F1 split after ‘confusing’ Malaysia GP

Sunday’s Malaysian grand prix has raised fears that formula one may now be too confusing for spectators.

“It was a really confusing race in a way, trying to understand the pitstops,” said Jenson Button, who finished second behind Sepang winner Sebastian Vettel.

“I don’t think anyone really knew who was going to finish behind Seb,” he added.

The confusion was caused by the Pirelli tyres and how the drivers managed their degradation over a range of mainly 3 and 4-stop strategies apiece.

“I need to analyse this race with the engineers because, to be honest, I don’t really understand what happened,” admitted Jaime Alguersuari.

Button expanded: “It is complicated and I think at this point of the season it’s going to be because there’s a lot that we’re trying to learn ourselves on the circuit.

“If we had one tyre for the whole race and didn’t have pit stops, would it be exciting?  I don’t know.

“It made the racing (in Malaysia) exciting and as the season goes on we will realise and understand the tyres a little bit more every race,” said the McLaren driver.

Paul Hembery said the kind of racing witnessed at Sepang was exactly what Pirelli had been asked to design through its 2011 tyres.

“We either go back to a one-stop strategy, if that’s what they feel is better, or we continue to do what we have been asked to do,” he said.

On Friday, drivers tested an experimental hard compound but Hembery warned that it might be too “conservative” if rolled out for racing.

“It’s hard for us — we are in the middle,” he said.  “I am not being defensive because we are doing what we have been asked to do.

“If I am going to be criticised for making the races more exciting, I don’t know what to say,” he told the Telegraph.

Nick Heidfeld, whose gentle driving style was credited for his podium finish, and Fernando Alonso said Sunday’s race was good.

“The races are more exciting than last year,” Fernando Alonso told AS newspaper.  “For us (teams and drivers) it’s a bit more of a hassle, but the racing is better.”

Added Heidfeld: “It’s probably more complicated to understand from the outside, at the same time the show is better.”

© RIF | GMM