Australian Grand Prix 2011, Albert Park Circuit - Race 1/19

JRS · 26 Mar 2011 at 11:57

If it doesn't recover kinetic energy to charge the battery then it isn't KERS. Look for that argument when the inevitable bunfight in the WMSC occurs.

Shimmy · 26 Mar 2011 at 12:00

dalin80 said:
Regarding DBR's start only KERS system surely it doesn't count as a KERS as the car doesn't recharge the system, if the batter is charged in parc-ferme for the start only then shouldn't the system just count as a battery and motor not KERS?

According to JA's article RBR have a trickle charge system, so whilst it does charge very slowly it's only intention is for the race start and not to be used lap after lap.

Such a system you'd think would have negligible effect on brake bias and locking, whereas the much larger rapid charge systems everyone else is using will mean compromises.

Greboth · 26 Mar 2011 at 12:17

SoliD said:
Doubt it, only accelerating into a corner after all. Will be interesting on safety cars though! If somebody can peg the RBR they could do them on the straights with DRS.

They couldn't have them with DRS as, unless the rules have changed again, it can't be used after a safety car period for (I think) 2 laps. Though if they effectively don't have a rechargable kers then I am sure McLaren could use their kers for an oppurtunity into T1.

Qualifying was interesting though, good to see that McLaren are quicker than expected and that the gap to RB isn't as big as people feared. I would love to see Hamilton win this race but I think Vettel will lead into T1 and run away with it

SoliD · 26 Mar 2011 at 12:24

Greboth said:
They couldn't have them with DRS as, unless the rules have changed again, it can't be used after a safety car period for (I think) 2 laps. Though if they effectively don't have a rechargable kers then I am sure McLaren could use their kers for an oppurtunity into T1.

Qualifying was interesting though, good to see that McLaren are quicker than expected and that the gap to RB isn't as big as people feared. I would love to see Hamilton win this race but I think Vettel will lead into T1 and run away with it

Yes sorry, meant that as if they can be pegged in normal racing conditions they could use drs + kers to boost past.

dannyjo22 · 26 Mar 2011 at 12:57

Greboth said:
but I think Vettel will lead into T1 and run away with it

I don't think there is much to gain this year by running away with it, they will know they have so much time in hand and will concentrate on going easy on the tyres while the car following destroys theres.

The gap to the RB is bigger than I feared it would be, but australia often is a weird track like that.

mmj_uk · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:04

JRS said:
0.106 seconds quicker in Q1, 0.365 seconds quicker in Q2. Hardly 'schooling' him is it?

Not really good enough for a 7 times world champion who many consider to be a racing deity though is it? he failed to make Q3 and qualified 4 places down on Rosberg which was pretty much the same story most of last season.

FrankJH · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:10

KERS cant be used immetiately after a restart/ safety car lap? I dont recall that being the case two years ago

Shimmy · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:15

Horner not giving much away about KERS start only talk.

SoliD · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:44

FrankJH said:
KERS cant be used immetiately after a restart/ safety car lap? I dont recall that being the case two years ago

I don't think it is the case is it?

cravin penut · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:56

great comeback for the McLarens, shame that redbull seem to be so much faster than them!

drunkenmaster · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:14

FrankJH said:
KERS cant be used immetiately after a restart/ safety car lap? I dont recall that being the case two years ago

Think he was sayind DRS can't be used after safety car, though thats a shame if true, most of the grid has spread such a distance in 2 laps.

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:21

Formula 1 - 2011 - The Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying
Jake Humphrey presents coverage of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle commentate on proceedings.

Qualifying - untouchable Vettel wows with Albert Park pole
Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull crushed their opposition in Albert Park on Saturday to grab pole position for the Australian Grand Prix by a stunning eight-tenths of a second, the world champion being in a class of his own as he lapped in 1m 23.529s in Q3.

Qualifying - selected team and driver quotes
Months of waiting - and conjecture - came to end on Saturday afternoon, as the grid’s 24 runners finally pitted themselves against each other in anger during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Neither HRT driver managed to set a time within the new 107 percent rule, Renault’s Nick Heidfeld was a surprise faller in Q1 and the McLarens looked in unexpectedly good form with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finishing in second and fourth. The day, however, belonged to reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel who set a scintillating time to take a dominant pole position for Red Bull...

