Formula 1 2011: Round 1-Australia

Charlie-Bravo

Grim. wrote: »

boring race but brilliant drives by Petrov and Perez not sure what the **** was up with Webber drove just like he did in abu dhabi

and as for hd totally worth it from what Ive seen this weekend

I take it HD isn't available through the red button even when watching through the BBC One HD channel

amacachi

Like a cruise in the park? Oh Eddie...

Grim.

great start by vettel considering he had no kers, nice pass he made on button aswell still think he had plenty of pace to respond to hamilton

Sparks43

Petrov in the interview

Glico Man

Interesting race rather than amazing and exciting it must be said. Ferrari will hope that their qualifying pace was just a once off as Alonso showed they have good race pace. Excellent result for Hamilton after McLaren's dire preseason testing performance, great work by their mechanics to get the new parts on the car. Vettel had a solid race, led from the front extremely well, will be interesting to see how much faster they could go with KERS, if they really need it.

Fantastic result for Petrov, written off by many as possibly the first driver to be replaced this year, and a great race for Sauber and Perez in particular. Could be the dark horse team for points this year.

Sparks43

lol @ Niki

losthorizon

Both Saubers have been excluded from the results

G-Money

losthorizon wrote: »

Both Saubers have been excluded from the results

That's a shame, they did well.


No offence to Legard, but I thought the Brundle & DC commentary was a lot better. They weren't interrupting each other or anything which was my main complaint from last year. I was concerned at the start when they announced the commentary team as I thought Coulthard would not come across as very enthusiastic and he would be a bit dull. But Brundle handles the bulk and handles the excitement etc which allows Coulthard to give his opinion and it doesn't detract from the interest.

Top Dog

losthorizon wrote: »

Both Saubers have been excluded from the results

Any link? Or reason why?

G-Money

Top Dog wrote: »

Any link? Or reason why?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90294

EvilMonkey

I thought it was a decent enough season opener. Glad the DRS didn't rob us of the 4/5 lap battle between Massa and Button and a few other battles. Had to laugh when he tried to clam Massa ran him off the track He and McLaren should have known to give the place back. I have to say i don't like the practice of emailing Charlie and asking what to do, I'm glad he didn't get back to them they should give the place back of their own accord within the next couple of corners or take a drive through if they need an instruction from the stewards. By the time the stewards look into it you have disadvantaged the car you illegally passed for a couple of corners maybe even laps.

Vettel did go 4 wheels off the track to pass Button as well and if i remember correctly at spa last year they were told not to do it any more even if they are going the long way round they still gain an advantage, so it should apply everywhere.

Were the top teams a bit too quick to change the tyres rather than risk going too far on them. I didn't really watch the lap times, but didn't notice them dropping off too much.

Great race from Vettel, Webber ok for a few laps on the tyres then seemed to loose his pace. Nice performance from the Sauber's, pity they were disqualified. Surprised by Petrov's performance, Highfield will have to stop giving him set up info soon!

I don't get the praise red bull are getting for not running kers, we already know from previous years some tracks its faster not to run it. Vettel and Webber's start were impressive without it though considering McLaren's kers used to be one of the best off the line.

Mitch Connor

EvilMonkey wrote: »

I don't get the praise red bull are getting for not running kers, we already know from previous years some tracks its faster not to run it. Vettel and Webber's start were impressive without it though considering McLaren's kers used to be one of the best off the line.

I thought the KERS was on the Red Bull, and that they simply didn't use it.

In comparison to previous years where it was an option to use or not the difference at tracks could be put down to the added weight vs the performance boost - on some tracks it may indeed have been better to go without the weight. However, now everyone has to have it - so Red Bull did have the extra KERS weight, without using the extra power it was able to give. So praise of their speed is justified.

Of course, I could be wrong and RB didn't have KERS on board, which means they were running lighter - but surely that would be in contravention of the rules.

Frank Bullitt

Not a bad race, but a bit boring, F1 doesnt look the same this year, drivers have so much to do in the cockpit its crazy.

Once that Red Bull is first into the corner then its away in a hack, probably a good thing considering Vettel crashes when he tries to over take.

Saubers were great to watch, pity they were excluded. Good race from Petrov and Alonso as well, I knew Alonso wouldn't push for a pass at this stage of the year, he has said it himself that Petrov isn't a contender for the title and he was more concerned with Webber behind him, who had a dire race.

Mercedes need to cop on soon, disaster of a race for them. Not nice seeing Schumacher this crap.

EvilMonkey

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I thought the KERS was on the Red Bull, and that they simply didn't use it.

In comparison to previous years where it was an option to use or not the difference at tracks could be put down to the added weight vs the performance boost - on some tracks it may indeed have been better to go without the weight. However, now everyone has to have it - so Red Bull did have the extra KERS weight, without using the extra power it was able to give. So praise of their speed is justified.

