2011 Australian Grand Prix

[Ardius]

Nick said the car was undrivable in the race due to damage apparently, he didn't get a good qualy lap due to traffic (Hispanias being exceptionally slow desperately trying qualify, so they weren't getting out of the way).
Just a very bad weekend for Quick Nick, hopefully he's better for Sepang.

Is it really so hard to think that Petrov is already at those dizzy heights?

I don't think people are afraid of devaluing Petrov's result. Quite the opposite. They're just assuming that because Kubica was so much faster than Petrov in 2010, then everything has remained equal over the winter and so he must still be faster than Petrov in equal amounts. People are just overlooking the fact that the Petrov we saw today was totally different to the Petrov we have seen in the past.

Yes, I'm not so sure Petrov is getting the full performance out of the car based on his previous record. Something that Kubica has very much proven he can do.
Petrov always had speed, we saw that on occasion last year. I wouldn't claim he is a different man just yet, he needs to show more consistency over the seasons and over sessions. He had several good races last year but they were sporadic and on occasion ruined by silly errors.

I think once again people are not giving due credit to the team and car too, just as they didn't last year.

 

[niky]

Petrov fully deserves that spot today. Sure, part of it was the car, but he drove a good race, didn't set a foot wrong, and kept his nose clean.

Like many others here, I'd rate Kubica as above Petrov. But we've seen cases like this. Number one goes out , or they simply can't get their head in the game... and number two steps up to fill in the gap (see Kimi vs. Massa).

Now is Petrov's time to prove his worth. He's got the advantage of more testing time with the car versus Nick... and if he's really hungry for that number one seat, he'll have to stay one step ahead of him as they grow into this car and season.

What a great drive from Perez... shame if the FIA decide to disqualify the car... this sort of thing should not be happening in 2011... they should have ruled on this before the race!

Great work by McLaren to get that car in shape... but the fact that the RBRs are faster... without KERS... is worrying for everyone else.

 

[Lizard]

One thing this weekend has shown in my opinion is the DRS works better as an entertainment booster if you let the drivers use it as much as they like.

 

[PeterJB]

Vettel wins, can't complain about that!

Apart from Sato at Monaco 2004 I don't think I've seen a start like that from a driver, Vettel was off like a rocket!

Petrov was the main surprise their, also considering how slow Heidfeld was! I can only imagine how Kubica could have done!

 

[Prince.M5]

Wheyy... Too many things going on. Congrats to Vettel, Hammy and the man of the race Petrov. I was about to be happy until I received both Saubers were DQ'ed....

 

[Ardius]

Petrov was the main surprise their, also considering how slow Heidfeld was!

Heidfeld's car was heavily damaged, unless you really believe he was two seconds slower on actual pace?

 

[Matti_Dude]

If Kubica were racing today, he probably wouldn't have done much better than Petrov. He probably would have qualified fourth at best, and the distance to Hamilton would have been less, but that's about it.

I remember seeing some data last year between team mates and their qualifying times. Kubica averaged 0.8 seconds quicker than Petrov throughout the 2010 season. I'd have loved to see Kubica in the Renault, he could do have done a lot of damage and it wouldn't have surprised me if he had taken 2nd place from hamilton today. But we will never know. It'd be nice to see Kubica make a quick recovery though and come back at the end of the season. And for the record, i'm a Hamilton fan.

 

[daan]

One has to wonder though...what Kubica could have done with that car?

Kubica would've been 3rd too. He would probably have been pushing Hamilton more, but I doubt he would have got past.

-----

It was an interesting race, if not a terribly exiting one, and it should set us up nicely for the season. You can't read too much into the tyre situation yet. Remember Bahrain last year, everyone was too cautious on the tyres as they didn't know what they could do and if they'd cope with a full load of fuel. I'm sure this race was similar with folk being cautious as to the wear rate and longetivity of the Pirellis.

Vettel and his Red Bull looks good though. Hamilton & Alonso will hopefully push him a bit more in future races.

