Merc felt they had it in the bag after practice and qualifying. It was nice to see Ferrari jet out in front, and I think Seab might have kept the lead if not for the red flag. Scary how fast and reliable Merc is, really hope somethings pop up this year otherwise it will be a Merc dominance.
Nice to see the Ferrari's run up front (and Lewis squirm for a bit) but I was mad when Kimi had to retire. Seems like it is always something with him/his car.
Nice job Haas, going to mediums during the red flag worked out in a big way. Also, SO glad to see Alonso walk away from that pile of parts (I too didn't even realize it was a car at first).
Nico seems to be asserting himself more this year, which is a welcomed change. We'll see if he can keep it up.
What a great way to kick things off. And thank goodness Alonso is OK. 
If Lewis hadn't just stopped for tires before the demolition derby, he would have taken the win. I suspect he might have won anyhow if the course hadn't been a street circuit that's difficult for passing.
There will be start practice for the Mercedes boys this week, that's for sure. Vettel is good at launching. Nico is good at being assertive when he wins, but he seems to have trouble when he's got his back against the wall.
It's easy to forget that Haas (pronounced HA-ss by the NBC and hASS by the brits) has some serious experience. Not just in NASCAR, but the team principal (Guenther Steiner) has won WRC championships and has been in F1 with both Jaguar and Red Bull. Not exactly a wide-eyed neophyte.
Has anyone else really been impressed by Grosjean's growth over the past few seasons? He used to be a danger, now he's one of my favorite drivers. Haas did well to pick him up.
Seeing Alonso's car against the barrier like that sent chills down my spine. At first I thought it was going to be a a really really bad outcome, I was seriously relieved when I saw him out of the car. I'm not sure if that accident is a case for or against the cockpit halo. If he'd been injured it would have been a slam dunk for. As not and he got out is there an argument he could have been trapped in with the halo against the barrier preventing room to extract himself. I don't know either way.
Alonso not cleared to return for the grand prix this weekend, Stoffel Vandoorne to make his debut in his place
johndej wrote: Alonso not cleared to return for the grand prix this weekend, Stoffel Vandoorne to make his debut in his place
It will be interesting to see how he does.
johndej wrote: Alonso not cleared to return for the grand prix this weekend, Stoffel Vandoorne to make his debut in his place
E36 M3, that's serious. He was out for concussion at the start of last year, I assume this is the same. It may be time to stop playing Russian Roulette and hang up the helmet.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/35934347 said: In Thursday's news conference in Bahrain, the 34-year-old revealed he suffered a pneumothorax - a partially collapsed lung - as a result of the accident in Melbourne but this had now healed. He said it was "not 100%" that he will be able to race in China in two weeks and he will be tested again in the next eight to 10 days after which governing body the FIA will evaluate his condition. Alonso added: "I am already recovered from the pneumothorax but the rib is too fresh and it could be a potential problem. "I have no respiratory problems. It is a small risk, but I understand they want no risk. It is just a question of time - it should be OK in the next 10 days but there is no guarantee."
Apexcarver wrote:http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/35934347 said: In Thursday's news conference in Bahrain, the 34-year-old revealed he suffered a pneumothorax - a partially collapsed lung - as a result of the accident in Melbourne but this had now healed. He said it was "not 100%" that he will be able to race in China in two weeks and he will be tested again in the next eight to 10 days after which governing body the FIA will evaluate his condition. Alonso added: "I am already recovered from the pneumothorax but the rib is too fresh and it could be a potential problem. "I have no respiratory problems. It is a small risk, but I understand they want no risk. It is just a question of time - it should be OK in the next 10 days but there is no guarantee."
Good news I guess, if you can call rub and lung damage good news. Let's face it though, 20 years ago the other drivers would be attending a funeral.
So has everyone read Bernie's new qualifying suggestions? Having a draw for the grid, or some kind of time element added to the previous starting grid, or some such nonsense. I am this close to being done with F1... I've been watching since the '70's and I doubt they could try to destroy it any better.... Does he simply have no clue as to why he has fans? And if I lived in Britain...well that's another story. Greed and crazy does strange things....
He won't be happy until he has a reverse grid.
The FIA screwed around with starting order for WRC for a while in the early 2000s. With rally, sometimes you want to be first on a clean surface, sometimes you want to be further down the track after the previous cars have cleaned off snow or mud. I think they eventually let the drivers choose, based on their position in the rally. In other words, it was basically like qualifying - fastest guy got first choice. They tried lotteries, reverse order, all sorts of stuff. Didn't really work out.
Keith Tanner wrote: He won't be happy until he has a reverse grid. The FIA screwed around with starting order for WRC for a while in the early 2000s. With rally, sometimes you want to be first on a clean surface, sometimes you want to be further down the track after the previous cars have cleaned off snow or mud. I think they eventually let the drivers choose, based on their position in the rally. In other words, it was basically like qualifying - fastest guy got first choice. They tried lotteries, reverse order, all sorts of stuff. Didn't really work out.
