Official Australian Grand Prix 2025 Thread - Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne - Race 1/24

john_smith · 2025-03-15T11:19:45+0000

Combat squirrel said:
Carlos is adapting to the Williams a lot better than Hamilton is to the Ferrari

Lewis was closer to Charles (just) than Carlos was to Alex.

Jono8 · 2025-03-15T11:38:14+0000

chrismscotland said:
Zak talked about having to perhaps "sacrifice" some pace on Saturday due to the weather as well; I'd imagine that all of the front 4 teams have to some degree taken into account the forecast; it would be pretty dumb not to.

Yes I imagine they all have, but Leclercs statement perhaps implied that Ferrari specifically had to do something which he can't talk about which compromised the pace today: "but this isn't a tragedy".

The other top team principles didn't seem to think the Ferrari showing today was very reflective for where they truly rank either.

Would love to know what Leclerc was referring to, but I imagine we might never find out.

Slam62 · 2025-03-15T12:19:35+0000

Jono8 said:
Possible glimmer of hope that the Ferrari isn't as bad as this qualy made it look?

Leclerc:

"today we needed to sacrifice something for this weekend, i won't go into detail but it's the right thing to do, i'm not satisfied for today , but this isn't a tragedy , we don't have to make a miracle right at the start of the Season"

Very aggressive wet race setup maybe, that severely compromised their qualy?

Could make sense as if it's wet tomorrow, qualy won't really mean ****.

Doesn’t sound that way to be sounds like some sort of sacrifice for the whole weekend, possibly something in the hardware putting on a bigger load than expected and hence can be strengthened in the future. So not running at full speed.

t2na · 2025-03-15T12:34:00+0000

Saw the highlights this morning but got around to watching the full session just now. Some general thoughts!

Doohan was really unlucky, I was sure he could have snuck into Q3 or at least a little higher.
Great from Albon but even better from Yuki! What does he have to do to show Red Bull he was worthy of even a short trial at the main team?
Relatively expected from Antonelli for me, I think it'll be half a season before he's regularly into Q3.
McLaren decided to show their pace at the end, 3 tenths is pretty significant so it'll be fun to see the two of them battle it out tomorrow.
I sometimes think Max forgets he's Max Verstappen... Even if the car is 3rd or 4th fastest, he'll still get it into the top 3 somehow.
Ferrari were disappointing but it sounded like they know what they're dealing with, I was expecting Leclerc to qualify top 3 and for Hamilton to be around 5/6.
How long do we think Red Bull give Lawson...?

Mr Jack · 2025-03-15T13:04:27+0000

Lawson has until Lindblad's 18th, I reckon, but one misjudged corner isn't going to weigh too heavily in their decision.

Mr Jack · 2025-03-15T13:30:31+0000

I see the F2 and F3 sprints were the usual procession of safety cars...

imtoooldforthis · 2025-03-15T13:30:52+0000

koolpc said:
Tsunoda should be Max's team mate....always thought that.

He would get bodied and not be able to handle it. Would be no different to everyone else.

Put a mid tier driver against max in a car designed around his driving style and it’s going to be a battering every single time.

Better to avoid having a hyper emotional team mate like Tsunoda.

Red Bull have the data, at this point I think it’s fair to say they clearly don’t rate him that highly

Ryan-3 · 2025-03-15T13:41:59+0000

Even if he stacks up well, it'll be as you say, a hyper emotional driver pairing. Managing that will be no easy task.

Glad to Williams back towards the sharp end rather.

Jono8 · 2025-03-15T16:00:50+0000

Ryan-3 said:
Even if he stacks up well, it'll be as you say, a hyper emotional driver pairing. Managing that will be no easy task.

Not sure i buy that excuse because they went with Lawson who appears to be a bit of a disruptive/fiery character himself.

Mr Jack · 2025-03-15T17:07:17+0000

Currently raining, and a 50% chance of rain at the time of the race. At the very least, we're looking at a green track, but a wet race is looking more likely than ever. And, if not, it's going to be ten degrees cooler. Going to be interesting.

Feek · 2025-03-15T17:18:03+0000

Flibster said:
The timing info is so far in to the screen. Taking up too much main area real estate.

Leaving a huge gap all the way around is not something they don't need to do anymore. Overscan is not really a think now. Not since flatscreens have been the norm for years.

And also, it no longer lists what we’re watching at the top. It used to say FP1, FP2, Q1, Q2 etc.