Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix 2009

[prisonermonkeys]

Would the teams have been so arrogant as to not develop anything incase they couldn't make the diffusers illegal? Maybe they don't have anything tested yet but the second the teams saw BGP do what they did in testing they must have been working on something that same day. From the telecast I heard the team most likely to have issues adopting a different diffuser design is the Red bull cars due to their differing suspension.

Christian Horner has said that they are planning to develop a Brawn-esque diffuser of their own in case they lose the appeal, but yes, it will be difficult for them. It depends on what Ferrari and Renault arue, but I think a major part of Red Bull's case will be that it will be difficult for them to implement a new diffuser to keep them competitive, and in the time that it takes for them to design and implement it, they will have lost standing on th grid. But given both Vettel's and Webber's performances n qualifying and practice today, I don't think there's as much difference between them and Brawn, Williams and Toyota as is being made out.

That was impressive.

BGP set 1-2 times. Can you beat that guys?
(5 minutes pass)
BGP set new 1-2 times by 0.3s. Okay, can you beat that guys?
(5 minutes pass)
BGP set new 1-2 times by 0.3s. Okay, can you beat that guys?

And so on until they're front row.

That's quite an impressive car (provisionally until April 15th).

Given their horrendous 2007 and 2008, the farcical Earth Dreams concept, the out-of-his-depth lead designer Shuei Nakamoto, Honda's insistence on running the team by committee and the fact that three months ago there very nearly wasn't a team, can you think of any two drivers who deserve to be in a position to say that more than JB and Ruby?

 

[Metar]

Good stuff, good stuff - good to see the Brawns doing well, though I was hoping Alonso could join in on the Q3 fun as well... And now, the penalties start - Hamilton down, the Toyotas even further down... At least these are regular, normal penalties - not politics.

The new onboard animation is so cool - with the little KERS battery and all.

I can see why a “smaller” team running 2 virgins dressed in white and monopolizing front row on their very first race must annoy a lot of people.

Except it's still the big and resourceful Honda staff - all 700 of them. It's only "new" as far as the FIA is concerned; for everyone else, it's just an old team under new owners, and on the "wrong" end of the grid.

 

[Alex.]

Has anyone even seen my post?

Toyota duo excluded from qualifying

By Jonathan Noble Saturday, March 28th 2009, 10:45 GMT

Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have been stripped of their grid positions for the Australian Grand Prix for a flexible wing infringement.

Large, 25 minute old, repost removed

 

[Famine]

No, I think everyone missed it.

And now, the penalties start - Hamilton down, the Toyotas even further down... At least these are regular, normal penalties - not politics.

Oh, wait.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

"You protest against us, so we'll protest against you!"

It seems Team Willy aren't overly impressed with Ferrari and Red Bull:

Williams protests Ferrari and Red Bull
By Jonathan Noble - Saturday, March 28th 2009, 11:27 GMT

The Williams team has protested the legality of the Ferrari and Red Bull cars following qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

AUTOSPORT understands that Williams's concerns are related to the aerodynamics of the Ferrari F60 and the Red Bull RB5.

Toyota's drivers Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have already been disqualified from qualifying after their car was deemed to contravene the regulations over the rigidity of ist rear wing. They will start the race from the back of the grid.

More details will follow shortly.

Linky

 

[nosturbo]

The FIA have released the fuel loads that each car has been running on, and surprisingly, the Brawns are the heaviest of the top-running cars.

"According to the new rules, the FIA has publish the cars' qualifying fuel loads. It is interesting to note that Brawn is indeed heavier than its closest rivals, proving that their stellar pace is genuine. BMW's Robert Kubica had the lightest fuel load during the third qualifying session. Also, Ferrari's rather low fuel loads prove that the Scuderia is even more off the Brawn GP pace that previously thought.


Fuel loads prior to the Australian GP:

1.Jenson Button 664kg
2.Rubens Barrichello 666
3.Sebastian Vettel 657
4.Robert Kubica 650
5.Nico Rosberg 657
6.Felipe Massa 654
7.Kimi Raikkonen 655
8.Mark Webber 662

9.Nick Heidfeld 691
10.Fernando Alonso 680
11.Heikki Kovalainen 690
12.Nelson Piquet 694
13.Giancarlo Fisichella 689
14.Kazuki Nakajima 612
15.Sebastien Buemi 675
16.Adrian Sutil 684
17.Sebastien Bourdais 662
18.Lewis Hamilton 655
19.Timo Glock 670
20.Jarno Trulli 655"

Credit: http://formula-1.updatesport.com/ne.../F1headlines/FIA-reveals-fuel-loads/view.html

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Interesting that the first five outside the top eight - P9 to P13 - are all running heavier loads than everyone in front of them. Nakajima running nearly forty kilograms less than the second-lightest runner - Kubica - is also interesting. Looks like he's trying to do the opposite of everyone from Heidfeld to Fisichella and pit earlier than the leaders rather than later.

And Baricalleo running 666? That's a bit ominous ...

 

[Metar]

The Toyota fuel-loads should be irrelevant - they're starting from the back anyway, so they can change fuel-loads and accept the "penalty".

I'm not surprised by the Brawn's weight - heaviest of the Q3 runners, barring the disqualified Glock - but rather that Rubens and Jensen are virtually equal. Rubens did make a mistake on his final run, though.

The middle rows will be the most exciting. Alonso is just 10kg lighter than his immediate rivals, and they're all KERS-equipped. Nakajima's figure, however, is impossible - with minimum weight being 605kg, does that mean he carries just a lap worth of fuel?

