2014 Australian Grand Prix ****Spoilers****

I think it's because of the the new 8 speed gear box and the lower rev limit, rather than the engine configuration itself. It seems like they're short shifting all the time. I guess that just takes some getting used to, but it would be nice if they up the rev limit a bit.

So I elected to miss practice this morning because I needed to be fresh for a job interview I had today.

I've watched a couple of summary clips though and..

Lol @ that security guard on Hamilton 'wait, have you got a pass?' - "no? I'm a driver". Hehe what a doughnut.
Merc up top as expected
Ferrari and McLaren plodding around there in the mix
Red Bull ran almost as many laps in practice as they did in the whole of testing, were quick(ish) and will be just fine
Williams, didn't do a qualify run on the softer compound so 'should' have some pace in reserve *crosses fingers
LMAO @ "Lotus" & ROFLMAO @ Maldonaldo. Oh dear, oh deary deary me. Feel sorry for Grosjean though.

Will get up early on Saturday to tolerate VIPBOX for FP3 and qualify. 'Might' splash out on a 24hr skysports pass if the race looks like it'll be a hoot.

Its meant to rain the rest of the weekend.

Rain tomorrow, but last I saw after Sunday morning it would be dry.

J i m Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Will get up early on Saturday to tolerate VIPBOX
> for FP3 and qualify. 'Might' splash out on a 24hr
> skysports pass if the race looks like it'll be a
> hoot.

I lived around 4 years watching via VipBox and they were (are) the best online streaming there is. Now I got cable and Fox Sports 3 (formerly Speed Latin America), but coping with these guys ranting about how every failure by Maldonado, Gutierrez and especially Perez are just bad luck or the team's fault, makes me miss Mr. Brundle, and go back to my netbook



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

I agree that Vipbox has been the best hooky streaming site, but the never ending stream of popups and the ever so often occurrence of having to reconnect do get annoying

RenaultFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah I agree with you guys about the engine
> sounds. They don't sound horrible but cant hear
> them great on TV especially over commentators.
> They do have a somewhat "grumble" to them. Can
> really hear the drivers now too without the V8
> screaming. Practice for me was on at 1:30am so was
> dozing off around the end of the session and think
> I missed the last 30 mins or so.
>
> Did a Lotus go off? or was I dreaming that

Maldonado ran wide at turn thirteen late in FP1 with smoke coming out of his cockpit, then cranes back to the pits.

Grosjean went off at turn six late in FP2, and gave the wall a wack.

As Gav as said, the Lotus looks dreadful. Not just in terms of reliability, but out on track as well, especially under braking where the E21 was always excellent.

A real shame for Grosjean, but major LOLz for Maldonado.

---

Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

Is it true that Lotus are using the same tub as last year?

Don't see why they wouldn't (unless the frontal height changes necessitated a change). It was an excellent car and given the financial uncertainty around them it would make sense for them to carry on with it. Force India were rumoured to still be using the Jordan (yes, Jordan) core chassis until a couple of years ago.

Now that I think about it though, I can't see how they could. The driver's legs have to be lower this year, so unless Lotus were running against the grain and having a much lower portion between the cockpit and the end of the bulkhead last year, they'd have to make new chassis for 2014.

Seeing Qual for me will be 2am I think I will just PVR it and watch it in the morning with breakfast. I will stay up for the race though.

I'm really eager for qualy. And it goes 3am. And I'm kinda destroyed by uni. Who am I gonna call? Nescafé!

My money's on Lewis for the pole, though the race might tell a different story. I've heard that it's currently very cloudy in Oz, anyone knows more?

@Jim, Adblock solved that problem, disabled annoying popups and made the remaining ads harmless. The reconnection issue is something unsolvable because it depends on them, I believe.



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

Nice crowd cheering during Riccardo's finish

___________________________________________________________________________
For a list of EVERY download for GP4, look here:[docs.google.com]

Yup, crowd went bonkers over Vettel missing out on Q3, Ricciardo's moment on pole and even when Hamilton pipped him.

