Formula 1 2013 Season Opener Melbourne 17th March

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lbsf1

lbsf1

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Its the Tuesday (In some parts of the world) before the first F1 race of the 2013 season, the Australian Grand Prix from Albert Park Melbourne.

As we welcome back F1 from its winter hiatus there are many questions to answer. How fast is the Mercedes and will Hamilton regret his move?? Will Lotus be able to push themselves up to be consistently pushing for race wins?? Can Sebastian Vettel be in the running for a 4th Championship in a row for Red Bull??

Ladies and Gentlemen, put on your seatbelts, start your engines and brace yourself for the start of the 2013 F1 season.

2013 Rolex Australian Grand Prix

australia-starting-grid.jpg

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Last years race winner: Jenson Button
Lap Record: 1:24.125 (Micheal Shumacher 2004)

Last years pole Lap

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Enjoy.
 
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Stand by for criticism from Prisoner Monkeys.



Hoping for a strong showing from Lotus and Kimi, but my fallback team is McLaren.
 
hawkeye122
Stand by for criticism from Prisoner Monkeys.



Hoping for a strong showing from Lotus and Kimi, but my fallback team is McLaren.
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Why would I get critised?????(can't spell sorry). The rule is you can't start a thread until the Tuesday before the race weekend. It is the Tuesday (in some parts of the world) hence all's good.

I have included all the info like we had in previous threads, so thats not a problem. I was pretty surprised that there wasn't a thread already to be honest.
 
Because it's Monday.

I don't know why we even have a Tuesday rule about these, who even cares? Whether they are made early or late, they are going to be posted anyway.
 
Bram Turismo
Because it's Monday.

I don't know why we even have a Tuesday rule about these, who even cares? Whether they are made early or late, they are going to be posted anyway.
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Go and ask Shem if its Monday. ;)

The Tuesday rule was to stop people making threads stupidly early, and works. Now isn't stupidly early for a grand prix thread, especially when it is the first race of the season.
 
Lewis wont regret the move since he moved because he wanted another challenge. In 2-3 years if he dont win anything then maybe he'll start having regret, this year he wont.

Supporting Hamilton and the Mclaren boys.

I'm looking forward on how Bianchi will do and if caterham and Marussia will finally be able to take that step up. I surely hope so.
 
RX-7_FD3S
Lewis wont regret the move since he moved because he wanted another challenge. In 2-3 years if he dont win anything then maybe he'll start having regret, this year he wont.

Supporting Hamilton and the Mclaren boys.

I'm looking forward on how Bianchi will do and if caterham and Marussia will finally be able to take that step up. I surely hope so.
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From what I have heard from the technical experts (bbc and autosport) they think that Marrussia may be able to make that step because they have redesigned most of their car and made many improvements, whereas Caterhams car is more of a slight evolution from last years car.
 
So excited for this race, not only because it's the first of 2013, but also it will be my first time spectating at a Formula 1 race! :D

Not sure who really has the form though, I guess we won't know until after qualifying.
 
It's been very quiet so far about Red Bull, it all seems to be Lotus, Perez and Mercedes... so I fully expect for Vettel to dominate this 2011-style.

If he doesn't well I'll be happy, as long as no-one else does.:sly:
 
Bram Turismo
Because it's Monday.

I don't know why we even have a Tuesday rule about these, who even cares? Whether they are made early or late, they are going to be posted anyway.
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The thread was made Tuesday at 6.24am in my world and I think the Tuesday rule was brought in to stop the threads being made progressively earlier, when there was nothing specific to say 10 days before the GP.

Also, I really hope we don't have the who/when argument over the thread every round :rolleyes:


I really hope Webber can get a good result this week. I feel bad for him that the track he never seems to do well at happens to be his home race.
 
lbsf1
From what I have heard from the technical experts (bbc and autosport) they think that Marrussia may be able to make that step because they have redesigned most of their car and made many improvements, whereas Caterhams car is more of a slight evolution from last years car.
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Marussia's car is all new, yeah, but it's such a pig of a car I can't imagine them being better than last year at all, especially considering their driver line up. I imagine Bianchi will be able to put in some results closer to the points, but I kind of doubt they'll even score this year. Their car's proven to have the least downforce, and you can't have that going into a track like Albert Park.

The Caterham's concentrating on refining their package from last year, it's a smart move imo. They've laid out a solid plan, where they'll be using the first few races as almost mainly data gathering (ghetto testing) in order to for their big debut in Spain, which they've said they plan to give their car its first big upgrade at, so look for a big change then.

I think that in Melbourne they're really going to be struggling to find speed with the Supersofts since no one's tested it enough besides Ferrari really. The set up will be even tougher for Marussia though.

Akmuq
It's been very quiet so far about Red Bull, it all seems to be Lotus, Perez and Mercedes... so I fully expect for Vettel to dominate this 2011-style.

If he doesn't well I'll be happy, as long as no-one else does.:sly:
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RB's been doing nothing but complaining about how they "didn't have enough time to test." which sounds like a pretty weak bluff to me. They keep trying to distract every one by saying things like, " We're watching the competition closely" "Don't underestimate [team/driver]" blah blah. They're smirking and really confident. In tests, guys reported seeing the RB9 and the E21 (Lotus) as being the most stable through the corners, and we all heard about how RB has "10%" (rule of thumb estimation) more downforce than anyone else. By all accounts, they should have the first race in the bag, but you just never know, the tests didn't have ideal conditions to let them know exactly how the tires would work out for them, so we're all gonna find out this weekend.

