2011 Australian Grand Prix

[Akmuq]

Interesting theories going on about why Red Bull didn't use KERS from James Allen:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/03/red-bull-using-start-only-kers/

Basically the suggestion that they have a light weight KERS unit that is only usable at the start of the race.

Hard to say if this will be kept legal

In any case, if this is true and Hamilton does manage to get past Vettel at the start, Seb will have a tough time getting back past him.

Why can't they just use proper KERS? The minimum weight was brought up for a reason.

 

[Matti_Dude]

Does anybody know what the situation with the start is? Will drivers be able to use their DRS down to the first corner? That in combination with KERS could really mix things up. I wouldn't have thought you could use the wing, as pole position would be at a massive disadvantage to everybody else. But Jake, Eddie and David haven't mentioned it at all yet so it got me thinking.

 

[Lee]

Ok, bare in mind I've only skimmed through the past 6 pages, so if I state something that has already been denied/proved/flamed upon, whoops!

I enjoyed the quali session, Vettel was absolutely mega on his two Q3 laps. Take nothing away from the guy, eight tenths ahead of his team mate, seven tenths ahead of a car that used KERS for the entire lap? Crazy.

Red Bull's KERS idea, if true, is a masterstroke, and I can't see how it's illegal. Aslong as they reach the min. weight of 640kg, they don't have to run KERS, (I believe Virgin, Lotus and HRT arn't using it either, more on HRT later..). It's a masterstroke because it protects them when they are at their most vulnerable, at the start. Once they clear the first few turns, tyres start running to temp, they can enjoy a clear racetrack with no dirty air which will probably see them take enough pace through the turns compared to the next car to cover their lack of KERS down straights, coupled with the DRS. It's a brilliant idea.

I was left rather impressed by both Petrov and Buemi. Vitaly didn't put a single foot wrong during the session, already a marked improvement over last season and sixth was just desrvered. Buemi is a driver under a huge amount of pressure and this result will give him a lovely boost going into the race. Kobayashi deserves an honourable mention, goes some way to disproving my doubts over his ultimate pace, whilst Perez should've joined him in Q3.

I think everyone jumping on Heidfeld's back right away is a little undeserved. If you see a replay of the end of Q1, you'll see his final lap was botched by a HRT in the final sector, He still managed a time quick enough to jump a position but it eventually proved not enough. If that didn't happen, I reckon he was easially in Q2. I expect him to claw his way up during the race tomorrow.

Ok, let's rant.

HRT really need to stop, they must be bleeding money bringing their team over to this flyaway races, only to run some 10 laps combined and be told you're way too slow to qualify for the event. They'll probably lose Geoff Willis to some midfield team during the season and then that's also their serious talent down the drain. Their car will never get any sponsorship to show instead of the still-silly comments on their car whilst they arn't fast enough to be shown during the races. How they are slower than they were last year just astonishes me, looking at the quali times from last season Bruno Senna was 2 seconds faster than Tonio Liuzzi's time from 2011!

Rant over.

I'm looking forward to the fight for the lower points tomorrow, sadly I can see the podium staying as it is, maybe even top 5. Tyres are apparently acting more durable then the drivers expected, according to Button during his post-session interview anyway.

 

[granturismite]

Does anybody know what the situation with the start is? Will drivers be able to use their DRS down to the first corner? That in combination with KERS could really mix things up. I wouldn't have thought you could use the wing, as pole position would be at a massive disadvantage to everybody else. But Jake, Eddie and David haven't mentioned it at all yet so it got me thinking.

From what I've heard/read, DRS is unavailable for the first two laps of the race. Anyway, even if not, they don't pass the measuring zone off the start, so this would contradict the rules. But a very interesting idea. now that would complicate the start!

 

[Sureboss]

Also, I think Brundle did a very good job in the commentary box.

 

[Alex.]

Agreed there, his commentary was very enjoyable.

 

[Clark]

I think there was a few problems with the commentary, however. Brundle seemed to be doing both pundit and commentator's job, and DC didn't ever really speak without MB having to hand it to him. I hope in the race he just speaks when he wants like, Brundle did in his previous position.

 

[Shaggy Alonso]

I enjoyed the quali session, Vettel was absolutely mega on his two Q3 laps. Take nothing away from the guy, eight tenths ahead of his team mate, seven tenths ahead of a car that used KERS for the entire lap? Crazy.

.

Just to let you know Martin Whitmarsh said shortly after that Hamilton's KERS wasn't working in Q3 and that this also affected his brake balance, something which Button looked a bit shocked by when told of afterwards.

With this in mind and also Red Bull's lightweight KERS solution (if true), then Hamilton was the only one at a disadvantage in Q3. So arguably the gap is closer between Hamilton and Vettel than it looks. Possibly half what the qualifying gap suggests.

