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..................
 
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HRT are out.The man from the FIA "he say no"
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90242 Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan will not be allowed to race in the Australian Grand Prix after the FIA refused a request from HRT to let them race.
Neither driver managed to get within 107 per cent of Sebastian Vettel's fastest time from Q1, which meant they did not officially qualify.
However, HRT lodged a request with the FIA to be allowed to take part because of 'exceptional circumstances'.
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sportsman said:
Another point to consider is that Vettel will very quickly be amongst the back markers due to the very slow tail enders...
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For a moment there I thought you knew something we didn't. I was hoping Seb will be amongst the backmarkers by going backwards rather than by catching them up, maybe due to a puncture or turning right into his teammate (not into a Mclaren, hopefully) :whistle:
 
Snowy, with the Ferraris having a speed-trap speed closer to that of the Red Bulls than the Mclarens, one might have expected their qualifying pace to follow the pattern; so what kind of set-up would help them in the race, if it gave both low top speed and low cornering speed in qualifying trim?
 
Another point on the excellent lap times comparison posted by snowy:

Mark Webber, trying to explain why he was so far behind his teammate, said that it was all in the final sector. But the lap times suggest that he was considerably slower than Vettel over the last two sectors. He was actually two tenths quicker than Hamilton in the final sector, yet still finished behind him overall. In fact, Mark was 2nd fastest through the final sector (nearly 0.4s slower than Seb though) but only 6th fastest in the middle sector.
 
The quote from Fernando suggested that they were thinking more about race strategy than qualifying:
"We were not super-competitive today (compared to) practice," he said.
"We knew if we took a big risk we may be fourth, if we are safe, we go fifth or sixth, so no need to take risks in the first qualifying of the season."
"Position we are happy, distance from pole we are not happy, so we need to look at that overnight. Overall grip was where we lacked."
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But perhaps he was just afraid of crashing! :o
 
Wow!

What a qualifying sessions and not at all expected after pre-season testing.

Red Bull are clearly way ahead of any other team when it comes to outright performance.
When I heard they hadn't used KERS I was even more shocked.
How can their car be so much better than anything else?

McLaren have to be hugely relieved and pleased.
Second on the grid with an untested car?
Unvelievable!

Massa looking like an amateur again.

HRT will disappear from F1 soon.
Another few non-starts and they'll fall further behind with each race, just as I mentioned earlier.

It's going to be another season of Red Bull running away with it, with only reliability and accidents giving other drivers a chance.
 
snowy said:
Pulling a gap will likely be a lot harder this year, if you are in the lead with the fastest car it will need to be a second a lap quicker at least. Why? Because the car behind you is going to get the use of an adjustable wing every lap and you're not!
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Only for the first lap they would need to be a second quicker, as after that the driver in second place would be more than a second behind him and therefore not allowed to use DRS.
 
That makes Mclarens performance better as Hamilton was lugging around more weight in the car with no speed benefit
 
It does make his lap better but still not even close to the lap of vettel. Using KERS will only give him 3 hundreds of a second in a lap which is still not even close.

That said however what McLaren have achieved is excellent and was summed up very well in the commentry on the BBC. "Driver confidence, reliability, and speed in 3 days". Thats some engineering skill!
 
Just watched Lewis shaking his head in the press conference when it was mentioned that Vettel didn't use KERS.

The other teams must be wondering what they need to do to even get close.

That car just looks like it's bonded to the track, the grip is phenomenal.
 
Marc said:
It does make his lap better but still not even close to the lap of vettel. Using KERS will only give him 3 hundreds of a second in a lap which is still not even close.

That said however what McLaren have achieved is excellent and was summed up very well in the commentry on the BBC. "Driver confidence, reliability, and speed in 3 days". Thats some engineering skill!
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I thought the advantage from KERS was around 3 or 4 tenths per lap, not 3 hundredths?
 
So if it is 3/4 tenths advantage, really the Red Bull is around half a second faster than Mclaren (all of which in sector 3). It's less than it was in Bahrain last year
 
Marc said:
Only for the first lap they would need to be a second quicker, as after that the driver in second place would be more than a second behind him and therefore not allowed to use DRS.
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The DRS system is inactive for the first two laps.
 
Chad Stewarthill said:
Vettel 8 tenths quicker than Webber
Hamilton 5 tenths quicker than Button
Alonso 6 tenths quicker than Massa
Rosberg 5 tenths quicker than Schumacher

I'd say those figures have the makings of a pattern ;)
Click to expand
It's always difficult to judge based on one session, but this page gives a good overview of the 2010 season: 2010 Head To Head

"Number 1" drivers on the left, "number 2" drivers on the right.
Click on the column titles to sort.
 
The possible reason for Heidfieds early exit?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90251 Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg have escaped grid penalties despite being found guilty of impeding other cars during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
The FIA stewards, including three-time grand prix winner Johnny Herbert, opted only to warn the trio despite having the power to demote them on the grid for Sunday's race after viewing video evidence and hearing evidence from the drivers themselves.
Hamilton and Rosberg's offences occurred in Q2, when they were found to have baulked Vitaly Petrov and Sergio Perez respectively, while Nick Heidfeld was impeded by Schumacher during Q1.
In each case, and FIA statement indicated that "the stewards decide to warn the driver as to his future conduct."
Click to expand
 
Heidfeld should have been quicker, if he says he was baulked on that lap so be it but his other laps were abject too.
 

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