2015 FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

[FaultyMario]

New season, new liveries, same old off track drama as precious buildup to the first race of the year in F1.

[MR2 Fan]

is it sad that I'm more wondering whether the Honda engines can survive the race?

[Freude am Fahren]

Also, this Sauber nonsense is going to be very interesting (and lame).

[Godson]

Bottas

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_4R3wZUYAAAHtp.jpg:large

The 'new' friendly (https://twitter.com/F1Photographer/status/575917452040609792) face of #Ferrari.. #TheyJustDontGetIt #AusGP #F1

[GB]

Gee... how would one ever get past that barrier?

[Yobbo NZ]

Limbo.

[XHawkeye]

Raikkonen sounds rather (https://twitter.com/f1fanaticlive/status/576261970392948736) more positive on his radio than he did most of last year, believes they're "going in the right direction" #F1 #AusGP

[Freude am Fahren]

Giedo gieves up.


With respect to the interest of motorsport, and F1 in particular, I have decided to give up my legal rights to race this weekend at the Melbourne Grand Prix.

As I am a passionate race driver this decision has been very difficult for me.

However I also wish to respect the interest of the FIA, Sauber Motorsport, as well as Nasr and Ericsson.

My management will continue talks with Sauber early next week to find a mutually acceptable solution for the current situation that has now arisen.

I am confident such solution will be found and I will inform the media once done.

[The359]

Just for Australia. Money is on him being in one of the cars for Malaysia.

[FaultyMario]

I say pole will be in the low 1.27s, unless they disobey Paddy.

[Rikadyn]

Honda, picking up where they left off.

[overpowered]

I say pole will be in the low 1.27s, unless they disobey Paddy.1:26.327

[Dicknose]

Was in the stand near pit exit and got to watch Dan use it as pit entrance (being pushed backwards)

[FaultyMario]

1:26.327

I don't know, all thru Q2 they were artificially keeping it in the high 27s and then on his first lap in Q3 Lewis just smashes it. I don't know how 'legal' that was to the team but it was sure to be a blow to Nico's confidence.

[FaultyMario]

Bottas in doubt for race. Painful back injury is painful. Regulations would not allow Williams to be put someone else in the car.

[Fogelhund]

Should we just hand Hamilton his trophy now?

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAB1i1qWAAAt0Bn.jpg:large

Hamiltons seat

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAClsbwXEAAES0e.jpg:large

@AxisOfOversteer Too early for the memes?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAEOx9IUMAEA12l.jpg:large

McL: "There is a fix in place and we are working on an 'absolutely' recovery. But is there a timescale? We don't know

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAD4mcnU8AAjmzp.jpg:large

The helmet designs for all 18 drivers on the grid tomorrow.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAEUhxOWgAAOzvK.jpg:large

The Clam of Calamity sees a lot of people are putting their feet up in Australia tomorrow...

More pictures here: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/09/2015-f1-driver-helmets-in-pictures/ … #F1 #AusGP

[Yobbo NZ]

Wandering around the track for the last few hours,I'm going to get watch the start from the 100m board at turn 3.This'll be fun.

[Freude am Fahren]

Bottas and Magnussen both wont start, as the latter had a PU (looked like ICE) failure on an installation lap. Bottas the back still.

...And now Kvyat is stopping out on track.

Add to that the Manor cars, we might only have 15 cars start this race.

[overpowered]

Am I the only one who thought it was surreal when Webber was interviewing Ricciardo, the one who replaced him, and did what he couldn't do (beat Vettel)?

[Dicknose]

Arnie was a special guest.

[XHawkeye]

Answer of the day... http://vimeo.com/122206310

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAGeG0OWwAAPE0e.jpg:large

this was a (https://twitter.com/AxisOfOversteer/status/576916068393873408) cool little detail from the @redbullracing pit. Never seen that before

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This is the best Indy Lights race ever! (https://twitter.com/FormulaThoughts/status/576989709924089857)

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Vettel's lost over (https://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/status/576994833073586176) half a second per lap to the Mercedes, better than yesterday's 1.3s, but the W06s are clearly cruising. #F1 #AusGP

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAIEqfmWcAE8IYu.jpg:large

#FactsF1 @JensonButton (https://twitter.com/f1writers/status/577028835985760256) sets a new record for @McLarenF1 so far this year! 59 laps in a row without engine problems ;)

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAISAtzXEAE8H73.jpg:large

Pirelli race #stats (https://twitter.com/f1writers/status/577043506939719680)

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAIeLhMUMAATowN.jpg:large

Poor Jenson #F1 #AusGP (https://twitter.com/wtf1couk/status/577057016935501824)

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAI3LMYWQAANViQ.jpg:large

2025 year. (https://twitter.com/f1writers/status/577084367819911168) Australian GP... 😨😨😨 #F1

[Godson]

Kimis race was fucked from the first pit. Shitty stops killed him.

