2012 Australian Grand Prix Thread - Official

[Kevincal]

People shouldnt write Alonso off yet, Massa hasnt been the same since his injury, but Fernando was right in the thick of things before his MINOR mistake which other top drivers made the same mistake getting the wheels on the slick grass... There are no points scored in qualifying maybe this is the type of thing FA needed to get fired up for the race tomorrow to hell with if the car is the fastest or not. Alonso top 5 not out of the question at all. Massa should have been gone from Ferrari after 2010...

Mercedes very impressive so nice to finally see Schumi fighting back up front. Would bring a smile to so many to have him on podium tomorrow. i would be happy to see that. I was thinking Nico could pull off his first win but a lackluster quali for him.

Grosjean, WHAT!? lol. Impressive but I cant help but to think he will falter in the race and be lucky to get 5th, I see him falling back to 6 or worse when the race is over. Kimi will fight back and get around 10th barring any bad troubles in the race. though i have to say kimi seems to be back in f1 only cus he failed at rallying and american racing he doesnt seem that excited to be back. wonder if it was kimi or the team who made the huge mistake in q1...

Red bull, glad they arent so dominant, they made f1 boring last year, curse them. Amazing to think that they might not podium tomorrow, very good chance of that.

Mclarens. i hope they arent the new red bull (overly dominant) but they look very strong and their car isnt ugly. Lewis tends to do extremely well when starting from pole. Unless Schumi pulls a magic start which he very well could, I see Lewis and Jenson going 1-2 tomorrow.

hope they let HRT race, they are close enough... they desperately need the track time to improve their car.

the f1 cars in general sound a bit better this year, more crisp, guess its cus the blown diffusers are gone?

[ioan]

Can I just say that it was really enjoyable to watch Ferrari today, I really hope it only gets worse for them and luca di montezumas (revenge) will break many TV-sets

[Garry Walker]

Also, time for Felipe to retire. That is just pathetic. It is obvious he is nr.2 driver in Ferrari, but after the crash he has just been pathetic as a driver most of the time.

[ioan]

hope they let HRT race, they are close enough... they desperately need the track time to improve their car.

Given the number of times they blocked others today I doubt they will be allowed to race tomorrow.

[EuroTroll]

Can I just say that it was really enjoyable to watch Ferrari today, I really hope it only gets worse for them and luca di montezumas (revenge) will break many TV-sets

Yup. Don't know why, but watching Ferrari suffer is thoroughly enjoyable. Honestly, I don't know why. Just is.

[ioan]

No need for that Garry, come on chap.

Looks like the season has started!

[Garry Walker]

Yup. Don't know why, but watching Ferrari suffer is thoroughly enjoyable. Honestly, I don't know why. Just is.

Yes, but it would be much funnier if we had seen the face of montescumolo when alonso spun out, I probably would have paid at least 100 euros for that.

No need for that Garry, come on chap.

I stand by what I said

[Kevincal]

Given the number of times they blocked others today I doubt they will be allowed to race tomorrow.

It wasnt just hrt having problems with traffic, i think its more to do with the fact that its a street circuit and theres simply not room to move over on much of the track. we need backmarkers like hrt to spice up the show plus i like the underdog and they prolly only need this one race to gain that 1 second and they should be fine the rest of the season making the 107%. but if they arent allowed to race its basically tying their hands and prolly be the same scenario in malaysia. let em race! those guys are working hard as anyone else. if they were 2+ seconds off of 107 fine but they are close enough in my opinion and from the sounds of the commentating by the experts they feel they will be allowed to race as well.

[F1boat]

Well, the qualifying were both sad and exciting for me. Sad, because it is always emotional to see the end of an era, like in 1998 when Williams were suddenly slow, and now it seems that the case with Red Bull is the same. I expected them to be behind McLaren, but I thought that they would have a fighting chance - not so. It's over for them IMO. About Ferrari, I will only say that with one reckless decision about "revolutionary" design the last remains of the great team which Todt built are gone. This was the logical end of everything Luca and Stefano did and it all started in 2006 when they forced Michael to retire. Eat what you prepared now.
On the positives. McLaren were really impressive today, I felt like 1998 all over again. Very quick car, very confident and competent drivers, calmness and confidence obvious in the team. They will be very, very hard to beat and it is very possible that the battle for the WDC will be between Lewis and Jenson. Romain impressed me, really, I expected him and Lotus to do well, but not to beat the Red Bull drivers. Kimi showed how impressive MS comeback was, failing to pass Q1. F1 is really very, very tough, even for legends like him and Schumacher. But fortunately Michael did well today, he still has the fighting spirit and it seems that he continues to improve. Nico continued to show that when possible win or pole is approaching, he panickes.
About tomorrow a lot depends on Lewis. If he remains calm and confident, the race is already over. If he allows his exuberance and temper to rule him, Jenson might win. And I would not discount Michael. The old fox is still there, still lurking and expecting the odd win. And Melbourne is an odd track, especially if it rains.
Can't wait for tomorrow!

[jens]

Wow, what an unusual qualifying session! I mean for past two years we have been used to seeing RBR in front of McLaren, Ferrari with Mercedes further behind, etc. But now suddenly something quite different! Like in 2009, 2007 or 2005 – a change from the past.

Well, McLaren is certainly in great position to deliver. They haven’t won the WCC since 1998. It is the best opportunity to grab it again. Hard to say, which McLaren driver is the favourite to win the race. Button is usually stronger in race trim and there is little to choose between them if they are running after each other.

Awesome effort by Grosjean. He is currently one of my top3 favourite drivers on the grid and fantastic to see him back in F1 with a bang after terrible 2009, when some people were quick to write him off! It will still take some time before Räikkönen is fully back on top of his game, but he has a fight in his hands in the team, that’s for sure.

Mercedes looks good, really good. Actually I thought Rosberg could have challenged for pole (he was in front in Q1 and Q2), but was making mistakes in Q3. Is 2012 finally a real opportunity for Rosberg to rise to the top and prove himself as one of the main players of Formula One? As evidently seen, the pressure is now on! We will see, how much is the suggested tyre degradation an issue tomorrow.

Red Bull has been surprisingly slow this weekend. But perhaps this situation will show the depth of this team – how can they recover from difficulties and become a front-runner again.

Ferrari is really crap, like McLaren in early 04 and 09. Perhaps Alonso could have delivered narrowly a Q3, but that’s about it. Car-wise Alonso is roughly in a similar situation as in 2009 with that Renault.

Force India was surprisingly underwhelming too. Great effort from Hülkenberg to reach Q3 in the end after Force Indias looked set to end up around P15.

On the other hand great pace by Williams. Toro Rosso and especially Sauber looked handy too. I think Sauber is capable of more than they showed, especially in race trim.

Caterham a disappointment, still almost a second off Q2 spot...