Race-wise, most drivers here carry too much fuel to start on the Option tyre - except Nakajima if that figure is correct, or the Brawns if they're really as easy on the tyres as they were in winter testing. I also wonder if the heaviest drivers - Sutil, Kova, Heidfeld, Piquet, and perhaps Alonso - can pull a one-stopper. I doubt it - the Hard tyre would have to last two thirds of the race for it to be even a remote possibility.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The middle rows will be the most exciting. Alonso is just 10kg lighter than his immediate rivals, and they're all KERS-equipped. Nakajima's figure, however, is impossible - with minimum weight being 605kg, does that mean he carries just a lap worth of fuel?

Could be just that: they bring him in after on lap, fuel him up and switch tyres to the better compound of the two and then send him back out into clean air. With the FW31's pace and overall form, it might just work. After all, Super Aguri got away with doing one lap on the soft compound at Montreal in 2007 by working around the safety car and it paid off for them.

 

[Metar]

Interesting that the first five outside the top eight - P9 to P13 - are all running heavier loads than everyone in front of them. Nakajima running nearly forty kilograms less than the second-lightest runner - Kubica - is also interesting. Looks like he's trying to do the opposite of everyone from Heidfeld to Fisichella and pit earlier than the leaders rather than later.

Those outside the top-8 are those that qualified outside the top-10 - remember that two Toyotas were disqualified. 9th-and-lower had free choice of fuel-loads.

And Baricalleo running 666? That's a bit ominous ...

That's just what he had left in his tank after the qualifying-run - no way to calculate that precisely...

Could be just that: they bring him in after on lap, fuel him up and switch tyres to the better compound of the two and then send him back out into clean air. With the FW31's pace and overall form, it might just work. After all, Super Aguri got away with doing one lap on the soft compound at Montreal in 2007 by working around the safety car and it paid off for them.

That was mid-race, under a safety-car. This won't work and never will under normal circumstances - and it's daft to think they're betting on this strategy. I'm willing to do the traditional wager from F1Technical - if they do that, I'll eat a balaclava.

 

[Nicksfix]

Congrats-Brawn GP cars. Q'd, 1st and 2nd 👍

 

[Sureboss]

Is that total car weight w or w/o driver?

 

[Alex.]

I think the cars are minimum 605KG with driver, and a litre of fuel is .8 of KG, so I'm going to guess without driver.

On another note, I think the cars look fantastic if you focus on the driver and sidewalls from the front view, the rear wing looks pretty silly though.

 

[Metar]

605kg dry, but including driver.

Considering a full stint weighs ~50kg, and then there's an extra few kilos of oil and other fluids... It seems logical for all cars except Nakajima's.

 

[Blake]

The new onboard animation is so cool - with the little KERS battery and all.

When they start running KERS will the Williams one have a little flywheel animation instead?

 

[Casio]

Is it just me or is disclosing the fuel loads really lame.

 

[Only_in_f1]

Interesting what was said at the end of the BBC re-run:

'There are yet on going test on other cars to check the legality'

Could we see some more DQ's/Penaltys?

 

[Tired Tyres]

I think that was a reference to Williams protesting the Ferrari and Red Bull teams.

 

[Metar]

Official weight of Kazuki's car: 11. Kazuki Nakajima 685.3kg | Enough for 27 laps, between Alonso's 25 and Heidfeld's 29. Much more reasonable.

Also, apparently Williams have withdrawn their protest on the RB5 and F60.

 

[wrcsti]

I think BMW is going with a 3 stop, atleast with kubica. Ferrari might do the same and so would Mcmerc.

 

[Sureboss]

Is it just me or is disclosing the fuel loads really lame.

Guessing how long they were staying out for was quite fun.

 

[RACECAR]

Man, I've never been as excited about F1 as I am now. Those were the best Qualifying sessions I ever saw. I think I may already see this year's championship contenders(Assuming Mclaren and Ferrari don't make late season charges).

 

[Bram Turismo]

Toyota penalized? There's goes my weekend

 

[RACECAR]

Does anyone besides me find it funny how the santioning body always try to slow the cars down and instead, they go even faster?

 

[Sureboss]

Seeing lots of people are getting excited by F1. I fear the FIA will kill it all within a few weeks/rounds.

 

[Metar]

Does anyone besides me find it funny how the santioning body always try to slow the cars down and instead, they go even faster?

As Scaff keeps mentioning from time to time, the goal with the current changes wasn't to slow them down: It was an attempt to improve overtaking. Because slicks were set to return, they had to take some downforce away in order to prevent them from reaching the speeds that got slicks banned in the first place - but that was just a secondary goal compared to the attempt of reducing the sensitivity in wake.

 

[Peter]

My prediction of the race

Button:1st
Barrichello:2nd
Massa:3rd

Ferrari won't dissapoint. Massa has done well for a car with a plain diffuser and KERS(extra 80 pounds)

 

[Tobias123]

Jenson Button on pole, with Rubens Barrichello starting second, both in what is effectively a Honda, combined with a Red Bull in third? Gives me shivers of excitement just thinking about it.

 

[Peter]

Seeing lots of people are getting excited by F1. I fear the FIA will kill it all within a few weeks/rounds.

Maybe, but the cars are lots more fun to drive this year, says a few people, so the FIA might spoil the fun in whatever way they can to make it more challenging and more exiting.

 

[Peter]

The cars are a lot faster than last year(or in history), as i predicted they would, they're quicker cause they're more wind resistant and less downforce, grippier cause of the slicks, and faster for 6 seconds a lap bacause of the KERS.