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[RomanticHeroX]

Ferrari has needed to get rid of Massa for years now. I'm not sure why he's so loved in the team but it's been clear for a while that he's just not a top tier driver.

 

[Ghost]

Damn, early days but it seems very much 'as you were' if not worse in terms of actual competitiveness between the teams.

Here's hoping that the tyres, kers & wing changes will at least make the race more dynamic.

Bit depressing. I should really stop paying attention to winter testing.

 

[Ark]

KOBAYASHIIIIIIIIII

Steller performance from McLaren, only one team could manage to turn a car around so quickly. Hamilton's lap was a good lap, shame about the KERS though, and Button was held up with Rosberg.

Disappointing result for Webber, Vettel needs to convert that pole into a win this time (Or let Button get a hat-trick).

Petrov up in 6th and STR, Sauber 'comfortably' in the top 10 is great news, Di Resta drove very well too.

The DRS needs to be restricted for qualy, we can't risk more incidents like Sutil. HRT is an absolute disgrace of a 'team' Liuzzi has now shot off the other foot he left from last year, and karkikeyeyanaeyeyan is just plain terrible. Shame about Lotus, but there you go.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Brundle & DC did a GREAT job in the commentary box imo, definitely looking forward to the rest of the season now. Brundle really does make a good lead commentator, finally two guys that know what they're talking about.

EDIT: It's also quite amusing that it appears to be Oz 2010 all over again. The tyres should produce an incredible race however.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

The dynamic in the front seems to be the same but midfield is looking really interesting. Sauber in particular are miles ahead of where I would've expected them, and poor Williams seems to be sliding backwards again.

 

[wonderkins]

Heidfield had KERS malfunction+other problems and Lotus had their wing stuck in high downforce config. (Source is Autosport)

Oh and for the first time in years - no commercials during the program. That annoying commentator is still there ...

ok, but Nick is still on double secret probation. Not letting him into the toga party 'til he beats Vitaly.

Watching HRT, do they even have a DRS on the wing? Never saw it move. Liuzzi threw that (rumored) $2 million USD settlement into a bonfire.

 

[jey_16]

Ferrari has needed to get rid of Massa for years now. I'm not sure why he's so loved in the team but it's been clear for a while that he's just not a top tier driver.

its sad if the accident really caused all of this.....he was amazing in 2008 (dominated Kimi) and was actually doing reasonably well in a poor car in 2009 right up until Hungary

during the broadcast, they were saying that he has a contract until the end of 2012 but Ferrari can break it early if they want.....the problem is, the driver they would have replaced him with (Kubica) is going to be out for a while so who else is there?

 

[AcridMeat]

Missed the qualfying.

Why is Massa so low?

He sucks. Also Ferrari's form sucks.

 

[Ark]

Vettel not using KERS either!

BOSS BATTLE!

Hamilton had a KERS failure though, upset the brake balance. The gap would have been smaller, but nevertheless.

during the broadcast, they were saying that he has a contract until the end of 2012 but Ferrari can break it early if they want.....the problem is, the driver they would have replaced him with (Kubica) is going to be out for a while so who else is there?

Alonso will never let Ferrari recruit Kubica so long as he is there, he knows how quick he is and Alonso has 100% control over who gets in. Ferrari should get Kobayashi, if anyone.

 

[Pterion]

If Mclaren wins tomorrow, I will never take winter testing seriously again.

Give Kobayashi the 2nd Ferrari seat.

 

[wonderkins]

So that's three votes for KOB to Ferrari. The motion carries.

 

[Shaneus]

The 1st driver that drops out of the race bet in f1racemanager.

Vettel. Vettel. Vettelvettelvettelvettel.

Vettel pls.

 

[Lucius86]

Vettel. Vettel. Vettelvettelvettelvettel.

Vettel pls.

For the sake of entertainment, Hamilton either needs to pip Vettel into T1 or Vettel to go out.

 

[AcridMeat]

I wish there was a good team for Kubica to be the #1 driver for. All I can think of at the moment is him going to RBR and Kobayashi to Ferrari. Sorry Webber. I would like Kubica to go to Ferrari and scare the pants off Alonso.

