The Official 2009 Australian GP Thread *spoilers*

The Lopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Apparently Lewis "slowed dramatically" as
> if he was going to stop and Trulli sailed by.


and IMHO that's fine. But when he realised Lewis hadn't stopped he should have the brain capacity to let him back through. and if not the team should have checked with the FIA and then ordered him to. I would "hope" that even if they hadn't received a reply the fact they asked would mitigate any punishment.

That clarifies the whole punishment. Good find DJ

The Lopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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.

Well even 'champion' drivers like Schumacher have done things like this, remember austria 2000, he had a crash at turn one, and parked his car in the middle of the road as to try get a red flag. Red Bull were smart to try and do it, as the cars were all driving slow that it wasnt really a safety issue.

DaveEllis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kimi crashed.
>
> Vettel and Kubica I agree with Martin. 50/50. One
> of those things.
>
> Messy race for Rubens, but I can't help but feel
> he'd have been fine if the anti-stall didn't ruin
> the start.
>
> Jenson won the race. He didn't just win, he
> dominated it. He drove perfectly and fully
> deserves it. Not to take anything away from
> Jenson, but today isn't his day. It is Ross
> Brawns. He just finished 1-2 in his teams first
> ever GP.
>
> Well done Jenson. Well done Rubens. And a very
> well done Brawn. But things look bright for the
> future. Buemi was awesome. Vettel was outstanding.
> I love Formula 1 2009.

What Dave said Well said, Dave!

---

Order a giffgaff SIM from my link and get £5 credit, free!
Season 1 and Season 3 GPGSL World Champion!
Member of CTDP - Cars Tracks Development Program - 3D Carshaper

Nemesis78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> and IMHO that's fine. But when he realised Lewis
> hadn't stopped he should have the brain capacity
> to let him back through. and if not the team
> should have checked with the FIA and then ordered
> him to. I would "hope" that even if they hadn't
> received a reply the fact they asked would
> mitigate any punishment.

And I totally agree. Sounds like a breakdown of communication may have occurred. Or else Trulli reckoned that if Lewis could go past him, then he could do the same.


kubica2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well even 'champion' drivers like Schumacher have
> done things like this, remember austria 2000, he
> had a crash at turn one, and parked his car in the
> middle of the road as to try get a red flag. Red
> Bull were smart to try and do it, as the cars were
> all driving slow that it wasnt really a safety
> issue.

The regulations require drivers with serious mechanical difficulties to leave the track. I'm guessing having a wheel bobbing around on a tether comes under this category. I completely appreciate the fact that the drivers were under the safety car and that a guy finishing on three wheels would be a great sight, but the regulations are still there. And in the end Red Bull got fined 50,000.

Vettels penalty is a farce and once again manages to leave a sour after taste to the race. Bernie has been banging on about how they wanted the drivers to race. Well maybe Bernie needs to have a word with Max about how these penalties are dished out then. What we seen was racing. Sometimes when you race, things go wrong. It's one of those things. If you penalise drivers for racing, then they will be too scared to race.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
theRacingLine.net
SportsCarArchives.com

Never realized finishing the 16th and retiring will give you points...



Nice race, congrats BrawnGP and Williams (my dear team) as always... *sigh*

---

raulgullon.com -
Wedding and Motorsports Photography.

I think you got confuse with the list Raul; It looks alright to me, Ferrari in last and STR with Buemi Bourdais points.

raulongo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Never realized finishing the 16th and retiring
> will give you points...
>
> [i212.photobucket.com]
> n/wtfFerrari.jpg
>
> Nice race, congrats BrawnGP and Williams (my dear
> team) as always... *sigh*

Where's that damn Picard facepalm?

That's Torro Rosso, who initially had Buemi in the points, then after Trulli's demotion had Bourdais in 8th and Buemi in 7th.

---

Everyone knows that million-to-one chances happen 9 times out of 10; indeed, it's a common requirement in fairy tales. If the human didn't have to overcome huge odds, what would be the point? Terry Pratchett - The Science Of Discworld

GPGSL S5 Race driver for IED.

On another note, it seems Kimi has a little issue with weigth in his car (possibly due his own), he was 1.5Kg heavier than Felipe (following FIA's list) but initally was prepared to pit in lap 14 while Massa even lighter was going to stop in lap 15.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 08:57PM by Rodrigo007.

I PWNED MYSELF

---

raulgullon.com -
Wedding and Motorsports Photography.

Great race well done Brawn.

Ferrari oh dear.

Maybe Vettel should have let Kubica go but then again we need to see racing and Kubica could have left him room.

I also thought Lewis was behind Trulli before the safety car but could be wrong.

But I now hope finally people shut up about Lewis as today he proved he can drive a weaker car, over take and come through the field.

Button was great today and the only reason why Kubica was close to them both was the safety car, people need to remember that Button and Vettel were 20 odd seconds up the road the fact that button could pit and come out in the lead says it all.

Great start to the year and I think Brawn will still have an advantage at Sepang.

marcl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also thought Lewis was behind Trulli before the
> safety car but could be wrong.

Oh dear. He was, but Trulli went off, so Lewis passed him, then Trulli retook him. All under the safety car (while they were driving around to catch it to be precise).

marcl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But I now hope finally people shut up about Lewis
> as today he proved he can drive a weaker car, over
> take and come through the field.

He was about 12th at the end of lap 1, and just coasted into the first corner, 3rd last by miles. He was outpaced by the only rookie in the field. His overtakes were due to low fuel and then KERS (the only one I can remember where he overtook another car with KERS was Piquet, who dived out of the way... again).

I thought he was good, but it was hardly a challenge today. Stay out of trouble and you picked up decent points. He got a result through the safety car... just as Piquet did at Hockenheim. Without it, he'd have been in the same situation as Ferrari, miles back having gambled on a safety car and taken the pain early on.

At least he's learned from Fuji though. Maybe he's wisened up over the winter. I guess we'll see when (if) the pressure starts to mount towards the end of the season.

Thing is though, today called for a solid, measured drive, and that's what he gave.

I am not saying it was a stunning drive or anything like that, I am just saying he came through the field and gave 100% and as you said he used his head.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 10:54PM by marcl.

jbnd05 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thing is though, today called for a solid,
> measured drive, and that's what he gave.

Read the last line.

I put him down as one of the drivers of the day, as frankly, other than Buemi, I was struggling to think who to give it to (I generally don't like giving it to the guy in the fastest car), but to suggest it was to end the evidence that Hamilton still needs to prove himself among the scrappers is rather short-sighted in my eyes, when he's done nothing of the sort - more just stayed out of their way. That's not proving anything.

//edit: added the quote as marcl had posted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 10:41PM by gav.

My drivers of the day were Vettel (for being ridiculously fast), Button (obvious reasons) and Buemi.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
theRacingLine.net
SportsCarArchives.com

Yeah Vettle penalty is not justified, 50/50 IMO. It also confirms why Bernie's winner's the winner/medals system is bollocks.

I thought from 2009 the stewards would reveal in detail there reasoning for penalties? has this information been published yet?

I agree with Dave for drivers of the day.

Yes Button is very experienced but this is the 1st time he has led start to finish. Vettel was 100% all the race and Buemi was racing so well for someone in their 1st race.

I'm not too happy about the whole Vettel thing either. He did the right thing by apologising and i can't believe that this may have been against him.