Of course, I could be wrong and RB didn't have KERS on board, which means they were running lighter - but surely that would be in contravention of the rules.

I don't think they had it on the car so their car was the same weight but they could adjust the balance a bit more and didn't have the braking issues kers brings.

If they did have it it doesn't make sense not to use it, unless its not working. And that's definitely not something to be praised about when they have one of the biggest budgets.

Their speed is impressive but i would be more impressed if they had that speed advantage with kers on the car.

Dcully

Boring race for sure.
Perez and Petrov were excellent, as was Vettel, flawless yet again.

Would have been better if Vettels cars ended up in pieces

Really cannot stand the git

One of the most liked guys on the grid , if you replaced Vettel with Hamilton id totally understand.

Frank Bullitt

I can also see this season being a bit tighter, the RB is very fast over one lap, but in race trim it was matched fairly handy by Renault, McLaren and Ferrari.

RB also have issues with their KERS, which is why they didnt run it this weekend, that could be an issue when other teams catch them on the aero front if it proves to be an advantage, other teams have packaged it well but Newy won't move on his concept for his cars.

recyclebin

A quite enough start to the season with the rear wing and tyres not having the major effect that everyone was talking about before hand.

Bit harsh on the Saubers to disqualify them if the infringment made no effect on performance. Perez made a great debut.

Button should have just let Massa straight back through after he cut the corner. I don't know why they waited for a stewards decision.

Vettel definitely crossed the yellow line with all four wheels to ovetake Button and should have got a drive through if they are to apply the same rules as they did for Button.

Hamilton is probably lucky not to be disqaulified if the plank was worn.

Grim.

recyclebin wrote: »

Vettel definitely crossed the yellow line with all four wheels to ovetake Button and should have got a drive through if they are to apply the same rules as they did for Button.

vettel was well passed button when he ran wide and since all the cars have been running wide there all trough the weekend there's no way he should of got a penalty

freestyla

Grim. wrote: »

vettel was well passed button when he ran wide and since all the cars have been running wide there all trough the weekend there's no way he should of got a penalty

Race is another thing than other sessions.
Vettel gained advantage by trusting that wide area in case he slips off track thus being able to push pedal to the metal when starting overtake maneuver

bergkamp10

Drs might improve our enjoyability as season goes on, we'll see. Struggled to stay awake and not due to the early hour. Australia used to be great for technical failures, blowups, maybe 7or8 cars finishin, etc. Blast this near impeccable reliability. It makes for boring racing. And Bring back refuelling!

frostie500

As some of you may remember for the last five or so races of 2010 I began writing about a few of my thoughts following F1 and MotoGP races and with the new F1 season having gotten under way here are my Melbourne thoughts

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The opening race of every season is a much hyped affair but it seemed that this season’s Australian Grand Prix had a much greater level of expectation heaped on its shoulders. Maybe it was because this would be the first act in the sequel to the thrilling title battle in 2010, or maybe it was the changes implemented in an effort to improve the racing. One way or another it seemed that Melbourne was on the tip of everyone’s tongues this weekend.

As ever throughout 2011 I will bring my thoughts on Boards.ie following each weekend of racing. In this week’s opening instalment the Drag Reduction System, Pirelli tyres will be focussed on as well as the performances of some of the teams and drivers from over the course of the weekend.

So without further ado I think that.....

The DRS showed some potential in Melbourne DRS was undoubtedly one of the most talked about changes for Formula 1 in 2011 throughout the winter. Since the system was originally discussed there has been a vocal group of fans that said this was an artificial method of creating overtaking and that it would remove the challenge of getting ahead of a competitor.

Melbourne showed that this is far from the case. Jenson Button perfectly illustrated that while it aided him to get close to Felipe Massa into the opening corner the system did not make it possible to easily drive past your opponent. It was clear that drivers were able to take advantage of the DRS and get closer to their rivals than in the past but that the overtaking moves we saw into turn one were still an act of skill and bravery.

The placing of the overtaking zone played its part in making it difficult to make a move. The final corner in Melbourne is a fast, understeer inducing right hander making it very difficult to stay close to the car in front before entering the fast opening chicane. As a result it is was very difficult to get onto the pit straight close enough to your rival to make a move. A truer test of the device will come in the next race in Sepang. The Malaysian venue has long straights leading into tight hairpins and will allow drivers to really show the effect of the device.

Melbourne was inconclusive as to just how easy the DRS will make overtaking but it is clear that while it aids the drivers attempt to make a move it does not guarantee a successful manoeuvre. If this is the case throughout the year the DRS can be deemed successful in assisting in overtaking but not making it so easy that the challenge is completely removed.

