Grand Prix 2018 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

As a less than convincing set of test sessions drew to a close in sunny snowy rainy sunny Spain, most of the motoring press had Mercedes out in front as the team to beat again this season.The packing cases, cars, freight, PR Stands and all the other guff that makes up the travelling kit of a modern F1 team will by now be well on its way to Australia and in a few short weeks we will find out if the motoring press are correct.

One man who won't be taking his place in the stands at Albert Park this year will be Ron Walker, the former Mayor of Melbourne and the Chairman of Grand Prix Australia who was the key figure in establishing the Albert Park and Melbourne as the countries addition to the GP Calender. Ron passed away on the 30 Jan this year.

Attendance figures at Albert Park have been on the decline since reaching a peak in 2012. The race day attendance last year dipped below 100'000 for the first time in the tracks history. Does this reflect a growing global apathy with F1 or the lack of Australian interest on the grid since Mark Webber retired?

Four drivers will be taking to the grid in Australia for the first time. Two debutants and two who joined mid way through the season last year. Leclerc joins as reigning FIA Formula 2 champion and the 2016 F3 champion but will find himself saddled with possibley the worst car on the grid. Hartley did little to impress in last years Toro Rosso and will be looking to make a stronger impression this season alongside his team mate Pierre Gasly. Gasly, the 2016 GP2 champion settled quickly in to life at Toro Rosso last season and with the works backing of Honda, both drivers will be seeking to maximise their potential. Sergey Sirotkin won the race off to join Williams, replacing the finally departing Massa. A shame for many who wanted to see Kubica take the seat at Grove, Sirotkin will need to do well to shake off the feeling that he's just another rent a drive. His previous single seat results show that on his day he can perform with the best of the younger drivers and the first thing he'll need to do is show a clean pair of heels to Lance Stroll. I remain convinced that despite the money on offer from both drivers backing, Kubica is just one or two driver error DNF's away from stepping up to the race seat while one of the two are 'rested'.

I'm not going to waste finger strokes speculating about the performance of the teams on the grid because I think we all know who are going to be the key players in this area and see little to convince me that anything will change too much from last year but we live in hope.

 

[F1Brits_90]

i was Excited this morning for qualifying (obviously recorded as I'm not a nutter to wake up 8:30 not 5am ) because we really did have realistic potential for 1st proper full season of 2+ team title battle since 2010, as we've said before 2012 doesn't count that Alonso miracles & vettel mentally imploded in Singapore. Lewis pole lap aside, its really is because Q3 1st lap there was 0.3 between top 5, 0.06 between top 3. then proper grid just 0.051 between kimi, vettel & max.

where did Lewis find that lap from, i found it incredible to be that far clear. they have a qualy/party mode that was common knowledge in 2017 so I'm confused at the denial, but i think pole isn't all down to this mode, because he seems to have picked up qualifying pace from how he ended 2017, when he pulled out 2 brilliant laps in Monza & Austin. but for me biggest surprise was kimi, where on earth did he get from in last few months, it was like 2013 kimi was back. how come he has gone from dreadful at end of the season where he was 4 tenths off every weekend to out qualifying vettel. is the car more suited, has Leclerc gave him a kick up backside or (i apologise, know its ridiculously early) is this is his final year that's relaxed & freed him up

how on earth has Grosjean avoid a penalty for overtaking & racing in the pitlane he was all 4 wheels on the concrete

 

[cider_and_toast]

Lewis must be telling lies then

Lewis telling lies in Australia. Like that's never happened before.



Funniest moment of qually for me was Croft and Brundle waxing lyrical about the wonderful racing we can expect this season due to how close the gap was between the top 4 halfway into Q3.

Haas are this seasons Toyota. They have a good car at the moment but give it six races and they'll have no idea how to make it go any faster.

Disappointing sessions for TR and Force India.

The rest was pretty much as expected.

Danny Ricciardo will be in a Mercedes next season. You heard it here first.

 

[Rutherford]

Lewis must be telling lies then

Australian GP: Watch Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel clash in press conference

Wouldn’t be the first time, if we think back to Australia 2009...
If he’s using the same mode throughout qualifying then he’s purposefully driving slow and waiting until the last minute to put in his proper effort.

 

[Bushi]

Hamilton: "I used the same the mode from Q2 through to the end of Q3," said Hamilton. "There was no extra button, no extra mode."
Toto Wolff: "There is a party mode in the car but we switched the party mode on in Q3.

Hamilton:

Second day of the new f1 weekend and am already annoyed by a couple of things Hamilton has said.

I was really hoping that my passion would return to this sport, certainly now that there is a flemisch belgian driver since ever in the sport. But seeing that Merc again on pole just trows away all my hope. Same old story like the past 4 years, this really seems like the schumacher/ferrrai era on steriods.

