Formula 1 2016: Round 1 - Australian Grand Prix

HighLine

And we're back!

Alun

HighLine wrote: »

And we're back!

In 2015?

EDIT: I obviously got in before the Ninja edit

HighLine

Alun wrote: »

In 2015?

No idea what you're talking about

Harika

Rain possible for tomorrow too but Sunday should be dry.

Mike Litoris

Rain tomorrow would be epic if it leads to a mixed up grid for Sunday. The race is nearly always an anti climax.

Could tell too much from the practise sessions this morning due to the changing conditions. Hopefully the tokens Ferrari and Renault spent gets them closer to Merc.

AMKC

HighLine wrote: »

No idea what you're talking about

I think he means the 2014 pic you put up. Had to be one of the worst years for F1 car design. Some very ugly cars there from the platypus Ferrari to the ugly nosed Mclarens and Toro Rosso,s

HighLine

AMKC wrote: »

I think he means the 2014 pic you put up. Had to be one of the worst years for F1 car design. Some very ugly cars there from the platypus Ferrari to the ugly nosed Mclarens and Toro Rosso,s

Ah no I was joking with him.. I originally mis-typed the thread title as 2015 but changed it after I saw the error

Agree on the ugly cars though.. not much better now but I am really looking forward to seeing the colours of that Renault under floodlights! So nice and the matte Red Bulls look great too.

Harika

I think they should add a designer to the process who takes care of the looks and catches things like an adult themed or stepladder nose.

aphex™

So Merc haven't touched the supersofts yet. Should be something to watch for in FP3.

seamusk84

What's the weather looking like for the weekend? Was wet for P2 there. Could be a very interesting weekend.

Charlie-Bravo

Any competition thread for this race?

Ghost Train

Redbull looking surprisingly fast

Mike Litoris

Ferrari look a lot closer to Merc, Torro Rosso not that far behind them. McLaren firmly in the mid field. Force India don't look too good.

Ghost Train

This might be interesting qualifying.

Mike Litoris

Lets go!

Mike Litoris

Jesus its busy in the pit lane!

Mike Litoris

That Red Bull looks great on TV. The Sauber on the other hand.....I just can't unsee the yellow mankini.

Mike Litoris

Ron Dennis smiling...wtf?

Mike Litoris

..not any more.

smellslikeshoes

Wanted to give this new qualy set up a chance but honestly it's crap.

Dunno what I think about this format. You could see the two McLaren's were out long before they were eliminated.

Seems a few of the teams in Q1 were pretty clueless about what they were doing.

hotwhiskey

Absolutely sh*t. Why change something that was not broken. That's F1. Q2 last 8mins nothing, Watching cars cruse round, cars in pits and cars going to pits.

Dampsquid

New Quali format is just not working. If the cars could stay out on track and push for several laps (as they do in a wet qualifying session) then it would work, but not the way current f1 car run in a dry session.

Mike Litoris

I'm not liking this new qualy. I'd rather see the action towards the end of a session than at the beginning.

Ghost Train

Mike Litoris wrote: »

Ron Dennis smiling...wtf?

Yes, I couldn't see it either :pac:

Tires seems to main issue for teams, getting laps in earlier uses up the tyres leaves them sitting in pits as clock counts down

Mike Litoris

Ah here this is ridiculous. They've killed qualy.

smellslikeshoes

This is getting worse as it goes on, could see it being scrapped after today.

Dampsquid

What a joke, this will have to be changed for Bahrain.

Cookie_Monster

what a farce :rolleyes:

edit: how long left and no one on track, 3m 40 or so?

Dampsquid

Rosberg being in 4th, he was forced to go out early to put in a lap to avoid being eliminated. The lap moving him up to 2nd, but he then didnt have time to put on new tires to push for a pole position later in the session, which ended qualifying early. Ridiculous.

Unless they have a rule where they are fueled up for the whole session, and have tires that will last for several laps - then they will have to go back to the old system.

