[vesiasmepay]

Who thinks that Brawn will get another 1-2 in Malaysia, or will Ferrari or McLaren catch them up? What about Williams or Toyota?

[TeLMgNva]

I am sure Jarno will fight for the win I don't care about others

[Michmant]

fast corners have to be good for the Diffuser 3, punching out of the hairpins, good for the Kers teams.

Brawn have to be favourites at the moment for at least this race, can't see anyone doing anything significant to their cars between now and Friday.

Toyota, BMW and Red Bull look the most likely challengers, not sure where Ferrari fit in, they seemed to have trouble heating the hard tyres, so maybe the hot weather will help. and if it rains will that give the Diffuser teams an even bigger advantage or will it be a lottery?

BBC weather has heavy rain showers every day til friday for Kuala Lumpur in their 5 day forecast - could be a wet one?

[Tibaveriafark]

BBC weather has heavy rain showers every day til friday for Kuala Lumpur in their 5 day forecast - could be a wet one?

On planetf1.com they predict rain as well....So,expect Vettel and Rubens to shine....It's very close and with those conditions it will be even more difficult to undertand the real speed of some teams...Also, with such conditions expect some crashes as well .
+Brawn have not tested in rain,have they?

[Michmant]

if it rains i tip Button, he's great in the rain, altho Rubens is probably his equal

[Fetowip]

and if it rains will that give the Diffuser teams an even bigger advantage or will it be a lottery?

BBC weather has heavy rain showers every day til friday for Kuala Lumpur in their 5 day forecast - could be a wet one?

Can't the Non-Bandit difuser cars just crank more downforce own the rear wing if it's a rain race!

[vesiasmepay]

Can't the Non-Bandit difuser cars just crank more downforce own the rear wing if it's a rain race!

Well they all can. And apparently the advantage of the diffuser arrangement is that it makes the rear wing work more efficiently. So it can generate the same downforce for less drag.

I'm no aero-expert but I think that would give the biggest advantage on high-speed high-load circuits, much like Malaysia!

[cokLoolioli]

I think the layout of the Malaysian track will even out the diffuser gang vs the kers gang. We should see some pretty close times during practice, quali and the race.

[SonicPs]

Well they all can. And apparently the advantage of the diffuser arrangement is that it makes the rear wing work more efficiently. So it can generate the same downforce for less drag.

I'm no aero-expert but I think that would give the biggest advantage on high-speed high-load circuits, much like Malaysia!

Any car needs a certain amount of front and rear downforce.
Front downforce is mostly generated by the front wing.
Rear downforce is generated by the rear wing and the diffuser.

The more downforce you get from the diffuser the less you will need from the rear wing in order to obtain the same amount of rear downforce.
This means that with a superior diffuser you need to run less angle on the rear wing and thus generate less drag.

IMO given the new rules regarding the rear wing's position the airflow from the diffuser will have minimal direct aero effect on the rear wings performance.

[Intockatt]

Considering the ruination Jarno got in Australia, it's time for a conceptual revenge to compensate the losses [5pt loss in WDC/WCC is a huge loss, it will be costly by season's end ]. I hope he is really fired up to fight back, I as a spectator certainly am. This must be a podium finish as a consolation, anything less is unacceptable! Trulli has usually been quick in Malaysia, Toyota has usually been quick there, so the cards are there. After disappointing beginnings into the season in Oz in '05 and '08 JT striked strongly back at Sepang.

The other guy really motivated will be Vettel. Lost a podium in a dramatic collision, which made him emotional in team radio. But he is also a guy, who can make a blinding performance after previous frustration. Recall Fuji '07, which brought tears into his eyes - one race later (in China) he made it up with a 4th-place finish! Despite 10-place grid penalty, I hope for a storming drive by Seb, and even more so in the wet.

Admittedly Brawn GP will be hard to beat, and also in the wet (they have quick wet-weather drivers + a great tactician in Ross), so the fight will be for "best of the rest" for P3 behind them in "normal circumstances". Besides the two above-mentioned guys Ferrari should be better (although they may struggle in rain more), Glock and the BMW's are capable of a great performance too.

