The Official 2016 Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS with quali rules FIAscos***

Stats and circuit map might get put up later, depending how enthusiastic I'm feeling...

So, pit lane is open for action then!

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What a start from Ferrari in general and Seb in particular!

Now we might get a quality race. Hello! :D

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Big crash involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez. Alonso's McLaren suffered the most damage, but at least he was able to walk away from it, while Gutierrez's Haas only suffered damage from where Alonso ran into him. As a result, race went to SC, then to red flag. So it's going to be awhile before the race gets underway once again.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2016 06:43AM by Mullet345.

Holy @#$%&, that's an insane crash. Fortunately Fernando is clearly OK, and nobody seems to be hurt.

Almost a replay of Villeneuve/Ralf in 2001. Turn 3 definitely collects some big ones.

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Bloody hell, Alonso. Reminded me of Villeneuve over the top of Ralf in the early 00's. Glad to see him walk away, the car is a pile of carbon fibre against the barrier to the extent the commentators didn't even SEE it at first.

The commentators were talking about the crash being very similar to the 1996 one that involved Brundle, yet they didn't mention the one from 2001. What would the reason be for that?

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Well because Brundle is commentating now obviously :P It's bound to be the one that jumps to mind.

Haas are doing an outstanding job too, regardless of what happens.

Surprisingly good race overall, pretty entertaining all the way through.

LOL at the podium interview with Seb pouring champagne all over Mark and generally winding him up. :D

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WTF... Grosjean+Haas=Awesome!

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

people were shouting how schumacher should retire after he had similar crash with JEV at Singapore. No one shouting for alonso to retire :?

mitadumapaga Wrote:
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> people were shouting how schumacher should retire
> after he had similar crash with JEV at Singapore.
> No one shouting for alonso to retire :?

Has Alonso hit 40?

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Sour schumi fanboy? The collisions you refer to were nothing alike. Here, people were asking Alonso if he blamed Esteban. Racing incident endemic at circuits with mid-slow corners after straights and shifting grip levels, attributing blame helps nobody. In this case I actually think the Haas moved around a bit in the braking zone.

Laton Wrote:
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> Sour schumi fanboy? The collisions you refer to
> were nothing alike. Here, people were asking
> Alonso if he blamed Esteban. Racing incident
> endemic at circuits with mid-slow corners after
> straights and shifting grip levels, attributing
> blame helps nobody. In this case I actually think
> the Haas moved around a bit in the braking zone.

The 'moving around' was all of about half a centimetre on the steering wheel - but that can account for quite a bit when they're going that quickly. Would be harsh to penalise either driver for that incident.

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It was a good race, helped by Mercedes completely cocking up the first lap, but that Mercedes were so strong on the medium tyre doesn't bode well - the Ferrari was barely quicker on the soft, the supposedly ideal tyre. We'll see how things pan out as Albert Park is hardly a good yardstick for form (despite its reputation for crowning champions), so things might be closer on the Tilke tracks.

Great result for Haas and Grosjean. Especially good to see as they had a troubled final test and practice.

Obviously Toro Rosso completely cocked their race up, but they again look like they'll provide plenty of fun until the 2016 engines get fully unleashed.

Williams looked especially poor, though again they seldom go well around Albert Park. Worryingly it looks like their attempt at fixing the low speed traction issues has meant they're chewing through the tyres. It could be a more difficult season against Toro Rosso, Red Bull and perhaps even McLaren (who look much stronger).

Finally Renault... where did that pace come from? It must surely be effectively a modestly developed 2014 car with a Renault engine - they should have been scrapping with Manor, but looked much more competitive than I expected. Their engine looks much stronger (in the notoriously draggy Red Bull too), though again the longer straights of other tracks will be be the proof.

Quote
Mullet345
The commentators were talking about the crash being very similar to the 1996 one that involved Brundle, yet they didn't mention the one from 2001. What would the reason be for that?

I guess it had more in common with Brundles crash, the way the car somersaulted and came to rest upside down with Alonso having to squeeze out, but you're right that the reason for the crash was much more like that of Villeneuve and Ralf.

Mercifully I didn't watch it live and I'd already caught a mention of a crash accidentally, so I knew he wouldn't be too bad, but my heart was still beating quick.

From first look I don't think blame can be apportioned at either too much. It looked like Gutierrez moved slightly left and Alonso got a bit of a tank slapper from having to dart left so quickly (with DRS still open) and so they just came together. If either hadn't happened they wouldn't have touched.

It's uncharacteristic of Alonso to make such a mistake, but even the best drivers make stupid mistakes at times. There was enough space on inside, so I thought it was weird he went for the outside anyway.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2016 02:35PM by Laton.

Diax F1 Wrote:
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> Would be harsh to penalise either driver
> for that incident.

Agreed.

Just look at that mess of a car... hard to understand that you can walk away from that unassisted.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2016 02:27PM by Morbid.

Yup. I think that's the worst I've seen a car since Kubica's accident at Montreal. Even Bianchi's car wasn't that torn apart.

Another few degrees and his head would have come into contact with the gravel. It's a stark reminder of how important the constant drive for safety is.

I think people are overreacting a little, particularly with Mosley saying he would have been dead fifteen years ago.

Brundle's car became airborne and flipped into a corkscrew whereas Alonso didn't get airborne from the collision but from the gravel. I know this accident looked horrendous but Brundle's was far worse IMO, and the Villeneuve/Ralf Schumacher crash at the same point in the early 00's trumps both, easily. The moment that McLaren dug in and rolled, Alonso wasn't really in any danger, there was no further big impact, the tubs are so strong.