Just like last
year in Malaysia, the final qualifying session was held in wet conditions
with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton clinching pole position, using the
Cinturato Green intermediate tyre.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was runner-up, less than a tenth of a second off
Hamilton’s time on the same tyre. The Ferrari drivers and the Williams of
Valtteri Bottas were the only competitors to get through Q1 using the hard
tyre only, saving a set on new medium tyres for the race, with all the
others going straight out on the medium. With rain falling just a couple of
minutes into Q2, all the drivers prioritised setting a banker lap as soon as
possible with the medium tyre. As the rain fell harder, none of the cars
ventured out for the majority of the session.
After a half-hour delay, the final Q3 session got underway once the rain had
stopped, with some drivers heading out on the Cinturato blue full wets and
others on the intermediates. Once the track had dried further, the final 10
drivers were all using new intermediate tyres to try and extract the maximum
grip from the wet surface.
Hamilton’s first run on the intermediates was enough to secure the 40th pole
position of his career. During the hour-long free practice session this
morning, held in the dry with track temperatures that peaked at 58 degrees
centigrade, Nico Rosberg was fastest from his team mate Hamilton, with both
running on the medium tyre.
A three-stop strategy is the most likely scenario for the race tomorrow, but
this of course depends on the weather, with the Malaysian Grand Prix having
been notably affected by its tropical climate in the past.
As usual, the top 10 drivers on
the grid will start the race on the tyres they used at the end of Q2, which
means medium compound for the entire top 10. Beyond the top 10, the drivers
can choose which dry compound to start on (if it is a dry race).
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “As is often the
case, we had an eventful qualifying in Malaysia that was interrupted by
rain. The whole weekend is of course a big challenge, with hot temperatures
pushing the medium compound in particular, and some proper wet running for
the first time all year. The intermediate tyre was used for a handful of
laps during pre-season testing, but we’ve obviously seen nothing like this
quantity of water so far this year, and it was the very first time that the
2015 full wet tyres were run. The intermediate tyre performed particularly
well, with an exciting end to the session. This year’s race is set to be
quite different to last year’s as the race start is one hour earlier, which
should lead to higher track temperatures than we have seen before. Because
of that, a three-stop strategy looks set to be the best option, with a wide
variety of possibilities.”
The Pirelli strategy predictor:
There are two three-stop strategies that look very closely matched for the
Malaysian Grand Prix, which takes place over 56 laps. The best three-stop
strategy is: start on the medium, switch to the hard on lap 11, hard again
on lap 26 and a final stint on the hard from lap 41. An alternative
three-stop strategy is: start on medium, medium again on lap 11, medium
again on lap 24, and hard from lap 37. If degradation is sufficiently
contained, the fastest two-stop strategy would be start on medium, hard on
lap 15 and hard again on lap 36.
The rain that fell during qualifying has washed the track clean of rubber
laid down previously, which makes the degradation rates more complex to
calculate. There is theoretically very little time difference between a two
and three stop strategy, which could make it possible for some teams to keep
a flexible approach and switch from one to the other. |