Grand Prix 2011 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

And so finally it's here.

After the recent events in Bahrain the delayed 2011 Formula One season is underway this weekend in Melbourne, Australia.

For the history of the event and the circuit information, click on the link below:

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit (Albert Park) | Clip The Apex

As we stand on the brink of the new F1 season there are many un-answered questions. How will the new tyres effect each team? who will find the right package from the off? and many others.

Unusually for a pre-season testing period there was very little information that could be gained by F1 fans as to who would have the upper hand as the season get's underway. Mclaren appear to be struggling with their new car while Ferrari and Red Bull seem to be the early pace setters.

Williams have designed a radical new car for this season and it could mark the return to the front end of the grid for them while the jury is still out as to the performance of Mercedes and if they can make up for a lacklustre season last year. Both Rosberg and Schumacher have been positive in the press about their new car however the time sheets at the pre-season tests didn't exactly match their opinions. Renault have designed one of the more radical cars at the start of the season but without the talent of Robert Kubica the team may not get off to the start they had hoped for. Heidfeld is an experienced replacement but will he have the speed that his former team mate has?

Towards the rear of the grid, Torro Rosso look like they could be swallowed by at least two of the new teams from last season while Sauber will hope to have built on their improvment from 2010 and move towards the front end of the grid. Force India will also be hoping that a rough showing in pre-season testing will not translate in to a rough season.

Of last seasons new teams, both Lotus and Virgin have made strides forward with their 2011 challengers. The very least they will be looking for at the first race is to match the times of the cars at the tail end of Q1. HRT meanwhile, look to have produced a car that is a leap ahead on their 2010 effort but will once again suffer from a total lack of pre-season testing and from a tiny budget with which to develop the car further.

So, who is going to be quick out of the box and who is going to suffer a rude awakening with their cars? The first indication we will have will be in the small hours of Thursday night/Friday morning Uk time but we won't really know until qualification starts on Saturday.

Bring it on..................

 

[teabagyokel]

Here's a little teaser for the Overtaking video. I can't believe they never showed this replay during the broadcast. If you wanted a perfect example of how the DRS is supposed to work, I assume this would be the kind of thing you would want to show.

I think Ferrari had great straight-line speed anyway; hence Massa kept Button behind in the first few laps!

 

[Josephiah]

From Ted Kravitz:

Sauber's rear wing: FIA say it was effectively too flat, which would allow more air through the moveable rear wing gap, making car faster.

So that explains it then.

I think it's the other way round actually - the wing had too tight a curve - see autosport article here.
J

 

[Brogan]

I think it's the other way round actually - the wing had too tight a curve

Yes, I posted something about that later.
Ted Kravitz got it wrong.

 

[snowy]

Ted Kravitz got it wrong.

The Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: If Ted Kravitz says it, then the opposite is true.

 

[Enja]

Someone said Heidfeld "apparently" got hit.

He certainly did!!

 

[snowy]

This is the pits:

Lap 11 – Webber pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 12 – Alonso pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 13 – Massa pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 13 – Barrichello pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 14 – Vettel pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 14 – Di Resta pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 14 – D’Ambrosio pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 15 – Buemi pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 15 – Heidfeld pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 16 – Hamilton pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 16 – Petrov pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 16 – Rosberg pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 16 – Kobayashi pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 16 – Sutil pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 16 – Trulli pits from hard to soft tyre
Lap 17 – Button pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 17 – Alguersari pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 17 – Kovalainen pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 17 – Schumacher pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 18 – Glock pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 19 – Button pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 19 – Glock pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 23 – Perez pits from hard to soft tyre
Lap 23 – Barrichello pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 26 – Webber pits from hard to soft tyre
Lap 27 – Alonso pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 28 – Barrichello pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 29 – Buemi pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 30 – Heidfeld pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 31 – Massa pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 32 – Kobayashi pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 35 – Alguersuari pits from hard to hard tyre
Lap 36 – Vettel pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 36 – Hamilton pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 36 – Petrov pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 36 – Di Resta pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 37 – Button pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 37 – Sutil pits from hard to hard tyre
Lap 38 – D’Ambrosio pits from hard to hard tyre
Lap 40 – Barrichello pits from soft to hard tyre
Lap 41 – Webber pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 42 – Alonso pits from soft tyre
Lap 48 – Massa pits from hard to soft tyre

http://www.pirelli.com/tyre/ww/en/news/2011/03/27/thrilling-racing-at-pirellis-debut-in-australia/

 

[AlexM]

I'm amazed that Heidfeld finished the race with the car like that.

 

[Josephiah]

Lap 18 – Glock pits from soft to soft tyre
Lap 19 – Glock pits from soft to hard tyre

What happened there - did they give him the wrong set?

 

[teabagyokel]

What happened there - did they give him the wrong set?

