2013 Australian Grand Prix Official Thread

[steveaki13]

Albert Park often throws up an unexpected result, maybe a bit of rain will give Lewis a chance.

I think, Jenson, Fernando and Seb will be the key runners.

[Rollo]

My totally (ahem) biased view is Webber and Ricciardo running away in a fit of home ground advantage fervour to take the top two rostrum steps - the order however is anyone's guess...

The last time an Australian won the Australian Grand Prix was Alan Jones in 1980 and that wasn't even an event on the F1 calendar. The best that Webber has done is 4th; so really if there is any "home ground advantage" it counts for little, but then again you are totally (ahem) biased

In the cold, hard light of day though, I agree that it is hard to know just how much in the way of sandbags the RBRs have been "carrying" in the pre-season,

I think that it'll be Vettel 1 and Webber 2; business as usual. I don't think that Jerez told us particularly all that much except that the Red Bulls don't chew up tyres.

[TheFamousEccles]

Dare to dream, Rollo... pinhead:

And I think you may be right about the RBRs and their tyres.

[Ranger]

After just having 9 consecutive days above 32°C, current forecasts are that it's likely to rain on the weekend. However Melbourne's weather is very volatile so you can expect anything!

[N4D13]

According to Formula1.com, there might be rain on Saturday, but Friday and Sunday are expected to be dry. That could be hell, right? Having the first qualifying session of the year in the rain having had no practice in it can't be easy, and if it rains heavily, the rubber could have been washed away completely by Sunday morning.

[jens]

So another potentially fascinating season is about to begin. Five top teams, each fielding a World Champion. So they have all proven drivers to get the job done. Even more so, based on testing all those teams seem to have a very competitive car! What is going to happen?

Reminds me a bit of pre-2004, when I think the expectations were also quite significant with five teams looking to fight at the front. We had seen top three teams being very close the previous year plus another one (Renault in 2003, Lotus in 2012) being a strong pretender. Also a fifth team showed very well in winter testing (BAR pre-04, Mercedes pre-13), promising to mix it with the leaders as well.

As it turned out, 2004 didn't quite turn out that fascinating as Ferrari-Bridgestone found an edge in the final tests, while McLaren, who had been a regular frontrunner, made together with 2009 their most serious mess of a car of the last of almost 20 years. But between those two other teams – BAR, Renault and Williams – were pretty close as expected, especially in the beginning of the season.

Of course now we are eagerly waiting, how close is this season going to be or can someone edge ahead this time as well. From that point of view all eyes are on Red Bull, who all too often has managed to pull something out of the bag in the most crucial moments.

But as we remember, both in 2010 and 2012 we had something like 6-7 drivers within almost one race win after 1/3 of the season. And only then in-season development and season-long consistency started to swing the season in favour of the main players. So we could see something like that again.

Who is going to win at Melbourne? Well, depends on car characteristics, current form, luck, circumstances, weather. For instance based on tests it looks like McLaren was going better at Jerez than at Barcelona, which may indicate that they would be more competitive at Albert Park than at Sepang based on circuit similarities. And then we have temperatures. In winter testing we didn't get any idea of this, but last year Lotus went really well in hot conditions. But we will see.

[EuroTroll]

Moderators don't play pickems, right? If you did though, jens, who would you pick? Just curious.

[jens]

Moderators don't play pickems, right? If you did though, jens, who would you pick? Just curious.

Well, if it is very difficult to pick someone, then the safest option is simply to pick the "proven ones", who are less likely to underperform. : So the likes of Vettel and Alonso would make my Top3. And regardless of how Australian Grand Prix ends, I'd expect those two to be the main title contenders anyway over a full season of racing and development. But I am aware that 2009 brought a complete fail for "safe pickings." :

[Tazio]

As usual great input Jens

but last year Lotus went really well in hot conditions. But we will see.

Right, there is no evidence as far as I can tell that the E21 will have this same characteristic as the the E20, although I think it will fight at or near the front.

[airshifter]

Well, if it is very difficult to pick someone, then the safest option is simply to pick the "proven ones", who are less likely to underperform. : So the likes of Vettel and Alonso would make my Top3. And regardless of how Australian Grand Prix ends, I'd expect those two to be the main title contenders anyway over a full season of racing and development. But I am aware that 2009 brought a complete fail for "safe pickings." :

No wonder you don't play pickems. Your choices are way off!

In all seriousness now, great post showing the anticipation many of us have towards the start of the season. If we get changing conditions some wildcards might come into the picture, but my gut instinct is similar to yours.... the cream will rise to the top.