Australian GP Thread - Will contain Practice/Qualifying/Race spoilers

[Fernando]

2013 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
15-17 MARCH 2013

Once again Melbourne extends its welcome to Formula One as Albert Park prepares to host the Australian Grand Prix – the opening race of the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship. Sixteen weeks after storm-lashed Interlagos and the drama-laden climax of the 2012 season, the teams reassemble for what is widely expected to be an incredibly close year of racing.

Stability in the technical regulations leads to a great deal of carryover from 2012 and, several notable exceptions aside, optimising existing designs has been the primary focus in the development of 2013 cars.

While the machinery has a familiar look, the same cannot be said for the driver line-up. Four of 2012’s field have switched teams in the off-season and five rookies will be making their F1 race debut in this weekend.

Albert Park is not the easiest place to make a good impression. Running on public roads through the park, the temporary circuit has a reputation for being slippery with several large bumps known to destabilise cars under braking. Gravel traps wait for the unwary and the unlucky – but being a street circuit there are also plenty of walls. Added to the limited and hazardous nature of overtaking opportunities at Albert Park, it means the safety car is often busy at the Australian Grand Prix.

Another variable to factor in are the new tyres on offer from Pirelli. Reports from winter testing suggest teams are not yet fully on terms with the revised compounds, raising the possibility of early races this year seeing shorter stints (and thus more frequent pitstops) than was usual in 2012.

As ever, winter testing did not provide any reliable evidence of a pecking order but did greatly add to the stock of speculation. Consensus points to a very tight battle ahead but without any hard evidence, this weekend will provide the first real indication of how the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship will unfold.

CIRCUIT DATA

ALBERT PARK CIRCUIT

Length of lap:
5.303km
Lap record
1:25.125 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)
Start line/finish line offset
0.000km
Total number of race laps
58
Total race distance
307.574km
Pitlane speed limits
60km/h in practice;
100km/h in qualifying and race

CHANGES TO THE CIRCUIT SINCE 2012

► Kerbs on the exit of turns 14 and 16, which had subsided prior to last year’s race, have been repaired.
► Shade cloth will be used again, installed behind the debris fence in the section of track between turns two and three.


► This will be the 29th F1 World Championship running of the Australian Grand Prix. It is the 18th consecutive year of the race being run at Albert Park, 16 of which have opened the Formula One season.
► In 1996, when the race moved to Albert Park, it produced the oddity of Australia hosting back-to-back grands prix, the closing race of 1995 having taken place at Adelaide.
► Albert Park is a temporary circuit with parts of the track used by general road traffic for the majority of the year. As such, it features unusually high grip-evolution (and thus falling laptimes) over the course of the weekend, as the track ‘rubbers-in’.
► In common with Abu Dhabi, the Australian Grand Prix has a local start time of 5pm. Unlike the event at Yas Island, this race finishes in daylight – but the low angle of the sun and the lengthening shadows have been known to make the latter stages of the race difficult for drivers. ► Another perennial problem in tree-lined Albert Park is leaves and twigs being sucked into car radiators.
► Of the current grid, Jenson Button is the standout performer, having won three times in the last four years. It leaves him one victory short of equalling Michael Schumacher’s F1-era record. Schumacher won the race in 2000, ’01, ’02, ’04.
► On 11 occasions from 17 starts, the winning driver at Albert Park has gone on to lift the Drivers’ Championship trophy at the end of the season.
► The race winner has started on pole eight times at Albert Park. The lowest starter to win was Eddie Irvine, who started 11th for Ferrari in 1999.
► Four drivers start this race for new teams, having moved during the off-season. Lewis Hamilton has moved from McLaren to Mercedes; Sergio Pérez from Sauber to McLaren; Nico Hülkenberg from Force India to Sauber and Charles Pic from Marussia to Caterham. Also, Adrian Sutil is beginning his second stint with Force India. ► Five rookies will contest the Australian Grand Prix: Esteban Gutiérrez (Sauber); Valtteri Bottas (Williams); Giedo van der Garde (Caterham); Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi (Marussia).
► Reigning GP2 Champion Davide Valsecchi is not among the rookie intake. He instead has signed as a test driver for Lotus in 2013. The only other GP2 champion to not move directly into an F1 race seat was 2008 winner Giorgio Pantano – who raced in F1 before going to GP2.
► Giedo van der Garde ends a barren spell for Dutch representation in Formula One. The Netherlands hasn’t had a driver in the Championship since Christijan Albers raced for Spyker for the first half of the 2007 season.
► The demise of HRT returns F1 to a 22-car grid for the first time since the opening rounds of 2008. During that season the withdrawal of Super Aguri after four rounds reduced it to 20. It expanded to 24 in 2010.