Excellent races from Petrov and Perez, and Di Resta did well on his debut to run ahead of Sutil for much of the race and managed to grab a point on his debut, even if it was a somewhat lucky one.

Races to forget for Barrichello, Webber and Button. Button should have let Massa back as he must have known he would get a penalty. Barrichello was way too late on the KERS button down to turn 3, so he had way too much speed for the corner and used Rosberg to slow himself down. Martin Brundle asked DC, "On a scale of 99 to 100, how much of that was Ruben's Fault?" Webber just looked as if he was in a different, and inferior, car to Vettel...

I thought Martin and DC did really well as commentators. A few errors but it was his first go at commentating, and DC added a good deal of info too. Good call from the BBC.

 

[Matti_Dude]

Apart from Sato at Monaco 2004 I don't think I've seen a start like that from a driver, Vettel was off like a rocket!

Mika Hakkinen in the 1999 Japan GP

 

[Ardius]

I have to add that Barrichello's pace looked amazing at the start of the race after his off and before punting Rosberg. The Williams might still have some potential.

 

[Only_in_f1]

Heidfeld's car was heavily damaged, unless you really believe he was two seconds slower on actual pace?

Petrov outpaced Nick all weekend. I think it was a very good weekend for Petrov, a pleasant surprise.

 

[Ardius]

Petrov outpaced Nick all weekend. I think it was a very good weekend for Petrov, a pleasant surprise.

You think 2 seconds is actual pace? What are you smoking?
Nick's car was heavily damaged! Heidfeld might not be the fastest of the fast, but he isn't 2 seconds or more slower than Petrov.

 

[mastretta_mx]

Amazing race of Petrov! It's time than Alonso understands than there are better drivers than him!

Sergio Perez did a good race ( proud of that, he is from my city as well as chicharito so Guadalajara is putting his name in a high place right now ) but is a shame the desquialification of the Sauber team, maybe they lost the points on the table but the performance of both (Checo and Kobayashi) over the tarmac was pretty good.

Looking Forward for Malasya GP!

 

[Only_in_f1]

You think 2 seconds is actual pace? What are you smoking?
Nick's car was heavily damaged! Heidfeld might not be the fastest of the fast, but he isn't 2 seconds or more slower than Petrov.

I wasn't citing race pace. I said all weekend.

 

[daan]

Anyone else find it odd that a car can go all the way through qualifying, be in parc ferme all night, and be allowed to race only to be DQ'd after the event for a slight measurement infringement? Why wasn't the measurement taken before qualifying so they could have rectified it?

 

[Famine]

Highly.

If anyone's wondering what this race has done to Famine's fixed F1 Constructor's Championship:

1. Red Bull (25pt) - No change
2. McLaren (18pt) - No change
3. Ferrari (15pt) - No change
4. Force India (12pt) - +2 places
5. Toro Rosso (10pt) - No change
6. Renault (8pt) - -2 places
7. Virgin (0pt) - +1 place
8. Lotus (0pt) - -1 place
9. Mercedes (0pt) - +1 place
10. Williams (0pt) - -1 place
11. Sauber (0pt) - No change
12. Hispania (0pt) - No change

Not that anyone was.

 

[Alex.]

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/aus-race-laps.pdf

Interesting to see Massa and Alonso up there.

 

[Rossticles]

Anyone else find it odd that a car can go all the way through qualifying, be in parc ferme all night, and be allowed to race only to be DQ'd after the event for a slight measurement infringement? Why wasn't the measurement taken before qualifying so they could have rectified it?

I think it's for the team to know their car in and out. They should know if they've broken any rules and not need the FIA to come in and tell them.

 

[Terronium-12]

I think it's for the team to know their car in and out. They should know if they've broken any rules and not need the FIA to come in and tell them.

But technical checks are performed during parc ferme, so I can see where daan is going. If anything was in violation they would have been told right then and there.

At least so I think.

 

[SaberFire]

I remember watching the race early in the morning and going to the gym, happy and content that my favourite team had punched above their weight and got a nice double points finished.

