Aussie GP

[Double_R]

too many ferrari fan boys.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Can comeone enlighten me as to whether the drivers keep the same tyres for Sat and Sun, or just Sun, or just the race?

Another thing I noticed was they said the tyres couldn't be changed unless there was either a puncture or a serious safety concern. Will slicks in standing water count as a severe safety concern?

Either way the qualifying was entertaining, but massa being the most

 

[DRT2RM]

Can comeone enlighten me as to whether the drivers keep the same tyres for Sat and Sun, or just Sun, or just the race?

Another thing I noticed was they said the tyres couldn't be changed unless there was either a puncture or a serious safety concern. Will slicks in standing water count as a severe safety concern?

Either way the qualifying was entertaining, but massa being the most

From what I've read on F1.com and heard on TV, the cars have to use the same tires used for both qualifying laps and cannot refuel before the race after Sunday qualifying. If the race steward deems the track as "wet", the teams will be allowed to change tires. More info can be found here - http://www.formula1.com/insight/rulesandregs/13/995.html

Felt sorry for Massa, but it was pretty funny. I was watching it on Speed Channel here in the U.S and the funniest part was when M. Schumacher flew by him and a couple seconds later the team radio went on for Massa and the guy said, "Schumacher is coming up behind you, let him pass, let him pass!"

Should be a very entertaining race ... can't wait!

 

[vipersan]

Yeah, they must keep the tyres from qualifying through the race. 2.nd qualifying is done with level of fuel that they will start the race with. So no refueling from start of 2nd qualifying to start of race.

 

[Brett]

Could someone please enlighten me as to how qualifying is set up? Not with the one hot lap, but the scheduling of the qualifying. Is the first qualifying on Saturday and then the second qualifying on Sunday or what is going on this year? All I know is that they changed the qualifying, but not specifically what.

 

[ExigeEvan]

There is a friday session that determines who goes out first/last on Saturday just like last season.

Then on Saturday they go out in reverse order and do a qualifying lap.

On Sunday there is another qualifying lap (in the morning) I'm not sure how order is determined but then they use the agrogate scores from both qualifying laps to determin grid position.

 

[daan]

There is a friday session that determines who goes out first/last on Saturday just like last season.

Saturday qualifying order is determined by the finishing positions of the last race.


the following is taken from www.formula1.com (even though they tried to stop me by disabling the right click. Obviously, they've never heard of ctrl C and ctrl V)
Qualifying
The 2005 race weekend will feature one qualifying session on Saturday afternoon and another on Sunday morning.

The first session will run from 1300 to 1400 on Saturday and will, as in 2004, be single lap qualifying, with the cars going out in the reverse order of their finishing positions at the previous race.

The second session, from 1000 to 1100 on Sunday, will also use the single lap format, with the cars going out in the reverse order of the qualifying on Saturday (i.e. the fastest car on Saturday runs last on Sunday).

The cars will run on Saturday with unrestricted fuel. They will then go into parc ferme after this qualifying session and for the Sunday qualifying session they will run with race fuel, having been allowed to refuel before the second qualifying session. They will not be allowed to refuel again before the race starts.

The times of the two sessions will be aggregated to determine the grid, with the shortest aggregate time in pole position.

Tyres
Drivers will have access to far fewer tyres in 2005 and will have to make a single set last through both qualifying sessions and the entire race. A tyre can only be changed during this time if it is punctured or damaged.

On Fridays, drivers will be able to test two different dry tyre compounds. Ahead of Saturday practice they must choose one of these for the remainder of the weekend. They will then be allocated three sets of this compound – one will be used in practice, one in qualifying and the race, and one kept in reserve in case of punctures or accident damage.

These changes will require harder compounds than in 2004 and will force drivers to drive with tyre preservation in mind. The knock-on effects will be slower lap times and much-revised race strategies.

Drivers will also have access to wet and extreme-weather tyres. These can only be used when the track is declared wet by the race director.

Engines
In 2004 engines had to last one race weekend. From 2005 they must last two – equivalent to a distance of around 1,500 kilometres (close to 1000 miles). If a driver requires an engine change ahead of qualifying, he will drop ten places on the grid for that race. If an engine is changed between the start of qualifying and the race the driver will be put to the back of the grid.