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAJSyKIWAAAwvxk.jpg:large

Honda - the power of tears (https://twitter.com/loose_wheel_nut/status/577114724824948736) #F1 #AustralianGP

[FaultyMario]

Kimis race was fucked from the first pit. Shitty stops killed him.

He was damaged from that T3 incident when he was whacked from behind. A sturdy Ferrari, who woulda thunk it?

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I'm sure the axle was fucked up and stripped or something from the impact, causing the issue. I would think that'd be put out by Ferrari by now, but I haven't read anything.

[Yobbo NZ]

1111

The only decent pic I got all Sunday,was of Magnussen's stricken McLaren.
Bloody fences made it hard to get anything decent.

[Crazed_Insanity]

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAISAtzXEAE8H73.jpg:large



So medium tires faster than soft tires when down under?

[FaultyMario]

Mmm, no. It means the actual advantage of the Mercedes cars over their competitors surpassed that given by a softer tire. In essence, they were sandbagging.

[Crazed_Insanity]

But Hamilton himself is a full second slower with soft tires!

Maybe that was a set of old soft tires from qualifying and with a full tank of gas?

[Freude am Fahren]

It would be nice if lap#'s were on that chart. Also I can't find a list of tire strategies. Did Mercedes go S-M-M, while others had softs on later in the race? I'm thinking so.

[FaultyMario]

Merc went on one stoppers for both drivers.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/15/vettels-one-stop-overcut-yields-maiden-ferrari-podium/

[Freude am Fahren]

There you go, only reason ERI and RAI were faster than Mercs was they had softs in second+ stints.

[MR2 Fan]

Van Der Garde has left Sauber on "mutual terms"

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/headlines/2015/3/sauber-and-van-der-garde-part-by-mutual-consent.html

The only bad part to me about this? The announcers here will be getting confused saying Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr...I guarantee it.

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAaehRjWcAAEZC-.jpg:large

No coment. Ferrari improving ... 😨

[Crazed_Insanity]

Hmm..., I guess Kimi's career is over after this season if he doesn't show improvement soon. Vettel is as fast using medium tires when Kimi's running on soft tires!

[FaultyMario]

What?

Under equal circumstances Kimi was .033 behind Vettel. In the race he suffered damaged to the floor/rear suspension, got stuck in RIC dirty air and then was killed by ill pit work.

I don't see how you can jump to such conclusions on such short evidence... Actually, I sort of do.

[FaultyMario]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/19/first-race-shows-mercedes-have-pulled-further-ahead/


Mercedes were three seconds a lap quicker at Melbourne this year compared to last season. Part of that will be because it rained during part of qualifying last year, so the cars never lapped as quickly as they could have done. That was true for all teams, however, so by factoring out Mercedes’ three-second improvement we can get a sense of which of their rivals have done the best job of cutting their deficit.

Unsurprisingly Lotus, who endured a dreadful start to last season with their unreliable E22 but reached Q3 this year with their new Mercedes-powered car, have made the biggest gains.

While Ferrari appear to have closed the gap to Mercedes, and qualified fourth and fifth this year compared to sixth and eleventh last year, this has been achieved at least in part because the other teams have not done as well. The clearest example of this is Red Bull, who fell nearly a second further behind in Melbourne compared to last year.

That no doubt goes a long way towards explaining their frustrating with Renault and Christian Horner’s calls for the FIA to step in and clip Mercedes’ wings.

There's a couple of graphs that illustrate the teams' progress better. All of the teams (save McLaren whom we can't judge until they're on their last engine) are faster. With Lotus and Sauber gaining a lot. The rest of the teams except for Williams made smaller gains relative to Mercedes, meaning Mercedes not only kept but slightly increased their advantage.

I kind of agree with Horner, some changes ought to be made. It's not fair for the teams (the ones not making engines) to pour millions into car development when the gains will be meager relative to the gap that the engine supplier/works team has. And the biggest proof of that are Sauber and Lotus. They've gotten 3+ seconds out of an updated engine alone.

I think the Ferrari and the RedBull would be on par with the Mercedes if they shared the PU, but like Dennis has said, a customer team can never challenge a works team.

[Crazed_Insanity]

What?

Under equal circumstances Kimi was .033 behind Vettel. In the race he suffered damaged to the floor/rear suspension, got stuck in RIC dirty air and then was killed by ill pit work.

I don't see how you can jump to such conclusions on such short evidence... Actually, I sort of do.

I didn't watch the race actually, but was just basing my opinion on pure numbers. It was odd to see Hamilton faster than himself on harder compounds... and kinda depressing to see Kimi lapping the same time as his new teammate with softer compounds. Thanks for the additional info so I can gain a better understanding of what happened.

