Live on Sky One now....
My son woke me up 2 minutes before the start of the race (not planned), so watching now - great start by Bottas
It's completely different. Of Mercedes recent drivers titles, only 2015 was a walkover for Hamilton. Vettel / Ferrari should probably have won (if they'd been on their game) in 2017/18 and 2014/16 went down to the last race between Hamilton & Rosberg.
The Scumacher / Ferrari title years had virtually no completion for the WDC and were very dark days for F1.
Live on Sky One now....
My son woke me up 2 minutes before the start of the race (not planned), so watching now - great start by Bottas
Not exactly an overtaking-fest so far is it? I hope this isn't an omen for the rest of the season.
I wonder what the cars will be like on a race track, a few surprises here, if sky are going to keep showing it on Sky one I can cancel sky sports,
Honda’s got to the end, Mclaren must be in total disbelief. Ferrari slapping down their number two driver
Last edited by adrianw; 17th March 2019 at 07:42.
^^ wishful thinking :)
I think they normally show a couple of races on Sky One year - just to tempt us
Chuffed for Bottas, brilliant to see him push for that extra point as well. Verstappen's first Oz podium, RB and Honda will be happy, maybe less so with Gasly who didn't seen to have the balls to over take.
^^^ this ^^^
Over here, the Honda and Renault dealers are next door neighbours. There was already some pre-race banter. Let's see how this week will look.
Menno
I have been watching F1 since 1965 (wish). That must rank as one of the most boring races EVER!
Well done to Valtteri and Honda.
Australia has never been an overtake fest, it's actually one of the most difficult circuits of the season to get one car past another. As usual it's too early to predict how the season will pan out however a) the midfield is looking close again b) it was good to see that extra point being chased (Bottas said himself that there's an extra 21 points up for grabs) and c) this could well end up to be a season of the sum of all parts rather than individual races.
I enjoyed the race, witnessing each driver and team perform as they did was, in a number of cases, quite enlightening. I'm looking forward to the next race already, we could easily see a slight yet telling shuffle of the pack.
As i said yesterday this could be the biggest bore fest ever in F1...nothing to change my view on this but let's hope things improve in the next few races.
It's Melbourne. It's always the same, it's a very odd track that doesn't seem to reflect any others throughout the season. Was encouraging to see them able to run so close to each other for prolonged periods. On an actual circuit, potentially bodes well
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Spot on. It's encouraging to see the performance of the Red Bull with Honda power - it's not far away from the ultimate pace, although there's a big question mark over reliability, which might hit them later in the season. The midfield is, if anything, tighter than expected, although the difficulties in overtaking at Melbourne might have played a part. Bahrain might sort things out a bit, but the scrap between Renault/Alfa Romeo/Racing Point/Toro Rosso will be entertaining, and I hope that the TV directors don't just concentrate on the front runners.
It's going to be a long season for Williams, sadly.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Hamilton's car damaged. So Ferrari couldn't even keep pace with a faulty Merc. They better hope its the track that doesn't suit!
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Is there any likelihood of a team making major changes before the fifth race in Spain, or are the first four races of Australia, Bahrain, China and Azerbaijan like a stand alone mini-season? For the teams that have cars that are working well, the start of the season could be points in the bank.
Either Williams are setting up a complete second Aero division, or the original guys have walked:
https://www.williamsf1.com/pages/careers/WMR
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Good day in the office for Mercedes. An excellent drive by Botas, a good drive by Lewis, dispite a poor start, great drive by Max including his overtake. Super day for Honda.
Very bad day in the office for Ferrari. Much head scratching required.
Norris must be very pleased and will already be taking the eye of some other teams - Red bull for example as I am not convinced by Gasly.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thinking about Williams situation, I moan and whinge about pay drivers, but surely this has to be a large contributory factor to their current situation, you need at least one driver (ideally two) who can give accurate, knowledgeable correct, constructive feedback and setup data to enable the team to develop a competitive car, If Williams hadn't gone for the cash over the last two seasons and had gone for drivers who were capable of giving them the feedback they needed to develop a competitive car they would be in a far better position. A good seat of the pants driver can tell what a car is doing, not necessarily why, this has little to do with the new rules as most of the cars on the grid are evolutions of last years car.
