Formula 1 2013 Season Opener Melbourne 17th March

[F1 fan]

More like "let's see how many corners they can do without hitting the cliff".

Guys, why can't we have separate threads for sessions? Or at least, two separate threads. One for commentary and another for post-race discussion. I can't watch the races live and whenever I come here there's like 8000 posts to read mostly e-commentary


I'm having my hopes up for Rosberg this season.

Why don't you follow the Autosport live text commentary? It's only natural that we're going to comment on the action onscreen. Two threads would just mess everything up.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Guys where can I get a live stream since I don't have NBC SN

 

[Jiggins]

Hmm, SS tyres aren't giving as much improvement as first thought, although the Channel 10 guys think they'll be quicker tomorrow. RB look the team to beat right now. Merc, Lotus and Ferrari are quick but Mclaren haven't shown up yet.

 

[IceMan PJN]

I know it's still early, not just in terms of the season but even just for this first weekend, but so far it is looking like I might have to retract my pessimism with Lewis's switch to Mercedes. So far they look good at Mercedes and McLaren... not so much. Had Lewis not had that off, his super-soft lap was looking basically identical to Vettel's session-leading time.

 

[Wardez]

Here you go LMS:

www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/streaming

It's a Wiki, so be sure to contribute if you can!

 

[Jiggins]

Both Mercedes stopped, neither will finish the session. Lewis just off into the gravel while Nico has pulled over.

 

[IceMan PJN]

Both Mercedes stopped, neither will finish the session. Lewis just off into the gravel while Nico has pulled over.

Right after bragging on the team, too.

:-/

 

[Jiggins]

Webber, too much oversteer and spins. 3 minutes left.

 

[freshseth83]

Gearbox issues it seems for Mercedes. Hopefully the team stopped them for precaution.

 

[aarror]

Well, here's my impressions after day 1.

Red Bull: still the team to beat, continuing their great form from last year. Lookings like they're going to be tough to beat.
Ferrari: Look in much better shape than last year. Massa seems to have regained his form, should be a much better rear gunner for Alonso.
Lotus: Also look like they can challenge for wins, seem to have good race pace.
Mercedes: Strong over one lap, race pace and reliability questionable. Should Challenge the Red Bulls for pole.
Sauber, Force India: Look very even, but just off the front running pace.
McLaren: Very disapointing, they have serious work to do.
Williams: Not as fast as I thought they'd be, will be fighting the Toro Rossos at the back of the midfield. (But look for a good Q time from Maldonado)
Toro Rosso: Pretty much where they were last year, back of the midfield.
Marussia: Bianchi was very impressive, best thing to happen to Marussia in their short history. 0.9 quicker than Chilton.
Caterham: Absolutely terrible. They haven't shown any signs of improving, despite decent funding compared to rivals Marussia. Employing 2 pay drivers doesn't help, they have noone who can take the fight to Bianchi.

 

[Wardez]

Solid impressions, but all you have to do to take them lightly is to look at the difference in results between Friday and Saturday last year. You gotta remember these engineers take data collected during the first two practice sessions and apply better set ups to the cars for qualifying. Since staff talent can vary a lot between teams, the running order always mixes up. I expect at least one big team to fall flat on their faces to this regard.

Mercedes has it in them to go faster than RB. They just need to bring it together.

 

[BHRxRacer]

Bottas with Super soft tires, let's see how fast they are

Why don't you follow the Autosport live text commentary? It's only natural that we're going to comment on the action onscreen. Two threads would just mess everything up.

I usually have work to do. Can't watch the races till late at night. I know it's natural to commentate but I don't think two threads would mess anything upp, seems to work with football and wrestling forums.

Anyway. If this is another RedBull season, and so far it looks like it is, I'm going to stop watching F1.

-

Also, I think Mclaren should bring out last year's car.

-

Before anyone starts calling me an idiot I'm not entirely serious.

 

[niky]

McLaren should bring out last year's driver line up is more like it.

