’m beginning to not believe the forecasts.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 amlou said:
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 amxd9001 said:
I presume there is nothing in English.
Tried itv.co.uk but it is restricted to UK only.
tvlizer image is tiny and difficult to see.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:44 amHugo said:
Hi Me
eurosports france; I meant JLC (was watching smackdown and got confused hehe) is an internet tv program use google to download
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 amme said:
itv aren’t broadcasting this session and neither are 5live. picture’s improved for tvlizer though… slightly.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 amSteveintheUK said:
Sorry Meant how was he able to do a lap that fast without something breaking on his car, or a red flag going out, or someone getting in his way?
Also, why are the McLarens over a second off the Ferrari times?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:47 amlou said:
i can actually recognise the different cars now!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 amme said:
i think they did something similar in melbourne saturday practice.
working on race pace. i guess.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 amSidepodcastfan said:
Hi guys just got in see what may work for you alfa1 seems to work better for me
http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=8368&part=sports
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 amlou said:
good piont! Ferrari seem to have finally got their act together. Lets hope its a better race for them this week!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:49 amHugo said:
It is JLC
just don´t tell Bernie
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:49 amme said:
button goes p5
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:50 amlou said:
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:51 amSteveintheUK said:
So why is Alonso 20th at 1.37.3 when his team mate is running in 4th at 1.35.7 ? or has Alonso not been out lately?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:54 amlou said:
Barrichello has not been out in a while. only done 6 laps. how long is FP3? i thought it was just an hour, i would have thought he would have been out and done more than 6 laps by now - problem?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:56 amme said:
it’s over in 4 minutes, so yes!
there was a honda in the garage a minute ago, if it was him they’ll probably not get him out again before the end.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 amBen said:
and there goes quick nick
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 amme said:
heidfeld on a stellar lap. P1.
carbon copy of what bmw did last week
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 amSteven Roy said:
Heidfeld P1
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 amHugo said:
HEIDFIELD P1
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 amlou said:
yeah i think it must have been him Button has been out for a bit.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 amBen said:
everyone’s going for a last ditch kamikaze effort…
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 amme said:
all sorts of action on the track, 2 mins to go and only 3 cars in the garage.
nico, bourdais and rubens.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 amlou said:
where did that come from! wow great lap by heidfeld!
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:00 amme said:
everybody on the white strip tyres. as piquet goes fastest in S1??
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:00 amBen said:
nick’s time is the fastest by 3 tenths all weekend…
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 amlou said:
oh and now i get sound! :s
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 amSteveintheUK said:
What happened to N.Piquet, he had the fastest S1 at 24.5, then did a 41.1 in S2?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 amme said:
piquet wastes his lap by running wide.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:02 amSteven Roy said:
Alonso just did his best time but still behind Piquet.
Piquet purple in sec 1 but lifted off in sec 2
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:02 amBen said:
It’s certainly unlike Mclaren to be THAT far down… race setup or not.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 amme said:
hamilton in 11th and kovi in 16th. piquet going fastest in S1 in the renault. there’s a heck of a lot more pace out there than some people are letting on.
also, the soft tyres don’t appear to be offering hardly any advantage at all.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 amSteven Roy said:
The Toyotas are ahead of both Williams
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 amSteveintheUK said:
Just noticed that Heidfled time 1.35.019 beats last years pole of 1.35.043
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 amBen said:
This re-iterates how Button operates.
He’s AWESOME in a car that’s working, but terrible in a car that sucks. Rubens is the opposite.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:05 amlou said:
right im off to get some more shut eye before quali in 2 hours, although i may find myself getting up earlier to watch abit of the build up. see you back here then
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:05 amSteveintheUK said:
I got last years pole time form Christine Preview, so thanks Christine
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:06 amBen said:
I’m off for an espresso and a run round the block to keep awake.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:06 amme said:
looks like rubens has a pretty serious problem, all the way at the bottom, doing the least laps of the field.
engine and gbox rules are effective now, he might be facing a penalty?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 amSteveintheUK said:
OK Whats on TVlizer channel 355 now?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 amSteven Roy said:
I am not sure we learned anything in that session. To many confusing times. Kubica 1.6 off Heidfeld. McLarens too slow to be realistic. Trulli 4th. No Ferrari blow ups
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 amme said:
we’ll back at 5:30am then
thanks everyone. i think this mixed up finishing order will take some thinking about.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 amSteven Roy said:
A1GP from Mexico last week
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 amme said:
v.good point. you think they fixed it?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 amSteven Roy said:
No
They had probs yesterday when they had had a week to fix it. No way it was fixed overnight.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 amSteveintheUK said:
If you take Piquet’s S1 time and Heidfeld’s S2 and S3 time’s you would get a fastest lap time of 1.34.7, I wonder how close they will get to that time in Quail?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 amBen said:
Just a variation of low fuel quali runs and race setup I reckon.
