With one race down out of twenty, F1 teams are now hopping from Australia to Malaysia where the new pecking-order will be immediately tested on a more conventional circuit. Some paddock cynics suspect McLaren - having dominated qualifying in Melbourne before Jenson Button cruised to victory - played a deft hand of bluff in the winter season in order to persuade Red Bull its former dominance remained intact.
New 2012 championship leader Button, however, insists the British team was surprised in Australia. "It wasn't bullshit at all," he said late on Sunday. "I actually did pinch myself in the race just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. After qualifying I looked across at Lewis (Hamilton) and said 'Did you think we would be that quick?', and he was like 'No'."
Another possibility is that, while quick, McLaren may not be dominant. "We knew from winter testing that McLaren were competitive but I think our race pace was every bit the equal of theirs today," said Red Bull's team boss Christian Horner, after a betting showing for the reigning champions on Sunday compared to qualifying. "Malaysia is a very different prospect from here. Here it is short turns, bumpy, not a lot of high-speed corners. But Malaysia offers that variant, so I think it will be interesting to see how quick they are in Malaysia," he added.
Mark Webber was also relieved on Sunday, after a troubled earlier evening. "It's never nice to know you might be out of the ball game," said the Australian, referring to Red Bull's qualifying performance, "but clearly we are not."
Yet another possibility is that McLaren will extend their winning streak into Malaysia. "The Barcelona test showed us that we are better than Red Bull in the fast corners. Their (Red Bull's) advantage is in traction," McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.
Agreed Mercedes' Ross Brawn: "We could see that the McLaren improved significantly with the introduction of their new aerodynamic specification in Barcelona." But the German team's Norbert Haug warned before leaving Melbourne: "We could see something quite different in Malaysia."
Livio Oricchio, the correspondent for Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, agreed: "It is prudent to wait and see what happens now in Malaysia. It's a permanent circuit, much more in line with most of the circuits on the calendar. But it seems unlikely that we will see something radically different to what we saw in Australia," he conceded. (GMM)
Sepang to test dominance of McLaren MP4-27
- Published on 20 Mar 2012 14:15
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
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Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
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Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
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Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
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Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
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Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
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Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
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Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
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Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
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Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
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World Championship standings 2026
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
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Spain
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Bahrain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team McLaren
- Points 37
- Podiums 0
- Grand Prix 41
- Country United Kingdom
- Date of b. Jan 19 1980 (46)
- Place of b. Frome, Somerset, United Kingdom
- Weight 72 kg
- Length 1.82 m
- 67,124 comments on McLaren
23 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Jenson Button
Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 638,839 comments on Mercedes
- 59 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Mercedes
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