In both instances the driver concerned must use his new engine for the remainder of that meeting and the entire following grand prix weekend. If a driver fails to finish a race, he may start the next meeting with a new engine without penalty.

With even greater reliability required from the engines, these changes are likely to cut rev limits and power outputs, hence reducing car performance.

 

[Brett]

Thank you daan. That definitely clears things up.

 

[livemusic]

Obviously, they've never heard of ctrl C and ctrl V

So, how many hours until the start? It´s 22:16 here right now, I´m not sure what time the race will start.

 

[sirlosealot]

Tyres
Drivers will have access to far fewer tyres in 2005 and will have to make a single set last through both qualifying sessions and the entire race. A tyre can only be changed during this time if it is punctured or damaged.

I wonder if we'll see some interesting pit lane activity this year 💡

I can picture it now: Schumi enters the pits, ostensibly to take on more fuel. The instant he stops, four Ferrari engineers rush out of the garage. Each is 'armed' with an ice-pick. Four, very worn, soft compound tyres are 'punctured or damaged' in a single stroke.

'Zut Alors' cries Jean Todt, 'Now we must replace ze tyres. C'est la vie!'.

What's the procedure for determining when a tyre can be replaced? Do the stewards have to give approval? just curious, not even Ferrari would stoop that low, would they?

Mike.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

The FIA inspect the tyres after the stop. If they feel that the tyres should not have been replaced, then the car willl have a one minute stop/go penalty.

 

[livemusic]

The race will start in a few minutes, I´m off to my room now. Gotta watch it.

 

[Solid Lifters]

The race will start in a few minutes, I´m off to my room now. Gotta watch it.

Here we go... not. Ralphie has engine trouble? Maybe is was just a little bit too much oil built up during the start. Great, a start on cold tires and hot engines. It's going to be an interesting start to the new season.

 

[RacyBacy]

Good start by Coulthard!

 

[Solid Lifters]

Go Renault! First and third, baby! Not a bad start to the new season. Now, to see how those engines hold up for next weekends race.

 

[Brett]

Renault definitely looked impressive in this race. Fisi did well and Alonso worked through the pack very well.

Coulthard had a good race, definitely a surprise; RBR Cosworth in general had a good race.

It seems like this year could be much more interesting. Can't really wait until the next race.

 

[WJHMH]

So far it looks to be an exciting F1 season. I was hoping Trulli & Button would place better.

 

[Brett]

Trulli did well for the first half of the race and then he just kinda seemed to slow down some. Button never really seemed to do anything for most of the race.

 

[Mclaren_Man]

Good race, michael didn't even finish shame about kimi at the start could've...
Renault did great, but i had a feeling they would, not a bad race for Webber either though he kind of dropped off at the end. Interesting tactic by BAR to pull out at the end so they can have fresh engines next race, FIA will try and stop that from happening again I bet.

 

[Brett]

BAR pulled out at the end??? I must have missed that or something.

I should have mentioned Kimi's luck. Hopefully these mechanical problems don't continue. His race would have been so much better had he not had to start from pit lane. Though Kimi did do well to get all the way up to 8th.

 

[Blake]

Was a good race. I was suprised by RBR but the results were pretty circumstancial and I don't expect that to happen throughout the year.

DC was very brave with that move but it basically ruined Webbers race, not that I'm blaming DC or anything, it was just a bit dissapointing.

Kimi was reasonably impressive but Rubens and Alonso were definatly the stand out performers to me. Fisi put in a very mature drive and he thouroughly deserved the win.

Michael Schumacher, really stupid, really really really stupid. I really thought he'd be a bit more sensible than that.

One thing I was really suprised with was how much activity there was in the pitstops, I really thought it'd be 6 or so people but the car was still covered with people.

Anyway it was a really good race and I can't wait until the next one! 👍

Blake

 

[Mclaren_Man]

I missed the BAR's aswell but our aussie comentators told us after the race had finished. Mclaren looked particularly strong this weekend, looking good for the future at least their engine didn't blow up!

 

[Brett]

The McLarens looked good, but nowhere near as good as the Renaults.

I will have to say that Coulthard made a very, very good move at the first of the race to gain third place.