Source: FIA
Weather Forecast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2158177

Currently P:Sunny Q:Wet R:Sunny

[Guest]

It's finally here and I'm sure, like me, you can't wait for the action to begin.

Not only do we not know a clear running order from testing but that rain in qualifying, just throws in another sprinkle of unpredictability going into this weekend.

I'm not being funny or biased but a Hamilton pole is not out of the question given those predicted conditions. If it was dry then I would say it was out of the question, given Red Bull & Lotus' pace but this is a game changer. His ability in those conditions is undoubted and the Mercedes appeared very good in Barcelona with the intermediate tyre.

Full Dry Weekend - My prediction is for Red Bull & Lotus' long run pace to be the deciding factor. Red Bull did not show us any long run performance, whereas Grosjean did a 20+ lap run in Barcelona and showed very little degradation on the tyre.
Top 3 Podium - 1st Raikkonen 2nd -Vettel 3rd - Hamilton OR Alonso

Wet Qualifying-Dry Race - Hamilton pole. Completely unpredictable race. Driver's in faster cars will be mixed up from the wet Saturday qualifying and we will be asking more questions than we get answers from the race.

Bring it on!!!

[Bull]

Its gona be good!

come on FERRARI!

[Fernando]

It appears the weather is turning more into a hailstorm then rain on Saturday

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I'm sure Hamilton got a good look at his former employers car today. Watching from the garage

[SteveG]

For all the talk and hype of another close season it looks more like another 2011 with the fingered one racing against himself. Its still early days of course but the signs already look ominous. Looks like a case of forget Vettel - who BTW has NO internal competition - and enjoy the inter team battles at Ferrari (a re-juvinated Massa), Merc and Lotus.

[nathan]

I'm sure Hamilton got a good look at his former employers car today. Watching from the garage

It was only 6 laps from the end, I'd rather miss 6 laps of practice then have a car you couldnt figure out

[daraghj82]

seb and RB looking really strong already, ferrari will be happy so far i'd say. its great to see felipe doing well, getting ahead of fernando. lewis/nico look like the best of the rest , with lotus close behind. not good for mclaren but its too early to predict another 09 type start for them

[Mad for Chelsea]

unfortunately it looks like it could be a very dull season as far as the championship is concerned, it's quite rare for RB to dominate practices, and that suggests they're simply miles ahead of the rest

still, there should be some very good scraps behind them at least.

[dyrewolfe]

My first real good look won't be until Final Practice tomorrow...that said I can't wait. Will definitely be up early to catch both FP and Qualifying.

Early signs are indeed ominous for those of us wanting an interesting title battle, but we can still hope for things to change in quali and the race itself.

[Guest]

Negative views coming after a couple of practice sessions. Still incredibly early days and anything can happen. Of course, Red Bull was going to be the strongest with no significant regulation change, nothing surprising there. The Ferrari is a significant improvement and Alonso does not need the quickest car to challenge for a title, that you need to remember. I'm expecting nothing from Webber, once again, however we can't be too upset about the Mercedes and Hamilton's performance was more than promising. I think people see a reliability issue and that clouds there judgement and people start writing off the season. Who would of thought Hamilton would be sitting in a car which is considerably more competitive than the McLaren? No didn't think. Once again McLaren have fouled the beginning of another season, I don't know how much longer it can go on before significant changes are made within the team. Lost their number one driver and now Paddy Lowe......worrying times for McLaren.

