The Official 2011 Australian GP Thread ****Spoilers!!****

humilliation to the whole grid, this is what Schumacher used to do at his best, but this guy is just starting....


well done for Mclaren, great comeback, lol at Mercedes, nowhere near they hope they'd be

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chet
edit - wow for Hamiltons lap without KERS. Two good laps from the two quickest drivers.

For his second lap, either Vettel's wasn't working, he wasn't using it or it wasn't registering on the TV graphics. The bar stayed full.


With regards to the HRTs, I was surprised Liuzzi was as fast as he was. I was expecting both of them to be over 10 seconds slower than the other cars. Still shockingly bad and all they did was spoil the laps of other drivers - Liuzzi made a wonderful job of spoiling the lap of 2 drivers in one corner on an in lap.

Lotus haven't moved forward at all. Indeed they've dropped back from last season and are only a tenth ahead of a Virgin (who were constantly being held up by HRTs), which was unexpected.

Vettels apparently was working, he just didn't use it for either laps. Ridiculous speed.

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Well, what the hell? Mclaren says they found a second a lap but I think they meant that Hamilton has found a way to make the car go faster even with the failure of K.E.R.S ... very impressive. Wont even bother talking about Vettel because the guy is just off the radar. And what a surprise Mercedes have just picked up where they left off last year 'also-ran'. I know it's early days and normally we would not read too much into Melbourne but because the placings are so similar I would say that things don't look good for any team looking to usurp Red Bull Ferrari need to do some home work and head scratching and even though I'm a Shuey fan, we just might be watching his last season: but like I said early days anything can happen obviously teams have to get to grips with the tires, K.E.R.S and D.R.S


" Perfection is not a gift ....... it comes with practice."

Member of R.S.C.T Group



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2011 08:54AM by Isaint.

gav Wrote:
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> If Red Bull are sandbagging as much as we're thinking (and I'm thinking they're going to out-qualify the rest of the field by around half a second) then Virgin are going to struggle to qualify.
>
> HRT haven't got a hope in hell. Given that it's apparently taken the entire team some 3 weeks to clear some dampers at customs and finish the first car, it's quite unlikely they'll be able to build up the second car in a day.
>
> They're like Forti Corse, only as prepared as they are slow. At least Forti improved their car in the second season (before folding).


Spot on.

I suppose choosing not to use it is different to it not working - Lewis would have had a much more tricky car to handle as a result. But still. Bloody hell!
Vettel really should run and hide, but I hope he doesn't, just for the sake of the racing of course. But the race to find out who finishes behind him should be brilliant!

I have to say I was laughing my head off after the BBC crew were talking to Button out the back of the McLaren pit and Ron Dennis suddenly emerges in the middle of everyone and hands Eddie a plate.
"Some humble pie for Mr. Jordan..."
Fantastic :D

Delighted for Petrov, really seemed to make him reaching Q3 look easy for once. Hope he has a good one tomorrow to start his year off - I think even Webber should be wary of him into turn one (though it may because he'll have to take avoiding action, now that I've just jinxed him). I'm fairly sure Alonso will not be thrilled if he's stuck behind the Russian yet again, though at this point we'll have a fairly good indication of how well the overtaking gimmicks work I think.

Disappointed for Nick; I had some reservations over his performance at Sauber last year, but he was and still is new(er) to his car/team and I'm fairly sure he'll turn it around. Bad mistake by Barrichello but maybe it'll loosen the pressure on Maldonado a bit. Perez's looking very good, Kobayashi was as usual fantastic and it was good to see Buemi and Alguersuari high up the grid. Props to Di Resta too - props to Sutil for not converting his spin into what looked like was going to be a heavy shut into the wall.

HRT were embarrassing, and I very rarely say that about any team. Not so much their lack of pace, it was the fact that they are so late putting the car together - giving the impression that they simply would not have had a car at Bahrain - and then whole chunks of it fall off. I think the only good thing they did was make the Virgins look decent. That said, had the 107% rule been in effect last year, Hispania would still have qualified more often than not, so I believe that we will still see them take part in a few races (though they look worse than they did last year). Whether the other teams will allow them to take part tomorrow...I doubt it.

Also, I may get some stick for this, but I did think that Martin Brundle trying to be a lead commentator was a little cringe-worthy at first, it did seem to be a little bit of an unnatural place for him to be in, though when the action got going his settled in into just being himself, which was great, and Coulthard wasn't bad at all, in my opinion. Only one session gone as it were but I think the partnership will work out very nicely.

alexf1man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gav Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If Red Bull are sandbagging as much as we're
> thinking (and I'm thinking they're going to
> out-qualify the rest of the field by around half a
> second) then Virgin are going to struggle to
> qualify.
> >
> > HRT haven't got a hope in hell. Given that it's
> apparently taken the entire team some 3 weeks to
> clear some dampers at customs and finish the first
> car, it's quite unlikely they'll be able to build
> up the second car in a day.
> >
> > They're like Forti Corse, only as prepared as
> they are slow. At least Forti improved their car
> in the second season (before folding).
>
>
> Spot on.


+1


" Perfection is not a gift ....... it comes with practice."

Member of R.S.C.T Group

Apparently Kolles arrived at Melbourne airport with 50kg of handluggage: parts for the car...

Quote
zulu_85
Also, I may get some stick for this, but I did think that Martin Brundle trying to be a lead commentator was a little cringe-worthy at first, it did seem to be a little bit of an unnatural place for him to be in, though when the action got going his settled in into just being himself, which was great, and Coulthard wasn't bad at all, in my opinion. Only one session gone as it were but I think the partnership will work out very nicely.