 

[Matti_Dude]

I like the look of the rear of the cars now that the double diffuser has gone. They just look a lot more tidy and uncluttered. Hopefully the single diffuser will also help with overtaking this season, now that the air coming out of the rear of the car isn't as scattered. I'm not a fan of the new DRS and KERS, I think it will make overtaking more artificial. Instead with these new diffusers and Pirelli tires I believe it will make overtaking far easier but without giving the drivers a 'push to pass' button.

 

[jimy281090]

A little off topic here but was it just me that noticed Vettle quoting Ke$ha over the team radio lol

"We are Who we are" LMAO

 

[Dan Hill]

Looks like Vettel may be unstoppable again. But I was shocked at how well McLaren have turned it around and hopefully go on to win it again this year.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

As a McLaren and Hamilton fan, the MP4-26 has performed extremely well considering the last minute exhaust package is very close to Red Bull. The best thing is McLaren are using full kers and Red Bull is for only starts if the rumour is true then that will mean race pace wise McLaren will be right on back of the Red Bulls. Looks like Adrian Newey predicted their speed advantage amazingly well of about 0.5 seconds quicker but I bet he didn't expect McLaren to be the one that was close to them.

Anyone else think PD had a part in Red Bull's success by giving Adrian Newey the task to help them create the fastest car. Maybe that gave Adrian crazy ideas to pull off in terms of downforce that he managed in the real F1 car.

I'm suprised by Ferrari's lack of pace and maybe keeping the push-rod suspension was not the right thing to do as it limits their flexibility to catch the front runners up in development of aerodynamics.

 

[Seismica]

Just to let you know Martin Whitmarsh said shortly after that Hamilton's KERS wasn't working in Q3 and that this also affected his brake balance, something which Button looked a bit shocked by when told of afterwards.

With this in mind and also Red Bull's lightweight KERS solution (if true), then Hamilton was the only one at a disadvantage in Q3. So arguably the gap is closer between Hamilton and Vettel than it looks. Possibly half what the qualifying gap suggests.

Ah, so that explains the lock ups into turn 3.

If there is 3-4 tenths between the cars with/without KERS and you take into account the time lost from the lockups and general poor brake balance, Mclaren could just be closer to Red Bull than they were last season. (Though once we get to tracks like Silverstone and perhaps Barcelona, Red Bull are going to be unstoppable)

 

[porkchop87]

Disappointed with Kobi, surprised with Schumi. Unfortunately won't be able to watch the race because it'll be 2am here when the race starts

 

[livemusic]

It'll be 3AM over here and I plan on watching it.

 

[porkchop87]

It'll be 3AM over here and I plan on watching it.

👍... I wish I could do that too...

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

Luckliy the BBC re show it at 1pm, I doubt I'd get up at 6 to watch..

 

[Clark]

I'd hate to not watch it live, I'll watch quali and the race live whatever time it's on.

 

[zdawood89]

I'd hate to not watch it live, I'll watch quali and the race live whatever time it's on.

Same here. If I make plans of watching the rerun. Somehow or someone always spoils it for me.

I found this interesting video on Mark Webber's thoughts on this weekend's GP.


I too find it strange driver's are allowed to use the adjustable wing at any point on the track during qualifying.

I was expecting a little bit more out of Mark in qualifying as I thought he would push to impress his Aussie fans.

 

[Ardius]

A little off topic here but was it just me that noticed Vettle quoting Ke$ha over the team radio lol

"We are Who we are" LMAO

I thought it was more like a Cantona quote.

Disappointed with Kobi, surprised with Schumi. Unfortunately won't be able to watch the race because it'll be 2am here when the race starts

Disappointed? With what? 9th on the grid is nothing to be disappointed with, he has vastly superior teams ahead of him. Kamui's weakness seems to be qualifying anyway.

 

[Alex.]

A little off topic here but was it just me that noticed Vettle quoting Ke$ha over the team radio lol

"We are Who we are" LMAO

I guess most people didn't notice because we listen to artists who can make music, not manufactured products to make money.


I fancy Hamilton to at some point get ahead tomorrow, maybe even at turn 1. Could be a procession but more likely to be a brilliant race. Kobayashi for the podium

 

[Shaggy Alonso]

Disappointed? With what? 9th on the grid is nothing to be disappointed with, he has vastly superior teams ahead of him. Kamui's weakness seems to be qualifying anyway.

Indeed, I'm not really sure what he expected what he could do more than this. I don't think you can rate Sauber as the 5th fastest team so to line up in 9th is a great effort.