I kid, I kid... but considering Lewis is worth a few tenths on a qualifying lap, that's something McLaren will dearly miss.

Still think it's way too early to tell. Everyone is definitely holding something in reserve, and given the engineers will still be working on set-ups, things will still get shaken up tomorrow in qualifying.

 

[zed300]

I thought the McLaren looked a bit stiff....it was bouncing all over the place.
RB, Ferarri and Lotus all looked solid. I would have added Mercedes to that list 7 minutes before P2 ended.

 

[Tom]

Has anyone actually got the full results of FP1&2? I'm on my phone can't get them right now.

 

[freshseth83]

With Rosberg dropping from a 1:27.3 on mediums to a 1:26.3 on super softs, if Hamilton achieved the same gain (-1 second) he would've been at a 1:25.8. Vettel was on pace to go 3 tenths up on Webber, which was a 1:26.1 before he aborted his lap- that time would be a 1:25.8... It's going to be interesting and I think Mercedes and Red Bull will qualify both cars in the top 5.

 

[niky]

I thought the McLaren looked a bit stiff....it was bouncing all over the place.

McLaren? Stiff? Goodness no! I see their philosophy on car set-up hasn't changed one bit.

 

[Wardez]

Has anyone actually got the full results of FP1&2? I'm on my phone can't get them right now.

Practice 1:

Practice 2:

I refuse to pay $34 USD for the official live timing app, but it's the only source that includes the tire the time was set with. I've been banging my head against the wall for years now about how F1 seems to refuse to want to just give out such fundamental information, they don't even do it during qualifying in the world feed, it's maddening!!!!!!

Here's a screen grab someone got though:

At least has the top 13 for FP2.

It's wrong though, just found out through another site. Webber and Vettel were both on Super Soft tires, confirmed.

 

[zed300]

McLaren? Stiff? Goodness no! I see their philosophy on car set-up hasn't changed one bit.

.......Yes Yes....it's true, but they could still get the car to soak it up a bit better than they have......IMO.

They can have their cake and eat it too then.

 

[Wardez]

btw, switching to pull-rod suspension has cursed McLaren as it did Ferrari last year. Takes a dozen or so races to get over it

 

[MLDoom]

Looking at those numbers I would suspect Lotus to be a strong contender this year. Other than Vettel/Webber, the only other group together at the top is Raikkonen/Grosjean.

Woot woot!

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

Looking at those numbers I would suspect Lotus to be a strong contender this year. Other than Vettel/Webber, the only other group together at the top is Raikkonen/Grosjean.

Woot woot!

Uhh ? What about Rosberg/Hamilton and Massa/Alonso ?? Oh I guess you were meaning together one after the other. But that's not something really important in my eyes.

As for Mclaren, I think rather than the car it's more like they lost Lewis. Button probably had to push more when he was in competition with Lewis than now where he is against Perez. I guess we will never know but I'm sure a part of the performance that is lacking is because Lewis is not here anymore.

Performance wise it seems to be the same things as last year, except Mercedes and Mclaren who switched place. Red Bull seems really strong already.

 

[F1 fan]

Button probably had to push more when he was in competition with Lewis than now where he is against Perez.

Jenson is a world champion. I imagine he gives it 100% all the time. I suppose there is a chance that an easier benchmark may make him slightly complacent after a while, but not two practice sessions...

 

[Centura]

When both Vettel and Webber are up there in Free Practice you just know that they are going to be blazingly quick in qualifying and the race.

 

[BHRxRacer]

I kid, I kid... but considering Lewis is worth a few tenths on a qualifying lap, that's something McLaren will dearly miss.

Yeah, every team needs at least one of the drivers to be fast on one lap. Jenson is one of the slowest ex world champions on one lap and Perez isn't that fast either.