 

[SunhiLegend]

Does anyone know when BBC iplayer will have this in HD?

 

[Ravenn17]

Anybody watch F1 coverage on SPEED? Any thoughts on how well they stack up to BBC?

 

[RomanticHeroX]

David Hobbs and Steve Matchett are both insightful, entertaining commentators. They also tend to be very considerate in things like commercial breaks.

 

[JordoftheDead]

It seems that both Ferrari and Merc sre struggling to get heat into their tyres.

I hope Merc have that excuse to fall back on, because an F1 team with the engineering backing of Mercedes (who also develops the best engine of the grid) being out-developed by Sauber would be very very disappointing.

Great job by Petrov. I know it's been said to death, but it really sucks that Kubica isn't in that car, and Seb... what a freak. Mark already seems worried, the look on his face took me back to the issues of last season. That said, I'm expecting the race to be much closer.

 

[dalin80]

Outstanding work from mclaren and a stunning lap from hamilton.

Even though mclarens race pace is supposed to be a bit closer to red bulls I can see them doing much to the 1 sec gap, will just have rely on the red bull drivers poor race craft.

 

[JordoftheDead]

Outstanding work from mclaren and a stunning lap from hamilton.

Even though mclarens race pace is supposed to be a bit closer to red bulls I can see them doing much to the 1 sec gap, will just have rely on the red bull drivers poor race craft.

Looking at the long run pace from Friday practice (which probably doesn't mean much) the pace of the Red Bulls still looked pretty comfortable. The Red Bull looks very reliable this year, so if Vettel cuts out the stupid mistakes he could walk it in.

Still, McLaren always develop a car well as the season goes on so they could have closed the gap significantly by the mid point of the seaon.

 

[Goldrusher]

Surprising: Petrov, McLaren

Disappointing: Heidfeld, Schumacher, Williams

 

[wonderkins]

Surprising: Petrov, McLaren

Disappointing: Heidfeld, Schumacher, Williams

Underline Schumacher and add Sutil to the list of disappointments. How, at this point, Sutil has a drive or sponsors is beyond my meager comprehension. The Hulk sits sidelined while we fans are tortured watching Sutil barge around the track...why? I'd rather "risk" Hulk than wait for the "reward" of Sutil.

Rosberg made the Merc look driveable. Schumi had it looking like a squirrel on meth. If Brawn doesn't come to terms with Rosberg as the focus of chassis development, I'll question his sanity. I'll always have an appreciation of Schumi's greatness, but Rosberg is the future for Merc. Which is like saying water is wet in terms of obviousness.

 

[DieH@rd]

Its a shame that Team Lotus did not make any improvements. They are still leaders of the "slow pack". Petrov, kobayashi and Mclaren did great job... but... Vettel just raped them all.

 

[JordoftheDead]

1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’23.529
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’24.307
3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’24.395
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’24.779
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’24.974
6 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’25.247
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’25.421
8 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’25.599
9 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’25.626
10 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’27.066
11 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’25.971
12 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’26.103
13 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’26.108
14 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’26.739
15 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1’26.768
16 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’31.407
17 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth
18 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1’27.239
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1’29.254
20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1’29.342
21 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’29.858
22 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’30.822
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1’32.978
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’34.293

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I've not read any posts cos I've not watched quali yet, but it's not up in HD on the iPlayer and I'm fucking angryyyy.

I can't find any HD torrents, either. Even signed up to some sports trackers in hope I so want to watch this season in HD, don't mess me around like this, BBC!

 

[navanman]

They have been refused permission to race. Gonna be hard to improve your car enough to get to 107% when you can't race and you don't do any testing or practice runs.

Any bets on how long they will keep going for? If they can't race, they won't compete and won't get sponsors, cash they badly need.

IMO, they will be gone by European leg & good riddance too. No sympathy from any of the F1 guys on Twitter, BBC, etc..

 

[Graphics Horse]

Poor HRT (

Those big white crosses over the HRT driver's faces on BBC's grid CG was a bit unnecesary, lol.

