Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Well the Malaysian GP has been run and won, and I do not know how I feel about it. Vettel and Red Bull could get as boring as Schumacher. You have to admire them, they find a way to win even when the KERS does not work, but I will show my bias when I say it does not thrill me. Pirelli say their tires made for an interesting race, but call me a purist, but I don't find this fun to watch. As Michael said, this is a lottery, and he should know, he seemed more off than on.

The rain stayed away, but teased everyone to add to the lottery, and the DRS did work on occasions, but not always, so not sure about that either. We saw a lot of overtaking at other points around the track, mainly Turn 15, which tells me it is more about the track than messing about with the car. The slow cars seemed to stay out of the way, so well done, and Lotus actually did OK, so maybe we will see them mixing it in the mid-field. Williams had a terrible day, one to forget, while we ponder what would Kubica be doing with that Renault? Very odd steering column failure on the Petrov car, but then he did get very airborne thanks to the hump in the run-off. Not good.

So in all a dissatisfying race for me, but not really sure why. Lewis probably feels the same, and what was Alonso thinking? The pace of the Ferraris in the race was surprising, and Massa seems to have recovered his speed and determination. Mercedes are in trouble.

Bernie is reportedly trying to get the teams to oppose the 2013 engine, and Malaysia is pondering whether to renew after 2015. At least there was a crowd today, it was empty for Friday and Saturday which must be disheartening for the drivers, and the organizers.

Chip Ganassi did not quite sweep Barber, but won the Grand-Am race of course, and finished second and third in the Indycar. Not too shabby.

Colin Chapman would have been proud. Sir Stirling Moss said that the front uprights were always on the margin, so both Lotus Renaults failing in the same way in first practice in Malaysia is totally consistent with the real Lotus legend.

Webber has bounced back from his slower than expected form in Oz, leading both sessions, but with the McLarens hot on his heels. Who knows who had what fuel load though, and I hope the Ferraris were working on set up because they are a long way off the time so far. There are some big gaps to the bulk of the field who are all two-three seconds off. The other Lotus continues to disappoint, and the sight of the HRT leaving the pits trailing a plume of oil smoke sums up their day. They are seven seconds off the pace so far, right on the bubble of not qualifying again.

Tire feel and wear is apparently totally different to Australia. At one point in the first session Button went out and immediately radioed in to ask if there was something wrong at the back of the car as he had no rear grip! Pirelli believe that anyone starting on the softs will only get eight laps out of them, and between the potential rain and the tires Button is expecting "mayhem." Well they wanted to make the races more interesting, or as Michael said, "a lottery." Not sure that is what I tune in to watch.

Following on from yesterday's piece on fuel consumption going up with the exhaust driven diffuser, it seems the Red Bulls are very marginal on fuel. We saw Mark pull into pit out as soon as he crossed the finish line in Australia, and it is now apparent he did not think he had the fuel to do the warm down lap. The Red Bulls also only did one lap prior to the start, so they are cutting it fine. They are running the KERS system at the moment, but it sounded to me like it was not working for Vettel in first practice. Whatever was wrong he was not running well and finished well down the order. It is reported that they will make a decision to run it or not, but by their own admission they need it here. A chink in the armor? The others can only hope as McLaren think Red Bull are still keeping half a second up their sleeve.

We have Indycar and Grand-Am at Barber Motorsport Park this weekend. Another Chip Ganassi benefit?

So finally the sun came out in Melbourne, in time for the 5 pm start and to shine in driver's eyes. Vettel made sure there were no problems this year and as predicted by the qualifying times waltzed away with it. Pirelli Boss said it was a "thrilling race," but I found it just like last year. The tires did not "mix things up," even when Webber took the softs and was behind Alonso on the hard compound he could not get by despite the predictions that passing would be easy in these situations. The DRS, or movable wing, system, did not generate much passing either, there still needs to be a large performance gap before it works, and no, Bob Varsha, the car in front cannot use it. Bob got no better in the off season and clearly had not done his homework on the rules.

