2012 Australian Grand Prix Discussion Thread

[DanielPT]

Speaking of scruitineering, one thing that has been examined is the rear wing that Mercedes have been using, which is thought to incorporate a sort of F-duct (although Autosport suggest that it operates on the main flap of the rear wing rather than on the front wing). Charlie Whiting has inspected the device and declared it legal on the basis that the system is passively operated, which means that other teams are now investigating their own alternative systems (including Red Bull). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98035

I can foresee this becoming banned by the end of the season...

They will only ban it if this year Mercedes turns out pretty good or if one of the top teams manages a great advantage with it...

FIA: Trying to keep the championship close since 2002 and failing to do it most of the time...

[Ferrim]

FIA: Trying to keep the championship close since 1950 and failing to do it most of the time...

Fixed.

[mario]

Speaking of scruitineering, one thing that has been examined is the rear wing that Mercedes have been using, which is thought to incorporate a sort of F-duct (although Autosport suggest that it operates on the main flap of the rear wing rather than on the front wing). Charlie Whiting has inspected the device and declared it legal on the basis that the system is passively operated, which means that other teams are now investigating their own alternative systems (including Red Bull). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98035

I can foresee this becoming banned by the end of the season...

They will only ban it if this year Mercedes turns out pretty good or if one of the top teams manages a great advantage with it...

FIA: Trying to keep the championship close since 2002 and failing to do it most of the time...

I think that it is more likely that they'd choose to allow Mercedes (and a few other teams) to use this device just for this year, with the rules being tweaked ahead of 2013 to ensure that there is no repeat use. The FIA are already hinting that they are not entirely happy with the current exhaust designs that have been coming out - particularly the Sauber/McLaren/Red Bull designs that continue to direct the exhaust gas towards the diffuser region - with Whiting making it clear that the FIA are considering tightening the rules even further for 2013. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97970

[David AGS]

Slightly off topic, but went to track today, and had the pleasure of my programme signed by the following: Hamilton, Button, di Resta, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Vergne, Pic, Glock, Petrov, Kovalainen, de la Rosa and Karthikeyan. Im happy with that.

Yes, did wait (sometimes hours) but I think there is no other place where you can get access to drivers without paddock passes or so.

So, A GREAT PLACE FOR THE RACE.

[quoteYou've done well to get the signatures of half the grid - did you chat to any of those drivers as well?

With the massive line, you got mabe 5 secs each driver, so It was a quick hi, thanks and best of luck for weekend. But people take photos etc. Must admit felt sorry for people who miss out, but then on the opposite side, saw a young lady in tears for seeing M$ for the first time, and photos etc.

[dr-baker]

Slightly off topic, but went to track today, and had the pleasure of my programme signed by the following: Hamilton, Button, di Resta, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Vergne, Pic, Glock, Petrov, Kovalainen, de la Rosa and Karthikeyan. Im happy with that.

Yes, did wait (sometimes hours) but I think there is no other place where you can get access to drivers without paddock passes or so.

So, A GREAT PLACE FOR THE RACE.

You've done well to get the signatures of half the grid - did you chat to any of those drivers as well?

With the massive line, you got maybe 5 secs each driver, so It was a quick hi, thanks and best of luck for weekend. But people take photos etc. Must admit felt sorry for people who miss out, but then on the opposite side, saw a young lady in tears for seeing M$ for the first time, and photos etc.

Schumacher? Really? But then, I still haven't fully forgiven him for Adelaide 1994.

Or Jerez 1997. Or Monaco 2005. Or Hungary 2010. And the parade lap in Britain 1994 was just stupid gamesmanship. And the penalty in Britain 1998 was just a farce on both sides. But I am glad he didn't get too seriously hurt in Britain 1999.

[GwilymJJames]

Well, so far Sky's coverage has been a forty-minute display in how to lose viewers.



Also, HRT have had a fail.

[Klon]

Sky guys making a magnum reference in regards to Kimi Räikkönen.

HEY, GUYS! 2009 CALLED, THEY WANT THEIR JOKE BACK!

[RealRacingRoots]

Also, HRT have had a fail.

Similar things happened for some of HRT's first running in Australia last year, typical.

[GwilymJJames]

Oh, Felipe...

[RealRacingRoots]

Oh, Fernando..

[GwilymJJames]

P1 Fastest: 1:27.560
107%: 1:33.689

Failures: Glock (+1.041), Pic (+6.567), Karthikeyan (engine), de la Rosa (driving for HRT)

[Klon]

Now with him topping the speed trap and beating Vettel in the times, Kimi Räikkönen must be the #1 favourite to win the championship.

[Wizzie]

Just over 30 minutes to FP2 and the track is pretty much flooded

[Wizzie]

Ah Melbourne, always proving your reputation of having four season in 15 minutes

[Wizzie]

How Kobayashi kept it off the wall at the end of the session will forever be a mystery.