With Rosberg dropping from a 1:27.3 on mediums to a 1:26.3 on super softs, if Hamilton achieved the same gain (-1 second) he would've been at a 1:25.8. Vettel was on pace to go 3 tenths up on Webber, which was a 1:26.1 before he aborted his lap- that time would be a 1:25.8... It's going to be interesting and I think Mercedes and Red Bull will qualify both cars in the top 5.

I was thinking Rosberg had a problem until someone said he was on SS while Lewis was on the mediums. Anyone has a full timesheet with the correct tyres used for both sessions?

btw, switching to pull-rod suspension has cursed McLaren as it did Ferrari last year. Takes a dozen or so races to get over it

Didn't they say they're willing to take risks this season? I thin they're just experimenting new things for next year's car.

 

[Wardez]

Yeah, but they won't just make a car to throw away a season on, no way.

Besides, anything they could "experiment" with this year will hardly be applicable to next year's car anyway.

They should've kept things conservative and just evolved the 27, now they're in a world of ****.

Vettel has a bad ass helmet (first of many I suppose):

But I like for a driver to keep their helmet the same through out the season. My particular favorite's currently belongs to Bottas.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Everyone seems to be forgetting that teams use P1 and P2 as test and development opportunities.

You can't even compare the two drivers in the same team. They are running entirely different programs to each other.

We will not know the relative competitiveness of the cars until they start going for qualifying test runs during P3.

 

[Wardez]

Everyone seems to be forgetting that teams use P1 and P2 as test and development opportunities.

You can't even compare the two drivers in the same team. They are running entirely different programs to each other.

We will not know the relative competitiveness of the cars until they start going for qualifying test runs during P3.

No, I tried saying the very same thing you did in response to some of the more thorough speculation.

Anyway, some important information regarding Mercedes' program.

As some have pointed out in this thread, the W04 has been known for having somewhat better mechanical grip compared to the other machines this year. While this is most certainly true, it doesn't go back just to the birth of the W04, for in-fact Mercedes has been working on an advanced HIS (hydraulic interlinked suspension) since Bob Bell ordered the refined element into their package starting with the W02.

Here's your daily dose of hyperbolic click-farming journalism:
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/report-active-suspension-the-key-to-mercedes-speed/

And here it is debunked, along with a great summary on what's really going on to come full circle, from skgoa:

A lot of hay made out of something that was on the car (and was known about) since October 2011 at the latest. It's an hydraulic interlinked suspension. Like what is on the McLaren MP4-12C roadcar, just without any computers changing it. It has been successfully tested at LeMans and there is at least one company selling such a system to the public. (And Mercedes buy the parts from Penske, IIRC.) Racecar Engineering had a feature on it but I don't remember the issue it was in.

Craigh Scarborough explains it better and in far more detail than I could: http://scarbsf1.com/blog1/2011/10/17/mercedes-innovative-linked-rear-suspension/

Many, if not not most teams run a system like that. Mercedes' system is just better. And it was that great last year already, which is why they were fastest in Monaco, were (almost) only the mechanical handling of the car counts. Apparently Mercedes had issues with it last year, mainly because it was difficult to cope with changing temperatures, and thus they often ran with their tyres out of their operating window. But this was quite obviously rectified. (IIRC Lauda said a while ago that Aldo Costa simplified it and now it's perfect.)

Also, a nice shot of Hungry Heidi without her skirt on, one of my favorite photos so far - get a look at that sorting:

 

[MUSC4EVER]

You know on the side of Vettels helmet its got the websit for Redbull Stratos..well its Redbull Stratos the name of the ship/pod that Felix Baumgartner used in that inccredible record-breaking leap from the edge of the earth last year?

 

[BHRxRacer]

Yeah, but they won't just make a car to throw away a season on, no way.

Besides, anything they could "experiment" with this year will hardly be applicable to next year's car anyway.

They should've kept things conservative and just evolved the 27, now they're in a world of ****.

Vettel has a bad ass helmet (first of many I suppose):

I don't think they expected to be this far off. No one would throw away a season on purpose.

Am I the only one that hates it when Drivers change helmets?