Great race by Petrov, following on from his Abu Dhabi performance. Where would Kubica have been in that car? Heidfeld was a big disappointment, and Barrichello drove like a novice. Button finally found the "killer instinct" to get by Massa near the end after failing badly at the start of the race. Who knows what is going on with Massa, and Alonso made the best of what he had. Webber apparently had a problem with his chassis which explained his lack of speed. Sad that Perez's good finish was taken away by the Saubers being disqualified due to a problem with the design of the rear wing. How do you get that wrong?

Hamilton drove an excellent race, especially with his floor dragging on the ground for half of it, but who knows, maybe that helped? Surprising really that the FIA took no action on that, but McLaren have done well to recover from the bad start during testing. Neither Mercedes finished due to being hit by other cars, but neither did they show that they would worry the front runners.

So, the answer to the KERS puzzle on the Red Bull, they did not have it on the car in any form. They decided they did not need it and could save the weight and reliability problems. What does that tell us about KERS as a green technology? The extra weight is not worth the performance, and at what cost. Now logically it makes sense to use the waste energy from cars, but this does not show the way. Perhaps if the teams were allowed to use it all the time, and not just in limited bursts? Of course Red Bull were in a situation where they had a large performance advantage anyway so could afford the luxury of racing without it.

As expected the race was run from six or more seconds a lap slower than qualifying, even when the fuel load went down. Lotus said they were happier with their race pace, beating the Virgins, and of course HRT did not start. Now, not to be nice to this joke of a team, but judging them on the 107% rule from qualifying is not really fair, as they would probably be doing the same lap times in the race as they achieved in qualifying, so actually not much slower than the race pace of the top teams, relatively.

The rookies did a good job, Di Resta leading his much more experienced team mate for most of the race, and Perez obviously putting in a stellar performance with only one stop, how did he manage that? Maldanado did nothing special, but not much wrong either. So on to Malaysia and perhaps mother nature's sprinkler system will spice things up.

At Donnington it was the Melandri and Checa show. Mad Max Biaggi will be even madder after being disqualified from race two, and the BMWs again failed to produce the goods.

Unusually for Melbourne the weather has been the same for the last three days, cool and grey, if not downright cold for late summer. It did not slow Vettel down though and we must hope he cannot repeat this in the race or it will be him and daylight. Lewis vows to take the race to him, but he needs to find something extra to do that, but who knows what role the tires are going to have on race day. McLaren really performed a minor miracle to put themselves second and fourth, splitting the Red Bulls, with poor old Mark Webber wondering how his team mate can be that much quicker.

Lots of drivers reported KERS problems during practice, and the strangest thing is the report that Vettel did not use it, despite being under last years pole time. So much for slowing the cars down, but I guess they have the DRS, or movable wing, to use everywhere during qualifying. Rumor has it that Red Bull have a very small and light KERS system that is charged in the garage and only used during the start launch. Are they that confident that as long as they are not jumped at the start they are so fast they can stay in front? If the rumor is true obviously they are, but you have to ask why carry any extra weight and added cost and complication for just the start?

Heidfeld in the Renault is one of those that said his missing Q2 was down to no KERS and being balked by traffic, but given the testing form that is really surprising, especially as his young team mate is sixth just behind Alonso in the Ferrari who looked to be driving the wheels of it to even be there. Massa had an awful qualifying and you have to wonder is this the end? His head has obviously been messed with by Alonso and the team and despite all Rob Smedley's encouragement he has just lost it, spinning on his last run as he exited the pits, even Chandook made it to Turn Three.

Thank goodness the HRT cars have been excluded under the 107% rule. I don't care how hard the mechanics worked to get two cars out there, they are slower than GP2 cars and do not deserve to be there. At ten or eleven seconds a lap slower than Vettel they would be lapped every eight laps, and the closing speed is frightening. Colin Kolles says that they will be "even better" in Malaysia. Hard to see how they could be much worse. Can you imagine the cost of transporting the cars and team around the world, and for what?

Virgin and Lotus just snuck in but are six seconds off Vettel's pace which for Lotus must be a huge disappointment. As my Wife said, perhaps they need to concentrate on the car and not court cases over names. The midfield will be tight with a second covering eighth to seventeenth. Perez disappointed in Q2 as he has been quick all weekend, but Kobayashi put his Sauber in ninth with a display of uncontrolled aggression that had you wondering if he could keep it off the wall.