BMW were lighter than shaved hedgehog (for want of a better analogy)…
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 amSteven Roy said:
They have race fuel in quali so they won’t get anywhere near it
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 amFelipe Leite said:
Do you remember what I said about Piquet during the free practice sessions in Australia? That it takes a lot of time to him to get used to a new track?
It looks like I was right :p He had been in Malaysia before with A1GP 2 years ago, and his pace throughout the weekend is being pretty good. Just 3 1/1000 below Alonso yesterday and almost 3 tenths ahead today.
I hope that he can qualify well (top 10 would be great) and maybe even score some points in the race.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 amBen said:
way off. Race feul loads remember. might get close in Q1 or 2 though.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 amSteven Roy said:
I wonder if the Renault team mate war will start now that Piquet has gone faster than Alonso
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:14 amBen said:
not likely. it would be nice but I’m sure Alonso is pulling all the strings and wouldn’t let him get anywhere near close enough.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 amme said:
looking back to last week:
- 2007 australia pole position = 1:26.072
- 2008 australia pole position = 1:26.714
so, on that basis:
- 2007 malaysia pole position = 1.35.043
- 2008 malaysia pole position = 1.35.7xx ???
maybe
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 amBen said:
well, I’ll bow down before the person that actually did the research and got the facts! I stand corrected
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 amme said:
i do, and it’s looks like you have a point.
the renault still looks ragged though. top 10 is optimistic, i’d say.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 amSteveintheUK said:
So don’t they uses FP3 to run with the fuel that they will be running in Quail? Or is it just McLaren that do that? which would explain why they where slow.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 amBen said:
fuel loads are anything you want them to be in free practice
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 amme said:
it’ll most likely rain anyhow
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 amSteven Roy said:
Pit stops cost less here so someone may go for a lighter fuel load and gamble.
BUT
Safety cars are less likely so the gamble may not pay off.
I think that means I don’t know
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 amme said:
we haven’t done any predictions today.
anyone wanna take a punt on pole?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 amBen said:
and all our predictions won’t be worth a *bleep*
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:20 amSteven Roy said:
On GP Wizard’s grid game I picked Lewis a few days ago and I haven’t seen anything to make me change my mind
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 amChristine said:
My guess is a Ferrari, probably Massa. Unless it’s raining.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 amBen said:
I think most people will be doing VERY light runs in quali because there’s a massive chance of rain and coming in multiple times for tires. It makes no sense filling the tank when you have the possibility of rain and safety cars. What i’ve seen today, expect a strong light fuel Quali presence from BMW…
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 amBen said:
oh, and massa has it in the bag.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 amme said:
if ferrari have serious engine issues, they may go for glory and try to lock out the front row.
but, i have no faith in massa, and even less in the wet. so i’ll go:
1) kimi
2) lewis
3) alonso
just because alonso can handle himself when it’s raining, even in the thing he has under him right now.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 amSteven Roy said:
So you think Alonso can beat Piquet??
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 amBen said:
not to mention an outside chance for button if it’s wet (and if he gets past the first corner).
Good point about Massa and the lack of confidence. He’s definitely struggling w/0 TR and he’s never been a hero in the wet.
I’m going for (and this is a dream):
HAM
RAI
BUT
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:28 amme said:
on a wet or changing track? for sure.
unless his gearbox issue returns that is. but if the car’s okay then yeah.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:29 amme said:
i likes the sound of that.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:29 amBen said:
Ok time for my 12:29am eastern time jog…
The things I do for F1…
Have a good quali everyone…
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:33 amSteven Roy said:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/MYXX0031
The hour by hour forecast is predicting rain every hour. Quali start 1400 local time
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 amme said:
could see dark clouds on the tv stream near the end.
it’s gonna be a lottery
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:39 amHugo said:
Piquet is a fast driver, unfortunately he is really irregular, some races he is fast as light and in other slower than a turtle, and that is because he really has problems setting up his cars, in GP2 and A1 he always had that problem. And I think the Australian was the same, I never understood how could he be a test driver for Renault, that might be one of the reasons that Renault had a technically awful season last year.
If we see a fast Alonso we will see a fast Piquet during the season
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:40 amFelipe Leite said:
Yeah, I believe their aim is to put one car inside the top 10. And I would bet on Alonso. Piquet is doing well, but not enough to beat Alonso under these quali rules yet. His driving is still a bit inconsistent.
If we have a dry quali, my top 3 would be:
1. RAI
2. MAS
3. HAM
If it’s raining during quali, I would go with:
1. HAM
2. RAI
3. KOV
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:52 amHugo said:
Dry Quali
1. Massa
2. Raikkonen
3. Hamilton
Wet Quali
1. Raikkonen
2. Vettel
3. Kovalainen