Australian Grand Prix qualifying - top three drivers
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel gives his reaction after claiming pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber.

ebastian Vettel's Australian Grand Prix pole lap
Ride onboard as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel takes pole position for the 2011 Australian Grand Prix with a blistering lap of 1:23.529 on the Albert Park circuit.

Grid

Kenai · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:27

Just as an interesting note as regards the discussion on the 107% rule being applied on Q3 time not Q1, if that were the case today, then neither Virgin car would be running the race either.

Mike_P · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:30

PlacidCasual said:
Last time we had kers therexwas a lot of comment about weight balance. Shorter drivers were moved forward in the car on some tracks to offset the kers rear end mass. Tall drivers like webber didn't have this option. Does anyone think this might be an issue this year?

I believe the 20KG increase in minimum car weight was to help offset the disadvantage to the larger drivers.

OpenToSuggestions · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:32

Mike_P said:
I believe the 20KG increase in minimum car weight was to help offset the disadvantage to the larger drivers.

I heard this too.
I am 6ft 3 and am around 96kg (a fair bit lower than I used to be

).

Put that up against a 5ft 4 man who is 60kg. That is quite a difference to an F1 car.

SDK^ · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:33

Awesome work from the McLaren team to get up there.

Schumacher 2+ seconds off the pace - who'd have thought it !!!

Westyfield2 · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:46

Just watched the Qually re-run as I CBA this morning

.

OMFG Vettel, great lap.... and without KERS :eek:

. Also glad to see McLaren have bounced back

. Shame about Webber's pace in comparsion with Vettel though

. Major LOL at Massa, and new trousers for Sutil!

I thought it looked great on BBC HD, soo much better than SD. Obviously I'd like the BBC to up the bandwidth as even I can see the effect of soo much compression on it, but meh. Wonder how long before we get HD cameras in-car?
One comment though... on BBC1 they keep the graphic with the list of times in a bit from the left edge of the screen, so that those watching it on a traditional square screen TV can still see it (right on their left edge) but those on widescreen have a bit of picture and then the graphic (if they were to move the graphic to the left edge it would be cut-off for those on a square screen TV)... on HD why don't they move it over to the left? No-one's going to be watching the HD channel on a square screen TV!

dalin80 · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:49

cravin penut said:
great comeback for the McLarens, shame that redbull seem to be so much faster than them!

Same as last year, again we are left to hope that DBR's poor dirver line up can compensate for the cars embarrassment of riches. Then again DBR had a 1s advantage for most of last year and vettel was rubbish enough to still take the entire season to win.

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:49

why are you calling it DBRs?

sunama · 26 Mar 2011 at 14:50

JRS said:
Now I don't know for sure because he's on my ignore list, but I'm guessing that sunama ...

For somebody who has me on their ignore list, I find it strange that you are using my name in your post. Utterly bizarre.

RBR
They've maintained their advantage and basically started where they finished in 2010.

McLaren
I'm completely surprised that that after introducing a heavily revised car 2 days ago, they were immediately on the pace. This bodes well for them. It'll be interesting if they are going to pursue the complicated exhaust system or are going to ditch it completely. Clearly, a complicated exhaust system has not helped Renault (and I believe that theirs is regarded as the best), so with this in mind, it might be best for McLaren to concentrate their efforts elsewhere.

Ferrari
Now this is the big surprise. They clearly underperformed today. However, this may be as a result of the low track temperatures. The only explanation I can think of is that the (low) track temperature has effected Ferrari more than any other leading team. Bear in mind that all previous testing was done on tracks with higher temperatures.

At this point, I do not believe that Ferrari are the 3rd best team.

We shall find out more tomorrow and in the next GP.

The Race
Last year, in general, RBR were dominant in qualifying, however, in the race, the other teams were a lot closer to them. So although Vettel is about 0.8s faster than the rest, this advantage may not be evident in tomorrow's race. My hope is that Hamilton can take Vettel on the first lap and then make Vettel work for the overtake. We all know that Vettel's race craft is his big weakness, so overtaking Hamilton (even though he will have DRS and be in a faster car) may not be easy for Vettel. If Vettel is allowed to turn this into a time trial, I can't see how anybody will be able to beat him. Time trialling is Vettel's strength.