The season is here and let's enjoy it, too much negativity being thrown around. We have no idea about the real racing order, the performance of the tyre in race simulation and the weather is still an unknown. Can't wait for Qualifying.

[sportform]

Red Bull and Lotus seem to have had the best practice sessions though I expect some teams to be more competitive in qualifying and in the race. By comments from Lewis Hamilton in various outlets, I think Mercedes maybe quicker than they have shown so far this weekend.

[mystiroakey]

Its washed out at the moment, But i think they will be sent out. This could be carnage

[mystiroakey]

No one watching this,

Lewis spun out. But recovered!!- still has a damaged wing though

Its looking nuts!

[dyrewolfe]

Looks like they may end up doing Q2 and Q3 tomorrow...or else just going with the grid positions from Q1.

Delay after delay at the moment. Possibly going out in the next 10 mniutes, but they've been saying that for the last 20 minutes or so. Will be too dark to continue soon.

Pretty interesting Q1 though, with Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren all heading the lap times at various points. Rosberg in particular seemed to be loving the conditions.

[mystiroakey]

Yeah its a bit boring

Oh well...

The race could be very exiting

[dyrewolfe]

Official decision just in from the stewards - Q2 and Q3 will take place on Sunday, (starting today 11:45pm UK time).

Thats all for today folks...

[Bull]

So how does this work for the BBC?

does that mean there highlight show on sunday will start at 1pm instead of 2:20? and so does that mean qualifying on the bbc highlights will just show Q1 or does it mean they will show it all later on Sunday ala 10am Qualiflying then race at 2:20?

[SteveG]

Well that was a total washout. Still it got me thinking:-

Quote of the day:
Nico Rosberg's race engineer over team radio: "You're still the quickest car, but we don't want you to push anymore. Save your tyres."
And there you have it folks - modern F1 in a nutshell!!

Thought for the day:
A few race cars will proberbly have dispersed the water more quickly than a broom. Surely this was no worse than qualifying at say Malaysia 2011. Is full on wet weather driving slowly becoming a thing of the past?

[Fernando]

So how does this work for the BBC?

does that mean there highlight show on sunday will start at 1pm instead of 2:20? and so does that mean qualifying on the bbc highlights will just show Q1 or does it mean they will show it all later on Sunday ala 10am Qualiflying then race at 2:20?

The conclusion of qualifying will be on BBC One at 0515 on Sunday no idea about today's show but will prbs show it

[Bull]

so i guess i can watch Qualifying on Iplayer then when ever i wake up lol, then the race at 2.20?

[Guest]

First annoyance of the year, ridiculous. They talk about cost-cutting in F1 and limiting the amount of tyres, why don't they just scrap 'wet' tyres altogether. F1 is too safety conscious nowadays and when the right weather conditions come along for the 'wets' to be used, the FIA ruin the show and bring everyone in. So angry right now and I actually angry because I thought Rosberg drove superbly, deserved pole with that performance in my opinion and now we all know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Q3 + dry conditions = Red Bull & Vettel on pole, finger waving in all our faces. Shocking. Dry race will inevitably result in Vettel strolling to the win. Thought Hamilton was appaling in those conditions for a driver of his standard, possibly getting used to the new car but I expected better. Hopefully he can turn it around.

[Mad for Chelsea]

to be fair Hamilton was running with a damaged car (though that was his fault, agreed) and his fastest lap was produced when the yellow flags were out so he had to lift off through the final sector, so suspect he would have been closer otherwise. Agreed though that Rosberg looked impressive (very) and that the whole shall we/shan't we of getting the cars out was completely ridiculous. Notice that when the cars did get out on track they were putting intermediates on within 15 minutes so fast were they drying the track, so surely it wasn't that wet?!?!

