Malaysian GP preview: and now what?

So we had the first taste of the 2011 F1 season at Melbourne, in Australia. Now in Malaysia we will get the chance to see if the performances on the first race will continue or if they were only casual.

So one of the big questions is will Red Bull be able to hold-off McLaren’s challenge without its KERS technology ready for use? Vettel started his title defense with the right foot with a win and is aiming to keep it going in Sepang.

In the first race the surprise came from McLaren who had been struggling during test season. Hamilton was runner-up in albert Park and should be the biggest threat for the Red Bulls in Sepang. But was that a result of a good strategy or wasn’t the car as bad as they said?

Another surprise we want to clear is the one that came from Vitaly Petrov. The Russian driver who was a clear underdog in 2010, made a surprising start in the 2011 finishing on the lowest place of the podium. Will he and Lotus Renault be able to repeat it in Malaysia?

There will also be a big question mark on Sauber. After a great performance from rookie Sergio Perez and Kobayashi, finishing 7th and 8th, but then being disqualified over technical infringements on the C30’s rear wing. We will all be wandering if the changes the team had to make to the car will still allow them to repeat the same result, now keeping the points.

Finally the other question is about Hispania. Having failed to achieve the 107% rule in Australia, the Spanish team wasn’t allowed to race on Sunday and will be fighting to prevent it to happen again in Malaysia.

Weather can also have a great influence on the results in Malaysia. The tropical weather in Sepang may fool around with the orders as it did last year when heavy showers made Ferrari and McLaren fail qualification for Q2. The teams will definitely be paying lots of attention to weather forecasts and ominous dark skies, in order to take the right decisions and not to be caught by surprise.

So, although lots of questions about performance have been answered with the first GP in Australia we head to Malaysia with several new questions and doubts to answer. So let’s wait to see them answered during one more weekend of Formula One.

And by the way, don’t forget to participate on our F1 Competition, just cast your prediction of who will win the Malaysian GP before everyone else. To do so, click here.