Practice notes:
- I mostly watched the cars going through T9 and T10.
- The Mercs look visibly fast. Both were very planted going through T10, never wiggling like the other cars often did.
- Lewis takes a totally different line through T9 than anyone else. I didn't see him hit the apex once. I kept waiting for him to get there, but he kept overshooting it. He wasn't locking up, so it must've been by design.
- One of the Williams cars was following Hammy around, and I saw that driver also start to skip the apex. I thought it might've been Bottas.
- Speaking of which, Valteri is really late on the brakes, and that Williams looks slightly faster through T9 and T10 than the Ferraris.
- The Red Bull looked to be the second most planted car through that complex of corners. I was thinking they must still have great aero, but you could hear that engine bog more on the climb to T10 than the other engines.
- The Honda sounds like rough shit sprayed through a megaphone. Deepest growl, but sounds like it wants to spit metal chunks through the tailpipe. That car is visibly slow.
- Speaking of which, Manor is terrible. Pay them their appearance fee and send them home forever. Too harsh?
- Pasta doesn't lack for courage. I will spend more time tomorrow watching the brake points, but Pastor broke latest into T15 (final corner). Whereas I saw most cars shut their DRS between 75-90m from the turn, Pastor was going deep between 55-65m based on placement of the 50m and 100m boards. I was impressed. No doubt Lewis could go deeper with that Merc though.
- Contintental drift isn't happening fast enough to make Malaysia a habitable place. Even as an island boy born and raised in the tropics, this place is fucking hot. Being at that circuit might be the closest thing to the surface of the Sun outside of Death Valley. LOL.
- Malaysian roads are hilarious. It's pretty much a free for all with lane markers meaning little to nothing. I don't mind, my driver got me there quickly. Unfortunately, he took me to the wrong entrance, so I had to hail another cab to get me to the right one.
- While standing at the wrong gate for half an hour, I saw most of the team personnel arrive. I think I saw Grosjean. Kinda funny I beat them to the circuit, and I'm just spectating.
- Watched the touring cars practice and qualify. The highlight was a driver in the TCR International Series named F. Yu. That was the name on the car. I chuckled like a schoolkid every time he sent by. I will be rooting for him in qualies and the race.
- In the Malaysian Super Series, there were two cars I thought were Supras, but realize now they're made by Lexus. They were eating other cars alive under braking. I thought for sure they'd get pole, but apparently not. I found it noteworthy, because I thought most time was made up under braking. They had the best brakes from what I saw, but must've been losing lots of time elsewhere.
- Oh yeah, the safety car is FAAAAAAAAAAST...and so is the medic car. Both would give cars in the sports car series some good competition. You really don't appreciate it until you see and hear them in person. Then you realize that under safety car conditions, those cars are still hauling ass.
That's it. I'll post some notes each day. Sorry for the earlier rant, that'll be the only one from me. PEACE.
- I mostly watched the cars going through T9 and T10.
- The Mercs look visibly fast. Both were very planted going through T10, never wiggling like the other cars often did.
- Lewis takes a totally different line through T9 than anyone else. I didn't see him hit the apex once. I kept waiting for him to get there, but he kept overshooting it. He wasn't locking up, so it must've been by design.
- One of the Williams cars was following Hammy around, and I saw that driver also start to skip the apex. I thought it might've been Bottas.
- Speaking of which, Valteri is really late on the brakes, and that Williams looks slightly faster through T9 and T10 than the Ferraris.
- The Red Bull looked to be the second most planted car through that complex of corners. I was thinking they must still have great aero, but you could hear that engine bog more on the climb to T10 than the other engines.
- The Honda sounds like rough shit sprayed through a megaphone. Deepest growl, but sounds like it wants to spit metal chunks through the tailpipe. That car is visibly slow.
- Speaking of which, Manor is terrible. Pay them their appearance fee and send them home forever. Too harsh?
- Pasta doesn't lack for courage. I will spend more time tomorrow watching the brake points, but Pastor broke latest into T15 (final corner). Whereas I saw most cars shut their DRS between 75-90m from the turn, Pastor was going deep between 55-65m based on placement of the 50m and 100m boards. I was impressed. No doubt Lewis could go deeper with that Merc though.
- Contintental drift isn't happening fast enough to make Malaysia a habitable place. Even as an island boy born and raised in the tropics, this place is fucking hot. Being at that circuit might be the closest thing to the surface of the Sun outside of Death Valley. LOL.
- Malaysian roads are hilarious. It's pretty much a free for all with lane markers meaning little to nothing. I don't mind, my driver got me there quickly. Unfortunately, he took me to the wrong entrance, so I had to hail another cab to get me to the right one.
- While standing at the wrong gate for half an hour, I saw most of the team personnel arrive. I think I saw Grosjean. Kinda funny I beat them to the circuit, and I'm just spectating.
- Watched the touring cars practice and qualify. The highlight was a driver in the TCR International Series named F. Yu. That was the name on the car. I chuckled like a schoolkid every time he sent by. I will be rooting for him in qualies and the race.
- In the Malaysian Super Series, there were two cars I thought were Supras, but realize now they're made by Lexus. They were eating other cars alive under braking. I thought for sure they'd get pole, but apparently not. I found it noteworthy, because I thought most time was made up under braking. They had the best brakes from what I saw, but must've been losing lots of time elsewhere.
- Oh yeah, the safety car is FAAAAAAAAAAST...and so is the medic car. Both would give cars in the sports car series some good competition. You really don't appreciate it until you see and hear them in person. Then you realize that under safety car conditions, those cars are still hauling ass.
That's it. I'll post some notes each day. Sorry for the earlier rant, that'll be the only one from me. PEACE.