It did bring a smile to my face remembering the Korean GP a few years back which started under safety car, and where you had Vettel and Alonson saying it was completely unfit to drive, whereas Hamilton was chomping at the bit to get going: "are we going to race or what?" classic Lewis

[SteveG]

Looked to me like Hami may have been running with a different setup - wing, brakes or both as his car seemed to be sliding around alot more. Would expect Nico to have a slight 'familiarity' advantage when dialling the car in in these early stages. Good recovery though.

[nathan]

First annoyance of the year, ridiculous. They talk about cost-cutting in F1 and limiting the amount of tyres, why don't they just scrap 'wet' tyres altogether. F1 is too safety conscious nowadays and when the right weather conditions come along for the 'wets' to be used, the FIA ruin the show and bring everyone in. So angry right now and I actually angry because I thought Rosberg drove superbly, deserved pole with that performance in my opinion and now we all know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Q3 + dry conditions = Red Bull & Vettel on pole, finger waving in all our faces. Shocking. Dry race will inevitably result in Vettel strolling to the win. Thought Hamilton was appaling in those conditions for a driver of his standard, possibly getting used to the new car but I expected better. Hopefully he can turn it around.

it's his first ever quali in a new car, what were you expecting?

[Guest]

Turn the wick up you sandbagging bleep. Ridiculous.

Vettel 6 tenths quicker than Hamilton whose third. Can't see anything but a Vettel stroll but the rain could return. Rosberg failed to deliver when it mattered and that tells you alot about his chances this season and up against Hamilton.

5.50am alarm.

[Mad for Chelsea]

well that was predictable: as the track dried out the Red Bulls look unstoppable once again, Vettel well ahead of the field, with Webber alongside him in the front row. Hamilton pulls out a decent lap to snatch P3, here's hoping he gets past Webber at the start to at least make things interesting.

Rosberg possibly the biggest surprise, dominated the first two qualifying sessions but could only manage P6, wonder if he has a slightly different set-up. The two Ferraris split the two Mercedes with Massa outqualifying Alonso.

Fourth row is the two Lotus, with Di Resta and Button (who after making a good tyre call in Q2 got it wrong in Q3 going out too early) make up the rest of the top 10.

Here's hoping for some rain in the race, might make things more interesting.

[dyrewolfe]

First annoyance of the year, ridiculous. They talk about cost-cutting in F1 and limiting the amount of tyres, why don't they just scrap 'wet' tyres altogether. F1 is too safety conscious nowadays and when the right weather conditions come along for the 'wets' to be used, the FIA ruin the show and bring everyone in. So angry right now and I actually angry because I thought Rosberg drove superbly, deserved pole with that performance in my opinion and now we all know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Er, simple...F1 cars are undriveable on slicks in the wet. You complain about rain delays but they would be even worse without wet and intermediate tyres.

You'd get entire races abandoned.

[GSC]

Congratulations on your 4th title Vettel. Looks like 2011 all over again

[dyrewolfe]

Q3 results as follows:

1 S Vettel - Red Bull
2 M Webber - Red Bull
3 L Hamilton - Mercedes
4 F Massa - Ferrari
5 F Alonso - Ferrari
6 N Rosberg - Mercedes
7 K Raikkonen - Lotus
8 R Grosjean - Lotus
9 P Di Resta - Force India
10 J Button - McLaren


Okay, so its business as usual for Red Bull, although Webber made a better fist of quali than he did for much of last season.

Very encouraging results for Mercedes with Hamilton best of the rest behind the Red Bulls. Oddly Rosberg seemed to fade towards the end and finished more or less where he started most races last season.

Ferrari looking about where they were last season. Great to see Massa qualify well - ahead of Alonso again and making a point. Shame he'll have to move over but hopefully he won't drop out of the race altogether.

