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

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:42

knip said:
Im back! Just watched qualy, liking DC as co-commentator. Well done to Vettel, Yay! for Lewis and Jenson. Good to see you back posting by the way CSl nuts. Someone tell me what time I need to get up in the morning please.

6am if you move your clocks forward an hour or 5am if you don't. That's start of program not race.

ins0mn1ac · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:42

knip said:
Im back! Just watched qualy, liking DC as co-commentator. Well done to Vettel, Yay! for Lewis and Jenson. Good to see you back posting by the way CSl nuts. Someone tell me what time I need to get up in the morning please.

Depends if you set the time on your clock correctly

6AM once it's changed I think? so 5AM in your head

Caffrey · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:42

Coverage starts at 6am ^^

Too slow

knip · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:43

So the grid walk will be just after 6:30am?

ins0mn1ac · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:44

What's the chances of rain in Aus then for the race? looked pretty crappy today weather wise!

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:48

deleted said:
What's the chances of rain in Aus then for the race? looked pretty crappy today weather wise!

pretty much none atm.

Westyfield2 · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:52

So is the race start 7AM new time (6AM old time)?

I CBA getting up for the preamble, but probably will for the race itself.

TheGamingGeneral · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:53

So what is the wisdom on OC about that redbull, is there Kers system a start only job? Been reading on loads of forums and its acusations of kers systems that aint really kers and flexi body work (not just front wing).

I still dont see whats the bloody point in using the DRS in quali anyway, Kers, yea sure, but not the DRS, I wonder how close seb would have got to last years pole pace without the DRS?

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:56

GeneralD said:
I still dont see whats the bloody point in using the DRS in quali anyway,

because it makes you faster.

As for kers it's guess work atm.

He also beat last years time by almost 1/2 a second

2010 1:23.919
2011 1:23.529

Morbius · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:58

I_M_Weasel said:
Renault must be a little perplexed with their drivers, fantastic job from Petrov but Heidfeld who's been excellent in testing is suddenly useless, I know he's always been a steady, safe pair of hands but not so steady as to take a decent car to q1 and no further.

Heidfeld was really unlucky with traffic. He was baulked by Schumacher earlier on, but on his final attempt he came across a Hispania and a Virgin that both got in the way.

Emlyn_Dewar · 26 Mar 2011 at 17:59

Have to agree with the complete negativity, almost hatred, that Brundle was showing towards Hispania.
They are a disgrace, far too slow to be on track with the "real" cars. Glad they wont be getting in anyones way tomorrow.

JHeaton · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:07

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Have to agree with the complete negativity, almost hatred, that Brundle was showing towards Hispania.
They are a disgrace, far too slow to be on track with the "real" cars. Glad they wont be getting in anyones way tomorrow.

I agree, although it did make me think about a negative aspect of the 107% rule.

Say Virgin fall foul of it at the next race and end up not being able to compete, they then lose out on vital mileage that could be used to understand the problems with the car and work out a solution. This wasn't as much of a problem the last time the 107% rule was around because the teams could just go testing instead (although it would still have been a nightmare having to go all that way just to go back home again without racing) but now that teams can't do that, how are they supposed to get feedback?

I think this would have the negative effect of discouraging potential candidates from submitting applications to the FIA to become a Formula One team because, as we've seen, it can be a challenge to start from scratch and with this rule now taking effect, you could end up missing the whole season if your car isn't good enough.

Should teams be given mileage back to compensate for missing the race, in order to give them a chance to become more competitive? Or are they to be expected just to make guesses, turn up and get sent away race after race? Something worth thinking about, I think.

pingwing · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:13

Just watched quali (wasnt feeling good at 6am this morning) WOW! The Red Bull is very fast and McLaren have actually surprised me! Koybashi, Petrov and the Torro Rosso's have been more impressive than expected too

Shame the Williams doesnt look quite as fast though

(and Rubens binning it in Q2 for basically his own tiny mistake) but it does look better than some have said in full sponsorship colours on the tv...

The HD broadcast I havnt seen properly but its clearly helped the iplayer stream out as it looks better quality this season.

Agreeing with Martin on HRT, its embarrassing that F1 is having a team shake down its new car at Q1! Even worse that it's over a second off the virgins... Hope they dont do the mobile rode block duty tomorrow as Kartakeyan (spelling is out there) looked TERRIBLE, very very good reason he didnt get a drive after his year at Jordan

Emlyn_Dewar · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:22

I'm sure Virgin will manage to claw back some time over the season, but I would really have expected them to have made a step forward since last year.
HRT though... Why are they here? Little to no testing done with the car before the season. They were literally falling apart on the track.

Must set multiple alarms and all for 5am... Sure my phone will change the time itself but I can't risk it.

Kerming · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:25

sunama said:
So, from what we know, it is conceivable that RBR may run without using KERS this year.

Come on Nuts...give us the scoop. What the hell is going on with your car?

Is there a rule that if a team choose's not to use Kers, they have to add ballast which is the same weight as the kers system?

becuase that would improve handling due to less weight, or they can use this extra weight else where on the car......ie, make the front wing more flexy or somthing..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqCcxD5xr9g
Loving the flexy front wing there....I have no idea how the FIA let the car pass the tests.........The Mclaren in 2008 wasn't that flexy.

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:27

Kerming said:
Is there a rule that if a team choose's not to use Kers, they have to add ballast which is the same weight as the kers system?

Minimum weight, the weight balance has also been set by fia this year.

griffo_001 · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:28

JHeaton said:
Should teams be given mileage back to compensate for missing the race, in order to give them a chance to become more competitive? Or are they to be expected just to make guesses, turn up and get sent away race after race? Something worth thinking about, I think.

That would be my suggestion too

As for the mini-KERS RBR are supposedly running, I suspect they were having the same reliability issues some of the other teams were. If the WMSC proves me wrong I'll take that back, but I suspect these rumours are just other teams trying to justify the gap

Tweaker · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:29

It is good to see the young guys like Petrov, Buemi and Kobayashi in Q3.

Kerming · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:30

remove this post.

Glaucus · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:31

Kerming said:
Are you saying that the cars with out Kers are lighter?

No, all cars have to be a minimum weight. This minimum weight was increased by 20kilos this year to help fit kers and bigger drivers in. I also believe the minimum weight front to rear ratio is also to make tames include kers, as there is less scope for balancing.