OzGP Qualifying, Race thread

[Ranger]

Today I got reminded why in 2006 I thought Raikkonen may never win the title! Disappointing. :\
Webbo must have run over a giant black cat on his way to the track this morning. That guy has atrocious luck. :mad:

Good stuff from Kubica though... we were only a wee little slide away from a Pole on Pole. On Friday no one though the BMW's would be up there either - good stuff!


Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.572 1:25.187 1:26.714 14
2. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:26.103 1:25.315 1:26.869 15
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.664 1:25.452 1:27.079 13
4. Massa Ferrari 1:25.994 1:25.691 1:27.178 12
5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:25.960 1:25.518 1:27.236 16
6. Trulli Toyota 1:26.427 1:26.101 1:28.527 17
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:26.295 1:26.059 1:28.687 21
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:26.381 1:26.063 1:29.041 18
9. Glock Toyota 1:26.919 1:26.164 1:29.593 17
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.702 1:25.842 18
11. Barrichello Honda 1:26.369 1:26.173 13
12. Alonso Renault 1:26.907 1:26.188 10
13. Button Honda 1:26.712 1:26.259 13
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:26.891 1:26.413 13
15. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.914 8
16. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:26.140 3
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:27.207 9
18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.446 10
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:27.859 9
20. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:28.208 9
21. Piquet Renault 1:28.330 6
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:29.059

[F1boat]

In qualifyings like this I forget that I am a Ferrari fan. Naturally I am gutted for Kimi and hope that Massa can have good race tomorrow. But the qualy was absolutely stunning. I watched the BMWs with amazement and I think that they can become even more competitive with foreseable future. Lewis drove like a man possesed and Heiki was very fast. McLaren deserve congratulations that they managed to stay competitive after the draconian penaltis they suffered. I feel sad for Alonso and Nelson and I hope that Renault will be able to strike back.
The race tomorrow will be amazing. Between Top 5 I have no idea who will win, honestly. I think that Hedfeld could be a lot heavier and the battle between Lewis and Kubica will be intense since both are young and ambitious.
The Formula 1 is the biggest winner today.

[Ranger]

In qualifyings like this I forget that I am a Ferrari fan. Naturally I am gutted for Kimi and hope that Massa can have good race tomorrow. But the qualy was absolutely stunning. I watched the BMWs with amazement and I think that they can become even more competitive with foreseable future. Lewis drove like a man possesed and Heiki was very fast. McLaren deserve congratulations that they managed to stay competitive after the draconian penaltis they suffered. I feel sad for Alonso and Nelson and I hope that Renault will be able to strike back.
The race tomorrow will be amazing. Between Top 5 I have no idea who will win, honestly. I think that Hedfeld could be a lot heavier and the battle between Lewis and Kubica will be intense since both are young and ambitious.
The Formula 1 is the biggest winner today.

I agree. If the lack of TC is the cause of all this variation and visual entertainment, then we are in for a great season! :D

[Valve Bounce]

At least Fernando has a BIG plus out of all this : he ain't got a team mate to worry him, period!!

[truefan72]

At least Fernando has a BIG plus out of all this : he ain't got a team mate to worry him, period!!


LOL that's harsh...but true...but harsh :)

But let's see what happens in the race, Renaults are pretty durable and racing is a bit different than quali. I expect Alonso to score points and interested to see how NPJr performs.

It's times like these I wish I had access to at least 7 on board feeds to track the progress of various drivers. I'm left with the F1 site's lvie timing

[Ranger]

Glock is down 10 places for two separate reasons.


Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.572 1:25.187 1:26.714 14
2. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:26.103 1:25.315 1:26.869 15
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.664 1:25.452 1:27.079 13
4. Massa Ferrari 1:25.994 1:25.691 1:27.178 12
5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:25.960 1:25.518 1:27.236 16
6. Trulli Toyota 1:26.427 1:26.101 1:28.527 17
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:26.295 1:26.059 1:28.687 21
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:26.381 1:26.063 1:29.041 18
9. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.702 1:25.842 18
10. Barrichello Honda 1:26.369 1:26.173 13
11. Alonso Renault 1:26.907 1:26.188 10
12. Button Honda 1:26.712 1:26.259 13
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:26.891 1:26.413 13
14. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.914 8
15. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:26.140 3
16. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:27.207 9
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.446 10
18. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:27.859 9
19. Glock Toyota 1:26.919 1:26.164 1:29.593 17
20. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:28.208 9
21. Piquet Renault 1:28.330 6
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:29.059

[CGormally]

It was certainly an interesting qualifying session. Raikkonen must be absolutely gutted, having to start from row 8. Hamilton will be elated because his main threat (the Ferraris) didn't perform as well as expected. I think the BMW's may surprise a few people in the race.

[F1boat]

BMW are awesome. If they can improve the car as with williams in 2003, Ferrari and McLaren may face their match.

[RaikkonenRules]

How bad were Renault? lol Piquet 21st

[F1boat]

It seems that the qualy was excellent for McLaren Mercedes, good for BMW, bad for Ferrari and disastrous for Renault.

[SGWilko]

I really enjoyed qually, despite being very bleary eyed.....

One question though, are BMW as heavy as those around them?

But THAT power slide from Kubica to set his lap, wow.

The alarm is set......

[Kevincal]

It would be nice to see Kubica kick Lewis' ass... Although it's highly unlikely. :) I will be hoping though. ;) It seems that Lewis thinks he already has the championship in the bag... As great a driver he his, I just can't bring myself to like the (by far) most arrogant driver in F1.

[SGWilko]

It seems that Lewis thinks he already has the championship in the bag...

Do you have any soundbites on this? Quotes or otherwise?

[jens]

During winter tests there were assumptions that BMW was better over one lap and not-so-good over full race distance (too much tyre graining). We'll see tomorrow. In "normal conditions" Hamilton should be the favourite for the race win I guess. Too bad Glock suffered from such unluck, but at least tomorrow we'll see, what he is made of.

Last year Massa was forced to start from the back and got criticized after the race not being able to rise more than he managed in the fastest car. Now Räikkönen is in a similar situation (although we don't know yet if he starts from 15th or will they change the engine like they did with Massa last year?!) - exactly the same circuit and a car that is expected to have best race pace. Should be interesting to see, what can he do. :p :

[Kevincal]

Do you have any soundbites on this? Quotes or otherwise?

I'm just going by the extreme over confidence he's shown/said so far in general...

[gloomyDAY]

I'm just going by the extreme over confidence he's shown/said so far in general...How is that being arrogant? Would you rather have Hamilton be pessimistic? He is behaving like a proper pilot.

An arrogant person would throw a hissy fit if his team-mate beat him at qualifying, state that he is going to beat his team-mate, or not give a rats about his team in general. Hamilton has none of these characteristics and seems to be encouraged, not insecure, over the competition.

Anyway, cheers to Vettel. Excellent showing and I'm just left wondering what would have happened if the STR2-B would have worked.

[Tazio]

I really enjoyed qually, despite being very bleary eyed.....

One question though, are BMW as heavy as those around them?

But THAT power slide from Kubica to set his lap, wow.

The alarm is set......
Did RK's Final lap remind anyone else of this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9GG02RvV0Y

[jens]

As was expected before the start of the season, the midfield battle seems extremely tight. If we take every team's best laptimes from qualifying, then we could see six teams within just three tenths!! :eek:

STR - 1.25,842
Wil - 1.26,059
RBR - 1.26,063
Toy - 1.26,101
Hon - 1.26,173
Ren - 1.26,188

[SGWilko]

Did RK's Final lap remind anyone else of this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9GG02RvV0Y

Was he using the option or prime skis? ;)

[markabilly]

I really enjoyed qually, despite being very bleary eyed.....

One question though, are BMW as heavy as those around them?

But THAT power slide from Kubica to set his lap, wow.

The alarm is set......
I am telling u lay off the kool aid before it is toooo tooo late......besides Hamster already has the WCC in the bag.....as in repeat World Champion Choker for 08

[Tazio]

Actually I was referring to this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tYo6GP4Jic&NR=1

[SGWilko]

besides Hamster already has the WCC in the bag

Holy smoke, Richard Hammond in F1, did I miss sommat?

Clearly, not content with jet cars then.......

[RS]

How bad were Renault? lol Piquet 21st

Yeah, what happened to Fernando's "six tenths"?

[Tazio]

Yeah, what happened to Fernando's "six tenths"?
I'm not sure but I believe that Fred was 1.5 faster than Piquet
That would be "fifteen tenth's"! ;)

[Tazio]

I'm not sure but I believe that Fred was 1.5 faster than Piquet
That would be "fifteen tenth's"! ;) Nope! I stand corrected Fred was 2.15 faster than Piquet
That would be roughly "twenty-one point five tenths" faster! But who's counting?

[SGWilko]

Nope! I stand corrected Fred was 2.15 faster than Piquet
That would be roughly "twenty-one point five tenths" faster! But who's counting?

Tazio, quoting yourself like that reminds me of a Murrayism....

...."excuse me while I interrupt myself"! :laugh:

[Tazio]

Tazio, quoting yourself like that reminds me of a Murrayism....

...."excuse me while I interrupt myself"! :laugh:
;)

[ShiftingGears]

Wow! Great race.


The dice between Heikki and Alonso was fantastic! But what happened with Heikki on the penultimate lap? Did he back off the accelerator?

Hamilton was sublime. Smooth all weekend. Raikkonen's start was tremendous but he made two mistakes in Turn 3 that he really shouldn'tve. The Ferrari's aren't looking like the most reliable cars out there - it seems to be a carry on from last season.
Bourdais did well, wasn't flying, but held off Alonso and Heikki until his engine blew. Webber again got caught in someone elses accident, and Massa suffered brain flatulence at the start. Oh dear. I did think he wasn't to blame in the Coulthard accident however.
Glock's accident reminded me of Kubicas, with his car being launched by the access road. Hope he's ok - he took a bit of a battering.

Great race though.

[F1boat]

Great race, I am very disappointed that both Ferrari drivers acted like idiotic teens today. I didn't expect it from Kimi, honestly. Congrats to Lewis for the nice victory.

[Ranger]

Great race. Fifteen cars fail to reach the finish! :s hock:

Raikkonen was looking fantastic until his excursion, but would've still got points if that engine didn't blow up.

Matter of fact, all things Ferrari were terrible today. :down:

If only Lewis took his last stop a lap later like Heikki, then Heidfeld would've won the race! I wanted to see that, shame. Great drive nonetheless.

Barrichello would've podiumed but was unfortunately caught out by that safety car rule. Shame.

Toyota looked decent. Glock's accident was rather scary.

A lot of teams faced disappointment today, but fortunately the next race is next weekend! Roll on Malaysia! :D

[savage86]

A shame for Sebastien but he got points anyway to hold off Kovi and Alonso shows how good he is, the next Alex Wurz maybe (but quicker)

Kimi deserved nothing and basically got nothing im sure the lewis haters will have some stupid points to make about how no one put him under pressure and he's not that good blah blah. Point is he's made no mistakes all weekend just a very very good drive.

Will the Macca's engines last though? two VERY hot races

[aryan]

It was an amazing race :)

I think all those who said banning TC would not make a huge difference have been proven wrong. Now, I expect most pilots to come to grips with their new machines in the next couple of races, and I'm certainly not saying that we would have about 15 DNFs in all races, but what is clear is that without TC, drivers are making more mistakes, and it has helped in making the show more entertaining.

[SGWilko]

But what happened with Heikki on the penultimate lap? Did he back off the accelerator?


He said he touched the pit limiter button by mistake when removing a tear off.

[Tazio]

He said he touched the pit limiter button by mistake when removing a tear off. If so much stupider $h!+ hadn't have happened I would say that was really....well ...Stupid!
Losing only one position at the end of this race was hanging in there ;)

[F1boat]

Kimi deserved nothing and basically got nothing im sure the lewis haters will have some stupid points

No. I am a Kimi fan and dislike Lewis, but today Lewis was great and Kimi was like drunk.

[Tazio]

No. I am a Kimi fan and dislike Lewis, but today Lewis was great and Kimi was like drunk.
Props to LH. We have 17 more to go!

[markabilly]

He said he touched the pit limiter button by mistake when removing a tear off.
And I thought he got mad because the way of the pitstop at the very end was handled, funny how he had so much more fuel and ran longer than Ham before on other first stop, only to be yanked into the pits and put at the end of the line....a little team order for ham, to ensure victory, perhaps?

Anyway, said it last year and I say it again. beemer has two solid drivers that will do well, finishing second third and fourth, so on down the year, but they ain't gonna be beating Kimister and Hamster.

On the other hand, driver of the race appearred to be Freddie, and if Freddie had been driving a Beemer, well, I think we might have seen a real race for first, rather than NH fading away in second......

[SGWilko]

funny how he had so much more fuel and ran longer than Ham before on other first stop, only to be yanked into the pits and put at the end of the line....a little team order for ham, to ensure victory, perhaps?


I rather got the impression he could not pit when he wanted to because of the Glock SC period. No doubt Glock did this on purpose to aid Lewis, responding to the voices having had Kool Aid put in his drinks bottle.... :p :

[markabilly]

I rather got the impression he could not pit when he wanted to because of the Glock SC period. No doubt Glock did this on purpose to aid Lewis, responding to the voices having had Kool Aid put in his drinks bottle.... :p :
Looks like HK had a little too much as well, pushing the wrong something for sure....maybe he was trying to immitate his new boss Hamilton.....see, anyone can choke..... :D

[SGWilko]

Looks like HK had a little too much as well, pushing the wrong something for sure....maybe he was trying to immitate his new boss Hamilton.....see, anyone can choke..... :D

:laugh: More chokers out there today than in a hospital waiting room. ;)

[jens]

No-one has praised Sato yet. That was an awesome performance! In the worst car was driving in 11th position early on and kept it for a while! A shame that Force Indias and Super Aguris retired - that could have been their best chance this year to score something.

Great race by Bourdais. Looks like Berger was right to say that while in qualis Vettel is better, then by race pace the drivers are about equal. Bourdais kept Kubica comfortably behind him for quite long :up:

Heidfeld. :up: A consistent and steady race by him as usual, which brought a good result! May have not shined in quali, but after first stops was just two seconds behind Kubica and was probably having a longer second stint too. Another steady and decent race by Alonso - he is such kind of driver, who manages to deliver in chaos.

Rosberg - great drive too and well-deserved first podium. It looks like those pre-season thoughts have become true that BMW and Williams seem to be the biggest candidates for third force in F1.

And once again a proof that safety car rules suck. Heikki and McLaren did everything right, but nonetheless lost a deserved 2nd position. :\

Räikkönen, Massa, Ferrari - :rotflmao: (sorry, couldn't resist).
I can't understand, why wasn't Kimi taken in during the first SC session. I don't think he had much fuel left and would have dropped clearly to the back anyway.

[markabilly]

:laugh: More chokers out there today than in a hospital waiting room. ;)
Hamster is truly becoming the leader of the pack, who everyone is trying to imitate....

[Ranger]

Barrichello disqualified.

Shame, he did well today and was unfortunate to get caught out by the SC and subsequently run the red, for which he was DQ'd.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65813


Classified:

Pos Driver Team
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B)
2. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B)
3. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B)
4. Alonso Renault (B)
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B)
6. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B)
7. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)
8. Raikkonen Ferrari (B)

[SGWilko]

Hamster is truly becoming the leader of the pack, who everyone is trying to imitate....

Plenty of <cough> sheep out there then........

Leaders will always have followers :laugh:

[Valve Bounce]

Barrichello disqualified.

Shame, he did well today and was unfortunate to get caught out by the SC and subsequently run the red, for which he was DQ'd.



How stupid is the rule that says a driver cannot refuel because the safety car is out? Sooner or later a guy will run out of fuel at any time during the Safety Car period if he didn't refuel. We do have some irrelevant stupid rules for no reason at all.

And Rubens was heading for a podium, possibly the best drive of his career.

[truefan72]

How stupid is the rule that says a driver cannot refuel because the safety car is out? Sooner or later a guy will run out of fuel at any time during the Safety Car period if he didn't refuel. We do have some irrelevant stupid rules for no reason at all.

And Rubens was heading for a podium, possibly the best drive of his career.

agreed,

This rule is causing me much consternation as I can't possibly see the logic in it. the negatives far outweigh the positives. Let the strategies play themsleves out. This isn't nascar where you have 200 laps to make up the ground lost by the "closed pits" rule.

In an f1 race all optinos should be available to all drivers at all times. The variables are too many and SC periods cannot and shoudl not be determining the outcome of races.

[samuratt]

Very entertaining race. I hope we have more races likes this during the seasson.

Congratulations to Hamilton for the race wins, and heidfeld & Rosberg for a deserved podium.

Driver of the day Fernando, keeping his slowly truck on the track and being able to finish 4th after his strategy was being punished with every SC was just outstading. The pass on Raikonen and Kovalainen in 1 move priceless.

Ferrari looked awful today, but i am sure they have the right car, so they just need their drivers and the team to perform at the usual level not making mistakes like today.

Kovalainen was doing a great race till he pushed the wrong button. What happens in those mclarens that every time a noob driver makes a mistake some misterious button is pushed???? :D

Sorry for Kubica a Barrichello, thay had a good start but failed to finish for different reassons.

A very good race anyway, I wuold like to see something like this at Malasya.

:cheers:

[markabilly]

Plenty of <cough> sheep out there then........

Leaders will always have followers :laugh:
Yep, just like the good rev Jim Jones, when it comes to kool aid drinking and choking, had numerous followers who drank and choked or to mac and LH, with its drinkers and followers, ready to swallow the party line of team intergrity, and now even HK "choking" but at least he admitted to something dumb...... :D .

as to the {cough} sheep, I told u I would leave your girlfriends alone, and I meant it :D