Racing will be greatly improved by the new Pirelli tyres The other talking point from winter testing was the effect that the new Pirelli tyres would have on proceedings. In testing it was apparent that the tyres were suffering from extreme durability issues but in Melbourne, on what is normally one of the most abrasive surfaces on the calendar, it was not durability that concerned the teams but rather getting the right temperature into the tyres.

The temperature issue was perfectly illustrated by Karun Chandhok, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa all having incidents on out laps in the opening days. It was very surprising for the teams who had come to Melbourne having not experienced any such issues in testing but were more than prepared to make three, or even four, pitstops during the race.

As it was tyre wear was not the issue, by and large, that had been expected prior to the start. While some drivers, notably Mark Webber, struggled during the race the majority of drivers had minimal trouble with the Italian rubber. The fact that Sergio Perez made only a single pitstop en route to a seventh place finish, before being disqualified, showed that Pirelli have designed a capable tyre that will add huge variety to race strategy in 2011.

Divergent strategy returns to Formula 1! Strategy has always been a crucial element of success in Formula 1 and while last year saw races dominated by the field making just one pitstop Melbourne showed that this should be a thing of the past with the leading runners making two stops, the majority of runners making three stops and Perez the lone single stopper.

To see such divergent strategy is clearly encouraging for a year of great racing in Formula 1 and shows that Pirelli has done a great job at developing tyres to the specification required by the teams. Melbourne showed that there was a significant difference in performance from the prime and option tyres which could allow the development of a more intriguing strategic development.

The regulations at present state that drivers need to use both compounds of tyres but a change to the previous regulations where drivers needed to select the tyres for qualifying and the race could be much more interesting. By forcing drivers to select the prime or option tyres before qualifying situations could arise whereby drivers would need to make a decision to qualify at the front and be forced to make an additional stop or qualify in the midfield but avail of a single stop strategy.

This could be another strategic element for the FIA to investigate in future and at circuits where the DRS is at its most advantageous could offer an enthralling battle of different strategies.

It was an unfortunate end to a promising day for Sauber Last season there was a lot of doubt hanging over the Sauber squad. They had shown promising preseason testing form but when the teams arrived in Melbourne it was clear that the team was struggling and that low fuel runs in testing had given them the impression of being a lot faster than they actually were.

As a result when the team arrived at the opening race of this season there were the same doubts about their potential for the coming season. The performances of Perez and his teammate Kamui Kobayashi had looked to banish such thought and painted a picture of a promising year ahead for Sauber...until post race scrutineering.

The rear wings on the Sauber were found to be illegal and while the team have denied that there was any performance to be gained from the unit there was little doubt that their disqualification was merited. It was exceptionally unfortunate for the team but their performance should not be discounted because of this.

The fact that Perez made only one stop showed just how kind the Sauber is on its tyres and illustrates that the team could still have a very good year. While the disqualification will surely have an effect on morale in the team there is no doubt that they should be heartened by the potential of their new car.

The team will appeal the decision and could cite the example of the Ferrari bargeboards in the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix as an example where a manufacturing fault led to the failure to meet regulations.

Vitaly Petrov came of age in Melbourne I have been quite critical of Petrov in the past but his performance in Australia was outstanding and he was the driver of the day.

To take your first podium is always a significant event for any driver but to do it with the emotional pressure heaped on the Renault team following Kubica’s accident showed the developing maturity of Petrov. His performance in Australia was mistake free and showed that he has the talent to be a consistent points scorer this year.

The comprehensive manner in which he trounced teammate Nick Heidfeld was shocking. The German, who has enjoyed strong performances in Melbourne, struggled throughout the week and while it is only the opening race of the season it was clear that Petrov has gained the upper hand in the team. Heidfeld will need to have a particularly strong race in Malaysia if questions are not to be asked about his potential for the coming season. The German struggled for Sauber in the second half of last season and further performances like Australia could indicate that his days as a racer are nearing their conclusion.

Petrov on the other hand can look forward to heading to Malaysia confident of another strong showing. This was far from an inherited podium and after making a strong start to the race he was able to move clear of the Button/Massa battle and then to keep Alonso at bay at the flag. It was a superb performance from Petrov and will have done a lot to lift the spirits of his team.

Hispania are undeserving of a place on the grid The struggles of HRT in 2010 could be attributed to their application being made at the time of the “$40 million budget cap” and as a result the team was unprepared to spend the money needed to develop the car last season.

The fact that they came to Melbourne with a car that had not turned a wheel in testing showed, once again, that they are not capable of meeting the standards of quality expected in Formula 1. Consistently over the last year the team has embarrassed itself with their failure to develop the car but their performance in Melbourne should be the final straw for their future prospects.

