Blimey, that was a good race!!!

[Snoring Rhino]

Contrary to expectations, this mornings F1 race  was actually very good, obviously I am quite biased due to the result, but even without the Button/Maclaren win it was a good race, plenty of overtaking and incidents to keep me a wake. I thought Webber drove an awesome race and it was a shame he was trying just a bit too hard at the end and took him self out and cost Hamilton his well deserved second place. Button played a blinder in his timing for slicks (probably learnt well from Brawn) although he had a small off and had to drive really carefully for the first couple of laps. I thought Scumi was going to storm through after his stop at the beginning of the saftey car period, it just did not seem to happen, has the Rainmaster lost it?? I might even watch the next race, you never know, it might be worth while.

[Chrisgr31]

It was a great improvement on Bahrain wasn't it.  Rather than compulsory pitstops perhaps they ought to water the track before every race and randomly through them!

[Lorry]

Even the Safety car was a gorgeous Mercedes.  At last someone there has a clue about styling.

Hamilton had a bad weekend, but did anyone ever think that Button would be the quicker of the two, and Button managed to put both Ferraris to the back.  Class act.

And as for Schumaker,  We expected more.  I don't think he's past it yet, but he's lost his magic.

And as for Vettel - what luck.  First a spark plug robs him of a win and then a brake disc. These are both more or less standard parts for all F1 cars, and they don't break for anyone else

[LangTall]

Slept like a baby while the recording was running at night. Could be the amount of alcohol and the lack of sleep the night before though. 

[Andy]

I vowed to switch it off after 10 laps if it was to be another car nival like Bahrain, but it had a bit of excitment as expected of the first bend and a bit of strategy to boot so watched the lot.
Lets not forget Kubica, who would of put a guess he would of been on the podium, even he told his mate not to put a 100e bet on that.
Not bad, but there could be more boredom to come as Malaya is not fantastic for overtaking.

[Bentley boy]

Only watched the 15 or so laps so can't say too much about it in general. but what I did find amazing that even though Hamilton hauled in the ferrari's by just under 2 seconds a lap he could not get past.
If an F1 car can't get past another car 2 seconds a lap slower something is wrong ie too much aero (Mint of course  )

[Kristof]

Compared to Bahrein, this was a super race.   Rain, safety car, big hit on the opening laps, nice to see some overtaking ...  Button deserved the win by making the tire call himself, Kubica had a great drive in his Renault, Lewis was fastest of them all but lost a podium finish or even the race with his second stop.   What worries me most is the fact that Hamilton, although 2 seconds a lap faster, couldn't get passed the slower Ferrari's; with the current aerodynamics, there could be lots of boring races coming to us ...

Also very nice to see Schumi got passed by a Virgin at a certain point and then struggled to get past a Torro Rosso 

Malaysia is another boring Tilke-track ... not a chance this will be an interesting race I'm afraid ...

[Radar]

I can't understand why Button is so underrated - he won six out of the first seven races last year and took the title in a car that wasn't the best across the season. He also made very few mistakes all season, unlike golden boy Vettel, who blew it in turkey and Monaco. I've got a tenner on him for the title at 15-1.

[Boorish Grobian]

I'll be the first to admit it, Button drove a brilliant race, as did Kubica.  I still don't think, under most ordinary circumstances, Button is as quick as Hamilton, and Australia is always kind of a oddball event, but Button's decision to go to slicks as soon as he did was the race clincher.  But it could have just as easliy bit him in the ass, but that's a coulda, woulda, shoulda.  In the end he had a great drive, his colleague at McLaren had a train wreck of a race.  Schumacher continues to be a huge disappointment, two races in a row now being out-qualified and out-raced by Rosberg.  As Nordic said in another thread, these things (coming out of retirement) don't usually end well and at this point it doesn't look like this will be a happy return for Michael.  Red Bull's won't keep falling apart, and once they hold togther no-one will see which way Vettel went, likewise Kubica if Renault can manage to put a decent car under him.
Radar, I think alot of people (myself included) thought the second half of Button's season last year took some of the shine off of his title, he looked VERY ordinary, being consistantly out-qualified and raced by Rubens.  Good thing he had a helluva first half of the season.
Fax

[Brad Zarse]

Blimey... I think fax has seen a glimmer of light in F1!

Kubica I think is probably the fastest driver in F1 at the moment in terms of raw pace - give him a couple of years I reckon he'll be world champ.

Hamilton and Button are different types of racers in my eyes - Hamilton is aggressive, likes the car to move under him, and is a master of control.  Button is silky smooth, and drives with precision style - both are great talents which Britain (I think at least) can be extremely proud to have produced - equally, personality wise, they're both actually quite interesting - both a bit playboyish, but both are accessible to the general public if you can catch them in the right circumstances.

Vettel - I can't decide on though - he's either super fast and really unlucky, or lucky and completely average. I think he might be the former, but his inconsistency is what lets him down - he has the potential to end up in a Mansell situation, where he gets SO close to the championship two or three times, but always has something give up on him - give him a very quick car, that's reliable and I'm sure he'd walk it - but then so would I.......

All in all though - I was worried after the first race, that the season would be dull.  More races like that, and I'll be hooked for the whole season.

[Boorish Grobian]

Don't get me wrong Brad, I still think F1 in its current incarnation is a steaming pile of pooh...
But I've watched enough of it to form an opinion of this years team & driver pairings.
Don't get your hopes up on many more races like that this year, they'll mostly be like Bahrain.
Fax

[Nordic]

I think the way the Button/Hamiliton Schumacher/Rosberg battle pays out will depend on who gets the team behind them.

Both McLaren and Brawn/Merc have the ability to put cars under there drivers as good as Ferrari or redbull but as nether team has a pair of drivers who like the same set up, one is going to loose out.

I thnk Button is more likey to have the mechanics onside and like wise Rosberg, but the team owners may have other ideas.

Button will have seen how easy it was to rattle Hamilition and will bait him into overdriving at every race. this will clearly shag his tyres faster than he already does, Hamilition needs to settle down and let his driving do the talking.

Schumacher has not really had the start he wanted, but as Jackie Stewart is quoted as saying, 'the one thing we know for sure is that he wont be better than he was'.

Renault will fade as the season goes on I fear, and Kubica will be a ferrari driver next year.

[Bentley boy]

Dottore seems like John Hindhaugh agrees with us about Hamilton not being able to pass the Ferrari's. he's been talking about it on the Radio Le Mans mid week motorsport podcast 

[Boorish Grobian]

Completely agree Nordic, I think Massa is already looking over his shoulder, waiting for Kubica to take his seat next year.
Fax

[Kristof]

Dottore seems like John Hindhaugh agrees with us about Hamilton not being able to pass the Ferrari's. he's been talking about it on the Radio Le Mans mid week motorsport podcast 

Seems like we're in good company then  .

Weather forecast in Sepang is rain/showers on Saturday and Sunday, might have to change my opinion on the track ... it could be an interesting weekend.
Just booked flight and hotel for Barcelona in May, hope we'll see a great race over there !