Was lap 19 when he 'retired' and then re-emerged 9 laps later?

 

[KekeTheKing]

Yeah, the FIA has Glock's 2nd pit stop on Lap 19 coming in at a brisk 8:56.55.

Here's some footage from Vettel's onboard feed that I enjoyed. The guy "holding him up" is Paul di Resta. I guess he didn't see Seb waving as he drove away from him.

 

[Galahad]

I did some race tracking graphs for the frontrunners but I've lost them on a datastick somewhere. Ah well, I'll post them if they ever turn up.

The conclusions I drew were:

Vettel pushed very hard on his outlap after his first stop, much quicker than Hamilton or Petrov. This may have contributed to an earlier than scheduled second stop - following which, he was considerably slower on the outlap. In his final stint he was only matching his pace to Hamilton, though, so I wouldn't necessarily draw too much into that.

Alonso, once he got into clean air, was very quick and impressively consistent. Obviously his three-stop strategy helped, and the fact that in the later stages Hamilton was hobbled and Vettel cruising.

The Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all showed very little change in pace through a stint - i.e., the tyre effect and fuel effect more or less cancelled out exactly. Only when they were 1 or 2 laps away from their stops did their lap times begin to drop off, and then only a little. This is in stark contrast to the final test at Catalunya, where the tyre effect was strongly dominant.

The Renault (at least, Petrov's Renault) actually gained pace a little through a stint, and was setting some of its best times leading up to his two stops. Don't be surprised if the next team to follow Sauber's one-stop lead is Renault.

 

[Brogan]

The marked difference in tyre behaviour is very interesting.

It can't just be the cooler temperature, there must be something else at play.

 

[FB]

Ferrari not happy after Australia, although they are trying to take some consolation from setting the fastest laps. Domenicali and a team of engineers going back to Italy to analyse the data and, presumably, bring back some new bits.

http://www.ferrari.com/English/Form...e_up_for_the_disappointment_of_Melbourne.aspx

 

[derby]

Thought the Grand Prix was really good on a whole, a lot better then last years bahrain bore fest, I think we can't judge on the new rules just yet, I think Tire performance is going to be variable all through the season, which will make things more interesting from race to race.

Pretty impressed with Mclaren's race pace, apart from the start, it kept pace with Red Bull, and was easier on it's tires, Just watched a segment on the BBC sport website which suggest that the reason why Redbull didnt run its KERS was because it increased it's rear tire ware? could be some truth in this.

On the whole a good season opener, plenty to talk about, there was some good overtaking moves, stunning drives, plenty of pit stops, a few crashes and plenty of good scraps through the field, and some controversy with some stewards decisions and a disqualification.

Brundle and Coultard did really well too on the commentry.

 

[Brogan]

On the whole a good season opener, plenty to talk about, there was some good overtaking moves, stunning drives, plenty of pit stops, a few crashes and plenty of good scraps through the field, and some controversy with some stewards decisions and a disqualification.

Maybe there's a checklist for each Grand Prix and the stewards were making sure they covered off everything?

Car under investigation - check
Drive through penalty - check
Disqualification - check

 

[FB]

Here's a nice pic, courtesy of the Red Bull Racing website, of all 3 Australian Grand Prix winners over the years.

 

[Brogan]

Unless that bloke on the far left has won it, I only count 2.

 

[FB]

I should have said Grand Prix winners from Australia - excluding the chap with the bins crashing the pic in the background.

 

[Galahad]

Tyre usage (thanks snowy):
Vettel: Soft-Soft-Hard
Hamilton: Soft-Soft-Hard
Petrov: Soft-Soft-Hard
Alonso: Soft-Soft-Soft-Hard

Points to note:
- Very similar pace between Vettel and Hamilton in first stint. Vettel's times begin to tail off a lap or two before Hamilton's.
- Alonso is in traffic for much of the first stint, however in clear air he is faster than Petrov and within 0.5s of the leaders.
- Vettel's faster first pitstop and much faster first couple of laps afterwards than rivals.
- Vettel and Hamilton suffer slight tailing off of pace in middle stint; Petrov's pace improves somewhat and by the end of the stint he is matching them.
- Hamilton's floor is damaged and he goes off on lap 31
- Between laps 37-40 Alonso (on older soft tyres) is not far off the pace of Vettel, Hamilton and Petrov, who have just stopped for the harder tyre.
- Vettel's early laps after his second stop are considerably slower - over 2s slower than Hamilton and Petrov on lap 38 (though lapped traffic may have played a part).
- Alonso's pace on the hard tyre in the final stint is better than the cars in front; but they are not necessarily pushing 100%, and he benefitted from stopping later.

 

[Brogan]

Great stuff G.

You can really see the effect of the damaged floor on Hamilton's lap times towards the end of the last stint.
I suspect also he was probably taking it slightly easier.