No, I agree entirely. At the start of each session they both seemed quite nervous, but it got more natural after a minute or two and I never even noticed them after that - which is a huge compliment and exactly what a commentator is meant to do - fill in the details and blanks without being intrusive, which is where Legard and Allen really struggled. Good to have some chat between two drivers too, rather than one asking the co-commentator how important tyres are...

I have to say Brundle did get a bit too excited when it came to the pole times, but he'll iron that out.

They'll be fine when they find their feet.

[www.jamesallenonf1.com]

If true, then the sniff lewis needs for victory is this!! certainly would make the race more interesting i think!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

They were using it freely during free practice though.

HRT has been denied a start by the FIA.

[twitter.com]

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Sick lap by Vettel. If some rFactor F1 mod drove like that, I'd have classed it as unrealistic.

Fascinating quali, mesmeric lap from Vettel, as has already been said. The only thing that can stop him winning is reliability issues IMO. He seems to have a specific aptitude for this circuit, remembering also his performance here last year till the car failed.

Regarding the feeling that RBR have been sandbagging, of course they have been to an extent, but it seems that Macca were sandbagging the most of anybody - what seemed initially like a rubbish car is clearly a pretty handy one at worst. Impressive job there.

Impressive also from Renault - it seemed in final winter testing that they had a pretty sweet car, and that seems to be confirmed by Petrov's form so far this weekend. Of course you can't help but wonder what Kubica would've done with it, particularly given his form at this race last year. But such is life I guess. A good effort from Petrov nevertheless.

Ferrari relatively disappointing so far, but no doubt Alonso will be able to wrestle a good result out of it regardless. Massa has generally been @#$%& so far, and full of mistakes - shades of his pre-2009 self.

Oh, and HRT - @#$%& off! What a muppet show. How such a badly-organised team is even being allowed to attempt to qualify for races and not being sent home before quali, I'm not sure. As said already, that's aimed at Kolles - I don't think anyone else in that team can really be blamed for his screw-ups. I feel for the drivers.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2011 11:52AM by EC83.

Vettel won the 2010 world championship today... for me at least. I wasn't convinced after he won it in Abu Dhabi last year, but @$%#ing hell that was impressive!

Also, about HRT - as abysmal as they were, Liuzzi managed a 1m 32.978s, whereas the cutoff for 107% was 1m 31.266s. I wonder, if they survive long enough and if they get their new car sorted out, maybe we will see an HRT on the grid this year?!

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

Apparently Heidfeld had problems with the car (and traffic) so that explains an awful quali.

Liuzzi did an ok job in the Hispania, but clearly the car's just rubbish. Karthikeyan looked out of his depth.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

Dan's Dad: 'Cor, qualifying, what a lap by Seb'

Dan: 'Yeah, pretty immense wasn't it'

*Mum walks in*

Mum: 'What happened, who's on pole? Not that bloody Sebastian Patel again. Where's Lewis?'

LOL Mum. Classic.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2011 04:30PM by danm.

That was some lap by Vettel. Seriously setting out his stall for the season. If he can keep it between the ditches he should walk this, and my own feeling is he knows where the ditches are a lot better than a couple of years back. Pressure on for Webber. Ferrari were a tad disappointing.

@EC83 - HUGS! :P

Worrying performance from Red Bull, I hope I'm wrong but it looks like they're going to walk it tomorrow. Mclaren have pulled some pace from somewhere! But Jenson with the same old @#$%& about tyres. Ferrari are the same as they were last year.

Hugely impressed with Petrov. I think this year could be high time to prove himself. It would be nice, as I like him. Kobayashi too, is as epic as usual.

Big disappointment was Williams. They arrived with their sparky new livery and "streamlined back passage" and looked everything like worrying the top ten and were... slow, basically. Rubens was not in top ten even if he hadn't have spun off.

HRT, reminds me of Lola in 1997. I don't think we will see much more of them. We should be seeing Villeneuve's Durango operation and Epsilon instead, at least they would probably be better organised.

Basically everythings very similar to last year, Ferrari stuggling (bar Bahrain), Red Bulls and Mclarens up ahead, Mercedes talking the talk but delivering nothing, STR, Sauber and Force India battling for the midfield, Williams being slightly disappointing, Renault being fast but fragile (how Kubica must wish he hadn't gone rallying now). Lotus are still shite, Virgin are still shite, and HRT look like dazed, confused, ugly looking beasts emerging from hibernation, during which some yank with sod-all knowledge of F1 has managed to graffiti his tagz all over the car.

Still, I like how degradable the tyres are. There seems to be much less grip, the drivers are working the cars more, wrestling their octopuses in earnest. Bring on tomorrow.

My conclusions from Friday and Saturday.

The Surprise: McLaren, with a big improvement for the car they managed to stay on the front. I was worried, another year like 2009 could have been terrible for them, not to mention that Martin Whitmarsh would have been kicked away.

The Dissapointment: Heidfeld, who was clearly beaten by the still unexperienced and stupid Petrov.

The Dissapointment #2: Ferrari, far from what they showed on tests. And Massa's blooper is unforgiveable.

The "Best of the Rest": Kamui Kobayashi, heir of his madness Takuma Sato. No words for that guy, he's just insane. And he's very, very fast. If Sauber improves, I expect many points for him, and why not a podium?

The Bad Joke: HRT. I'm getting angry with this team. They didn't even bring their new car! I expected for them, at least, getting in the grid, but if they use that "car" in Malaysia I'll start shouting "Get your f****** ass out and let Prodrive, Stefan GP or anyone in!!!"

And... The best: Sebastian Vettel and RBR, of course.

You know what? I'm going to change my name to Sebastian so that I can be successful in Racing.



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

One question: If Hamilton had problems with KERS today at the end of the session, he still will have them at the start tomorrow, no? Cause they are not allowed to change anything on the car?