CaliforniaDream

I'm not sure I understand what just happened. That was truly awful. I'd be pissed if I paid to be there today. Do you think it was a protest by teams to have it scrapped?

Mike Litoris

Please fall out of the car.

youreadthat

Errrrrm thrilling...

Mike Litoris

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

what a farce :rolleyes:

edit: how long left and no one on track, 3m 40 or so?

....and only 2 or 3 cars have time to put in a lap.

ricimaki

Q3 is effectively finished when 4 cars are gone. Q1 and Q2 are just a few minutes of running, and then a long wait as very few come out and try to set lap times. No last minute scramble for an extra grid position! The old system was miles better than this:mad:

I should have stayed in bed

Andrew76

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

what a farce :rolleyes:

edit: how long left and no one on track, 3m 40 or so?

Was about that yeah. Not sure what I just watched but it was crap. Lol Toto just called it 'rubbish'. :pac:

I would hate to have been sat in the grandstand looking at that.

Oh and well done to Lewis, there you go Rosberg - that's what you're up against this year.

Cool_CM

Over 4 mins left in the session and it was effectively over. That's enough time to do your outlap, a flying lap and maybe cross the line to get a last lap in, instead there's an empty circuit. That's pretty bad.

RobertKK

The new qualifying format was like invisible rain was put down for the end of qualifying.
The 2005 Indianapolis qualifying was more exciting than that.

Cookie_Monster

what i do like however is that team bosses are actually openly saying it's crap rather than hiding behind corporate speak. So refreshing to hear someone like Horner be allowed say what he thinks as opposed to "blah blah blah everything is good, we don't go so well but blah blah blah its good for all overall"

smellslikeshoes

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

what i do like however is that team bosses are actually openly saying it's crap rather than hiding behind corporate speak. So refreshing to hear someone like Horner be allowed say what he thinks as opposed to "blah blah blah everything is good, we don't go so well but blah blah blah its good for all overall"

After a qualy session that bad if they said anything other than it was terrible there would be some serious ridicule coming their way.

RobertKK wrote: »

The new qualifying format was like invisible rain was put down for the end of qualifying.
The 2005 Indianapolis qualifying was more exciting than that.

The qualy for that race went normally, was only the race that was a farce.

Dampsquid

And one more thing. Qualifying and the race should be completely separate. Saving tyres should not be a concern in qualification. High grip and long lasting tyres for qualifying. Allow the cars to be setup for qualification, and then change it for the race. Why must they artificially restrict performance by creating these unnecessary rules.

tripperman

That's what you get when you come up with a half baked idea to replace something that wasn't broken, but not perfect either I'm hoping for a far more entertaining race

Cookie_Monster

and when you think Hamilton can't be more of a tool outside the car he is now wearing glasses for fashion purposes, really? Really?
never mind acting the dick over here in NZ during the week as well.

Myrddin

Very anticlimactic. I wasn't too concerned about the changes on paper, but in reality, they simply don't work. Lewis blew Nico away there too. McLaren's 1.5 seconds off quali pace isn't encouraging either

antodeco

astrofluff wrote: »

Any competition thread for this race?

Thread now up!

flazio

I'm looking forward to seeing Verstappen versus Raikkonen.

Zcott

I didn't watch it, but the new format seems to have been universally derided. The previous format was no action at the start and lots at the end, but this seems to have been reversed. Having said that, it might be worth giving it a go for maybe another two races to see if there's any chance of it working, but if not, I'd go back to the previous format. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but clearly some powers that be did.

Itssoeasy

Just watching the replay of qualy on sky. Jesus this new format hasn't worked. With two minutes left and drivers out of the car. Madness.

HighLine

New qualifying = a farce and will be changed.

Mercedes status quo = predictable but still very annoying.

That_Guy

Qualifying is a joke. As Martin Brundle was saying on commentary, I was more focused on the countdown clock rather than the lap time in question.

Horrendous. They have to change it.

HighLine

https://twitter.com/NobleF1/status/711136865571635200