As for that Vettel sound bite, I had to cringe at it. It's as if he's trying to come across all profound and like everything is calm and under control, which of course is easy if the car you're driving is the best part of a second faster than the nearest competition.

 

[Robin]

A little off topic here but was it just me that noticed Vettle quoting Ke$ha over the team radio lol

I mentioned it earlier in the thread, its the first thing I thought of when he said it, was a pretty lame 'speech' but I guess Vettel always has his little quirks.

On the subject of DC's commentary he has been much more charismatic than I thought he would but he talks no where near enough and Brundle is having to speak non stop. When DC opens his mouth though he does offer interesting insights into things and doesnt seem to be making any mistakes at all.

 

[Shaggy Alonso]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned here but Mark Hughes had an interesting theory about the long run lap times that both Alonso and Barrichello managed on the second day of the penultimate Barcelona test in pre-season and i'm beginning to wonder whether it goes some way to explaining Ferrari's puzzling lack of pace today;

"With everyone else beginning their long runs lapping 5s or more off their real potential, Alonso and Barrichello each did runs on day two where they were hard on it immediately. In terms of tyre-wear prospects it looked suicidal - and yet the stint averages in each case were fantastically good. Alonso did two runs of 17 laps each where his average lap was in the mid-1m26s, a full 1s per lap better than the best of the rest over a comparable distance. Barrichello did an 11-lap run where he averaged a stunning 1m 25.6s - again after setting a very hard pace from the off, 4s per lap or more faster than on other comparable runs he did.

This has all the hallmarks of tyres that have been fully cured by some previous running. Doing some gentle running, then removing them and letting them 'cure' over a period of hours, can often give tyres far more resilience. Is this what Ferrari and Williams tried? It was noticeable that neither team did any similar runs in the remaining two days, as if they wanted not to show their hands further."

He goes on later;

"a pre-used set, as well as being more durable, would also lose the instant first-lap performance needed for qualifying."

I noticed on Alonso's first run today in Q3 that he did a very, very slow lap. His final Q3 time was certainly nothing special at all. Could it have been that this was what he was doing, 'curing' a set of tyres before setting his Q3 time on an already 'cured' set?

I guess we'll find out tomorrow, especially if Ferrari start catching Red Bull and McLaren at a rate of knots.

 

[Akmuq]

I think Button will win this one. He goes good at this track ad this year there is an added element of strategy with an extra stop or possibly two extra stops. I don't see Red Bull's KERS really helping them and I'd say Mclaren and maybe Alonso will have at least Webber by turn 1. As for the DRS. I think it really highlights the better performing cars. Vettel wa deploying it really early out of the turns and Mclaren's are roumered to get 5 KPH more then Red Bull's.

This is so exciting.
Go Renault.

 

[Robin]

Its going to be tough getting up at 6am tomorrow morning (as it will feel like 5am) but I'm really interested in Sauber and Kobayashi who from nowhere seemly now have a reasonably competitive car.

Robin.

 

[SaberFire]

Kobayashi has done me proud. Definitely a points finish tomorrow. And what a Q2 lap that was. Without a doubt, the most exciting driver on the grid, bar none

 

[F1 fan]

Disappointed with Kobi, surprised with Schumi. Unfortunately won't be able to watch the race because it'll be 2am here when the race starts

I'm in Toronto too. Nothings gonna stop me watching the race live.

As for that Vettel sound bite, I had to cringe at it. It's as if he's trying to come across all profound and like everything is calm and under control, which of course is easy if the car you're driving is the best part of a second faster than the nearest competition.

And yet look at the gap to Webber. Did Webber choke, or maybe it was just Vettel's all out speed.

 

[designate-19L]

Massively well done to the Maccerboys, especially Lewis - he continues to put that car right up where it really oughtn't to be. His aim is to be the greatest driver of his generation - but he needn't aim ANY higher to be so!

God, I hope Vettel doesn't do a dodgy at the start - qualifier he is, but I've never really rated him as a racing driver. Bit dangerous.

Shame about Quick Nick, that Renault really is one to watch this season.

Gutted for Williams. Keep fighting.

Good luck 'Yashi! Hope you can take the fight to the Ferraris...the battle of the "pushrodders"!

 

[chromatic9]

I felt Vettel's quote was tongue in cheek statement similar to what he often does saying we will show them, the us against them mentality. Red Bull get a lot of suspicion aimed their way.

When I watched practice, Vettel and the car seemed peerless. I wonder what Webbers problem is? Getting a feel for the tyres or is it the wing operation and when to operate it, it can change the feel of the car and perhaps he's just not maximising the whole thing, he seems a bit against the idea of mastering the buttons. Hopefully its a rare drop and not something we'll see more of as at most tracks he's pretty close and can match Vettel.