Grand Prix 2013 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Finally F1 is back! After three months without racing, waiting for car launches and testing, the first race of the 2013 Formula One season at Melbourne is just around the corner.

A quick look on what has changed compared to last year:

Teams:
HRT are not on the grid anymore.

Drivers:
- Lewis Hamilton replaces Michael Schumacher at Mercedes.
- Sergio Perez replaces Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.
- Sauber start this season with a completely new line-up as Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez replace Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.
- Adrian Sutil replaces Nico Hülkenberg at Force India.
- Valtteri Bottas is Williams’ new driver, replacing Bruno Senna.
- At Caterham Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen are being replaced by Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde.
- Marussia bring on Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton in favor of Timo Glock and Charles Pic.

For the complete line-ups please check this brilliant overview from teabagyokel http://cliptheapex.com/threads/2013-driver-by-driver-preview.6011/

Circuits:
- The German Grand Prix is being held at the Nürburgring instead of Hockenheim.
- There won't be a race in Valencia this year, as the Spanish Grand Prix will alternate between Barcelona and Valencia from now on, starting with Barcelona.

Pre-season testing suggests that (as almost always) it is almost impossible to predict which teams will be at the very front of the grid. Red Bull look as strong as ever. Ferrari look significantly better than at this stage last year. McLaren seem to be struggling a bit. Mercedes appear to have made some progress over the last weeks and might be able to surprise us all. Lotus look like they could be fighting at the top this year as well.

In the midfield battle it seems that Williams and Sauber could have the upper hand over Toro Rosso and Force India, who have waited a very very long time to announce their second driver, Adrian Sutil.

Caterham and Marussia will probably be at the back end of the grid again. It seems very unlikely that any of them is going to be able to fight for points consistently. What is interesting though is, since HRT aren’t on the grid anymore, there will now be six drivers eliminated in Q1, which means, that apart from the Caterham and Marussia guys, there will now be two drivers of other teams out of qualifying after the first part of it.

How will Lewis Hamilton do for Mercedes? Is Mercedes’ completely new structured team going to improve? Is Sebastian Vettel going to pave his way for a fourth consecutive championship? How will Sergio Perez settle in at McLaren? Is Jenson Button going to win for the fourth time in Melbourne? Will Ferrari be able to win races from the outset?

Many questions! At least some of them will be answered in two weeks’ time at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne!
Let’s get it on!!

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Cool. I didn't mean to contradict anyone, hence the phrasing of my post as a question. Thank you for clarifying as requested.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

gethinceri

I like the bits before and after the sessions too. I only sky+ it so I didn't have to wake up at a silly hour in the morning on a Saturday. I'm starting to need my weekend sleep ins especially now i'm getting older . So I decided I wanted to wake up early on Sunday for the race but not Saturday as I wake up early the other 5 days a week and I didn't want to wake up early 7 days a week.

 

[Mephistopheles]

This practice of delaying and stopping sessions because of a drop of rain is getting beyond a joke they are supposed to be the best drivers in the world and yet when a drop of rain falls they all start acting like my granny, "Make sure you take a coat it looks like rain" pahhh.....

Get on with it you nancy boys like the real men did in the past all this going on track rubbing yer foot on the tarmac and saying oh it's bit slippy best not let them go out to play, it's bloody ridiculous....

 

[Brogan]

Aquaplaning is extremely dangerous and there is nothing you can do to recover from it as you have no control.
Slowing down doesn't help as that reduces downforce and makes it worse.

There is little point in letting them run if half the cars end up in the barriers.

 

[teabagyokel]

If there is one major criticism of Pirelli it is that their wet tyres, in comparison to Bridgestone, seem ill-equipped for the job.

 

[Mephistopheles]

They have extreme wets and it occurs to me that the teams have not allowed enough set up room in the cars these days the difference between wet and dry set up is practically zero in the past a car could be set up to prevent aquaplaning by raising the ride height softening the springs and wheel spin was reduced by changing gear ratio's and engine mapping, loads of stuff, now they just build the cars stiff and hardly ever run if there is a bit of standing water.

Well if they are going to run the sport like that why don't they just admit it and save some money by doing away with full wet tyres?

 

[tooncheese]

When I worked in a tyre garage, during the non-busy days I read through this pamphlet where some car magazine had tested about twelve tyre makes at the ContiDrom. Conti and Michelin were top with the Chinese Budget's last scoring 90% of the leaders. One result that stood out was Pirelli wet scores were down in the 70's well below even the awful Budget's.

So it seems more like Pirelli in general rather than just their F1 department that can't make wet tyres.

I'm not sure why I remember that...

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Mephistopheles. Have you ever driven a single seater in a downpour? I think you underestimate just how dangerous and difficult it is. The tyres aren't the whole story either. The cars run so low that a decent amount of standing water can quickly turn you into a boat. Then of course, there is visibility. Driving blind at 150mph in a car that doesn't turn and won't stop on a twisty bit of tarmac with 23 other cars around you in the same circumstances is not cool. It is common sense that they stop the sessions. It may be frustrating for the spectators but it is the only sensible thing to do.

A little parallel thinking brings me to my Mum who has had a hot air balloon trip booked for nearly a year now. It has been cancelled 7 times due to adverse weather conditions. she is not jumping up and down saying, "take me up anyway".

 

[Mephistopheles]

This the type of weather an F1 car can run in if it is set up for the wet properly...

 

[ExtremeNinja]

[Edit] Sorry, Mephistopheles. Just seen your post about setup range. That would certainly open things up but, as you say, F1 cars just aren't built or designed that way.

 

[Brogan]

Albert Park is not a dedicated racing circuit and therefore does not have the correct camber, surface, and drainage.

Does anyone remember Germany a few years ago and turn 1?

 

[Mephistopheles]

I deleted my post ExtremeNinja as it sounded a bit rude... Sorry about that...

 

[mnmracer]

It's incredible how stable those '96 cars look in the wet compared to the tail happy modern cars. It is really time FIA wakes up and, no matter how or what, they think of a rule book rewrite that makes us not having to be ashamed for F1 in the rain.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

[Edit] Sorry, Mephistopheles. Just seen your post about setup range. That would certainly open things up but, as you say, F1 cars just aren't built or designed that way.

Well perhaps it's about time they were...

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Perhaps, but how would you enforce such a thing. Most races are dry and teams will always optimise for the most likely situations. To build the cars with more of a leaning towards the wet would be to compromise the dry. There is always a compromise and this is a compromise that I just can't see happening. To mandate all teams to work within a range that allows for better wet running would be extremely difficult and the only tool that I can see that they can use at the moment is the 107% rule, but that means having a trail blazing team setting the benchmark with a different design.

I just can't see it happening. I personally would rather they didn't run than see the car performance in the dry sacrificed. Damp races and showers are fine but racing in a downpour is bonkers anyway, as much as a spectacle it might be for the fans.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

...and guys. Perhaps it is motorsport fans that need to man-up. Many many sports are called off or postponed due to weather conditions. It is not unique to motor-racing and certainly not to F1.

 

[mnmracer]

Getting rid of parc fermé (when raining) is a vital first step. If you give the teams the freedom to design and apply alterations that will make them faster in the wet, there is no reason it has to affect dry performance.

 

[mnmracer]

It's one thing if it's technically not possible, but in this case it is such a clear case of 'the rules' handicapping decent racing, which means it is not necessary and just makes it aggravating.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Packaging, weight, cost of development......... versus return.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Some light rain expected for qually, should be a dry race though, but this is the city with four seasons in one day!
If this week were Malaysia, it would probably have been red flagged as deluge is expected