Australia isn't particularly representative, as is effectively a street circuit, Bahrain will give the true position of the cars, but still, all of the cars were on the same tarmac at the same time in Melbourne Both Williams and McLaren were very disappointing.
Aren't there very few that aren't pay drivers? Don't the majority have to bring sponsor money with them to secure a drive?
Perez for instance, brings a huge amount of cash via Slim (iirc).
Folks seem to get on Strolls back because it's his father money, but he's had some good drives (like yesterday). I wonder if he'd get the same attention if it was purely an unrelated sponsor bringing the cash?
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Hamilton's damage
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/h...ralia/4355058/
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Mark Hughes' version of events:
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/r...378YTL,267XD,1
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
That's mostly done by telemetry analysis now. While driver feedback is valuable, and the Williams team have gone backwards since Felipe Massa left, analysis of the data provided by the telemetry can enable the drivers and engineers to work together and optimise the setup as far as possible, and will also provide useful data on everything that the driver does.
By the time they reach Formula 1, which requires the acquisition of an FIA Superlicence by winning, or in some cases becoming runner-up in specified Championships, a driver will be well-versed in car setup, providing feedback to engineers, and analysing telemetry.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Think of the effect the small flaps had on the front wing airflow, and how fundamentally it changed the car concepts this year (with them being outlawed). From what I've read, it's critical in managing flow around the rear tyre, but also stops turbulent air entering the diffuser.
I guess you have to decide wether the team would make it up (and have any half decent technically minded journalist say it's bs), or not. If it's not that important, I'm not sure the team would of been working on the exact part on Sunday pre race.
If you look at the lap times, from lap 4 he does slow. A from that point on, hes slower on most laps than Bottas, despite clean air. Normally the lap times between the Merc drivers tend to equalise once they've dropped back from the turbulence. That didn't seem to happen.
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Decent video regarding Merc in Melbourne
https://youtu.be/feMbIT7SzTQ
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I think this has been touched on before, but I guess the Mercedes is only truly optimal in clean air, if you’re in front then you’re away, if you’re following it’s not as easy, maybe they are all like that, I don’t know.
Cheers..
Jase
Hamilton had a lot of clean air in front; is not thát the whole issue for some fans?
Never mind. We will see on the next track soon enough. I would like to see a Honda separating two Mercs or a Merc-Ferrari, preferably Bottas on the highest step. These scenarios promise most as Hamilton will find his groove soon enough.
I don't think it does. He drove faultlessly. What's being explained is why Hamilton was so far behind.
The bodywork had nothing to do with his poor start, and he'd have likely still finished second even with an undamaged car. Just a bit closer.
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Rob Smedley was saying on Teds show last night that the Barcelona track surface suited the Ferrari and the Melbourne surface didn't, Its as simple as that, he also felt things would be different in Bahrain, others are saying that Ferrari are nursing an engine/component problem.
I think that Australia is not a fair test of the cars competitiveness, it is a road track with bumps, drains, changing surfaces and compromises, I think it wrong to make any judgements until they are all seen on a proper track.
Last edited by adrianw; 21st March 2019 at 14:27.
I'm guessing...but maybe The F1 Midweek Debrief on Sky?
Edit: Just found:
Last edited by PickleB; 21st March 2019 at 16:52.
Verstappen got a day out,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/motorsport/47696809
A couple of snippets before the weekend, firstly tyre choice:
The tyres for this race are the three hardest compounds available, and as usual, most have maxed-out on the softest option.
Meanwhile, over in Alonso Land:
https://twitter.com/FARACINGTEAM
Feel free to make up your own jokes about the team name.
I believe that qualifying and the race will be available live on Sky 1.
Edit: In other news, Carlos Sainz has to take a second MGU-K for Bahrain, after his original unit was damaged beyond repair in Melbourne.
Nobody from Honda was available for comment.
Last edited by Backward point; 28th March 2019 at 16:35.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
May not be too long before Niki's up there with the FIA Super Licence holders - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/03/28/ai_racing_car/
Patrick Head has been tempted back to work at Williams:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...XnO1QVWFdOFRrg
I wonder if he'd seen the prospect of the value of his shareholding taking a nosedive, and decided to do something about it?
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.