[bypeTeenehalT]

In australia, BMW, Red Bull, Ferrari, Toyota and Williams all showed that they can win. Brawn also did, and they were the winners. Mclaren wont be ready for wins until at least Spain. So you have potentially 7-10 drivers capable of winning. However, anyone bar Rubens and Button will have to get past the two Brawns, and I think although all already indicated are capable of that, I think Brawn will once again win. I reckon Button to win especially if it rains, although if it rains anyone can win so who knows what happens then. But the others will be challenging.

[exeftWabreava]

Who thinks that Brawn will get another 1-2 in Malaysia, or will Ferrari or McLaren catch them up? What about Williams or Toyota?

If it rains then I look for the best drivers in the wet to be on the podium:

Hamilton, Alonso, Barrichello, in whatever order.

[anaisdannyxys]

The pessimist in me says Williams will fall back thanks to their usual focus on the tight, twisty tracks. McLaren won't be a million seconds off the pace like they say, but any points will be down to the misfortunes of others.

Ferrari should be back on form, BMW and Red Bull pushing hard but aside from a mechanical fault I'd ultimately go for another Brawn 1-2.

But if it rains? Who can tell

[LesLattis]

I reckon pace wise it will be pretty much as you were, but with less of that Melbourne "randomness" affecting the final race results, assuming it doesn't rain of course...

[VXHLrsO1]

Am very surprised they're offering $67 for Webber to win in Malaysia. Considering Vettel has shown what the car can do and Malaysia is looking wet who knows. Webber has shown he can drive in the wet as well. Webber was not given a chance to prove anything on Sunday except that broken cars don't go as fast as ones that aren't broken. I'm puting down a tenner!

[Roker]

In australia, BMW, Red Bull, Ferrari, Toyota and Williams all showed that they can win. Brawn also did, and they were the winners. Mclaren wont be ready for wins until at least Spain. So you have potentially 7-10 drivers capable of winning. However, anyone bar Rubens and Button will have to get past the two Brawns, and I think although all already indicated are capable of that, I think Brawn will once again win. I reckon Button to win especially if it rains, although if it rains anyone can win so who knows what happens then. But the others will be challenging.

Did I miss something?? When did anyone come close to passing the Brawns in Australia? No one did. Actually Rubens was the one who did all the passing, but that was helped out by a SC. That SC happened to help all the other drivers as well, with the exception of Button.

Button and Brawn GP were the class of the field and I would expect something similar to OZ if we see a safety car again in Malaysia.

My prediction:

Button the Rubens will the be cars to beat

Hot on their tails BMW & RBR ...

... with Williams, Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault and Toyota slightly behind. But Massa and Hamilton have to find a little speed. They were both slow but with compromised strategies.

STR and Force India pulling up the rear.

[wCYvMKAc]

It was time to do the pickems for Malaysia, my first this year as I forgot last week

Suddenly, I realised that the F1 order is, indeed, gone topsy turvy, and I just didn't know who to pick and who to leave out. People who I would not pick last year are suddenly well up the order, and the guys who I picked regurly had to be left out.

This has resulted in a fascinating 2009 season as we no longer have the same same boring procession. The interesting thing, of course, is which of the non rebel diffusers will come up with an interim semi-rebel diffuser. And even more interesting is that Rubens had his diffuser smashed by Kovi at the first turn and raced for the entire race without a diffuser at all.

I can hardly wait for next Friday's practice to begin.

[Roker]

1 race in and I couldn't agree more. We had a couple SCs which of course made for tighter racing (well at least one of them did). But that shouldn't obscure the evidence of some "real" racing.

Great starter and this has turned out to be just as unpredictable a 2nd try.

[HaseBeceDeemy]

I think that the Brawn will still be the best car but they won't win the Malaysian round.

[Usendyduexy]

I think that Brawn GP will win another 1-2, but I guess that Ferrari, Renault and McLaren will be closer and maybe better than Red Bull, Toyota and BMW. We have to wait and see, though.