With regard to Ron Dennis' comment, his team proved himself wrong when McLaren Mercedes finished ahead of Mercedes' factory team few years back. Surely Mercedes' current advantage and McLaren's woes are not due to PU alone.

Anyway, the token system is clearly not working. Renault is also clearly not working very well..., but surely the token system won't give them any relief and will only handicap Renault further. When the rules were written, nobody envisioned people would actually make progress backwards! ;) Renualt and Red Bull are totally fucked now!

[Blerpa]

Red Bull is just whining as usual. Also, usual Horner's antics; old habits from before even the time of GP2.

[Crazed_Insanity]

But I do see it as "justifiable" whining this time... because current rules are tying the hands of those sour grapes losers back so they can't really do much to close the gaps! In the old days, teams will eventually catch up or close the loop holes. However, now, as the tokens are spent, there'll be no possibility of ever catching up... until the rules are rewritten. Or until RB dumps Renault and sign with another engine manufacturer.

Red Bull fields 4 cars on the grid. Their quit warning will certainly get some attention.

Anyway, I do agree something needs to be done with those rules. If Mercedes doesn't want the rules to change, then they better be able to supply 4 more engines to help equalize the field. If Renault is really that incompetent...and spent all their tokens and end up slower and less reliable, then they deserved to get kicked out of F-1.

[MR2 Fan]

I think a reasonable ballast weight addition for the top car that wins each race (and maybe some of the runners up) might work

[G'day Mate]

Nah, F1 isn't about ballast. Artificial overtaking perhaps, but not ballast.

[Blerpa]

In the old days, teams will eventually catch up or close the loop holes.

They didn't when Ferrari dominated with Schumacher. They didn't when McLaren dominated with Lauda, Senna and Prost. They didn't when Lotus was the car to be in (bar the fragility of Colin Chapman's creatures). They didn't when Williams dominated.
Do you notice a pattern?
And yes, ciclically a big team or two did whine about it.

F1 *just* isn't Indycar, BTCC or any other international motorsport series.
Stop trying to make it what it is not. FIA is already doing it with stupid 4-engines per season crap - damn.

And F1 did use ballast, but not in the retarded WTCC's ways. Cars in F1 were always underweight so they always put ballast to get to the minimal weight allowed by the rules. But that's it.

[FaultyMario]

I'm sorry Blerps, but you are a full-fledged housewife from Sicily with all the prejudices.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Blerpa, once all the development token are spent, if Ferrari and Renault fail to close the gap, there will be a permanent gap! Aero rules are also so tight that one probably won't be able to make up the difference. Rules have to be adjusted to allow the chasing engine makers to catch Mercedes! Ferrari is heading the right direction. Maybe Renault just need to be kicked out of the sport.

Maybe with every championship point you earn, you lose a token... So the slower teams can be allowed to develop as much as they want?

[Freude am Fahren]

So let's see here...

The reason for engine development restriction to control costs, right? Here's how you solve it. Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Renault could afford to try and out develop each other to a point if the rules were open. But then the customer engines would be cost prohibitive for the smaller teams. How about you set a price for the customer engines. Standard across the series. Still have limited # of PU's per season if you're really afraid of costs killing the small teams. Manufacturers submit PU components to the FIA, who then randomly distribute them to the teams (and back to the works teams), thus preventing the manufacturers spending 10x amount on their own PU vs. customer ones.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That actually sound like a good idea! Smaller teams won't go broke by engine development with a set cost. Factory teams may develop however they want provided that the new updates are available to all the customers too. Lousy engine makers without any costumers will have to put in their own money to develop however they want... until someday they may actually have 'customers'.

Anyway, I guess the draw back is that F-1 field might just end up with a single engine manufacturer. But I guess that's okay. It survived with a single brand of tires for a while too.

[Freude am Fahren]

They could have limits on how many teams can have a certain engine (don't they now? Or is it a minimum?), first come, first serve, or they can say you can't change without extenuating circumstances for 2-3 years or something. I have a feeling that it wouldn't be needed though. Through more open development rules, and the sponsorship/partnership deals teams make with the manufacturers, you'd probably still have customers with the slowest engines here and there.

[Crazed_Insanity]

But what would be the point of contractually obligating a slowpoke engine manufacturers to stay in the series? If a team like McLaren wish to risk it with Honda and hoping of great rewards later, sure. However, if after several seasons of no improvement, it should be up to the team to decide whether to continue on or drop it, right?

At this point, I'm not even sure if Red Bull would want to continue on with Renault even if Renault were given to green light to develop away! ;)

[Freude am Fahren]

Former F1 drivers critical of F1. Rubens falls asleep during Oz GP. (http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/rubens-barrichello-fell-asleep-during-formula-one-opener-australia?utm_source=RacingDaily20150325&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=image-center&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awracingdaily)