Final practice for the 2009 Malaysian GP is now over. Nico Rosberg returned back to the top of the time sheets while Red Bull, Ferrari and Toyota all showed respectable pace. Brawn GP cars were coughing up a lot of smoke but apparently that had to something with higher oil levels. Both Button and Barrichello ended the practice at the bottom of top 10 but it may be result of running in Q3 fuel levels … Just a reminder – Sebastian Vettel will be hit with 10 places grid penalty (for the Kubica incident in Mebourne) and Rubens Barrichello with 5 places grid penalty for gear box change.

Here are the final practice times:

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Lewis Hamilton - not entirely truthful

A day after coming out saying that his team did not lie Martin Whitmarsh came out again and very much confirmed that Dave Ryan (now suspended team sporting director) and Lewis Hamilton lied to stewards in Melbourne. What else could he do when the evidence was that strong …

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Kimi Raikkonen fastest in second free practice

The Sepang action begins today with practice sessions. And same as in Melbourne a week ago Williams and Nico Rorsberg dominate the time sheets, at least in practice one.

Malaysian GP Practice 1 Times:

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Lewis Hamilton disqualified from Australian GP

Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix and excluded from the results. Jarno Trulli’s 25 sec penalty has been rescinded and so Trulli keeps the 3rd place he achieved on track.

Both drivers were summoned to meet the stewards in Malaysia this morning following new evidence regarding their behaviour behind the safety car. The new evidence suggested that Hamilton might have mislead the Australian GP stewards. After hearing out both drivers again the stewards decided the way they decided.

A statement issued by the stewards:

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And here is the round 2 of 2009 Prediction Game – Malaysian GP. Predicting the outcome of Australian GP was difficult as we did not really know how good or bad the teams are. Still we had 2 guys with 16 points – very impressive !

Predicting the outcome of Malaysian GP will not be much easier as we do not know how the new cars will handle the heat, humidity and possible rain (tropical rain). You can wait till the last moment or make your prediction right away (and change it later). But remember, the deadline is the start of the Saturday qualifying session ! So, as usual, make your prediction for the the pole position, fastest lap and top eight finishers in the comments below this post and then hope the drivers on track will follow your guess .

There are already few predictions for Malaysian GP below the results of Round 1, I will move them here to make it easier for me to follow once the race it over.

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Kimi Raikkonen - 2008 Malaysian GP Winner

Following the Australian Grand Prix we all now have a bit better picture about the form of the teams. Sepang however is a very different track and not always were the Australian GP results mirrored by outcome of the Malaysian GP. Since 2001 when Malaysian GP moved to their 2nd race of the season slot only Michael Schumacher (2001, 2004) managed to win in Melbourne and then went on to win also the next race in Malaysia. (Check the end of this post for the top three stats). Most observers expect the differences between cars to be even more obvious in Malaysia then they were in Melbourne. That sounds like good news for Brawn, bad news for McLaren and Ferrari. However the Malaysian GP is not only about the track characteristics but also about the heat, humidity and rain. Heat and humidity can have effect on relaibility of the cars and those with least testing mileage may be the most vulnerable ones. The rain (that thanks to 5pm start is rather likely to come) may throw all the predictions out of the window and benefit the rain masters.

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After all the historical livery posts it is time for the liveries of 2009 season. Here are all ten 2009 F1 teams in liveries used in Australia:

Ferrari

McLaren-Mercedes

BMW Sauber

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It is time to move on from Australia to Malaysia. Here is short video preview of 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix.

If you have difficulties watching the video in the above player you may also find it at Dailymotion, Vimeo and F1WolfClub.