Grand Prix 2020 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

The long 4 month drought of F1 is soon to be over. as on 15th March we finally be getting 2020 season underway (Virus permitting šŸ˜· ) . I can guarantee 1 thing that the 1st race of this decade cant be any worse than the 1st race of the previous decade which seemed to set the tone for the poor decade that would follow. as 2010 Bahrain gp is ranked up there with the 2019 French GP & others. so bad that they were started a discussion to have mandatory 2 stop races. but we will see who will follow in steps of Guiseppe Farina, Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Ayrton Senna, Micheal Schumacher & Fernando Alonso as the 1st Grand prix winner of the new decade, so no pressure on sundays winner as will have to keep up the world champion streak & even the 1 that didn't founded 1 of F1 most successful teams

but on Australia, their history of motorsport goes alot further back than I thought, the Australian GP started in 1928, has gone to become Australia's 2nd oldest motorsport competition that still takes place today, only beaten the Alpine rally that started 7yrs earlier & in its self is the 4th oldest surviving motorsport event in world. only the French GP, Monte Carlo rally & Indy 500 are older. the GP way before the its official debut in 1985. Australia was informally a big part of F1 because in mid 60s. Australian GP was apart of the Tasman series Where world champions likes of Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt, Phil & Graham Hill, all regularly took apart, after the tasman series ended in 1975 in the 10 yr break til we returned to Adelaide. which I think even to this day is remembered with great fondness, a circuit that drivers liked with the fast flowing layout, the 1985 pole had a average speed of 106.5mph, which compared to the 91.7mph & 90.2mph average speeds they experienced in Monaco & Detroit. over the 10 years they had some memorable moments
1986 - the famous 3 way title race between Piquet, Prost & Mansell, Mansell blowout that cost him & Williams with precautionary pitstop, cost them world title & handing to outsider Prost
1991 - the shortest race in history, that only lasted 14 laps (probally 8 laps too long)
1994 - 1 of the most infamous in F1 history with Hill & Schumacher incident, with the accident or deliberate nature is still debated to this day
1995 - the final race was where Damon Hill won by record margin likely never to be beaten winning by 2 laps. 1 already discussed DC managing to crash coming for his pit stop

when you think of albert park & motorsport. you would think of 1996 1st race. but you would be very wrong. because the 1st motor race around the Albert park lake was back in 1953. in a circuit that almost the same length but was ran anti clockwise. which was won by doug whiteford who did 64laps 5 laps clear of 2nd which raced 300km but in 2hr 25 instead of 1hr 29 of bottas in 2019 & a certain 27yr old jack brabham was apart of the event but couldn't start due to car issues. but the move to Albert Park was very controversial in the beginning to say the least as it was "stolen" from Adelaide, it all started with Ron walker who wanted improve Melbourne's morale, after losing the bid for centenary Olympics to Atlanta, become the self proclaimed sporting capital of the world to go all the other major events held in melbourne & coupled with that Bernie getting angered by delays he was getting from Adelaide. that in MI5 style in late 1992. secrecy to the point, that the only 3 people who knew about deal was Ron Walker, Bernie Ecclestone & Victorian treasurer. so secret they would book into hotel rooms in London under fake names to avoid story leaking. & then in December 1993 a day after state election the new councillor got a phone call to drop the bombshell that the Melbourne had stolen the race under Adelaide noses, which still to this does cause some frustration. but then when he thought he quelled the anger from adelaide. he had a new controversy when alot local people were angry as they set up & protest for many years the save Albert park group, who still even in recent years & more minor way protest the location of the grand prix

also austrailian had some of the worst luck because widely known but strange fact alot like Jenson button record at Silverstone. that despite the quality drivers theyve had down the years. the Aussie are still waiting to cheer there home favourite to victory & not even had driver classified on the podium. The best results they achieved Webber 4th in red bull & his amazing 5th place in that minardi. also Ricciardo 4th in 2016 & 2018

but anyway now to the present day, we have the start of the season which is a end of an era before maybe the biggest rule change for F1 in many years. is looking like an intriguing season which hopefully Australia will give us some answers.
  • how good are mercedes
  • Are Red bull hiding championship challenging pace. potential to finally getting to see how verstappen copes under pressure of a title battle
  • are ferrari troubles are bad they seem. can Leclerc & Vettel on track relationship repaired , also does Vettel get a contract for 2021
  • can force India racing point provide a huge surprise become the 1st team to be able to challenge the big 3 for 1st time since enstone team with grosjean in 2013
    is this the beginning the end for Haas, as they are debating their future
    Can Mclaren & Renault take the Next Steps that the budgets they pressure them into
  • & is this Williams new car finally capable of giving Russell a car to get into B race & out of the doldrums
so yes good luck to whoever you support, enjoy the ride & lets hope we have a entertaining 2020. because when its good on track, it can paper over the cracks of the Off track issues
 
I was considering putting a bet on Lewis for WDC but at these odds it seems hardly worth while.