I had a feeling both Sauber drivers would manage to get in the top 10 but good to see Kobayashi do it.

 

[brotkasten]

Incredible performance by Vettel and Red Bull. I knew they were fast, but that's really stunning. Reminds me of Ferrari in 2004, I think. Webber reaffirms his number 2 position in the team, which is less surprising. Ferrari is a huge disappointment. I didn't watch the qualifying, so what's their excuse for being one and a half seconds slower than RBR? And yes, please, please for fucks sake, replace Massa with someone like Kobayashi. That guy isn't motivated at all and he needs to go, replace him in this season, if you can. But the big surprise is obviously McLaren. Who would've thought that they're able to keep up with RBR? Lets hope they didn't sacrifice the reliability for this.

 

[navanman]

They aren't going to get a dispensation either. If they were close to the cut-off, they might have been allowed to race but they are 2 seconds & 4 seconds away from 107%.

 

[navanman]

Both Red Bulls didn't use KERS during qualifying and now the reason has come out.

They are using a small compact battery that is only useful for the start and drag race into Turn 1, after that its useless.

Saves weight and keeps the car compact.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

McLaren's troubles during testing were greatly exaggerated by the media and the fans, they knew they'd be there or thereabouts with the front runners once they dealt with their reliability issues.

 

[Mush]

For the lolz, I'd love to see the likes of Vettel do a few laps in the HRT.

Just to see if it is really that bad of a car.

 

[Orgun]

Wing flex comparison images -

Red Bulls
http://twitpic.com/4df5oz

McLaren
http://twitpic.com/4dfbx3

 

[Graphics Horse]

Newey (laughs)

The FIA really need to involve a wind tunnel test to regulate that properly.

 

[brotkasten]

Newey (laughs)

The FIA really need to involve a wind tunnel test to regulate that properly.

Yeah, the RB7's wing flex is crazy. It almost touches the ground.

 

[Adam Scott Aukerman]

McLaren's troubles during testing were greatly exaggerated by the media and the fans, they knew they'd be there or thereabouts with the front runners once they dealt with their reliability issues.

Doesn't really seem to be the case. The simple exhaust solution working this well, when the apparently the whole car was designed around a complex exhaust system that they can't use is just plain surprising.

For the lolz, I'd love to see the likes of Vettel do a few laps in the HRT.

Just to see if it is really that bad of a car.

I've read that they were using last year's aero package, so I'm guessing it really is just that bad.

 

[Psychotext]

Vettel is a machine. Was amused to see the finger again though.

Well played Mclaren, that's one hell of a result given what virtually everyone was saying about the car. Hopefully we'll see a good race between Hamilton, Button and Webber tomorrow.

I mention those three because if Vettel is in 1st place by the end of the 1st corner, he's gone.

 

[Ark]

We should be in for a spectacle of a season, if RBR go and ruin that by pulling a Ferrari 2004, I'll be pissed.

To say the least.

 

[Stop It]

They have been refused permission to race. Gonna be hard to improve your car enough to get to 107% when you can't race and you don't do any testing or practice runs.

Any bets on how long they will keep going for? If they can't race, they won't compete and won't get sponsors, cash they badly need.

IMO, they will be gone by European leg & good riddance too. No sympathy from any of the F1 guys on Twitter, BBC, etc..

No sympathy from me either.

In 2010 I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt but when they had to scrabble around for someone else to build their car for them after Dallara refused, I gave up on them.

It's a poorly managed, badly run joke of a team whose cars are far slower then they were last year and frankly, would be a moving chicane at Melbourne to say the least.

If the dissipated into the ether I would not shed a tear.

 

[Adam Scott Aukerman]

I mention those three because if Vettel is in 1st place by the end of the 1st corner, he's gone.

I'm currently hopefully that the tyre situation is going to provide some decent variety to the results in at least the first few races, so even though the RBR is the fastest car on the grid, the result might not be as cut and dried as it seems.

 

[John_B]

I remember some engineer from McLaren, even before testing, said they were excited for their rule interpretation or something similar. They likely had a plan b going forward with that extreme exhaust.

What's surprising is that they still haven't managed to make their wings flex like Red Bull's.

