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Post by Hoovie on Mar 15, 2019 11:49:49 GMT
FORMULA 1 2019 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
MelbourneFirst Grand Prix 1996 Number of Laps 58 Circuit Length 5.303KM Race Distance 307.574KM Lap Record 1:24.125 by Michael Schumacher (2004) Fri 15 Mar – Sun 17 Mar 2018 
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Post by Hoovie on Mar 15, 2019 12:08:30 GMT
Welcome to the First Race Weekend of a Brand New F1 Season!
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Post by Hoovie on Mar 16, 2019 17:53:04 GMT
Well qualifying was a bit of a surprise after all the pundits sayimg Ferrari were looking really good in testing; and then assumed to be sandbagging in Friday Practices. I wonder if they got something a bit wrong in Quali, or if their car is just not as good as thought?
Bit of a sad thought but since it was announced that Robert Kubica was testing for a seat, and then Williams taking him on, I did wonder if he was really up for the challenge physically having seen how he carries his arm and the weakness in it that he cannot improve. The qualifying today I think ddi expose that and I honestly cannot see him finishing the season but I do hope I am wrong.
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Post by unclebob on Mar 16, 2019 18:12:37 GMT
Good to see McLaren with a car further up the grid and it’s going to be a poor season for Williams being that slow ....has qualifying outside a certain percentage being dropped now ?
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Post by Hoovie on Mar 16, 2019 18:25:09 GMT
Good to see McLaren with a car further up the grid and it’s going to be a poor season for Williams being that slow ....has qualifying outside a certain percentage being dropped now ? There is still the 107% rule but that can be waived if the other teams agree - and no team will vote against Kubica in a Williams not racing. And yup, excellent result from Lando Norris there - very impressive. I noticed at the end of Q1 there was just 1 second between first and 16th. Plus in the top 10 of Q1 there were 9 different teams! If that kind of performance mix can continue through the season it should be a good competition throughout the field. |
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Post by jasehutch on Mar 16, 2019 19:14:03 GMT
I’m looking forward to seeing how the Red Bull performs in the race , Verstappen was pretty impressive in qualy...
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Post by phaeton on Mar 16, 2019 21:28:12 GMT
Just watch it, a few surprises, Renault should move up they have choice of tyres, Norris mentioned he thought he was on the wrong set, Gasly what happened? was he like Sainz wrong side of Kubica, and yes, it's wrong to see both Williams right t the back again, I can see it being very close to the end if things don't change.
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Post by Hoovie on Mar 17, 2019 12:45:30 GMT
Well that was not the most interesting of races on the track, but some of the 'takeaways' were intriguing...
Honda get their best result since 2008 and the Renault Engine in the McLaren blows up. I bet McLaren are kicking themselves swapping and throwing away over $50M a year in Honda money
Bottas seemed to be on fire!! (not quite in the same way as the McLaren though). Did Lewis have a problem with his car that hasn't been revealed? He is one of the best round Albert Park so find it hard to believe it was just a matter of being outdriven with such a time gap between the two.
I understand and agree with Ferrari not allowing Vettel and Leclerc to race each other in the last 8 laps or so - as a team it would have made no difference which one came 4th and which came 5th, and could have resulted in a coming together and many points lost.
But why, with Leclerc around 35 seconds ahead of the next man, did Ferrari not bring him in for brand new soft tyres and go for fastest lap? He would have come out well in front still even if the pit stop was a bit slow. maybe backmarkers could have been a problem but both Vestappen and Bottas would have had backmarkers and managed fastest laps. (in fact, Ferrari could have pitted BOTH Vettel and Leclerc to give them both a go at Fastest Lap and not lost any race positions).
Was this the new Team Principal being overly cautious? Or was it they thought no point as the car was just just not fast enough even with new soft tyres? Either way, it does not bode well for Scuderia Ferrari if this is a typical reaction.
The Point for Fastest Lap seems to be much more important to the drivers than maybe people expected. Bottas asking about coming in to change tyres as he had a good lead was an indication of that. Could have been expensive if anything went wrong though. His engineer did a good job of calming him a little (even though he did still get it though of course).
Bahrain in two weeks ... traditionally a pretty boring race but could be better as the cars seem to be able to stay closer to the one in front now, and the fight for Fastest Lap could make an interesting difference.
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Post by unclebob on Mar 17, 2019 17:05:35 GMT
Enjoyed the Formula 1 today ...don’t quite understand why Ricciardo tried so hard to get past in the first few hundred metres ! Verstappen done well with the Honda powered RedBull seems to be working really well ....must have be a bit of a blow to McLaren as They reportly paid 50m to get out of the Honda contract and they had.
Bottas had a cracking start, sadly Hamilton bogged down a bit ...as for Ferrari claimed they had no team orders this year and drivers were allowed to race that didn’t last long 🙄 although I can see their line of thinking ....new boy passes four times world champion . I was expecting Kimi to be faster as I was under the impression the Alfa was last years Ferrari car .
McLaren’s new driver Norris done well to keep up with the mid pack but sadly no points yet . Haas with loose wheels again not good 🙄
And on a personal note ..sad to find Lee McKenzie no longer on the pit lane used to enjoy her very much 😢
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Post by phaeton on Mar 17, 2019 17:20:54 GMT
Have you read this on the BBC website about the way Ferrari have gone a different way with the front wing www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47527705
Very strange on Riccardo's wing, if it comes off like that it probably would come off if they run wide in a corner.
Well done Honda although I do think they benefited by being able to run in the Torro Rossi last year in development mode, with the Mclaren having engine issues, it makes you wonder if they caused some of Honda's problems with poor cooling.
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Post by Hoovie on Mar 18, 2019 13:41:54 GMT
I read that. And the story sort of reminded me of that unusual "Whale" front that Williams had some time in the mid-2000's I think it was. That looked very different and I thought at the time they must have found something interesting in testing/wind tunnels to go so different. Turned out THAT was a dead end development as well and part way through the season they changed to a conventinal style and their car became instantly faster and a front runner that season. I'm keeping an eye on this to see if Ferrari suddenly switch to the Mercedes style (or vice-versa, of course!) |
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Post by Hoovie on Mar 18, 2019 13:47:50 GMT
This is interesting and might explain things a bit - Lewis Hamilton was missing ‘chunk’ of floor – MercedesMaybe some debris from flying wings hit it? We will probably learn more on when and how it happened in the nezt few days once people have stared at race footage of Lewis' car. |
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