Then I came home and watched the re-run with my parents. When Humphrey broke the news I immediately shouted "bull****!" which resulted in a swift slap from my mother and a broken heart.

How did they not twig this in Parc Ferme? I was also under the impression that cars cleared to race were checked out to make sure they conformed to technical regulations?

 

[Rossticles]

But technical checks are performed during parc ferme, so I can see where daan is going. If anything was in violation they would have been told right then and there.

At least so I think.

Parc ferme is somewhat of an ambiguous term. It is the unchangeable condition of the cars between the first time they exit the pits in Q1 until they cross the finish line in the race. It is also the name of the actual location where the cars go under scrutiny by the FIA inspectors or whoever. After qualifying the FIA chooses 6 cars at random to make sure they fall within the regulations. I'm not sure of the number, but I'm quite certain they don't inspect all cars after qualifying. If you're not one of those 6 and your car doesn't fall under the regulations then you're out of luck. The cars they don't inspect immediately have a cover put over them and any major changes to the car are restricted. See picture below. After the race obviously all cars are inspected to make sure they fall under the regulations. I still think it is the responsibility of the team to make sure their car is legal. However, I'm not sure what would happen to the car if it was inspected after qualifying and found to be illegal. I'm guessing it would have to be changed and they would start last or from the pits.

This is how I've come to understand it at least.

 

[Rossell2]

I thought they were all held under surveillance cameras 24/7?

 

[F1 fan]

This news is very disappointing. Why hasn't Hamilton been DQ'd for excessive wear on the plank?

Perez has certainly impressed.

 

[Danny]

Awesome first race.

Very impressed by Perez and Petrov.

 

[jimy281090]

When a car parks up for the end of the qualifying session in parc ferme they are the covered in canvas wraps and held in high security areas. these cars are then checked over centimetre by centimetre before the race by stewards to make sure there is no illegal parts or equipment on the car that is outwith the rules!

Personally i find it a bloody joke that the Saubers have been booted from the race and as for the hamilton comment. The loose bellypan was not dangerously detached therefor the car was not in a position to be deemed unsafe!

 

[fissionproject]

excellent result from Petrov! Can't believe he held 4th throughout most of the race, and ended up on Podium at the end. Awesome

What's the deal with LH's under carriage? How did that not completely screw his laps? Very surprising

Poor Button on the shortcut Not much he could've done there

 

[Akmuq]

Feel sorry for Sauber but they only lose 10 points between them I think. The other midfield runners will lose that amount for crashing or breaking rules. It's not like Sauber are immediatley on the back foot.

 

[will4noobs]

The new mexican perez was very impressive after only pitting once on the 35th lap, he must of been running on rims at the end of that race or he knows something the other drivers don't about getting the most out of your tyres

The races was very good, I enjoyed seeing the removable wings and how they effect the race

 

[DK]

^ I think that was Perez.

 

[Ardius]

I wasn't citing race pace. I said all weekend.

Well lets analyse it, first, practice. Is practice really a good benchmark? I guess as far as straight facts go, sure Petrov was faster. But practice doesn't really mean anything as we don't know fuel loads, tyre states and what programmes they are running. Maybe Heidfeld was running race sims or still working on setups, maybe he simply didn't feel a need to go flat out in practice.

Next, qualifying, now Nick has an excuse here in the form of HRT. If I remember right he was held by not one but both HRTs when he was trying to jump to Q1. While maybe Nick should have set a proper lap earlier, its simply unfortunate and unlucky circumstance. I don't know if he was held up on his earlier laps, but knowing Nick and looking at his practice times, he probably was.

And the race I have already covered.

So based on the facts, sure Petrov was faster all weekend, but the reasons why are not because Heidfeld sucks and he's too slow. Its a pointless comparison - I wouldn't call Heidfeld too slow this weekend, I would call him unlucky. A good weekend for Petrov, but falsely amplified by comparisons to his unlucky teammate.