Screenshot 2020-03-05 at 15.08.23.png
 
Itā€™s a given that Mercedes are going to demolish the opposition at Albert Park,but it will be interesting to see if Racing Point are a threat to either Ferrari or Red Bull.
 
don't know why & I know im in the minority especially after the disappointing 1st race im going to be down. but at the moment im very excited to get going & its the same every season
 
I'm not sure all of Ferrari's staff will be there judging on what's happening in Italy at the moment. Bahrain have now banned all spectators from attending the event. Given the global nature of F1, it's teams, and it's fans I do wonder whether the sport should be a bit more responsible and put a delay on the start of the season.
 
How about we cancel 2020 entirely and just move straight to the new regs in 2021 with a year for the teams to test and develop the new cars? We just give the titles to Hamilton and Mercedes as they will walk away with them anyway.
 
Well. Yes. As the other teams have already stopped trying to catch up with Merc this year and are just putting resources into making sure they are on terms with them next year then this season all seems pretty pointless doesn't it? Now it's a global health risk. Still a lot of people who already have a lot of money will make a lot more money from it running so yay - I'm sure it'll trickle down to us plebs.

Still - Sky are telling us the battle for 3rd is going to be some of the best racing ever ever ever.

By the way I'd put money on Brundle not travelling to races.
 
Articles like this in Sky frustrate me. They are basically saying that Max is likely to be a title challenger this year because its the last year he can become the youngest champion ever.


The whole article is completely nuts as the they clutch at straws to convince us this season is going to be 'an absolute classic'. Please don't drop the F1 channel please please please please.

I actually think the out of touch paid for the teams and shareholder media is putting me off F1 more than the crap racing at moment.
 
is that who voted for the Verstappen is for on WDC prediction, convert sky sports LOL

yes I agree but it is a business & that's the issue with pay tv you increase the expectations, got to produce entertainment & they have no control over. they got to get investment back, think they account for 20% of all broadcasting money. you very rarely get floating viewers on pay tv you choose to watch. but the business model F1 had from 1976 - 2011. works because even if its crap people will watch as they have low expectations. Wimbledon get 10m+ viewers every yr but on pay tv wouldn't get anywhere the viewers & boring games or Federer dominance would get more scrunitity.
 
Media should not be part of the business though and that's the issue. The press is so intwined with the teams, the shareholders and the sponsors that they will not print any criticism of the sport and will tow the party line. It leads to very frustrating reading and gives F1 a comfort blanket of patting itself on the back and saying how amazing it is.

The press should reflect the view of the fans not try and lead them to a view someone wants them to have.
 
I fully agree with that RasputinLives it shouldn't, & id rather it didnt. but thats what the fans get for the teams taking the pay tv money. take other sports that sky sports cover, there is a reason why they have bigger coverage for ashes than v india or new Zealand, or a Manchester derby or Liverpool v man city than they do for sheff utd v Leicester. because they are the events that make sky sports's money back from advertisers & skyf1 need to find the audience to cover the Ā£100m - Ā£120m a year that works out at Ā£5.5m a race which considering Premier league football the national sport is only Ā£9.3m a game & per hrs of action its triple what sky pay for cricket. & as youll see at the bottom 30 yrs ago you could get 5 years of f1 for price that sky pay for Australia & Bahrain. so like boxing they need pretend there is a fight & that verstappen has a chance. which is possible but on Saturday we find out how realistic it is

i believe sky have overestimated the viewing figures of F1 & in the Battle with BT. they paying too much. but back in free to air days they didnt need to pump it up because they will get the floating viewers the ones that would watch the races to take around 5m & upto 8.4m for 2008 Brazilian GP & because the price per race was fine. but im pretty sure if Schumacher era had been on sky sports. can montoya be the next south America hero & take the fight to Schumacher in 02. then can Next generation Alonso & Button deliver after a great 2003. put on a title challenge. but as i said they didnt need to because free to air guarantees great numbers

just for a reference since 94 this the increase in the price per race for F1 in UK
94 - 96 BBC Ā£140,000 (per race)
97 - 01 ITV Ā£843,000
02 - 05 ITV Ā£1m
06 - 08 ITV Ā£1.47m
09 - 14 BBC Ā£1.77m
12 - 18 Sky Ā£1.73m BBC/C4 Ā£1.5m (per live race)
19 - 24 Sky Ā£5.5m
 
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From Coronavirus live | World news | The Guardian

Three Formula One team members in Melbourne placed in isolation
by Giles Richards

Three Formula One team members at the Australian Grand Prix have been placed into isolation after concerns they may have contracted the coronavirus.

One member from McLaren and two from the Haas teams were evaluated at the circuitā€™s isolation unit, established by F1, after showing fever symptoms at the track.

The team members have been tested for the virus and placed under self isolation at their hotels. There will be major concern if their tests are positive, as they have already been mixing in the paddock with others.

On Monday, Andrew Westacott, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, said the race will proceed as planned and there was ā€œnot a chanceā€ the Grand Prix would be cancelled or postponed.
 
"There is a lot of money to be made by holding this Grand Prix so they we don't care if they are all pooing their guts out and putting the general population at risk, they can bloody well get on with it. It's only Australia! It's not like anyone important or rich lives here" said a Liberty Media spokesman.
 
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