Grand Prix 2018 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

As a less than convincing set of test sessions drew to a close in sunny snowy rainy sunny Spain, most of the motoring press had Mercedes out in front as the team to beat again this season.The packing cases, cars, freight, PR Stands and all the other guff that makes up the travelling kit of a modern F1 team will by now be well on its way to Australia and in a few short weeks we will find out if the motoring press are correct.

One man who won't be taking his place in the stands at Albert Park this year will be Ron Walker, the former Mayor of Melbourne and the Chairman of Grand Prix Australia who was the key figure in establishing the Albert Park and Melbourne as the countries addition to the GP Calender. Ron passed away on the 30 Jan this year.

Attendance figures at Albert Park have been on the decline since reaching a peak in 2012. The race day attendance last year dipped below 100'000 for the first time in the tracks history. Does this reflect a growing global apathy with F1 or the lack of Australian interest on the grid since Mark Webber retired?

Four drivers will be taking to the grid in Australia for the first time. Two debutants and two who joined mid way through the season last year. Leclerc joins as reigning FIA Formula 2 champion and the 2016 F3 champion but will find himself saddled with possibley the worst car on the grid. Hartley did little to impress in last years Toro Rosso and will be looking to make a stronger impression this season alongside his team mate Pierre Gasly. Gasly, the 2016 GP2 champion settled quickly in to life at Toro Rosso last season and with the works backing of Honda, both drivers will be seeking to maximise their potential. Sergey Sirotkin won the race off to join Williams, replacing the finally departing Massa. A shame for many who wanted to see Kubica take the seat at Grove, Sirotkin will need to do well to shake off the feeling that he's just another rent a drive. His previous single seat results show that on his day he can perform with the best of the younger drivers and the first thing he'll need to do is show a clean pair of heels to Lance Stroll. I remain convinced that despite the money on offer from both drivers backing, Kubica is just one or two driver error DNF's away from stepping up to the race seat while one of the two are 'rested'.

I'm not going to waste finger strokes speculating about the performance of the teams on the grid because I think we all know who are going to be the key players in this area and see little to convince me that anything will change too much from last year but we live in hope.
 
I found "the show" as tediously mediocre as the race.
I hit the metaphorical "ignore" button on Kravitz ages ago, Croft is unequipped to provide any real colour to the race and I think Brundle should try and find a better gig. Di Resta, whom I actually like a great deal, provides nothing.
 
I've just realised I'm turning into Mephistopheles and Jen. Sorry. I will try and reign in the negativity.

I miss Mephistopheles! Can we in undo his self imposed ban?

What can I say about the race? Not much. As Titch points out there have been millions and millions of pounds spent on cars and, apart from Haas fixing the brakes, nothing has changed. It kind of sums F1 up at mo. Brand new cars every year because it's good to say 'look what we've built'. Why not run same car and keep developing it? Used to work in the past.

My favourite bit of the race was when Lastname was closing the gap on Lastname.
 
I'm not completely unplease with the result. A win is a win and they will be hard to come by as the season progreses. I loved to see Kimi in the podium. He seemed to be ok with the result. Lewis has 24 races to retake the lead back, so no worries.

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Hamilton can't admit that there is a 'party mode'.
a) It would disparage his performance in Q3.
b) He is extremely insecure. Actually in more than 20 years of watching F1, he is the most insecure top driver I have ever seen.
Hi,

Vettel stated somewhere on sunday that in his opinion merc hasn't got a party mode. He has analized gps data from Q2 and Q3 of Ham, and this was his own conclusion. Like HAM or not, apperantly he can drive like hell.
 
Okay, in the cold light of day, what did I think about the race....

I thought it was as boring as watching paint dry! Overtaking impossible , no racing. Not just saying that because if the VSC fiasco.

Have to congratulate Ferrari for being in the position to take advantage of that safety car. Ferrari did nothing wrong. But the VSC is wrong. It’s meant to neutralise the race not hand out advantages. Bottas, Vettel and Alonso all gained advantage under it. So I think that rule needs tweaking.

On other stuff....
Daniel RIc did an amazing race after a poor quali and bad luck with the grid drop

Verstappen overcooked it.

Kimi outdrove Vettel

Vettel got lucky.

Lewis Lost because of VSC and strategy miscalculations. Minor error pushing near the end on worn tyres and overheating engine.