What an utterly brilliant session.

Can't read anything into the times really. Red Bull looks fast. Renault cars look like they've still got the best drivability. Mercedes do still obviously have the fastest package overall at the moment. Vettel has a bit more of a fight on his hands than he probably expected. Ricciardo doesn't crumble with home expectation like Webber invariably did.

The torque is nuts. Utterly nuts. I think the only time I've seen cars have such moments on the run to turn 11 was when Villeneuve's wing fell off in '99. Loving it.

Oh yeah, Lotus. Forgot about them with them going out so long ago. How bad were things over the winter for them to have a worse car (by 2 seconds) than the Caterham and Marussia? I don't know if the stewards will allow them to start tomorrow, as they're clearly a liability. Perhaps they'll take the view that they'll retire before they have a chance to get lapped?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2014 08:22AM by gav.

Go Danny boy!!!!!

First Quali of the year aaaaaaaand i overslept again

The Real Story of the Race was that the Renault's fell apart and the Ferrari's didn't.
Rosberg headed for the sliproad and retired, probably because of Nicotin starvation they have still not given him a helmet with a little hole in it.

gret result for riccardo i really hope this stays for the rest of the season


__________________________________________________________________________

Cracker of a session with some great performances up and down the field.

The roar of the crowd when Daniel grabbed pole was something else, wasn't it.

I've shared my thoughts on quail over at RichlandF1in the form of an analysis if anyone is interested - [richlandf1.com]

---

Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

Brilliant quali. Awesome performances from Ricciardo, Magnussen and Kvyat in particular. Great Pole from Lewis, and he has the best chance for the race.

Ironic that after such a massive shake-up, the front end of the grid for the first race has worked out pretty similar to last year.

The cars are sounding amazing, so slick and refined. This'll seem a weird thing to say, but they sound a bit like buses in the braking zones with the whistling sound they make. I was hoping for a more 80s-style turbo sound, but I'll take this.

Williams looking solid - P9 and P10 is disappointingly not representative of their true pace. Massa has been out of shape an awful lot, but if that's what's needed in order to find the limits of the car, then cool. Once he gets on top of this he's going to be pretty awesome.

Ferrari are struggling more than I felt they would - I loved Alonso's squealing lock-up into Turn 1. Kimi has had a few LOL moments.

Lotus... Oh dear. They should be renamed LOLtus really. As predictable as it was that they'd fall back over the winter, this was almost painful to watch.

Impressive amounts of torque - I'm looking forward to an increase in tyre wear this year. :D

---

EC83 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Williams looking solid - P9 and P10 is
> disappointingly not representative of their true
> pace. Massa has been out of shape an awful lot,
> but if that's what's needed in order to find the
> limits of the car, then cool. Once he gets on top
> of this he's going to be pretty awesome.


I think the extreme positiveness of their form at Bahrain testing has raised expectations a bit beyond where they should be, and so P 9 & 10 plus a grid penalty for Bottas feels a bit dispiriting. But as I've gone to pains to explain to the usual "oh noes total disaster and disgrace brigade" on Facebook, we very much have to manage expectations of Williams and put it all into perspective.

Firstly two cars into Q3 at Melbourne is night and day better than at this stage last year, so a significant step forward has been made. Furthermore the conditions so far may not have revealed the true form book of the field, particularly with today's rain mixing it up a bit and it's clear that Williams failed to get inters "switched on" during Q3 and perhaps should have plumped for full wets like the Mercs did. That may have propelled them back in front of the McLaren and Ferrari, but we can't know that for sure.

Expectations need to be managed because it was perhaps a bit unrealistic to either hope or expect a Brawn style turn around from no-where to domination after last years shambles, but there is much more potential at Williams this year than there was last year with the very real prospect of them moving back up the through field during the race tomorrow.

I think it's probably a bit too much to expect or demand a podium... but if they can at least match last years overall points haul, or better still beat it during the race tomorrow... then they're off to a satisfactory start.