In all an interesting session, and Mercedes are expecting a better showing in the race with Michael missing out on Q3 and out qualified by Rosberg yet again.

Elsewhere Checa took WSBK pole again from Leon Haslam. It's time the BMW had some reward for their investment so this may be their best chance with Leon on home soil and Checa not having the best record at Donnington.

Well done Montoya for taking pole at Fontana, let's see if he can convert that into a speedway win. Congratulations to the Marc VDS squad for winning the first race of the FIA GT1 championship in the Ford GT. Always had a soft spot for that car from the GT40 days. Will Power is leading practice at St Petersburg Indycar race, but ask me if I care. Champion Franchitti is last, but you cannot imagine he is going to stay there.

So the first day of the 2011 season has come and gone and what did we learn? The usual suspects are at the top of the time sheet, surprisingly perhaps in the shape of McLaren. They obviously did something special in the second practice as they found around two seconds. It is still a lot like testing, we won't really know I fear until the race who has the best race set up. The tires did not seem to give up as quickly as I expected, with drivers setting fast times after three laps on them. There is still an unpredictability about what to expect every time you go out on a new set, and the Stewards authorised the use of additional tires after there were problems with mounting some. Does not sound like good quality control, more like a lottery.

Chandook said he was glad to be back in F1, all 50 seconds of it. That's how far he got in the Lotus, Turn Three to be exact before plonking it against the inside wall courtesy of a heavy right foot, cold tires and damp track. Lotus must have regretted that decision. They are strangely off the pace they showed in testing where it seemed they had dragged themselves to within two or so seconds of the fast guys, but here they are back where they were last season. Gascoyne says there is a lot more left. Let's hope so, they are barely in front of the 107% rule.

Not so lucky are Virgin who are still 6 seconds adrift, only faster than HRT because that mobile, sorry bad choice, embarrasment only managed one lap with one car right at the end of the second practice. They are due an "early bath" as they say in soccer, barring a miracle. Aussies love a battler, but this is way beyond that now.

The good news for McLaren is not so much the pace they are now showing, it is the reliability that was sorely missing in testing. All the top runners looked good in that respect, and Mercedes seem to have resolved their problems. Rosberg looked like setting the morning's fastest time on a couple of laps, only to run wide and lose time, and Michael is sixth fastest on the day. Massa seems to be struggling, and Alonso did not appear until very late in the morning session for some reason, but was right on the pace immediately, impressive. Renault were strangely off the pace they threatened in testing, but new boy Perez  was an impressive eighth, a second faster than his more experienced team mate.

Adrian Newey says he is confident that they are still up to half a second faster than the pack, and if anyone knows he does. Still tires are going to play a part. Vettel had a large chunk out of a front tire that Red Bull say was due to running over debris on the track. Let's hope so. Domenicali from Ferrari is concerned about the amount of traffic in pit lane if each team is making three stops, and the new pit entry is really tight to accommodate the V8Supercar garage brought over from Homebush. I guess Tony Cochrane did not want his series to look like second class citizens.

It was interesting watching the movable wing in operation during practice, but the FIA are still playing with the rules so it is hard to keep up. The overtaking zone in Melbourne will now start BEFORE the last corner, not sure how that helps, you need the downforce to get through the corner I would have thought, and as soon as you bolt on intermediates you can no longer use the wing. They tried a race simulation during the last half hour of second practice just to totally confuse the crowd. And there are suggestions Red Bull did not use it in practice, so who knows where the times are.

The WSBK is at Donnington Park this weekend and Carlos Checa continued where he left off at Phillip Island topping the first free practice.

Le Mans Series cars tested at Paul Ricard yesterday, with the Aston Martin still to turn a wheel. The first race is next weekend. I did see a piece about the FIA talking to Peugeot about another flip by their new car. It has  had more than few big accidents during testing, although it ran faultlessly at Sebring, and the FIA are concerned about the aero on the car.

I am a little concerned about a report from the Portugese Rally special stage where a wheel came off a car and struck a spectator, and all the driver was reported to say afterward was "I can't believe I have been that stupid." To have crashed I suppose, but I would have thought he might have asked about the condition of the spectator and expressed some regret, or is rallying a sport where the spectator takes their chances?