Australian Grand Prix (contains spoilers)

[mathare]

Apologies for those who don't want to know the result as they are waiting for the repeat on BBC this lunchtime but...









(plenty of space added so those that accidentally hover over the thread and see the first few lines don't read anything they're not supposed to...)











...it sounds like it was a cracking race! I have only read the reports so far, not seen any of it on TV yet. Qualifying was awful for some of last year's top drivers, especially Lewis Hamilton. McLaren had been saying for weeks their car was crap but Hamilton qualified in 15th, got relegated to 20th on the grid for changing his gearbox, back up to 18th as the Toyotas got relegated to the back of the grid for technical infringements. Hamilton then finished the race in 4th before being promoted to third because of a time penalty awarded to Trulli (overtaking under a yellow flag), and could even be awarded the race win depending on what happens in the appeal against the Brawn GP team's rear diffusers (Button and Barrichello were 1st and 2nd). :yikes:

I've been impressed by the Brawn GP team and their performances so far. Very impressive for a team effectively making their debut.

Just hope the rest of the season is like this :thumbs

[Win2Win]

Says it all really with so many cock-ups and only race one :ermmm

$Billion industry and they can't even sort out the cars & races. Never had this trouble in Indycar, and at least you also get a race. :thumbs

Shame the safety car didn't win, it was leading with 1km to go :laugh

[yerotsluap]

The amount of cars Barrichello hit, I'm amazed he was able to finish let alone finish 2nd

[mathare]

Be interesting to see what happens after all the appeals are heard.

Toyota are appealing Trulli's penalty; Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull are still moaning about Brawn GP's diffuser (along with that from Toyota and Williams) and I'm sure someone else was moaning about some other technical aspect of a couple of the cars.

I don't remember the last few seasons being this chaotic at the start

[yerotsluap]

Plus Sebastian Vettel has been given a 10 place penalty for next weeks grid position because he didn't pull over after crashing with Kubica and drove on with no front wing and 3 wheels

[Win2Win]

Plus Sebastian Vettel has been given a 10 place penalty for next weeks grid position because he didn't pull over after crashing with Kubica and drove on with no front wing and 3 wheels
:doh They adjusted the rule & regulations so we got more overtaking, now you get done for doing it!!! That accident was 50/50, as it is a race, I do not see why one or the other should have to give way!

[yerotsluap]

I dont think there was a problem with the overtaking but apparently with that much damage they're supposed to pull over straight away rather than hoping to coast round behind the safety car on three wheels

[John]

Absolutely ridiculous. I'm backing Red Bull as I did last season, as I know someone who works for them. As RB never win anything, to have new-kid-on-the-block Vettel doing so well in 2nd, with about 3 laps remaining, only for Kubica to ruin everything, was difficult to watch. I can't believe it. Barrichello, yeah, fantastic race, well done for clinching 2nd. :doh

I missed the qualifying, what happend to Hamilton's gearbox? Is his car really that crap this season?

[mathare]

As RB never win anything, to have new-kid-on-the-block Vettel doing so well in 2nd, with about 3 laps remaining, only for Kubica to ruin everything, was difficult to watch. I can't believe it.Having finally just finished watching the coverage I have to say that Vettel had made a mistake a few corners earlier allowing Kubica to get upside him and then it was 50-50. Either driver could have backed off at that point but neither did. What Vettel did afterwards was dangerous though, and quite stupid.


I missed the qualifying, what happend to Hamilton's gearbox? Is his car really that crap this season?Catastrophic failure of 4th gear I think it was. The car's not that bad really but it's not as good as it could/should be. There has been a lot of expectation management (negative propaganda, basically) coming out of McLaren else people are just going to expect Hamilton to win the season comfortably again and call him crap when he doesn't. He could do with a decent wingman though as Kovalainen is rubbish!

[John]

I agree with what you're saying about Vettel actually, it's just annoying to think that Red Bull were so close to actually getting off to a fantastic start in the new campaign and then they throw it away with 5 minutes left of the race. I bet he gets a hammering for it. True what you say about "either driver could have backed off" but they never do!


There has been a lot of expectation management (negative propaganda, basically) coming out of McLarenWhere abouts do you read about stuff like that? The F1 website?

Great win for Jenson Button, a rarity! :)

[yerotsluap]

I agree with what you're saying about Vettel actually, it's just annoying to think that Red Bull were so close to actually getting off to a fantastic start in the new campaign and then they throw it away with 5 minutes left of the race. I bet he gets a hammering for it. True what you say about "either driver could have backed off" but they never do!

Where abouts do you read about stuff like that? The F1 website?

Great win for Jenson Button, a rarity! :)

Mclaren spent the whole period before qualifying saying they would be lucky if they weren't the two cars at the back of the grid, basically they spent all of last season focusing on the title race is their excuse for starting badly and not having a good car to take advantage of the new regulations.

On a sidenote the tyre issue is a bit of a disaster, each car has to run one stint on the soft tyres marked with the green rims which appear to be ok for one or two laps, ideal for qualifying, but in the race each car that has them on seems to just drop back through the field.

[mathare]

Where abouts do you read about stuff like that? The F1 website?BBC website, newspapers etc. I don't read many sport-specific websites these days

[Win2Win]

Remember how badly Ferrari started last season, and look how they finished.

McClaren are expected to have the new car ready in 3-4 races.

[mathare]

On a sidenote the tyre issue is a bit of a disaster, each car has to run one stint on the soft tyres marked with the green rims which appear to be ok for one or two laps, ideal for qualifying, but in the race each car that has them on seems to just drop back through the field.Absolutely. Those tyres went off far too quickly to be useful in a grand prix. That said some teams did get it all wrong, using them off the start when it was apparent the track was going to cool and be more rubbery so do less damage to the softer compounds. But then again there are supposed worth a few tenths a lap when they are working properly so perhaps Ferrari were gambling on a good start, or an earlier safety car

[mathare]

Hamilton disqualified :yikes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7978186.stm

[Win2Win]

:ermmm What a complete farce....and we still have other appeals pending, so the first 2 could be thrown out :splapme