Lighthouse Posted 22 March, 2011 Share Posted 22 March, 2011 So, the Formula 1 circus is back on the road and the curtain raiser is back to it's traditional home at the Albert Park circuit. Personally I hope we never go back to Bahrain, not only because the government murdered it's own civilians, but also because that place is boring as feck. I'm struggling to remember one interesting incident in about 5 years of racing at that place. In Melbourne, Jenson Button faces the very unlikely task of making it a hat trick in Australia, following a rain effected race last year and Brawn GP's fairy tale debut in 2009. Ferrari and Red Bull were the unsurprising pace setters in pre-season, whilst Mclaren had issues with reliability and set-up. Team principle Martin Whitmarsh was on the BBC earlier this week claiming they hoped the MP4-26 would be up to a second quicker come kick off in Oz. One more point of note, we have a new Brit to cheer on. Scotish driver Paul Di Resta comes with a promising CV having beaten reigning F1 champion Vettel in the 2006 formula 3 series. He also beat drivers such as Kobayashi, Nakajima, Buemi and Grosjean and is the current DTM champ. As much as I'd love Button to lead home a British 1-2-3, I can't really see beyond a red victory, be it Bull or just paint. It would be nice to see Webber win his home race as I doubt the 34 year old will have that many more chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 22 March, 2011 Share Posted 22 March, 2011 http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/75799,sport,football,bernie-ecclestone-wants-artificial-rain-to-increase-the-fun-in-formula-1 Is he saying that F1 is boring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 22 March, 2011 Author Share Posted 22 March, 2011 Ahh Bernie. He's like the old grandpa who sits in the corner telling people he invented rollerskates. Just smile, nod and don't ask him how he's feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 22 March, 2011 Share Posted 22 March, 2011 Driver line up Red Bull Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber McLaren Lewis Hamilton Jenson Button Ferrari Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa Mercedes Michael Schumacher Nico Rosberg Lotus Renault Nick Heidfeld Vitaly Petrov Williams Rubens Barrichello Pastor Maldonado Force India Adrian Sutil Paul Di Resta Sauber Kamui Kobayashi Sergio Pérez Toro Rosso Sebastien Buemi Jaime Alguersuari Lotus Jarno Trulli Heikki Kovalainen Hispania Narain Karthikeyan Vitantonio Liuzzi Marussia Virgin Timo Glock Jérôme d'Ambrosio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 22 March, 2011 Share Posted 22 March, 2011 http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/75799,sport,football,bernie-ecclestone-wants-artificial-rain-to-increase-the-fun-in-formula-1 Is he saying that F1 is boring? No, he just wants to control the weather.... It's just another step towards playing god which is his ultimate goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Jonny Posted 22 March, 2011 Share Posted 22 March, 2011 So glad F1 is nearly back again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint_jas Posted 22 March, 2011 Share Posted 22 March, 2011 Glad this is back, but cannot see past Alonso or Red Bull drivers picking title up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 25 March, 2011 Share Posted 25 March, 2011 (edited) Second Practice Friday, 25 March 2011 Position Country Driver Car number Team Fastest Lap 1 great britain Jenson Button 4 McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.854 2 great britain Lewis Hamilton 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.986 3 spain Fernando Alonso 5 Ferrari 1:26.001 4 germany Sebastian Vettel 1 Red Bull-Renault 1:26.014 5 australia Mark Webber 2 Red Bull-Renault 1:26.283 6 germany Michael Schumacher 7 Mercedes GP 1:26.590 7 brazil Felipe Massa 6 Ferrari 1:26.789 8 mexico Sergio Perez 17 Sauber 1:27.101 9 brazil Rubens Barrichello 11 Williams-Cosworth 1:27.280 10 germany Nico Rosberg 8 Mercedes GP 1:27.448 11 spain Jaime Alguersuari 19 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.525 12 russian federation Vitaly Petrov 10 Renault 1:27.528 13 germany Nick Heidfeld 9 Renault 1:27.536 14 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 18 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.697 15 japan Kamui Kobayashi 16 Sauber 1:28.095 16 great britain Paul Di Resta 15 Force India-Mercedes 1:28.376 17 germany Adrian Sutil 14 Force India-Mercedes 1:28.583 18 venezuela Pastor Maldonado 12 Williams-Cosworth 1:29.386 19 finland Heikki Kovalainen 21 Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.829 20 italy Jarno Trulli 20 Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.912 21 belgium Jerome d'Ambrosio 25 Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.106 22 germany Timo Glock 24 Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.135 23 italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 23 Hispania-Cosworth 24 india Narain Karthikeyan 22 Hispania-Cosworth Second practice results. Very interesting that McLaren have shown good pace. Their upgrades seem to have paid dividend. And laughably, Hispania couldn't do more then 1 installation lap. Virgin should be worried, their lap times are outside of 107%. Edited 25 March, 2011 by Colinjb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 25 March, 2011 Share Posted 25 March, 2011 who is the better driver - Button or Hamilton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 25 March, 2011 Author Share Posted 25 March, 2011 who is the better driver - Button or Hamilton? Overall I'd say Hamilton. He has the raw pace and overtaking nouse, where as Button is the more strategic and 'race smart'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 25 March, 2011 Share Posted 25 March, 2011 who is the better driver - Button or Hamilton? I prefer Button but will conceed that Hamilton is ultimately the 'faster' guy. I really am looking forward to seeing how the drivers make these new Pirelli tyres work, they are degrading so quickly. Another observation, those adjustable wings really are quite dramatic. Not the small change in angle I expected but a very noticable 'gap' appears in the rear wing profile when they are active. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry the Badger Posted 25 March, 2011 Share Posted 25 March, 2011 Is the 107% rule back then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 25 March, 2011 Share Posted 25 March, 2011 Is the 107% rule back then? Yep. Vigins and Hispanias beware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 Here we go, nearly time for the first lap times put down in anger of this season... Looks like Red Bull might have been sandbagging a bit judging by their FP3 times... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 (edited) So we now have a method for remembering which colours are which hardness thanks to Brundle... (Or at least, Brundle is the first one I've heard say this) Silver - Hard - Knife White - Medium - Toast Yellow - Soft - Butter Red - Super Soft - Jam And for the sake of completeness: Blue - Intermediate Wet - Fairly obvious Orange - Extreme Wet - The one that's left over... It's going to be a nightmare to tell the difference between the tyres as the colours are on the side and difficult to see while the cars are running. We'll have to rely on the commentators keeping track at the start of the race and pit stops, would have preferred it to be on the running surface like the green stripes on the Bridgestones last year... Edited 26 March, 2011 by Jimmy_D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 26 March, 2011 Author Share Posted 26 March, 2011 Qualifying: 1. Vettel 2. Hammy 3. Webber 4. Button 5. Alonso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 That is a scary amount of pace Vettel had there... Gonna be tough to beat unless the Red Bulls shred the tyres over race distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint_bert Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 Wow. Vettel was incredibly fast. Looking foward to the race tomorow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 Now that was quick! Talk about setting down a marker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 (edited) Yep. Vigins and Hispanias beware! Neither Hispania qualified and were miles outside the 107% time. "Mobile Chicane" isn't the term. Brundle claimed "They are a complete waste of talent and fuel" I think Karthikeyan started his final quick lap attempt at about quarter past 6 this morning and is just coming around the final corner as i type Edited 26 March, 2011 by JackFrost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry the Badger Posted 26 March, 2011 Share Posted 26 March, 2011 The commentary was so so so much improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 The commentary was so so so much improved. Agreed, Couthard isn't perfect yet, but he did a damn good job during qualifying, considering it's his first commentating job, and he's only going to improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint137 Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 They were good in the race today as well. Got a bit muddled at the start but otherwise insightful and relevant. And DC spotting that Hamiltons floor was broken was the icing on the cake, I doubt many others did. Interesting race, like having the variable strategy stuff back, DRS has potential (and rewards good drivers as it looks a right pig to handle), and the wildly different tyre strategies remind me of when they first came in back in the '80s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 They were good in the race today as well. Got a bit muddled at the start but otherwise insightful and relevant. And DC spotting that Hamiltons floor was broken was the icing on the cake, I doubt many others did. Interesting race, like having the variable strategy stuff back, DRS has potential (and rewards good drivers as it looks a right pig to handle), and the wildly different tyre strategies remind me of when they first came in back in the '80s Agree with that, bloody good spot by DC! There were a few moments where inexperience showed but that's only to be expected, already prefer him to Legard. Far better Australian race than we've had in recent years, bodes well for the season I reckon, although I've got a horrible feeling the race for second spot will be a lot more exciting than the race for first... Vettel in that Red Bull looks untouchable. Depends on how much McLaren can improve the new design they've pulled out of their thin air. I still can't work out how a German driver in a British car driving for an Austrian team works so well though... it really shouldn't work but it does What a race by Perez though, how he managed to be so light on the tyres... I'm sure all the teams are wondering right now. That could end up being the only single stop run of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint137 Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Unfortunately both Saubers just chucked out due to rear wing infringements. Although this means that Di Resta gets a point in his first F1 start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Unfortunately both Saubers just chucked out due to rear wing infringements. Although this means that Di Resta gets a point in his first F1 start. Nice bonus for Di Resta! How much prize money is each point this year? Shame that amazing drive by Perez won't be recognised though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 27 March, 2011 Author Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Just watched the race on iplayer. Pretty interesting overall, although I did think there were going to be more issues with tyre wear in the final stages, like there were in 2009. Great to see Hamilton on the podium and I can't help but feel Button would have been there two were it not for that penalty. It's harsh but fair, although that race pretty much underlined my contempt for Massa. He was nowhere compared to his team mate all weekend (again). Then the incident with Button. Instead of trying to get back ahead of him, his instinctive reaction is to let his teammate through so that Button get penalised. On a more possitive note. Great drives from Petrov and Perez. Real shame about the Saubers getting DQ'd there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 I woke up to see the 1st corner and Vettel crossing the winning line. Did I miss anything in between? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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