Formula 1: Ferrari and McLaren play poker

G e depressed mood among the big World Cup favorites . At the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari and McLaren are closed in the back four rows of the grid. Both top teams played poker at the beginning of qualifying. When the track offered the fastest conditions, all four cars stayed in the pits.

'The radar clearly said it was getting brighter. If we had known it was raining heavier, we would of course have gone out.' , defends Martin Whitmarsh. 'We weren't the only ones with this decision. Ferrari, Mercedes and half the Red Bull team thought the same way.'

But while the works Silver Arrows just like Red Bull made it into the second round , McLaren and Ferrari failed early on. Only Jenson Button drove fast enough for Q2, but turned into the gravel shortly afterwards. Many other teams immediately hit the slopes. 'We are always pessimists. We always assume the worst,' said Williams technology guru Patrick Head. Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder agrees: 'You can never be safe here. In addition, nothing spoke against driving a time right at the beginning to be on the safe side.'

Ferrari got caught on the wrong foot

Martin Whitmarsh sees it differently: 'What spoke against it? Firstly, we didn't think that it was necessary and, secondly, a car could have blown off the track, as you saw with Jenson . The risk was too great for us on a wet track. Afterwards the experts always come to the fore. We have to live with it. That is part of racing. '

Ferrari was also a victim of the weather radar. 'We got caught on the wrong foot,' explains chief technology officer Chris Dyer. 'It should get better and it usually makes more sense to go out later.' Unfortunately, the weather in Malaysia doesn't follow the rules. Whitmarsh admits: 'Of course you can always just say afterwards that there was too much risk to stay inside. The radar was always reliable up until then and it indicated that it was getting drier.'

Problems for Alonso, Massa and Hamilton

But why were some pilots able to make the jump to the second lap despite the increasing rain. The two Mercedes and Mark Webber got away with one black eye. 'You only had one fast lap on the rain tires,' explains Whitmarsh. 'Unfortunately Lewis spun. After that it got worse.Jenson made it, but was thrown out. '

The poker game at Ferrari also ended in disaster.' In my fast laps I always had yellow flags, 'said Fernando Alonso for 19th place, Felipe Massa slipped off the track several times and landed in 21st place. Even though the team had the data from the weather radar, Alonso took some of the blame. 'I should have said I wanted to get out. So the decision is at least 70 percent up to me. 'Massa also plays the team player:' We drivers could have made our own decisions. That's why everyone is to blame. '

McLaren confident, Ferrari wants damage limitation

And what's still in the last rows on Sunday?' Everything is possible, 'explains Whitmarsh.' When we were 17th and 20th last time, we won the race. 'The McLaren team boss is alluding to the 2005 race in Suzuka, when Kimi Raikkonen drove to victory from the very back. 'But of course it will be difficult. Especially when the weather doesn't play along. 'At Ferrari, too, you stay realistic. Dyer:' Now it's about damage limitation. '

Read the current blog of F1 expert Michael Schmidt on this topic:

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