After all the talk of testing and DRS, the first big indication of where everyone stood came at Melbourne, at the season opener. Not a huge surprise. And, in a sense, we're exactly where we were as we left Abu Dhabi in November.
Again, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull took pole, although by a huge margin here compared to Abu Dhabi, and again his team-mate Mark Webber looked far behind. Maybe the events in Abu Dhabi have fatally wounded Webber's confidence. However, Vettel was immense again, failing to show the signs of even a micro-mistake. The race was won, though, by his start. He was a long way clear by turn 3, bringing to mind his excellent starts at the start of last season far more than his rightward veers of the mid-season.
As in Abu Dhabi, it was Lewis Hamilton starting and finishing 2nd. The way he failed to lose any time despite significant damage to the car was impressive, although he was the first to learn that staying out longer for pitstops is no longer the advantage that it once was. His team-mate probably had the pace on Webber, but a poor start saw him stuck behind Massa, and his penalty ruined his chances of a finish his pace deserved.
If Massa thought that the pecking order was equalised at the start of a new season within Ferrari, he was sadly mistaken. Ferrari cleverly swapped positions to force Button to either take a stop-go or let them both through. However, it was also true that Massa did not nearly have the pace. Ferrari seemed the third fastest car in Alonso's hands, but not the Bull-challengers they were predicted to be.
Lets look at the positives for Nick Heidfeld; he finished. As for his team-mate, he was excellent. Petrov seems to have taken the mantle of replacing Kubica on, putting in a Kubica-esque act of defiance in the face of faster cars. His great start saw him into 4th, and he impressively outthought Mark Webber to the line. Another Abu Dhabi continuation!
Toro Rosso did not get into Q3 at all last year, so Sebastien Buemi was treading new ground for a Toro Rosso manufactured car (rather than a Red Bull 'B'). He remained impressively steady to take 8th position. Alguersuari should have been close behind, but collided with Michael Schumacher.
Force India can explain their points finishes by a lack of finishers elsewhere. They never looked like they had any pace at all, and pulling team-orders in their position leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It looks a long, hard, mediocre season ahead for the Force.
Team Lotus and Virgin finished one car each (essentially) but found themselves no closer to the midfield than they'd been previously. The Malaysians seem to be clear of the Yorkshiremen, but neither will have seen much this weekend to justify their continued F1 projects.
At the race's conclusion, it would have been said that the most impressive midfield team were Sauber. Perez and Kobayashi were both impressive, with the Mexican taking to F1 like a duck to water. Sadly, both cars were illegal, and Sauber return empty-handed. That Perez was able to stop just once, however, is intriguing!
Williams' promise was shown by Barrichello's progress up the field but an amateurish moment in the race when attempting to dive up the inside of Nico Rosberg to add to his mistake in Qualifying meant the Brazilian had deservedly scored nul points. It seems most of Williams' points will come from the veteran, since Pastor Maldonado did nothing before his failure or in qualifying to suggest he's not a pay driver.
Mercedes were disappointing in qualifying, but it is difficult to see where they are with two DNFs caused, by and large, by being clouted by the two longest names in F1 (Alguersuari and Barrichello). Schumi being outqualified by Nico again this season as he was yesterday will lead to doubts over the third year in Project Midlife Crisis.
Liuzzi was 1.5 seconds clear of Karthikeyan in the HRT in qualifying. Even if they do compete, they don't look like they have a competitive driver line-up anyway. Sadly, it looks like HRT's time in F1 will be up shortly, they're not even competitive vis-รก-vis Virgin!
All in all, DRS did not produce widespread overtaking, but I'm cautious of knee-jerk reactions 2010-style. The fact that Massa, Webber and Heidfeld look so poor compared to their team-mates; poorer than anyone looked in comparison last year, may suggest that the power is somewhat back with the driver. And, at the end of the day, that can only be a good thing.
Again, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull took pole, although by a huge margin here compared to Abu Dhabi, and again his team-mate Mark Webber looked far behind. Maybe the events in Abu Dhabi have fatally wounded Webber's confidence. However, Vettel was immense again, failing to show the signs of even a micro-mistake. The race was won, though, by his start. He was a long way clear by turn 3, bringing to mind his excellent starts at the start of last season far more than his rightward veers of the mid-season.
As in Abu Dhabi, it was Lewis Hamilton starting and finishing 2nd. The way he failed to lose any time despite significant damage to the car was impressive, although he was the first to learn that staying out longer for pitstops is no longer the advantage that it once was. His team-mate probably had the pace on Webber, but a poor start saw him stuck behind Massa, and his penalty ruined his chances of a finish his pace deserved.
If Massa thought that the pecking order was equalised at the start of a new season within Ferrari, he was sadly mistaken. Ferrari cleverly swapped positions to force Button to either take a stop-go or let them both through. However, it was also true that Massa did not nearly have the pace. Ferrari seemed the third fastest car in Alonso's hands, but not the Bull-challengers they were predicted to be.
Lets look at the positives for Nick Heidfeld; he finished. As for his team-mate, he was excellent. Petrov seems to have taken the mantle of replacing Kubica on, putting in a Kubica-esque act of defiance in the face of faster cars. His great start saw him into 4th, and he impressively outthought Mark Webber to the line. Another Abu Dhabi continuation!
Toro Rosso did not get into Q3 at all last year, so Sebastien Buemi was treading new ground for a Toro Rosso manufactured car (rather than a Red Bull 'B'). He remained impressively steady to take 8th position. Alguersuari should have been close behind, but collided with Michael Schumacher.
Force India can explain their points finishes by a lack of finishers elsewhere. They never looked like they had any pace at all, and pulling team-orders in their position leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It looks a long, hard, mediocre season ahead for the Force.
Team Lotus and Virgin finished one car each (essentially) but found themselves no closer to the midfield than they'd been previously. The Malaysians seem to be clear of the Yorkshiremen, but neither will have seen much this weekend to justify their continued F1 projects.
At the race's conclusion, it would have been said that the most impressive midfield team were Sauber. Perez and Kobayashi were both impressive, with the Mexican taking to F1 like a duck to water. Sadly, both cars were illegal, and Sauber return empty-handed. That Perez was able to stop just once, however, is intriguing!
Williams' promise was shown by Barrichello's progress up the field but an amateurish moment in the race when attempting to dive up the inside of Nico Rosberg to add to his mistake in Qualifying meant the Brazilian had deservedly scored nul points. It seems most of Williams' points will come from the veteran, since Pastor Maldonado did nothing before his failure or in qualifying to suggest he's not a pay driver.
Mercedes were disappointing in qualifying, but it is difficult to see where they are with two DNFs caused, by and large, by being clouted by the two longest names in F1 (Alguersuari and Barrichello). Schumi being outqualified by Nico again this season as he was yesterday will lead to doubts over the third year in Project Midlife Crisis.
Liuzzi was 1.5 seconds clear of Karthikeyan in the HRT in qualifying. Even if they do compete, they don't look like they have a competitive driver line-up anyway. Sadly, it looks like HRT's time in F1 will be up shortly, they're not even competitive vis-รก-vis Virgin!
All in all, DRS did not produce widespread overtaking, but I'm cautious of knee-jerk reactions 2010-style. The fact that Massa, Webber and Heidfeld look so poor compared to their team-mates; poorer than anyone looked in comparison last year, may suggest that the power is somewhat back with the driver. And, at the end of the day, that can only be a good thing.
