UN-Official Formula 1 Thread

[majorloser]

Austrailian GP Qualifying

All I can say is WOW!!!!

This is shaping up to be an interesting season. Diffusers or not, Brawn is the team to watch. I would really like to see them on the podium Sunday. They earned it. Even though I will always be a Kimi fan.

And it was also nice to see McLarceny not making Q3.

 

[annunaki]

Ferrari will be in the thick of it before long. Once they get an updated diffuser and such they will be quicker. The basic raw pace of the car is pretty good.

Red Bull impressed me with the development of their car over the weekend. When they update their diffuser, they will be quick too. Vettel qualifying 3rd says a lot to their performance and his ability.

 

[keptclose]

I have to agree, no way is Ferrari going to keep out of this.

 

[annunaki]

Diffuser or not, Brawn & Williams both have a pretty good package so far. Malaysia will be a better indication, but so far things look to bode well for them.

 

[annunaki]

Here is something really scary for the other teams.

Not only is Brawn quicker but the probably have more fuel to boot!!!!

It looks like Rubens has two extra laps or so worth of fuel as well over Button.

It shows that Redbull's pace is fairly legit too. Holy fuel Heidfeld!

FYI: Minimum weight is 605kg (1,331 lbs) with driver. Fuel is about 2.95kg per gallon or so (or .78kg per Liter).


These are post Qualy weights of the cars:

Post-qualifying car weights:

1 - Jenson Button / Brawn = 664.5kg
2 - Rubens Barrichello / Brawn = 666.5kg
3 - Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull = 657kg
4 - Robert Kubica / BMW = 650kg
5 - Nico Rosberg / Williams = 657kg
6 - Felipe Massa / Ferrari = 654kg
7 - Kimi Räikkönen / Ferrari = 655.5kg
8 - Mark Webber / Red Bull = 662kg
9 - Nick Heidfeld / BMW = 691.5kg
10 - Fernando Alonso / Renault = 680.7kg
11 - Kazuki Nakajima / Williams = 685.3kg
12 - Heikki Kovalainen / McLaren = 690.6kg
13 - Sebastien Buemi / Toro Rosso = 675.5kg
14 - Nelson Piquet / Renault = 694.1kg
15 - Giancarlo Fisichella / Force India =689kg
16 - Adrian Sutil / Force India = 684.5kg
17 - Sebastien Bourdais / Toro Rosso = 662.5kg
18 - Lewis Hamilton / McLaren = 655kg
19 - Jarno Trulli / Toyota = 660kg
20 - Timo Glock / Toyota = 670kg

 

[ragged]

Woohoo! What a race, what a race!! So much I can't even digest it, other than that Kubica/Vettel accident. Both their fault. I think Button truly deserves this win, but I think once Redbull get their diffuser updated Vettel is going to be on! I think Barrichelo and Buemi had the best drives of the race.

Luckiest driver award goes to Hamilton for 3rd, unluckiest goes to Trulli. Glad the Ferraris are suffering, about time.

I'm glad there's so much difference in the 2 tire performances, but the soft tires still need to last more than 4 laps.

That KERS is awesome, Massa was like a junky, hitting it like a crack pipe.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I'm a Ferrari guy so I'm not as happy as I'd like to be but, I do enjoy the field being so competitive. The first race and that track always shuffles things up IMO. We'll see how things stack up when they get to Europe...

Hope the fun continues down to the final race of the season!

 

[majorloser]

The race was exciting to say the least. I think the big surprise for me was how well the BMW did in the race. Granted, I think both Vettel and Kubie need a good swift kick in the nuts by their teams. Both of them missed out on points, much less missing out on a podium finish for their stupidity.

Speaking of KERS, the new on-screen graphics for the cars is pretty cool. It was interesting to see how Massa used the KERS all over the track while Hamilton used it on the front straight. It might have been more of a tire factor than anything. The McLaren might have been losing too much traction to apply the extra horsepower anywhere else on the track.

But I still don't think Hamilton deserves the third place finish. The penalty to Trulli is BS. The whole safety car and yellow flag routine was botched by the officials. It's amazing there wasn't more cars involved. Even Massa didn't know whether to stay behind or pass the safety car. A few of them slowed down and had to get waved by the car. What a fiasco that was.

 

[sploo]

Yea, very good first race.

It might just be my imagination, but it looked to me like cars were following one another a little more closely through the corners than in recent years, so maybe the aero changes are having some affect.

I think people are being a little harsh on Hamilton. Perhaps he'd realised there was a safety car out, and wasn't expecting Trulli to come past. Either way, he deserves some credit for getting an uncompetitive car from 18th up to the sharp end of the runners.

Looking forward to the next race, though I have a suspicion that the big teams may catch Brawn in a few weeks time.

 

[ragged]

Yeah, I think Redbull and BMW are gonna catch Brawn b4 Mclaren and Ferrari. Kubica was running 2 seconds a lap faster than BUtton in the closing stages, I think he may have been able to catch him. It's was all down to the tires.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Yeah, I think Redbull and BMW are gonna catch Brawn b4 Mclaren and Ferrari. Kubica was running 2 seconds a lap faster than BUtton in the closing stages, I think he may have been able to catch him. It's was all down to the tires.

I hate the 2 tire compound rule and I hated when 2 tire manufactures were involved. Tires are the most sensitive part of the car and makes for major advantages and disadvantages. That affects the competition too much. One tire manufacture and one dry design/compound per circuit, dang it!

There, I said it and I feel better now.

 

[sploo]

I guess the tyre rules add a bit of excitement, and shake things up through the race, but yea, it is a bit artificial.

There's an article on the Beeb website, putting forward the argument that Brawn will dominate for a while. Some interesting technical info anyway: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7972046.stm

 

[ragged]

Omg!!! Hamilton Switches To Brawn For The Remainder Of The 2009 Season!!

 

[majorloser]

Omg!!! Hamilton Switches To Brawn For The Remainder Of The 2009 Season!!

You're kidding, right???

 

[ragged]

Lol, yea, it's April fools day

 

[annunaki]

The way he has praised them in the media lately looks like he is aiming for a job though.

 

[ragged]

LOL, yeah I got caught with that April fools as well!! I just had to pass in on.

Well Hamilton's now stripped of the 3rd in Australia, Trulli reinstated. Hamilton lied and deserved to get no points. Man, I'm starting to lose it with Hamilton, too much lies and trickery with him and Mclaren. Starting to remind me of the Shuey and Ferrari antics, which is why I stopped rooting for them too, after awhile. Hmm, I'll root for Kubica/Vettel now.

 

[ragged]

BAH!! The hell with this late start to Europe can watch the race while having afternoon tea. Start the race at is usual time so the freaking rain won't stop it. Jeeze! The hell with Europe, let em get up earlier to watch the race. I was up at 4:30am.

 

[sploo]

BAH!! The hell with this late start to Europe can watch the race while having afternoon tea.

Yea, it seems pretty dumb to me. Even shifting them still means the races start early morning GMT, so I end up time shifting them with the PVR anyway.

It's not like shifting them to the evening (local time) is making them prime time for Europe. Can't quite see the point to be honest.

Chuffed that Button's got another race win though.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Great racing though guys. When was the last time you saw, take position -lose position - take position back - lose position etc...etc...racing in F1. The Alonso/Weber battle was fun stuff!

Ferrarri looks mis-managed too me. How long until Kimi has a fit???

Oh yeah, Hamilton (both of them) is a baby.