The Official 2009 Australian GP Thread *spoilers*

I reall enjoyed it and it all happens again next weekend!

danm Wrote:
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> my fantasy f1 results are going to rocket, button,
> rosberg, brawn, toyota! :D

Same here

y2cwr2005 Wrote:
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> %^&* sake, %^&*$%£ alarm didn't go off and missed
> the whole race :@.

Yeah, very annoying. The time change got me mixed up and thought the race was at 7.00. Fortunately, BBC rules so I got their highlight feed :D

The race was pure epic.Second win for Jenson and first 1-2 for Rubens since 2004. Ross Brawn is surely going to be one happy bunny today. I caught the race with 38 laps to go and Nakajima's car being cleaned up but the safety car session was too long. LMAO at Piquet, "I lost my brakes"

Red Bull and BMW must've been facepalming themselves after that collision. Both of them went too too deep. Ferrari are just piling on the problems for themselves. Same problem as last year.

Great race, lots of overtaking and action. Shame Kubica and Button couldnt fight for the lead on the last lap, but the Vettel / Kubica crash was pretty 50/50 tbh. Sad neither of them got the podiums they deserved.

Such an epic drive from Button though, and good work from Barrichello too.


My predictions sat before the race all came true, brawn 1-2, toyota getting strong points, and Piquet crashing. See it again, laugh again:

Hamilton 3rd. Apparently Trulli has been given a 25 second penalty (bloody harsh), which puts him 12th!

gav Wrote:
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> Hamilton 3rd. Apparently Trulli has been given a
> 25 second penalty (bloody harsh), which puts him
> 12th!


Oh come on!

Trulli did so well, i don't want another season of race results after 1-2hrs

If Trulli overtook under the safety car, he couldn't expect anything else. It was his own stupid fault for going off!

The severity of the penalty is a bit harsh (I'd expected just a swapping of positions), but maybe that's written into the rule-books, so they had no choice.

Very harsh. I think we saw the incident (not sure but there was a very brief shot of a Toyota running wide) and tbh, he didn't go off that much. I hope the stewards have been sensible and not gone to town on Vettel and Kubica. What this 25 seconds means is that Toro Rosso have landed 3 points and all it takes is for one more car/driver to fail the stewards for Force India to pick up a point. Which I would love.

If it had happened earlier in the race, then he would have got a stop/go, so yeah, thinking about it, they had little choice. It's the same as Glock (ironically) suffered at Spa for passing under yellows, as well as Hamilton (different offence of course, but the penalty would have been the same).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 12:05PM by gav.

Yeah, makes sense after Gav's last point. The points for Brawn are not safe as it seems. Now McLaren are joining the bandwagon too

The Formula One Teams' Association insists unity remains, but Formula One teams were locked in disputes as the paddock disbanded after midnight on Saturday.

Melbourne qualifying over, stewards - who had already sent Toyota to the back of the grid for using ‘extremely flexible’ rear wings - were poring over the legality of a bodywork detail on the Ferrari and Red Bull cars, following a protest by Williams.

The Oxfordshire based team is one of the 'diffuser three' gang, accused by Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault and BMW of using aerodynamic treatments that contravene the rules. Williams ultimately dropped its protest very late on Saturday night, but the feeling was strong that it is all part of a growing sense of competitive animosity.

Another rumour on Saturday night was that McLaren is set to join those teams who are stridently pushing for the outlawing of the Williams, Toyota and Brawn diffusers.

According to the whisper, the Mercedes-powered team has told the FIA it intends to give backing to the plaintiffs at the Court of Appeal's April 14th hearing.


It seems the dissenting teams intend to argue that while the diffuser concept slips through a rule loophole, it strikes at the heart of the intention of the aerodynamic regulations.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore on Saturday likened FIA delegate Charlie Whiting's pre-season approval of the diffusers, paving the way for the Melbourne stewards' agreement, to ‘one policeman surrounded by lots of bandits’.

It is believed part of their Court of Appeal argument will be based on safety, given the faster lap times in Melbourne this year compared with one year ago, and also that the 'double-decker diffusers' create more air wake, contrary to the intention to make overtaking easier.

Diffusers of the three set to go I think. Hope they keep the result and make it as a different interpretation of the rule.

Trulli hasn't been given a penalty yet I think. They're only investigating it now.

The crap spouted by that article, with their 'whispering source' is all superficial. You can't be thrown out for being against the spirit, or going too fast. It's not like they're bring the sport into disrepute.

If they designed their car in accordance with the regulations, then they're sound. They can alter the rules to close the loophole, but previous results would have to stand.


Nickv Wrote:
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> Trulli hasn't been given a penalty yet I think.
> They're only investigating it now.

He has, and Vettel has got a 10 place grid drop for Sepang.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 12:15PM by gav.

As far as I can see, there is no grounds for disqualifying the diffuser cars from this Grand Prix. They were declared legal by the stewards, the teams are arguing that it has only "slipped through a loophole". All that can be done is that the FIA close this loophole and this ain't going to happen till after Malaysia.

Re the Trulli thing, he has been demoted. Tbh, I'd have to see the incident again but I'm not sure Trulli went far enough off the circuit to warrant Lewis passing him in the first place. Everybody seems to have missed both incidents though, so it's all pretty hazy.

Vettel's punishment I don't agree with it at all. Coming back to EJs argument, he shouldn't have apologised and the fact that he did gives the stewards grounds to blame it on him. You can't imagine this happening to a young Michael Schumacher, and that's why I have reservations about Sebastian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 12:21PM by The Lopper.

Even I didn't catch a glimpse of it. Although, if all four of his tyres went past the border white line on the track then its acceptable, but if only two went then it's bit more of a debate. Out of curiosity, are they allowed to give a grid drop for next race if the situation like trulli happened or they HAVE to give a 25sec penalty?

Monza972 Wrote:
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> Even I didn't catch a glimpse of it. Although, if
> all four of his tyres went past the border white
> line on the track then its acceptable, but if only
> two went then it's bit more of a debate. Out of
> curiosity, are they allowed to give a grid drop
> for next race if the situation like trulli
> happened or they HAVE to give a 25sec penalty?


i get the impression that the offence carries a drive through penalty. however because they were in the last few laps then its added onto his race time isntead.

Perhaps more amazing than Brawn's victory is the fact that McLaren are currently second in the constructors. Who'd have thunk it eh?

poor trulli, but it was his false

---

The car which went off on the replay during the race, under the 2nd SC, was Glock, not Trulli. Trulli's incident wasn't shown during the broadcast (and I've not seen it since).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 12:35PM by gav.

The Lopper Wrote:
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> Perhaps more amazing than Brawn's victory is the
> fact that McLaren are currently second in the
> constructors. Who'd have thunk it eh?

Now who would've thought this time last year that Button would be leading the drivers? And anyone who did would've be thrown out from any sane area

gav Wrote:
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> The car which went off on the replay during the
> race, under the 2nd SC, was Glock, not Trulli.
> Trulli's incident wasn't shown during the
> broadcast (and I've not seen it since).


Well that's cleared that one up for me, I'd assumed it was Trulli when I heard he'd gone off.

Red Bull fined $50,000 for telling Vettel to keep going after breaking the front wheel. Pretty stupid decision by the team really, further indication of Vettel's naievety also if he was "told" by the team to keep going.