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!!

 

[Kewee]

We should all give Charlie a break. Ultimately his decisions can endanger the lives of drivers or keep them safe. I've always believed he's fair and does a difficult job very well. The drivers and teams respect his decision making which is important for the GP's to run smoothly. He and the drivers also appear to share a lot of respect for each other which also matters. Most also seem to like him which is also a bonus when there are difficulties to overcome.

 

[Galahad]

We should all be entitled to an opinion, too.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Just pack up and head for Malaysia. It doesn't rain there in the evenings this time of year.

What's that? Oh forchrissakes!

 

[Kewee]

Galahad...Of course we should be entitled to an opinion. I didn't write one thing that suggested we shouldn't.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

We are agreed on your last post but that is not the point that you originally made.

Only 1 team needs to think it's worth winning a race that no one else is optimizing for.

So the long and the short is that if F1 is to improve the reliability of being able to put on a show for the spectators it would need to either try to remove the threat of extreme weather or better equip teams to deal with it and that the latter would require enforced changes to the technical regulations.

Perhaps we will see such a thing in the next round of regulation changes if the demands call for it but I understand that the new regulations are now agreed by all teams from 2014 and sealed into the foreseeable future.

 

[Galahad]

I'm sorry, I thought you said we should all give him a break? You give him a break by all means; please don't tell me what to do.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Did Maylander put in any laps today? Looked like it was the Medical car that was out there every time. Guess they figure that Bernd will eventually get his share of track time this season.

 

[Kewee]

Galahad.....I did say 'we', but that doesn't necessarily mean 'we' have to agree with all his decisions. I spend my whole life respecting other peoples opinions that I don't necessarily agree with. My interpretation of 'giving someone a break' or 'cutting someone some slack' means simply showing them a little respect for having to make difficult decisions in everyone's interest. In this case the only people that should be considered are the drivers and teams.

 

[Galahad]

I am well aware of his responsibilities and the difficulty of his job. It isn't that I disagree with you because I don't understand the situation - I do. But, to give one example, I think he has a responsibility to consider the fans as well as the drivers and teams.

 

[teabagyokel]

The tyres are abysmal - that ties Whiting's hands somewhat.

 

[Galahad]

teabagyokel - I think that's right, though the nature of the single supply contract is that they have no incentive to chase performance, only reliability.There didn't appear to be too much aquaplaning in the accidents I saw, more to do with white lines and kerbs - or so it appeared to me.

 

[mjo]

We could just ask Pirelli to just increase the depth of the tread on the wet tyre? That would certainly reduce weather-related problems surely?

 

[Kewee]

Galahad.... I wasn't intending to tell anyone how they should think. When I used the word we, I was including myself. All I was doing was backing Charlie and acknowledging the difficult position he was faced with. Regarding the fans, I would suggest most of those at the circuit were probably happy to see the whole thing flagged until Sunday. Sitting at home in the comfort of our warm dry houses we have the luxury of viewing things differently. Ultimately though his first consideration has to be the safety of the drivers. Unfortunately when we contribute to a forum sometimes our comments are misinterpreted. Yesterday I made a posting that Brogan took personally and responded by thanking me for the lecture. The posting I made was just a general comment not intended to be aimed at anyone. Where it appeared on the board obviously made Paul think it was aimed at him. As I say, it wasn't intended to be personal or directed at anyone.

 

[The Pits]

There is also the issue of ride height and the plank which has quite an impact. If I recall, the tyres can handle the weather conditions better than the cars, with the impact of the puddles on the bottom of the car, and the splitter and plank.

I could be wrong though.

 

[mjo]

Uh oh..
#F1#MELBOURNE Subtle shift in steering wind means circuit at imminent threat of further heavy showers. Wet/dry bias by quali is v uncertain

from bbc weatherman guy on twitter

 

[Galahad]

Kewee - I see, no problem. Those fans with three-day tickets may not mind, perhaps, but those with qualifying tickets may have cause to feel aggrieved. This wasn't the worst example of over-caution we have seen, though, and I accept there will be sessions that have to be red-flagged for torrential rain.

 

[tonyw151]

I'm not sure what clearances are available, but is there scope to increase the diameter of the wet tyres further?

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I think they are already quite a bit bigger and lift the car by 2 or 3cm.

 

[Jos the Boss]

 

[no-FIAt-please]

All I know is that even with a three day ticket in my lanyard at Silverstone 2012 I was pretty cheesed off with the massive delay on Saturday. I can only imagine how furious I would have been had I bought a Saturday ticket and it was moved to the next day.

I think ultimately Whiting has to look after the safety of the drivers/fans/marshalls, the sporting concerns should play a lesser role in his decision to get things going. The problem I see is that when previous drivers (Kovalainen) are tweeting that they've ran in worse conditions and you've got Brundle saying that the driver has a choice whether or not to put his foot down is that people will begin to question Whiting's judgement. Can he still distinguish what is safe?

From a personal perspective I really dislike this the lack of wet weather running nowadays. Apparantly in the last few years conditions have suddenly become "undriveable" and safety is emphasised to a level that is stupid. Unfortunately these instances have now set a predcident for the future. The only way I seem them changing is if someone asks Paul Hembrey why the stopages are so long, is it because the Pirelli tyres are so shit? Or it is because Whiting has lost his edge in making decisions? He would have to then put some pressure on the FIA, he could hardly admit his tyres aren't up to standard even if they're not.

(I may seem overly harsh on Whiting in this post, but think of all the stopages in recent years, now remember that Whiting is the sole person who decides whether or not we see cars going round.)