2014 Australian GP Official Thread

[JasonPotato]

Clearly red bull were sandbagging, expect them to be top 5 come qualy.

[steveaki13]

Clearly red bull were sandbagging, expect them to be top 5 come qualy.

Yep. Looks like it.

Red Bull will be fastest by race 6 or 7 and win both titles again and F1 will become a bore again.

[jens]

Oh. This free practice looks a lot more like one would have expected this season to be. Mercedes in front, but other top teams Ferrari and Red Bull after them. Williams is more like a strong (upper) midfield team, not exactly a top team like was rumoured based on testing. However, the potential of Lotus is still massively unclear. They look like Jaguar 2002 at the moment, who was battling with Minardi at the back, but I am sure during the season there is more to come.

I know many people dislike Red Bull being fast, but I find relief in it. That we could actually have a close season. Because based on winter testing there was a strong suspicion Mercedes may run away with the thing. But we are still yet to find out, how reliable each car is and this is also Red Bull's weakness, even if they have speed.

[airshifter]

Great to see the new cars out on the track. Though I have been a long time believer that testing and practice do not really show the final ability of the cars, I think it's safe to say we are all expecting some changes vs last year.

I'm really glad to see Williams looking good again. TBH if one of the red cars can't take the win, I think it would be great motivation for Felipe to win a race again. He's spent too much time being a forced #2 driver, and I think it sucked his passion out of him. I hope his move lets him feel worthy again, and that the car allows them to be competitive.

It also looks as though RB might have been sandbagging. But the question remains, if they are quick, how long will it last?

[jens]

It also looks as though RB might have been sandbagging. But the question remains, if they are quick, how long will it last?

I don't think regularly blowing up and barely running any laps is really sandbagging. I mean everyone needs to use winter testing to the max, not play silly games with smokes, flames and fires.

I think it is more about, how each team approaches each season with their development cycles. For instance Red Bull usually puts a lot of effort into the back-end of a season, which enables to finish very strongly, but can make their starts more on the backfoot.

Many midfield teams we have seen going the other way around. Start out well before fading. For every team it is about compromise in how to best use the available resources. Do you use more for the start to get a good base-car, but struggle to develop? Or you bank on having great in-season development work and speed to make up for the possibly lost ground?

[AndyL]

Interesting to see that the top speeds in P2 were quite close. From the fastest Williams to the slowest Red Bull, about 10 cars covered by 8kph. Are the engines more closely matched in performance than we thought I wonder? Or will we see them spread out when Mercedes turn the wick up?

[AndyL]

Fantastic that the race weekend is finally here though

[jens]

Interesting to see that the top speeds in P2 were quite close. From the fastest Williams to the slowest Red Bull, about 10 cars covered by 8kph. Are the engines more closely matched in performance than we thought I wonder? Or will we see them spread out when Mercedes turn the wick up?

I think three big engine manufacturers had always the potential not to be too far away from each other. However, start of a new season and particularly start of a new era can always exaggerate some gaps, so over time they will naturally come down a bit anyway.

And the main issue has nonetheless been reliability. For example till now we haven't had any idea, how powerful this Renault V6T could actually be, because they have barely been able to run at all, let alone at full power. I think in the end, when somewhere during the season all engines are already capable of performing at their maximum potential without blowing up, the gaps may indeed be relatively close/closish.

[steveaki13]

Oh. This free practice looks a lot more like one would have expected this season to be. Mercedes in front, but other top teams Ferrari and Red Bull after them. Williams is more like a strong (upper) midfield team, not exactly a top team like was rumoured based on testing. However, the potential of Lotus is still massively unclear. They look like Jaguar 2002 at the moment, who was battling with Minardi at the back, but I am sure during the season there is more to come.

I know many people dislike Red Bull being fast, but I find relief in it. That we could actually have a close season. Because based on winter testing there was a strong suspicion Mercedes may run away with the thing. But we are still yet to find out, how reliable each car is and this is also Red Bull's weakness, even if they have speed.

You are right of course Jens.

Just sad my prediction of 6 cars finishing is looking a lot less likely now.

[jens]

Just sad my prediction of 6 cars finishing is looking a lot less likely now.

Was also hoping for a repeat of some good old season openers with less than 10 finishers, but yeah... I mean if we don't get this now, WHEN else are we going to get it?

But I still think at least half of the cars retiring is a (realistic) possibility. We'll find out.