Also looking business as usual for Lotus, but at least both Romain and Kimi both got in the top 10. Expecting the Iceman to improve on his starting position...providing his team mate can avoid causing any first-lap carnage.

Disappointed with McLaren. Took an unwarranted gamble early on IMO with slicks which compromised their runs. Also went too early in the last 5 minutes, when the track was damper, giving everyone else the chance to get the jump on them. Still expecting Button to improve on his 10th place start.

While the winner may no longer be in doubt I suppose it'll still be worth watching to see who else gets on the podium.

[beninho]

great race. still could be anyone of a dew to win this. worries about red bull unfounded. go Kimi!!

[Mad for Chelsea]

well that was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, particularly after Vettel pulled out by 2 seconds on the first lap I was thinking "here we go again", but the race pace just wasn't there from RB. Good fun race if a bit lacking in wheel to wheel action, and the season is set up very nicely indeed.

[beninho]

think that top 3 will be on the podium a fair bit together this year. the best drivers in the 3 best cars. well done Lewis aswell. maybe it won't be as bad a move as everyone said.

[Trebs]

Very interesting race this morning.

Raikonnen drove very well and was very good on his tyres. The Ferrari looks very strong with both drivers in with a good fight. Had Massa pitted a lap or two earlier he could have beaten Vettel to the podium. Also think Sutil should be noted for a good drive.

[Mad for Chelsea]

don't think Mercedes got their strategy quite right with Hamilton TBH, he's always been more of a racer so don't think it's a great idea to look at preserving his tyres first. He looked happier when going for it towards the latter stages. Having said that, don't think Mercedes had quite the pace to cope with the front three today. Still, encouraging signs for them, at least they look competitive.

McLaren struggled quite badly, while chump of the day probably goes to Grosjean...

[beninho]

why is mark Webber so rubbish at starting? almost each race he goes backwards. is he told to not challenge vetell. I would say he had a worse race then grosjean.

[dyrewolfe]

Okay, well that definitely didn't go to plan...for Red Bull at least.

More interesting than I thought it would be, if not quite a thriller. Most of the serious racing done in the first few laps, but a few good wheel-to-wheel tussles fterwards, mostly involving the front runners.

Was this Ren...er I mean Lotus...laying down a marker for the season, or was it just the cool, damp conditions suited their car? Either way it was an impressive drive from Kimi, pretty much faultless from start to finish. Grosjean was far less sensational but at least he managed to avoid having an accident.

Ferrari also looking very quick, although they couldn't match Kimi in these conditions. Good drives by both Alonso and Felipe...nice to see Massa wasn't told to move over and they at least used some clever pit strategy to get Fernando ahead.

Very surprised to see Red Bull's race pace didn't match their quali form, though that may be down to the track and weather conditions. Haven't seen Vettel struggle with his car like he did today for a long time. As Vettel said in the podium interview they were 3rd quickest today, so decent result. Another shocking start by Webber took him out of the running for the podium places, but at least he picked up some points.

A little disappointed that Mercedes' race pace was nowhere near as good as in qualifying. They seem to be more or less where they were last season on that score and Hamilton probably got the best result he could, finishing 5th. Rosberg very unlucky to retire with mecahnical problems again while in the points.

McLaren looked very poor and well off the pace today, both Button and Perez largely anonymous throughout the race. For a team supposedly with title aspirations, things are badly wrong when both Force Indias finish ahead of you.

Speaking of which, a decent result for Force India with both Sutil and Di Resta finishing in the points. Mighty drive by Sutil, making his tyres last far longer than they should have and leading the race twice. In the end it couldn't last and he got mugged towards the end after pitting for super-softs that faded badly.

So, we have an indication of how good the teams are in cool, damp conditions. Could be all change come Malaysia.

[dyrewolfe]

why is mark Webber so rubbish at starting? almost each race he goes backwards. is he told to not challenge vetell. I would say he had a worse race then grosjean.

