Malaysian F1 GP to answer key questions
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This weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix promises to answer many of the questions raised by the Formula One season opener in Australia. Chief among those is whether the clear superiority of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in qualifying will be a pattern for the early part of the season.
Vettel dominated qualifying in Australia, and though his race pace was not quite as superior, it did not need to be as he maintained a comfortable buffer throughout to claim victory.
Red Bull may use the KERS power boost system in Malaysia - something the team did without in Australia - which may further improve its speed, providing it can be successfully integrated into the chassis. The team decided KERS would weigh the car down too much in Australia, but with the Sepang circuit featuring two very long straights, it would be more useful at this weekend's grand prix, even if it compromised cornering speeds.
Test KERS
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the team would test KERS in Friday practise and only then make a call on whether to use it in qualifying.
Another major question to be answered this weekend will be how long the Pirelli tires last in hot temperatures. Australia had unseasonably cool weather, so the predicted rapid degradation of the tires did not occur. Indeed Sauber's Sergio Perez managed to complete the entire race with one pit stop, while the leading cars had two or three tire changes.
"We said all along that we would be seeing two to three pit stops in Australia, but in Malaysia, that figure is likely to increase to three to four," Pirelli motorsports boss Paul Hembery said.
Red Bull's main rivals, McLaren and Ferrari, did not appear to have any edge in terms of tire management in Melbourne, so that poses another question: Will their aerodynamic upgrades for this weekend's race be enough to close the gap to the defending champion?
Ferrari was concentrating on improving its qualifying performance, reckoning that if it could get ahead of the blue cars on the grid, it would be able to translate that into success.