I'm really looking forward to what Mercedes can do here. They seem to have a really quick package according to miffy testing results, but, again, we'll find out exactly what that translates to in application.

My prediction is that we'll have a fierce Q3 session on Saturday that'll have us jumping out of our seats.

If McLaren sets a fast time in Q, then I have a bad feeling they'll only fall back during the race due to trouble with getting to grips with consistency with this new rubber and their revised suspension work.

I have a weird feeling Lotus is going to sneak their way up through everyone to give a good battle to RB and company.
 
I'm looking forward to this so much! It's the first time Im actually going to watch. Any advice on the best General Admission area? Ideally I'd like a great spot for photos and maybe somewhere with a big screen.

Anyway, I think we could see some mixed results. I'm thinking Maldanado might have a good race. Mclarens will be quick and Lotus will be off the pace.Torro Rosso will struggle as well. I think Mercedes will be in a similar situation as last year, and RB will be around 3-4 quickest but still take out the race.

That's my two cents anyway.
 
Was going to go to the GP this year but sadly I had to stay home due to personal reasons.:( Anyway, my predictions are:
1st: Raikkonen
2nd: Webber (Aussie Bias :P)
3rd: Button

Hoping for a good race! 👍
 
Can't wait until the lights go out at Melbourne, rooting for Button mainly but I'll be happy to see anyone other than the Vettelmeister win.
 
Hoping for Mclaren to do well, I really want them to win the constructors this year. Though they have said they'd be happy with getting only points in the first round, I think they'll improve over the course of the season (which is the whole design philosophy behind their new car is it not).
 
lbsf1
Why would I get critised?????(can't spell sorry). The rule is you can't start a thread until the Tuesday before the race weekend. It is the Tuesday (in some parts of the world) hence all's good.

I have included all the info like we had in previous threads, so thats not a problem. I was pretty surprised that there wasn't a thread already to be honest.
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Because at times PM has implied or posted in a way that he should be doing these GP post. For what reason...I have no idea, I've run the gauntlet over the past couple years as to why. Though that is the past and may be different.

Anyways I will be backing Merc GP from day one. With partial Ferrari support which is rare from me, and Lotus as well. Will keep an eye on Williams, Sauber and Sutil (though I don't like him) in the FI. I hope FI can make a similar run from the start like they did in the later half of 2009. Would really make the mid field and the top portion even closer and cut throat.

Jiggins
I'm looking forward to this so much! It's the first time Im actually going to watch. Any advice on the best General Admission area? Ideally I'd like a great spot for photos and maybe somewhere with a big screen.

Anyway, I think we could see some mixed results. I'm thinking Maldanado might have a good race. Mclarens will be quick and Lotus will be off the pace.Torro Rosso will struggle as well. I think Mercedes will be in a similar situation as last year, and RB will be around 3-4 quickest but still take out the race.

That's my two cents anyway.
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Just curious as to why you think Mclaren will be quick but Merc and Lotus will struggle?
 
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I'm packing my bags for Melbourne now, as I will be in the grandstands this weekend. Very excited!

I'll be over the moon to see Webber finish on the podium. Should be a great race, nevertheless.
 
I'm going for a Mclaren win, with Hamilton and Vettel on the podium. So in real money that will be a Alonso win, with Kimi and Rosberg joining him. But that would be going one step further, so Massa, Grosjean and Webber it is.
 
My wish: Button, Webber, Perez

What will probably happen: Vettel, Button, Alonso

I haven't had my F1 fix in a while, and I can't wait for Sunday morning.
 
I'm following Mercedes this year( Erebus V8s as well). Really do hope Webber can move up one more spot from last year to the podium this year. So far Lotus has done well each visit, so I wouldn't rule out Kimi. If Ricciardo can use his new found confidence to propel him into the top ten this weekend, that'll be cool.
 
I predict that the Red Bulls are going to be fast. Probably followed in pace by the Mclarens, however I don't think the Mclarens will do as well in the race.

I do hope that the Lotus's will also be up there.

Prediction:
1.Vettel
2.Raikonnen
3. Webber
 
Cant wait for the new season! i think Alonso will take the drivers title as Ferrari have got a much better car than this time last year and i think Vettel will take a step back this year as the pressure is off for him and i cant see him makinf it four in a row..also, im going for Redbull for the constructers and a strong showing from Mercedes, with Hamilton winning at least two races, and Lotus

..as for this weekend, Button has won there three times in the past, so im going for Button for the win :)
 
Wardez
Marussia's car is all new, yeah, but it's such a pig of a car I can't imagine them being better than last year at all, especially considering their driver line up. I imagine Bianchi will be able to put in some results closer to the points, but I kind of doubt they'll even score this year. Their car's proven to have the least downforce, and you can't have that going into a track like Albert Park.
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Here's Gary Anderson (ex Jordan designers) opinion.:

Gary Anderson
BBC F1 technical analyst
Marussia have tried to improve their general engineering ability for this year - the new car is the first one the new structure has built completely from scratch following the split from ex-designer Nick Wirth in 2011. I've had a good look at it, including under the skin and it is very well mechanically engineered. It's neat and tidy with lots of nice bits and pieces on it. The bodywork is very basic, without turning vanes and other parts aimed at enhancing aerodynamics, but there is room for those to be added. It looks like a solid package.

I couldn't find a quote in writing of him talking about the Caterham however in his bbc video online he says "Doesn't look like it has as much downforce as the some of the other cars, slides around alot, serious work needs to be done", and then about 10 seconds later comments on the Marrusia saying "work needs doing, but overall a good mechanical package"
 

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