 

[Psychotext]

I'm currently hopefully that the tyre situation is going to provide some decent variety to the results in at least the first few races, so even though the RBR is the fastest car on the grid, the result might not be as cut and dried as it seems.

I say it mostly because Vettel has been VERY consistent on his race simulation runs. I think he's got a handle on the tyre situation.

 

[brotkasten]

You guys think Ferrari will be able to catch up with RBR? How much faster was BrawnGP in 09?

Vettel is a machine. Was amused to see the finger again though.

Well played Mclaren, that's one hell of a result given what virtually everyone was saying about the car. Hopefully we'll see a good race between Hamilton, Button and Webber tomorrow.

I mention those three because if Vettel is in 1st place by the end of the 1st corner, he's gone.

Vettel might be gone after the first corner, but he still has to finish the Aussie GP for the first time. Seems like a curse.

I just skimmed through Newey's Wikipedia article and saw that he designed the McLaren MP4/13, which is awesome. It's just one beautiful car.

And I really miss the wide rear wing on the cars.

 

[Ark]

Hamilton promises to give Vettel the race of his life:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9436860.stm

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Hamilton promises to give Vettel the race of his life:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9436860.stm

I'm sure he will.

 

[Lucius86]

Flexi-wing is crazy.

 

[Stop It]

You guys think Ferrari will be able to catch up with RBR? How much faster was BrawnGP in 09?


Vettel might be gone after the first corner, but he still has to finish the Aussie GP for the first time. Seems like a curse.

I just skimmed through Newey's Wikipedia article and saw that he designed the McLaren MP4/13, which is awesome. It's just one beautiful car.

And I really miss the wide rear wing on the cars.

I know that is a picture of David Coulthard driving this particular McLaren but...

Anyway, of course Ferrari can catch up, just like they did in 2010 but then again McLaren are now at a better base than they were in 2010 and RBR aren't going to stand still either.

This season isn't decided yet, but RBR are the team to beat, I think that much is clear.

 

[Ark]

Flexi-wing is crazy.

RBR actually run their wing much lower to the ground than McLaren, even without the flexing. Infact, I'd go as far to say that the flexing between RBR & McLaren is very similar, just that RBR runs the wing much lower.

 

[ashk]

Both Red Bulls didn't use KERS during qualifying and now the reason has come out.

They are using a small compact battery that is only useful for the start and drag race into Turn 1, after that its useless.

Saves weight and keeps the car compact.

If this is true (you didn't post a source), this isn't really KERS then, is it? Since there's no kinetic energy recovery, it's just a sort of one-time speed boost, like a small containter of nitrous. I had no idea the regulations would allow such a system.

 

[anonnumber6]

If this is true (you didn't post a source), this isn't really KERS then, is it? Since there's no kinetic energy recovery, it's just a sort of one-time speed boost, like a small containter of nitrous. I had no idea the regulations would allow such a system.

They probably charge the battery during the warm up lap.

You guys think Ferrari will be able to catch up with RBR? How much faster was BrawnGP in 09?


Vettel might be gone after the first corner, but he still has to finish the Aussie GP for the first time. Seems like a curse.

I just skimmed through Newey's Wikipedia article and saw that he designed the McLaren MP4/13, which is awesome. It's just one beautiful car.

http://i.imgur.com/LPNjA.jpg[IMG]

And I really miss the wide rear wing on the cars. :([/QUOTE]

I still remember that Melbourne GP when DC and Mika lapped the whole field. Such a great car and I must say a much better livery.

Very disappointed with Ferrari today, Alonso dragged the car into 5th and I was surprised Massa was still not anywhere near Alonso's performance especially after he stated the new tyres suit his driving style more than last year. It looked like the track conditions just didn't suit the car which I'm sure will be worked on throughout the season. A podium would be nice tomorrow but the race is Vettel's to lose. DC and Brundle were also very good in the commentary box, having two guys who can both offer so much analysis is a massive improvement during the broadcast.

 

[Psychotext]

Flexi-wing is crazy.

Looks like another season of everyone endlessly going on about this crap. =/