[GwilymJJames]

FP2 Fastest: 1:29.183
107%: 1:35.426

Failures: Karthikeyan (+7.201), De la Rosa (hydralics)

[CoopsII]

Well, so far Sky's coverage has been a forty-minute display in how to lose viewers.

Oh really? In the same way I want to know if an ex that dumped me is now unhappy Id like some details!

[Paul Hayes]

I think McLaren and Mercedes will definitely be the most-pleased with their day's work today, although it's hard to believe Red Bull won't still be the team to be tomorrow, especially if the rain holds off and it's a normal day of dry running. Be nice to see the grid well mixed-up, though.

[GwilymJJames]

Well, so far Sky's coverage has been a forty-minute display in how to lose viewers.

Oh really? In the same way I want to know if an ex that dumped me is now unhappy Id like some details!

• Cutting away from the action to show interviews.
• Adverts.
• Playing lengthy VTs before the first two interviews, but they dropped those.
• Adverts.
• Using a definition of "uninterrupted coverage" so far unknown to man.

[AdrianSutil]

I thought there wasn't supposed to be adverts? HAHA, glad I didnt pay now.

[East Londoner]

Well, so far Sky's coverage has been a forty-minute display in how to lose viewers.

Oh really? In the same way I want to know if an ex that dumped me is now unhappy Id like some details!

• Cutting away from the action to show interviews.
• Adverts.
• Playing lengthy VTs before the first two interviews, but they dropped those.
• Adverts.
• Using a definition of "uninterrupted coverage" so far unknown to man.

Oh god. I'm now debating whether it's worth getting up early for qualifying tomorrow. I'm just hoping they've done that because it's practice...

[pablo_h]

Any australians out there know if it will be 'business as usual' as far as future F1 races or is this sky/BBC going to change how and when races are shown here, ie might delay races shown on 'one'?

I noticed on channel 'one' (the Australian channel with the broadcasting rights), are streaming the albert park event including practice. Was it any good, did it have ads, was it live, and are they going to keep it up for the whole season, or just doing it for albert park?

[the Masked Lapwing]

Any australians out there know if it will be 'business as usual' as far as future F1 races or is this sky/BBC going to change how and when races are shown here, ie might delay races shown on 'one'?

I noticed on channel 'one' (the Australian channel with the broadcasting rights), are streaming the albert park event including practice. Was it any good, did it have ads, was it live, and are they going to keep it up for the whole season, or just doing it for albert park?

All that's changed in the coverage this year is that we'll get commentary from Sky, not the BBC. The practice coverage was, well, average at best. Ads every ten minutes, but it was live coverage, although we had to listen to the idiots. They've shown the practice sessions in previous years, but only in Australia. Nowhere else is important enough, apparently.

[mario]

Talking a little about the cars themselves, this nice little shot has cropped up on a few forums:


Those marks around the exhaust exits are a fairly nice indication of how Red Bull are trying to direct the gas from the exhausts.

[CoopsII]

• Cutting away from the action to show interviews.
• Adverts.
• Playing lengthy VTs before the first two interviews, but they dropped those.
• Adverts.
• Using a definition of "uninterrupted coverage" so far unknown to man.

Far be it for me to defend SKY and all of Murdochs minions of evil who will spend their eternities in hell screaming the name "Rupert" and having their innards plucked out by an avenging eagle each day but the advertising doesnt specify the entire race weekend will be uninterrupted. You'll get the race though.

[AdrianSutil]

Talking a little about the cars themselves, this nice little shot has cropped up on a few forums:


Those marks around the exhaust exits are a fairly nice indication of how Red Bull are trying to direct the gas from the exhausts.

What I noticed first though, was the green paint within the tyre tread. Will the green start to show through once the tread is worn away enough? i.e intermediate tyres on a drying track?

[CoopsII]

I must admit I dont like Grosjean since he ditched his stupid bouffant hairdo. What a shame.

[Shadaza]

I would rate Sky's coverage a 7/10.

The amount of detail they put in was way more significant then BBC ever did (they actually had a half hour build up for both sessions) however they need to understand the pacing a little better, cutting away for interviews whilst on track action is under way is a bad idea, however I did like the work Ted Kravitz did.

As for adverts, you did know right that you can switch to on board shots of the drivers whilst the adverts were on, during 1 advert break onboard I saw Kobayashi, Schumacher and Maldonado all do some off roading

Well the commentary team was Crofty and Davidson so you got the usual enthusiasm and bias's.

As for the on track action, I don't think Red Bull are where they want to be at the moment, the car looked a little nervous in both sessions compared to the 3 Mercedes teams that looked glued to the road. (Though the commentary team seemed fit to ignore this completly and pretend to think Red Bull is the best car out there blindly ignoring what was happening in front of them) The McLaren looks immense.
Ferrari looked like a pig of a car to drive, for Alonso to do as well as he has on the times I think is more a reflection of his quality rather then the cars.

