Australian Grand Prix 2013, Melbourne - Race 1/19

AFter watching that I think even more that if anyone had gone on the mediums in quali to get 7-10th, they could have done very very well, Kimi had a great start but that car kept its tyres sooo well. Hamilton actually did excellently on the softs, went further than the Lotus, that slower pace but not too slow + going way further would have worked but their speed vs tyre life on the medium wasn't quite there. If Hamilton had gone flat out on the mediums planning for a 3 stop but having done better on the softs would probably have worked great.

lol as they go over the start, Webber got pawned, and I hadn't realised how awesome Alonso was off the grid, but he got boxed in by Hamilton/Webber so had to back off and go left.
 
Given what we have seen so far, I think its fair to say that Vettel, Kimi, Alonso are all in with a shout of winning this year's title.

I still say Vettel is favourite. Perhaps Kimi and Alonso are joint 2nd favourites.

Do bear in mind that this is only the first race of the season and it was not dry. Furthermore, as the season progresses, teams can go forwards/backwards.

Consider this:
The top 3 in the WDC last year, were the same top 3, as finished in today's race.
 
FrankJH said:
not if it isnt reliable it isnt
Click to expand...

Merc 10 points, Mclaren with both cars finishing, 2 points. Reliability of a car that can't score points is worthless, most cars will have failures every year, maybe this will be Merc's only failure and Mclaren have one car fail in every other race, claiming one car is more reliable at this stage is mental.

Mclaren quite clearly at the moment, don't have the pace to get top 5 finishes, Merc very much do... for now Merc is very much better than Mclaren.
 
Which to choose...
Fast but fragile.
Slow and reliable.

Fast and fragile please.

It's easier to make an fast, unreliable car reliable than it is to make a slow, reliable car fast.
 
dalin80 said:
I would love to see the results from the other timeline where lewis stayed at mclaren would have made an awesome comparison.
Click to expand...

That Mclaren wasn't capable of an awful lot more, but I think the main thing is, well Whitmarsh said they went completely the wrong direction with the car on Friday, maybe saturday, and last year Button went completely the wrong way with setup throughout the season... ultimately how many times did he struggle when Hamilton didn't. But that Mclaren maybe with a better qualy, better setup might have been fighting better with Di Resta, but not Sutil(as in on pace, without Sutil's tyre problem), it wasn't going to be mixing it at the tail end of Vettel/Massa. While I think the Merc really should have been closer to Vettel if it had been running 3 stop paced laps throughout.

That car is a bit crap right now, Hamilton wouldn't make a massive difference. What happened to Grosjean though, I don't think Merc is the wrong move for Hamilton, but potentially, if Kimi didn't have some "no other top driver" contract, he could have been pushing for Grosjean's seat, based on last years performance you'd have to seriously consider a Lotus seat over a Merc... and if there was no problem with Kimi, I'm fairly sure Lotus would have happily got rid of Sir Hitsalot for Hamilton. That would be an awesome driver combination and if that Lotus continues to do as well, freaking awesome team.
 
sunama said:
Consider this:
The top 3 in the WDC last year, were the same top 3, as finished in today's race.
Click to expand...

Consider this, their podium position relates to how many world championships they've won.

And in my eyes also relates to who's the best out of the three :)

Saying that as a kimi fan btw!
 
Did anyone else see the article saying the only reason Button was so quick at Barcelona because they accidentally put the car together wrong, with a suspension part on backwards? Ever since they "fixed" it (would have been too low ride-height for most circuits), their pace disappeared.

I've lost the link now but it was on Autosport somewhere. McLaren really have turned into a complete farce of a team. Even when they do eventually manage to get one of their drivers in the top three, they'll probably much up the pit stop like usual. As a McLaren fan, it's painful.
 
I think McLaren's pitstops are now amongst the best/fastest in F1.
Their problem is their strategy. For all their supercomputers and boffins, they consistently make bad choices. Perez's debacle was just the latest in a long line of debacles.

I believe that they will finish the season with one of the best cars, but it may be too little, too late.

Also consider that Australia was a damp race, so isnt the best race track to base any real predictions or conclusions. When we get a dry race - not too hot, not too cold - only then will we know the true performance of the McLaren.

One thing is for sure is that Ferrari, RBR and Lotus all have decent cars capable of winning races. My gut feeling is that on a dry track, RBR possess the fastest car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom