Malaysian Grand Prix Talking Points

The 2015 season got off to a slightly weak start in Melbourne two weeks ago, as Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off last season with a dominant win.

F1 has a history of disappointing at the start of a season, but thrilling us in the next race. Malaysia, with its unpredictable and volatile weather, is the perfect host for a memorable grand prix.

Here are the three main talking points ahead of the weekend:
Ferrari close in on Mercedes

Tyres didn’t play a major part in Australia, as Lewis Hamilton stopped just once on his way to victory but initial impressions are that they will be a huge factor in Kuala Lumpur, and we could have a close race. Mercedes still emerged from Friday practice as the fastest team, but it didn’t go unnoticed how fast Ferrari was.

On the hard tyre, which is expected to used most in the race, Ferrari looked far better than Mercedes. Initially the defending champions have a 0.4s per lap advantage, but it was quite clear that Ferrari make their tyres last much longer.

Qualifying should be a straight fight between Hamilton and Rosberg, while Williams should benefit from the extra-long straights. But Sunday could bring Ferrari into play. The advantage Mercedes enjoyed in Melbourne appears to have been cut, and Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen sense a chance. They, and many at home, will hope they’re right.

Alonso returns

Fernando Alonso is back, and is already causing McLaren a massive headache. He contradicted everything that they said about his accident, by blaming the car for his crash. McLaren put it down to a “gust of wind”.

It is unlikely that this will go away. Alonso has basically called McLaren liars, and Ron Dennis is not the sort of character to let this lie.

On the track, Alonso looks like he’s never been away. He’s already quicker than Jenson Button, but they remain at the back of the grid.

Red Bull v Renault

It comes to something when a driver has to tell his bosses to stop the verbal jousting, but Daniel Ricciardo has done exactly that this week. Red Bull and Renault have been blaming each other for the team’s current predicament, and it doesn’t look like improving this weekend.

Renault has told Red Bull it won’t win races this season, while Red Bull has declared that it expected much better.

On a Sepang circuit which will favour those who have Mercedes engines, Red Bull could be in for an even worse weekend. Cracks have appeared, and they don’t like closing any time soon.

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