Whilst at the back of the field I was rather impressed by Marussia considering the lack of testing they have, Pic seemed to have some difficulty getting his car up to speed but otherwise had no problems and (even if it is clearly fuel corrected!) Glock was trying to overtake Vettel at one point and with 20 minutes to go in the session sat as high as 3rd! HRT look in bad shape (again) with Karthikeyan breaking down in both sessions, de la Rosa not running in the first session at all only to find his nose cone did not fit the car so they had to file it until it did, then the power steering didn't work. The laps Karthikeyan did manage were a long way off the pace.

[mario]

[...]
As for the on track action, I don't think Red Bull are where they want to be at the moment, the car looked a little nervous in both sessions compared to the 3 Mercedes teams that looked glued to the road. (Though the commentary team seemed fit to ignore this completly and pretend to think Red Bull is the best car out there blindly ignoring what was happening in front of them) The McLaren looks immense.
Ferrari looked like a pig of a car to drive, for Alonso to do as well as he has on the times I think is more a reflection of his quality rather then the cars.

That would tie in with the recent comments from Vettel that he isn't entirely comfortable in the car - it seems that Red Bull aren't totally happy with the set up of the car, and Vettel has conceded that the restrictions on tyre use means that he probably won't have as much time to set the car up as he would have liked tomorrow. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98059

It is a more cautious note from Red Bull and Vettel than we're used to, whereas the comments from Hamilton and Button are far more optimistic (Button sounds fairly happy with the balance of the car whilst Hamilton seems pretty confident that the car is "there or thereabouts" in terms of pace). With the wet second session limiting practise time, I think that Red Bull might be regretting leaving the launch of their new exhaust system until so late in testing - of course, there is the caveat that we don't know the fuel loads the teams used in practise, so there may yet be more pace to come.

As for Ferrari and Alonso, I agree that Alonso is probably flattering that car - the team admit that they are still struggling to get to terms with the car, and even Alonso sounds a little uncertain about his prospects. Massa's spin has probably made him fairly popular with the amateur and professional photographers though, as they were taking quite a few shots of the car at close quarters as it was lifted onto the recovery truck...

And over at Mercedes Ross Brawn is currently downplaying the impact of his teams DRS activated F-duct as the speculation mounts over how it works, with Ross keen to suggest that their wing is not the most important factor behind their speed http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98085. It has to be said that Mercedes probably have more tricks up their sleeve than just that, because both Schumacher and Rosberg have looked pretty competitive throughout the lap.

[dr-baker]

As far as commentary goes, I listened to R5Live (Sports Extra) for FP1 (I just couldn't stay awake for FP2). It was good, cutting over to the guys in the pits often, with a pretty fair description of the action, and no boredom during the non-action periods. It was only FP1 so no over-excitment with cars on track, but able to keep up with who was on track and when, how HRT were (not) doing, etc. Real test will be qualy and the race, but showing promise so far, I reckon.

[Waris]

Räikkönen has been complaining about the power steering, driving for the team that fired Vitalij Petrov last year, who now drives for the team that last year was known under the name Räikkönen's present team is now known under, for whom Jarno Trulli drove last year, who complained about the power steering for most of the season.

I don't even know if I wrote that in a grammatically correct way, but I'm sure lost as to the number of levels of irony there.

[Nuppiz]

Räikkönen has been complaining about the power steering, driving for the team that fired Vitalij Petrov last year, who now drives for the team that last year was known under the name Räikkönen's present team is now known under, for whom Jarno Trulli drove last year, who complained about the power steering for most of the season.

I don't even know if I wrote that in a grammatically correct way, but I'm sure lost as to the number of levels of irony there.

[mario]

What I noticed first though, was the green paint within the tyre tread. Will the green start to show through once the tread is worn away enough? i.e intermediate tyres on a drying track?

Sorry, I meant to address this post earlier - no, the green paint that you can see within the tyre tread comes from the flow-viz paint that Red Bull were using on their front wing during the practise sessions, some of which has ended up spraying onto the tyres. It would be an interesting concept to have tyres that changed colour as they wore down, but I believe that the teams would be against the concept because it would give a fairly strong indication to their rivals of how quickly they were wearing down their tyres (and how worn the tyres that they put on in the pit stops are).

[sswishbone]

Thanks to an alternate source *whistles* I am able to watch the Sky F1 coverage, I think the adverts in practice were hella annoying, sometimes barely eight minutes apart. They did say the races will have no ads, but from what I have seen, not worth £22 a month upgrade, no sir

[S951]

would you mind sending me a pm to said website please I don't fancy getting up early unless I can get a good feed

[BlindCaveSalamander]

would you mind sending me a pm to said website please I don't fancy getting up early unless I can get a good feed

Ditto for me.

[sswishbone]

Ask and ye shall recieve

[S951]

thank you looks like natalie pinkham interview with perez atm

[sswishbone]

I do like how they are showing what is happening overnight, as much as it pains me to say it, that is a nice touch and something new

[S951]

yeah practice sessions more interviews and more side features