Grand Prix 2010 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Well here we go for round 2 and anyone connected to the sport will be hoping for a better show of it than Bahrain.

For the night owls crazy enough to stay up into the wee small hours to watch the first practice sessions, of interest is the recent announcement from Force India that Paul di Resta will be testing the car in P1 of most forthcoming races. Sutil and Liuzzi will take it in turns to pass their cars to di Resta at alternate races. The Scot is highly rated so could this be a sign that Force India may not have the same driver line up next year?

The newbies are still going to be very much in the "testing" phase and all eyes will be on HRT to see if they can improve on their Bahrain showing.

Meanwhile at the sharp end of the grid doubts remain over the reliability of those Renault engines but there's no denying that the Red Bull is quick. Mark Webber, who constantly seems to be drinking Fosters in the last chance Saloon, really needs to put in a good showing at his home track. Of course we have the Nico/Schuey show to snigger at and then there are the Ferraris and Mclarens.

So it's on with the show........

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I really hope the teams and drivers are a bit more aggressive now they have some data from Bahrain.

I find the decision to give valuable practice time to di Resta curious.
It's almost as if they're preparing him for later in the season.

I wonder if Virgin will finish the race, in more ways than one...

Virgin has been given a green light by the FIA to make a substantial change to its 2010 chassis.

Although the chassis is homologated for cost reasons and therefore not able to be modified, it has emerged that the new British team discovered that the fuel tank in the VR-01 car is not big enough.

In fact, with normal engine settings, the Cosworth-powered car - if sufficiently reliable - currently would not make it to the end of a race, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Fuel tank not big enough for Virgin to finish races

 

[McZiderRed]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Just under one hour to go!

I've lost my registration details for live timing. Just trying to decided whether to re-register now or not...

I'm going to keep one eye on McLaren. Both Lewis and Jenson have said they needed to pay more attention to qualifying set-up in Bahrain, so it will be interesting to see how quick (or not quick) they are in Oz. Plus, I would really like Jenson to do well this weekend. Being in my FF1L team possibly has a bearing on my interest...

Now, where's the coffee..........

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I've lost my registration details for live timing. Just trying to decided whether to re-register now or not...

They deleted all the accounts a few weeks ago when they updated the F1 site.
Just re-register chap, it's free and worth it for the data.

 

[slickskid]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

They deleted all the accounts a few weeks ago when they updated the F1 site.

I found that out just before they put the note up saying you have to re-register, 30 mins trying to go through all the combo's to log in before i bit the bullet and did a "now they tell me" the next day.


I get the feeling this one will be much tighter than the last, and for some reason i'm expecting the merc powered cars to do well here. I am left pondering though how high will the attrition rate be and how many saftey cars will we see.

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

The safety car was out on the first lap last year if I remember correctly?

Didn't Massa spin and drop right to the back? Or was that 2008?

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Don't forget everyone, the clocks go forward 1 hour on Sunday morning.

So make sure you either change your clocks before you go to bed on Saturday or set your alarm 1 hour earlier.

The race starts at 0700 which will be 0600 if you haven't changed your clocks.

 

[snowy]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Pedro looked like a fish out of water at the end of FP2 did he not?

Lots of experience but none of it seems to be particularly useful on a race weekend...

 

[FungusDBogeyman]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Good day at the track. Blagged a Schumacher stand pass and hooked up with a couple of mates from work. really good day out. Great view from the top left hand side of the stand - could see the back straight, then the last 3 corners. got some great vids, will post them up later.

The Merc's looks shakey both sessions, the McLarens were just so damn smooth, the Red Bulls looks fast. some great opposite lock moments when the rain sprinkled in FP2 - the Force India's just kept nailing in the laps... The Renaults, esp. Kubica looked great - his car control when the rain hit was pretty damn cool. able to catch the car and not shed too much speed - was wicked to watch close up.

Now at home and reading through the press - always hard to know exactly what's going on when there - esp. when they didn't have the commentary broadcast on the radio today - hope that's sorted tomorrow.

Lol @ Virgin fuel tank - funniest thing ever in F1

back in tomorrow and will be slumming it in the GA, oh well...

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

What happened with di Grassi and both HRT's in P2?
They managed 3 laps between them.

Great to hear it Fungus
We were looking for the "Matrix guy" on the TV but didn't spot you

 

[FungusDBogeyman]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

What happened with di Grassi and both HRT's in P2?
They managed 3 laps between them.

Great to hear it Fungus
We were looking for the "Matrix guy" on the TV but didn't spot you

haha - that didn't take long to catch on... I imagine I have Ed to thank....

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

haha - that didn't take long to catch on... I imagine I have Ed to thank....

I'm saying nothing

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I know it says on this document for "safety reasons" but does anyone know what particular reason has prompted them to reduce the pit lane speed limit to 60kph?

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/aus-document-11.pdf

That's going to guarantee that everyone does a 1 stop now as there will be too much time lost in the pits.
So much for different strategies this race then

 

[Muddytalker]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I know it says on this document for "safety reasons" but does anyone know what particular reason has prompted them to reduce the pit lane speed limit to 60kph?

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/aus-document-11.pdf

That's going to guarantee that everyone does a 1 stop now as there will be too much time lost in the pits.
So much for different strategies this race then

FIA: So guys, you build a car, put an engine in it and we all go racing. Sounds good yeah?
Only you have to use these tyres; They're super quick, but might not last the race.
And these ones. They're not so quick, but will last the race, even though you can't use them for a full race.
And in case you wanted to use 2 sets of those super quick ones, you have to go so slow in the pits that you'll end up losing more time than you would gain with your super-quick tyres, so there's no point in doing that.

<Disappointed murmur from F1 teams bosses, drivers, and fans; Excited gasp from each F1 team head strategist>

FIA: Ok, we all got that? So lets race!

FIA: Hey, where are you going? <F1 teams walk away grumbling>

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Looks like someone's been hooning around

Lewis Hamilton has had his Mercedes road car impounded and is expected to be charged on a summons with improper use of a vehicle following an incident in Melbourne last night, Victoria Police has confirmed.

Hamilton has apologised for "over-exuberant" driving after being stopped by police. "This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police," Hamilton said in a McLaren statement. "What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it."

Hamilton was reportedly pulled over by police in Melbourne after doing a "burnout". According to ABC in Australia, the police say the McLaren driver was turning into Fitzroy Street at around 9.15pm when he "deliberately lost traction of his wheels".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/mar/26/lewis-hamilton-melbourne-police

 

[cider_and_toast]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Lewis really dosn't know how to behave himself in Australia.

Expect to see Lewis in a road safety campain coming to a TV screen near you soon.

Don't think it will stop him from being right up their this weekend.

 

[Muddytalker]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Don't think it will stop him from being right up their this weekend.

Right up whose what?

 

[cider_and_toast]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

a'hem, I do apologise.

Don't think it will stop him from being right up THERE this weekend.

Grammer my point strong never was

 

[Boyle]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Brilliant stuff. Had to laugh when I saw it.

Anyway, the Mercedes (engine) cars certainly dominated the second practice session - their 6 cars in the top 10. Wonder if they are more suited to cooler/damp conditions than the Renault and Ferrari engines.

 

[genji]

Re: 2010 Australian GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Hamilton has apologised for "over-exuberant" driving after being stopped by police. "This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police," Hamilton said in a McLaren statement. "What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it. I'm not an over-exuberant driver. I mean I haven't gone through my life driving over-exuberantly. I'm a team player. I was misled on the acceptable amount of exuberance level. Like I said, I want to apologise. But I can't."