The team has minimal sponsors and while last year’s budget constraints can be excused their failure to attract investment for this season shows that they are considerably out of their depth. The performance of Tonio Liuzzi in qualifying was impressive but ultimately when the team threw themselves at the mercy of race stewards to be given a dispensation to start the race there was little doubt that this would be accepted.

There is little reason to hope for their form to improve too much over the course of the year and it would be of little surprise, or in my opinion consequence, if they fail to make it through the year.

Virgin and Lotus need to find performance While Hispania’s struggles are well documented the performance of Virgin in Australia was exceptionally disappointing. Jerome D’Ambrosio qualified 22nd and barely made it inside the 107% cut off point. This came on the heels of a disastrous Friday where qualifying looked likely to be exceptionally difficult.

Second seasons are always tougher than a team’s debut but Virgin, and ineed Lotus, the struggle in Melbourne was far beyond expectation.

Both teams have a strong driver line up and had expectations of much stronger seasons than 2010 but the fact is that in Melbourne they looked to be staring at another season of struggling to close the gap to the established teams.

Melbourne has always had a tendency to separate teams to a much greater extent than other tracks but the fact that Heikki Kovalainen qualified two seconds adrift of Nick Heidfeld, and nearly four seconds off the pace showed just how big a gulf still exists to the established teams. This could be a very long year for both camps.

McLaren are ready to challenge McLaren’s pace was one of the pleasant surprises of the weekend. Testing has been exceptionally difficult for the team but a change to a less complicated exhaust system has revolutionised their car.

The reliability gremlins of the winter are a thing of the past, both cars making it to the finish, and perhaps more importantly the car’s performance was also very competitive. While qualifying showed that Red Bull still has the fastest car on the grid the race showed that McLaren are not lagging too far adrift in terms of race pace.

Lewis Hamilton was very competitive with Vettel for the opening half of the race and even though the gap opened to 22s at the end it is worth remembering that Hamilton eased off at the end so as not to risk damaging the car further after the under tray came loose during the race.

The team has yet to gain a full understanding of their car and it is very early in its development because of the change of exhaust systems. As a result the silver cars should be exceptionally competitive throughout the year.

ratedR

Just to pick up on the Heidfeld issue. He made a great start, 18th up to 13th, but was hit. His sidepod was in absolute ****e for pretty much the whole race. So that explains that. His qualy pace was shocking though, so I expect much more from him in the coming races.
http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/110930477.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF87892140FEB0FF7845C57D75158AF7CA61E58B87108FB62F5723C928654F8088E45C11E30A760B0D811297

KERS and DRS, the verdict is still out. I think it's too early to call them crap. But they certainly didnt add anything to the race in Melbourne. 2 passes from them was it ?

The race wasnt great. Think back to the borefest that was Bahrain 2010. And look what happened after that.

But we know a few things. The Red Bull is out on its own again. Webber needs to step his game up quickly. McLaren have a v. good car. Ferrari have a bit of work to do. Renault, Sauber and Toro Rosso have decent point scoring cars. Mercedes were unlucky, wouldn't be writing them off just yet. And the bottom 3 teams are still crap.

freestyla

I really didn't see any pass or superb tactical decision or fastest laps from Petrov? What he actually did to get that much praise? He kept car on track?
I think it's Renault car with that exhaust system who did well, not Petrov. He had many driving mistakes last season that I m still disappointed.. unless he is more constant with being at first 8 places in next few races, I don't belive he has enough skills.

frostie500

freestyla wrote: »

I really didn't see any pass or superb tactical decision or fastest laps from Petrov? What he actually did to get that much praise? He kept car on track?
I think it's Renault car with that exhaust system who did well, not Petrov. He had many driving mistakes last season that I m still disappointed.. unless he is more constant with being at first 8 places in next few races, I don't belive he has enough skills.

Petrov had the sixth fastest lap of the race, started from the third row, made a great start and had a flawless race to beat both Ferraris, a Red Bull and a McLaren. That's a pretty impressive race and a huge improvement on everything he did last year. There were more than enough positives from his race to warrant the praise he has received.
The car is clearly pretty handy and the exhaust is clearly innovative but there is no way that it should have allowed him to beat the likes of the drivers behind him.

You're right to say that he has to consistently perform at a high level to be a great driver but that doesn't mean that his melbourne performance should be discounted. He was very poor last year and that shouldn't be forgotten but it also shouldn't be held against him when he does well.

Cookie_Monster

Dcully wrote: »

One of the most liked guys on the grid , if you replaced Vettel with Hamilton id totally understand.

We all know Hamilton is a douchebag but Vettle is just to arrogant to like, especially with that finger. I hope he pokes himself in the eye with it some day

freestyla

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

We all know Hamilton is a douchebag but Vettle is just to arrogant to like, especially with that finger. I hope he pokes himself in the eye with it some day

Right on I like almost everything in Vettel except that finger.. annoying cheering grrr :mad: