2012 Australian Grand Prix Thread - Official

Garry Walker, if you say that Red Bull has the best car, then McLaren had the best car last year. :p : Because this year their car characteristics seem reversed. McLaren is quick straightaway and builds a gap after starts to get out of a DRS-zone. Red Bull is struggling with tyre heating and start challenging only at the end of stints. Button had a race like Vettel used to have last year - controlling from the front. Vettel had a race like Button used to have last year - challenging upwards after poor initial position.

Overall the race gave a completely new picture compared to qualifying and much closer to the one that was expected based on winter testing. Also closer to last year as the same five drivers that dominated the sport in 2011, locked out Top5 again. It looks like some teams have to work on setups, tyre management and how to get an optimal performance out of the car over the whole race weekend. RBR is indeed fast in race trim, but struggling with tyre heating. On the other hand Mercedes is pretty slow in race trim, worse than expected.

But we have got a good prologue to a potential McLaren-RBR title fight for the rest of the season. Webber finally outdid his Minardi drive in front of his home crowd with a 4th place. :D

Midfield is very tight though – Ferrari, Williams, Sauber, Lotus, Mercedes. Some of their race paces were perhaps hard to judge, but it seemed like there is little to choose between them.

Ferrari was pretty decent at the beginning of stints, but tyre management was an obvious problem.

Sauber – as expected, very fast in race trim. Pérez 1-stop strategy didn’t work with the safety car, he was a roadblock at the end of the race. Hopefully won’t get DQ’d this time, a pleasant P3 in WCC. :)

Williams – after tests their race pace was expected to be good, but it was not only good, but very good! But there has been a lot of doubt about their drivers. They need to deliver the points.

Lotus – the experienced driver delivered the result this time. Shame about Grosjean, he didn’t look too comfortable at the front. But it was the first time for him to start from the sharp end of an F1 grid, so he will learn his lesson.

Mercedes – a bit like Honda in 2006, when Button got pole in Oz, but after that was a moving roadblock. They have a lot to think about. It’s nice to be at the front on Saturdays, but in the era of DRS there is not much use of it.

STR – neat performance from two new drivers in both qualifying and race. It is shaping up to be a nice battle between the two for the rest of the year.

Force India – disappointing. Seem to be behind all of the „old teams“. But the gap is tiny and they can turn it around with upgrades like last year or even on more suitable circuits.

Marussia – not bad considering they hadn’t run the car at all before this weekend.

Caterham – perhaps it was good Trulli left, because nothing has changed at all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Garry Walker

Maybe McLaren guys were just doing better laps.
Last year I often heard how bieber was such a fantastic qualifier and red bull really was not that much better than any other car (LOL!!!!!!!). So maybe the Macca boys were just so much faster.

But in racepace today, McLaren was not faster than Red Bull at all.

---

I watched the race! It was obvious in the first stint that the MacLaren cars were much faster then the bulls. Thanks to superior driving and some luck Seb was able to catch Jenson in the end. Lewis performed at his 2011 level once moore, simple.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jens

Garry Walker, if you say that Red Bull has the best car, then McLaren had the best car last year. Because this year their car characteristics seem reversed. McLaren is quick straightaway and builds a gap after starts to get out of a DRS-zone. Red Bull is struggling with tyre heating and start challenging only at the end of stints.

Overall the race gave a completely new picture compared to qualifying and much closer to the one that was expected based on winter testing. It looks like some teams have to work on setups, tyre management and how to get an optimal performance out of the car over the whole race weekend. RBR is indeed fast in race trim, but struggling with tyre heating. On the other hand Mercedes is pretty slow in race trim, worse than expected.

But we have got a good prologue to a potential McLaren-RBR title fight for the rest of the season. Webber finally outdid his Minardi drive in front of his home crowd with a 4th place. :D

Midfield is very tight though – Ferrari, Williams, Sauber, Lotus, Mercedes. Some of their race paces were perhaps hard to judge, but it seemed like there is little to choose between them.

Ferrari was pretty decent at the beginning of stints, but tyre management was an obvious problem.

Sauber – as expected, very fast in race trim. Pérez 1-stop strategy didn’t work with the safety car, he was a roadblock at the end of the race. Hopefully won’t get DQ’d this time, a pleasant P3 in WCC. :)

Williams – after tests their race pace was expected to be good, but it was not only good, but very good! But there has been a lot of doubt about their drivers. They need to deliver the points.

Lotus – the experienced driver delivered the result this time. Shame about Grosjean, he didn’t look too comfortable at the front. But it was the first time for him to start from the sharp end of an F1 grid, so he will learn his lesson.

Mercedes – a bit like Honda in 2006, when Button got pole in Oz, but after that was a moving roadblock. They have a lot to think about. It’s nice to be at the front on Saturdays, but in the era of DRS there is not much use of it.

STR – neat performance from two new drivers in both qualifying and race. It is shaping up to be a nice battle between the two for the rest of the year.

Force India – disappointing. Seem to be behind all of the „old teams“. But the gap is tiny and they can turn it around with upgrades like last year or even on more suitable circuits.

Marussia – not bad considering they hadn’t run the car at all before this weekend.

Caterham – perhaps it was good Trulli left, because nothing has changed at all.

---

Thanks for the analysis, was interesting to read.

And, Fernando Alonso, what a great driver! That car was nowhere yesterday and he took it up to fourth place.

Somhow it´s shame that he has the car he has this year again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jens

Garry Walker, if you say that Red Bull has the best car, then McLaren had the best car last year. :p : Because this year their car characteristics seem reversed. McLaren is quick straightaway and builds a gap after starts to get out of a DRS-zone. Red Bull is struggling with tyre heating and start challenging only at the end of stints.

Overall the race gave a completely new picture compared to qualifying and much closer to the one that was expected based on winter testing. Also closer to last year as the same five drivers that dominated the sport in 2011, locked out Top5 again. It looks like some teams have to work on setups, tyre management and how to get an optimal performance out of the car over the whole race weekend. RBR is indeed fast in race trim, but struggling with tyre heating. On the other hand Mercedes is pretty slow in race trim, worse than expected.

But we have got a good prologue to a potential McLaren-RBR title fight for the rest of the season. Webber finally outdid his Minardi drive in front of his home crowd with a 4th place. :D

Midfield is very tight though – Ferrari, Williams, Sauber, Lotus, Mercedes. Some of their race paces were perhaps hard to judge, but it seemed like there is little to choose between them.

Ferrari was pretty decent at the beginning of stints, but tyre management was an obvious problem.

Sauber – as expected, very fast in race trim. Pérez 1-stop strategy didn’t work with the safety car, he was a roadblock at the end of the race. Hopefully won’t get DQ’d this time, a pleasant P3 in WCC. :)

Williams – after tests their race pace was expected to be good, but it was not only good, but very good! But there has been a lot of doubt about their drivers. They need to deliver the points.

Lotus – the experienced driver delivered the result this time. Shame about Grosjean, he didn’t look too comfortable at the front. But it was the first time for him to start from the sharp end of an F1 grid, so he will learn his lesson.

Mercedes – a bit like Honda in 2006, when Button got pole in Oz, but after that was a moving roadblock. They have a lot to think about. It’s nice to be at the front on Saturdays, but in the era of DRS there is not much use of it.

STR – neat performance from two new drivers in both qualifying and race. It is shaping up to be a nice battle between the two for the rest of the year.

Force India – disappointing. Seem to be behind all of the „old teams“. But the gap is tiny and they can turn it around with upgrades like last year or even on more suitable circuits.

Marussia – not bad considering they hadn’t run the car at all before this weekend.

Caterham – perhaps it was good Trulli left, because nothing has changed at all.

---

Great analaysis Jens, I agree with everything.

I too am disapointed in Caterham. It seems as though they have not progressed at all this season. Early days I know but they are still a chunk behind the midfield, and Heikki was complaning his car was a hand full today

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jens

Garry Walker, if you say that Red Bull has the best car, then McLaren had the best car last year. :p : Because this year their car characteristics seem reversed. McLaren is quick straightaway and builds a gap after starts to get out of a DRS-zone. Red Bull is struggling with tyre heating and start challenging only at the end of stints. Button had a race like Vettel used to have last year - controlling from the front. Vettel had a race like Button used to have last year - challenging upwards after poor initial position.

Overall the race gave a completely new picture compared to qualifying and much closer to the one that was expected based on winter testing. Also closer to last year as the same five drivers that dominated the sport in 2011, locked out Top5 again. It looks like some teams have to work on setups, tyre management and how to get an optimal performance out of the car over the whole race weekend. RBR is indeed fast in race trim, but struggling with tyre heating. On the other hand Mercedes is pretty slow in race trim, worse than expected.

But we have got a good prologue to a potential McLaren-RBR title fight for the rest of the season. Webber finally outdid his Minardi drive in front of his home crowd with a 4th place. :D

Midfield is very tight though – Ferrari, Williams, Sauber, Lotus, Mercedes. Some of their race paces were perhaps hard to judge, but it seemed like there is little to choose between them.

Ferrari was pretty decent at the beginning of stints, but tyre management was an obvious problem.

Sauber – as expected, very fast in race trim. Pérez 1-stop strategy didn’t work with the safety car, he was a roadblock at the end of the race. Hopefully won’t get DQ’d this time, a pleasant P3 in WCC. :)

Williams – after tests their race pace was expected to be good, but it was not only good, but very good! But there has been a lot of doubt about their drivers. They need to deliver the points.

Lotus – the experienced driver delivered the result this time. Shame about Grosjean, he didn’t look too comfortable at the front. But it was the first time for him to start from the sharp end of an F1 grid, so he will learn his lesson.

Mercedes – a bit like Honda in 2006, when Button got pole in Oz, but after that was a moving roadblock. They have a lot to think about. It’s nice to be at the front on Saturdays, but in the era of DRS there is not much use of it.

STR – neat performance from two new drivers in both qualifying and race. It is shaping up to be a nice battle between the two for the rest of the year.

Force India – disappointing. Seem to be behind all of the „old teams“. But the gap is tiny and they can turn it around with upgrades like last year or even on more suitable circuits.

Marussia – not bad considering they hadn’t run the car at all before this weekend.

Caterham – perhaps it was good Trulli left, because nothing has changed at all.

---

How nice to see some sensible analysis on here from someone who actually enjoys the sport as a whole and takes no pleasure in misfortune. Would that every member followed that example.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BDunnell

Would that every member followed that example.

---

Wouldn't the forum get a little monotonous if we all behaved well and analyzed thoroughly? :)

Jens's posts are always great to read, though. :up:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by studiose

Wouldn't the forum get a little monotonous if we all behaved well and analyzed thoroughly? :)

---

I could do without some of the outright nastiness.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BDunnell

I could do without some of the outright nastiness.

---

I disagree. Nastiness is the main reason I don't post that often.

Anyway, great start to the season. Merc is back to their old self, hot at the front to start, fighting off the hopfuls for 8th-10th at the end of the race.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BDunnell

I could do without some of the outright nastiness.

---

I don't like personal attacks and insulting nick-names for drivers either, it has to be said.

But just a bit of schadenfreude once in a while I don't mind. It's... human. :)