I seem to recall from listening to the OpenPaddock podcast that they were still having some consternation about that last year in WRC.
For F1, I almost could like the new elimination format if they would let flying laps count, just like the regular qualifying clock. I guess that would be somewhat more difficult logistically, and I'm not really sure what was wrong with qualifying that it needs to be changed.
The "wrong" guys keep on ending up at the front, that's the problem. If it was Schumi in a red car on pole every weekend, that would be fine.
Rally is tough for starting order because the ideal position keeps changing. It's not like F1 where pole is pole.
If I were in charge, you'd have to do a minimum of 10 laps in qualifying. Take your best and your worst lap and set the grid from there. Or just a random draw for starting position. Too much time, energy, and thought is being wasted on qualifying when it really doesn't mean diddly squat.
On the contrary, it's really important to winning the race.
ncjay wrote: If I were in charge, you'd have to do a minimum of 10 laps in qualifying. Take your best and your worst lap and set the grid from there. Or just a random draw for starting position. Too much time, energy, and thought is being wasted on qualifying when it really doesn't mean diddly squat.
You don't watch F1, do you?
All that having been said, it is kind of extra exciting when you have a grid penalty or something that pushes one of the top tier teams back in the starting order a little bit and they have to work their way through traffic instead of watching the driver that starts in P1 just lead a parade for 2 hours.
From that perspective, it might be kind of fun to see a race where grid position was chosen by random draw. Trying to actually run a whole season like that seems like insanity, though.
Keith Tanner wrote: The "wrong" guys keep on ending up at the front, that's the problem. If it was Schumi in a red car on pole every weekend, that would be fine. Rally is tough for starting order because the ideal position keeps changing. It's not like F1 where pole is pole.
Not exactly. They changed the points system simply to keep him from winning every year. He still did, so it didn't do much.
If I were a manufacturer, I'd have a big issue with this too. You pay a lot of money to show what your car can do, but by artificially creating the races and outcomes, it doesn't make much sense to keep participating. Should they keep this up, there will be fallout that they aren't expecting I believe.
Basically you will end up with dwindling fans, sponsors, and manufacturers. It works with Nascar to some degree in that they promote drivers above all else, but that is not the F1 model. I think Bernie has been hanging out in Daytona while no one was watching.
I'm not at all in the know, but wouldn't a lottery system negate the need for qualifying? If they kept that track time, it seems like it would be more for a practice session.
Keith Tanner wrote: The "wrong" guys keep on ending up at the front, that's the problem. If it was Schumi in a red car on pole every weekend, that would be fine.
(wipes tears of joyful memories from eyes)
Sorry so late to the Aussie GP party - DVR'd it & didn't get a chance to start watching until this week, finished last night.
While I'm happy the cars are louder, I did like hearing brake & tire sounds last year. Quali was such a disaster, I wasn't suprised when it took a few minutes longer to cut to the post-quali presser, and that there were zero questions or comments about how poor of a show for the fans in the stands the new format was.
Vettel was like red lighting at the start and it was amusing to see Nico give Lew a taste of his own medicine. For a few laps it felt as though a certain rightness had returned to the world.
Knowing the Daimler Boys (I'll just call them the DB's for short) have quicker cars, I was elated to see scarlet/golden boy hold off Nico and thrilled that Lew was not scything his way back to the front.
I had no idea the remains of a Mclaren were even on screen until Fred crawled out of the wreckage. As Hobb-o says "Lucky Boy!".
Don't like "free pit" during red flag conditions. They should only be able to inspect tires and replace damaged ones only. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the sidewall color of Seb's new tires!!!
(actual photo of me)
I thought we were past these Domenicali moments.......
While 100% against reverse grids or lottery systems it would make a big change to the cars and passing in more than the obvious ways. Today, especially amongst the top 10, the cars are designed to run in clean air. Get out front and run alone. You've seen this a hundred times when a top car can only run close to another for a few laps before overheating and scrubbing the tires. They are not designed to run in close formation. If they knew they were going to have to genuinely try and pass 20 other cars, the aero and cooling package would be designed very differently and the set up would change too. This is somewhat demonstrated by the ability of the mid field teams to run nose to tail longer and if you recall Vettle about 4 years ago when he got eliminated in Q1 he elected to start from the pit to avoid Parc ferme conditions and radically changed his set up so he could pass. If I recall he got up to the podium
Sounds like quali was a bust again. Can't watch as I'm on a coach with 80 high-school kids bet it sounds like it was just as much a disaster as last time. I hope to the FSM that they give up and go back to the old system now.
Business as usual 2 mercs followed by two red purses. No need to tell you which order :)
Yes quali is still retarded,8 minutes left in Q2 and all cars in the pits either done or thru to Q1.
Super exciting.
I like how p9 is the second best quali position.
You get fresh tires and don't have to show what ya got.
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