Hope he can see some black people on that top step sunday.

 

[racecub]

Rutherford Yes could be. Doing enough to get through the first two sessions but saving tyres and not pushing hard till Q3.. Bottas and Verstappen both made errors in Q3

 

[teabagyokel]

Hamilton categorically stated that there is no different engine mode. Bullshit.

 

[The Pits]

 

[sobriety]

Hamilton categorically stated that there is no different engine mode.

Of course not, it's exactly the same button sequence to turn it on as last year, so how can it be different?

 

[vintly]

Where / when did Toto say they turned it up in Q3? I can’t find that.

 

[Lewywo4]

.
I wish Rosberg would make a return, because with Bottas as his teammate it’s going to be plain sailing for him.

Rosberg wanted to stay away from the pressures of F1 by saying, " he could not go through that again."

 

[Lewywo4]

Lewis must be telling lies then

Australian GP: Watch Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel clash in press conference

With some he'll always will be telling lies no matter what.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I know. He's so hard done by isn't he?

 

[Il_leone]

One qualifying session and already Bottas is being pressured .. talk about let someone know who is No 1 in the team given Hamilton has not officially signed for next year right?

-------------------------

Q. Seb, why are so slow ?
A. We don't have a special qualifying mode like Mercedes

Cue Lewis

" Now we did not use the special qualifying mode? and I'll love to wipe the smile of Vettel's face !"

Sounds like its going to get a bit titanic the battle between these two

-----------------------------------

Is Kimi obliged to move over at the start to let Seb through? Given they have banged wheels a few times at the start of races

 

[Rutherford]

Rosberg wanted to stay away from the pressures of F1 by saying, " he could not go through that again."

He's got two kids and a wife, unlike Hamilton. So he's got other things to take care of apart from the racing. Under how much pressure was Hamilton when he split from M(r)s. Scherzinger, as it did reflect in his driving.

Just a thought...

 

[racecub]

Il_leone Interesting one! I hope they don’t make Kimi move over this early in the season, he’s been the dominant Ferrari driver all weekend.

On Lewis and the ‘party mode’. Who knows? Lewis coined the phrase ‘party mode’ for the Merc In quali configuration, so odd that he would lie about it. Perhaps he meant the quali configuration was used not exclusively for his pole lap. And perhaps Toto meant , the quali mode was employed during quali.

It does seem that the ‘Party mode’ was woefully lacking in Bottas’ car.

If you watch a comparison of pole runs by Vettel and Hamilton, Hamilton appears to gain more through braking than top end engine power?
Perhaps Lewis was irritated by Vettel’s suggestion that it was only the engine that secured pole? Hence his comments.
And maybe Vettel was irritated that Kimi unqualified him? Hence his comments.
Gamesmanship already! Delicious!

 

[teabagyokel]

Don't look at the Hamilton/Vettel onboard. Red herring. Look at the difference between the Hamilton laps. How did he go from 1:22:051 to 1:21.164 in the space of twelve minutes.

He says he had the same engine modes for all runs. If so, both Mercedes drivers put in monumentally shit laps in Q2.

There is a Mercedes engine mode. Hamilton lied.

The attempt to stoke up rivalry between drivers in different teams is quite amusing as it is. Look at the grid: if Bottas hadn't walled it, Noah's Ark right the way down to 12th position. The sporting contest between drivers is almost a Loch Ness Monster here: however many grainy photos there are and however many people want to believe and however many people will make money out of it, it simply doesn't exist.

 

[F1Brits_90]

With some he'll always will be telling lies no matter what.

Im a lewis fan, thats Probably obvious, but as i said above common knowledge they have a qualy/party mode whatever Lewis said. in 2017 in qualifying it was all about mercedes & ferrari q3 modes. Even renault were talking about making one around Singapore because of horners complaining.

So I'm confused at the denial, its like dening that water is wet or pope is catholic

 

[racecub]

I don’t think he was denying it. He named it the party mode He was disputing when it was deployed. And what is IT anyway? A qualifying mode which other teams also use. Merc are just better at it.
But hey, easier all round to just say Lewis is a liar. Which is what I said earlier.

 

[teabagyokel]

1. No-one is saying that other teams don't have a qualifying mode, and certainly no-one is saying that Mercedes aren't better at it than others. I don't think anyone has even suggested that it is against either the spirit or the words of the regulations.
2. The evidence suggests the falsehood of what he was saying. They were not running the same mode throughout qualifying. They would be mad to do so. It is, indeed, easy to call someone lying when you fucking catch them lying.

 

[cider_and_toast]

It's like we've never been away.