Bottas needs to up his game.He’s in a Merc. This weekend was poor. The big ‘Merc advantage’...only seeing it so far in Lewis’ hands.

Outside the top three teams....

Hass ! delighted and disappointed in equal measure. Very sad for the mechanics....and I guess the drivers.

Alonso. He’s a conniving weasel much of the time, but he deserves to have a decent car . He’s with Ham, Vet, Ric , Vers as the current talent. I hope this performance from McLaren means he can fight for podiums sometimes this year.

On latest Hamilton liegate. Hamilton, Wolf and Vettel have all said there was no extra mode used for that qualifying lap by Hamilton. It was the same mode as his previous lap, he just drove a blinder.
Also the qualifying mode is available to all Mercedes engine users.
 
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The only sport I loved is dieing. I feel sick with how things are going. This may well be my last season. Aren't season openers meant to draw you in not repel you?

Well, given that F1 is going Sky only next year in the UK, (or at least for the live coverage), then many people will lose touch... F1 will become like pre-1976 once again!
 
The whole VSC thing really makes me laugh as we have the same discussion every time it's used. It has been marketed as 'neutralising' the race and Crofty has that lovely skarletric analyse but it's rubbish. The VSC relies on drivers hitting certain deltas at certain times which is meant to keep the distances the same but it still relies on driver input, lines, track sections etc so there is always going to be gains and loses in it. Especially in the tiny fraction of time F1 deals with.

The only way to ensure nothing changes is for the cars to stop completely dead. Even then they'd be arguments over who rolled further.
 
I can see where advantages can be gained, and immediately disagreed when Brundle briefly implied there could be no gain (which he kept quiet about afterwards!). I am surprised just how large Vettel's gain over Hamilton was though. This can't just be explained by pit lane entry (& exit?) speed not governed by the VSC can it? Was Hamilton not hitting the deltas as well?
 
rufus_mcdufus if all of us drive a car at exactly 50mph round the same track we'd all still complete it in different times. It's all about lines. Also it's not limited it's delta so it depends on how you drive it. You could drive the beginning of the delta really slow but then go fast at the end or fast then slow down. When you're dealing in seconds it all makes a difference. It's a nonsense really.

Anyone who saw Markalov's win at Monaco in GP2 would not be shocked by the swing!
 
But the VSC is wrong. It’s meant to neutralise the race not hand out advantages. Bottas, Vettel and Alonso all gained advantage under it. So I think that rule needs tweaking.

Got to disagree with you here. The last thing we need is more rule tweaks. You play the cards you are dealt and get on with it.

Teams have been taking advantage of safety car periods since they were first used and what happened under the VSC at the weekend was little different to that.

Some you win and some you lose.
 
Under VSC, it wouldn't be difficult to move to a situation where the pitlane was closed; if a driver has damage, they could come in, but then would be held at the end of the pitlane for a certain amount of time (say 20 seconds). That would ensure that there was none of this jiggery-pokery that Alonso, Vettel, Bottas et al benefited from...
 
Well, given that F1 is going Sky only next year in the UK, (or at least for the live coverage), then many people will lose touch... F1 will become like pre-1976 once again!

I'm hoping that in 2021 when sky's deal runs out they won't get another exclusive deal. Streaming services are probably the future of F1. Hopefully on Amazon or Netflicks and not some poxy F1 TV side line.
 
VSC wouldn't be necessary if drivers could be trusted to properly back off under yellows.

It's easier to manage on ovals due to the length of the track but the way full course yellows are managed in Indy are far better.
 
I don’t know.

A guitar?

It's an unsustainable engine mode that Merc have. Hamilton was told to use it to catch Ferrari up. It appears to be a top engine mode they can use for a short period of time, say over 1 lap, to make then significantly faster. I bet it's a fun mode to use. I bet some might even say it's party time when you use it. Like a party mode or something.
 
RasputinLives

Here's the answer:
Hi,

Vettel stated somewhere on sunday that in his opinion merc hasn't got a party mode. He has analized gps data from Q2 and Q3 of Ham, and this was his own conclusion. Like HAM or not, apperantly he can drive like hell.

It's Hamilton's skill to do magical things whenever he wants. I just wonder why he didn't want to win on Sunday. He's already got the pole record.
 
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