I'd have to agree about the results of this race and how they probably won't happen often. Though I could see them happening again if similar circumstances come up, ie rain in qualifying.

Yes there was "a lot" going on in the pits. But the stops were very boring. Now the stops are basically foolproof and don't require a whole lot of work.

 

[Blake]

No engines blew up this weekend, and that's the way it should be. Next race though, I think there may be some blow ups.

Question: With the 2 weekend engine rule, if BAR go to Malaysia with a new engine, will they have to use that engine in Bahrain, because the engine has only been used for one weekend, or does it go in sets of two championship rounds?

Blake

 

[Brett]

I would say that if they did like Schumacher, then I would think it would have to go to Bahrain also. I don't see how they could go ahead and get to use a new engine after having just put in a new one and not having it last two races, even though it would normally have to. Unless there is some kind of loophole and the engine rule goes in sets of two races, ie Australia and Malaysia are a set.

 

[Blake]

The McLarens looked good, but nowhere near as good as the Renaults.

That could be debated, the McLarens pace was better but Fisi was qualified very well. Alonso did put in a very impressive drive though. It should also be noted that Montoya has HORRIBLE tire wear

I'd have to agree about the results of this race and how they probably won't happen often. Though I could see them happening again if similar circumstances come up, ie rain in qualifying.

This weather was horrible, it would be very unlikely if a session was messed up that much again this season. But I think it made for a very good race. 👍 I also think it's a bit early to think about changing the rules, what happened yesterday is not a ood indication of how the rules "should" work, I think in most other races they'll be just fine - but when mixups like this do happen it certainly makes it a very entertaining race.

Yes there was "a lot" going on in the pits. But the stops were very boring. Now the stops are basically foolproof and don't require a whole lot of work.

Yes, the stops are basically foolproof but when you think of how much the teams drill pit-stops they were always basically foolproof. There was alot that could go wrong but it rarely did.

Blake

 

[Blake]

I would say that if they did like Schumacher, then I would think it would have to go to Bahrain also. I don't see how they could go ahead and get to use a new engine after having just put in a new one and not having it last two races, even though it would normally have to. Unless there is some kind of loophole and the engine rule goes in sets of two races, ie Australia and Malaysia are a set.

Yes, that's what I was thinking, it would be kind of stupid if the engine rule was in "sets" of races. And it's really kind of dissapointing that Ferrari could do what they did and change an engine for qualifying and incure a penalty that really had no impact on their race. They were just taking advantage of the rules but maybe they should implement some sort of rule that would make changing an engine like that a bigger dissadvantage.

For example when you don't lose 10 positions (because you're less than 10 from the back of the grid) you should lose the remaining positions in the next qualifying, but minus grid positions will only be banked for one race (to stop Minardi being at the back of the grid for 9 races due to a engine change).

Blake

 

[Brett]

I'm not saying the McLarens weren't fast, because they were. I just think the Renaults were more impressive. Fisi was not really ever challenged for the lead, at least not after the first set of pit stops and Alonso ran through the field well.

Yes, Montoyas tire wear is really bad. I would also like to say that Montoya kinda had a lackluster race, in that he did not go for one of his usual awesome passes. The only TV time that I remember of him was showing his front left tire and the beating it took.

But with pit stops now, there are fewer things that could go wrong. Before with tire changes, there was more things that could potentially go wrong. Now the chances of something going wrong are that much more slim.

I also thought it was very lame of Ferrari to change the engine and just get a slight slap on the wrist for it. The banking of positions sounds like it could be a pretty good regulation.

 

[Carl.]

Actually the two fastest laps of the races have also been set by the Renault, quite impressive. For montoya, there's an article on PlanetF1 that says he went off track at one point, except we didn't see it on TV (as a lot of this GP's action, a big 👎 to tv coverage), and Ron Dennis is furious at him because that cost him a sure shot at a place on the podium. For the Schumi/Heidfield incident, I'm not quite sure which one is to blame there.

I really hope the rest of the season will be as entertaining as this one!

 

[Brett]

So that would probably explain Montoya's somewhat lackluster performace. Did the article say exactly when it happened? I heard no mention of it on the telecast.