Nope, Webber's just rubbish at starting.

He could take the lead and just hand over to Vettel during the race, or RB could use a bit of pit strategy to swap positions, like Ferrari do.

[Guest]

@dyrewolf - pretty good summary of events

Obviously pleased vettel didn't stroll to the win but it was qualifying where he destroyed those rears and it cost him dearly. Webber is just embarrassing, no other description needed. If anyone thinks this guy can challenge vettel then you need help. I do think @beninho is right that kimi, Fernando & vettel could dominate their inferior teammates and be regularly on the podium

Mercedes race pace was quite poor, straight from the off it was visible and although there competitive there in no mans land if you see what I mean, fourth in between the top 3 & the rest. Good start for lewis and I feel sorry for rosberg who didn't deserve that dnf. Great drive from sutil, classy and quick and although that last stop hurt him he outperformed di resta easily and fully expect him to dominate the partnership.

McLaren.......woeful. More than worrying. Grosjean anonymous.

Good start to season, looks like long run pace is key and will be the deciding factor, something Mercedes need to improve.

[beninho]

seems that Webber claimed to have problems. strange he always seems to claim this after a poor race. seems a decent guy but has lucked into a very good car and kept his place by being second fiddle.

on a side note, just read the BBC report. and people comment to complain that a sports website has reported the sports news. mental.

[mystiroakey]

Lotus

[monty junior]

What a race, just about ten years after Kimi won in Sepang for the first time he's still winning grand prix's. I hope he can challenge for the championship, though i think Vettel will eventually dominate again unfortunately.

Amazing that Mclaren were so poor, they had at least the second best car last season and these car's are effectively just an evolution of last year's with not many teams making much of a jump yet Mclaren were 2 seconds off the pace. Maybe it's a flash in the pan.

[Guest]

Further news is that Webber is coming out with the same story time again after a poor race. Apparently no kers for beginning of race. Also I hear grosjean only had the new lotus package with new floor/front wing put on his car on Saturday morning whereas kimi had it on Friday and used that time to set his car up. Grosjean had limited running on the Saturday because of rain, therefore went into race with no real race setup or familiarisation with the new package......explains his poor race. Ferrari definitely strategically delayed massa`s stop so Alonso could perform the jump. Typical. There was really nothing from Williams or sauber, hoping that hulkenberg can find some pace in that sauber, otherwise it looks or appears the grass isn't greener at sauber compared to force India.

Just hope Mercedes can sort this long run pace out and get the tyres working in hotter temps, otherwise 4th fastest car could be the limit. Great in wet and on low fuel but long run pace is critical. Can see McLaren returning back to their 2012 car if problems persist going into the European phase, making radical design and suspension changes have lost this team serious time, Button looked seriously depressed post race.

[SteveG]

Well didnt see that one coming - Red Bulls lack of pace that is, not Kimi. Lotus have been threatning this all thru testing even with the least amount of running. A trip to the bookies might in order as a car that is fast yet gentle on its tyres is the holy grail of modern F1 - but no doubt Kimi's odds have now tumbled.

A good solid result for Hami - but still felt strangely disappointed somewhat with the Mercs lack of pace at times even though this was to be expected and it looks a touch harder on its tyres than the top three - probably got a bit carried away after quali.

Typical underachievment from Webber and Massa done over again by his employers after initially looking to be given a fair crack at it.

Good return for Sutil and unlucky for Hulk who didnt even feature.

Ah well - roll on Malaysia.

[beninho]

was massa done over or did Alonso request an early stop. as he had not been on the tyres for long, seems like a decision he would make while massa seems to just go with what he is told. good call by Alonso in the end though.

[GSC]

KIMI!!!!!!!

[Bull]

Good race , great to see Massa/Alonso up there and seemed liked it will be a battle between them instead of Alonso getting the free pass.

Well done Kimi and good drive by Sutil though shame for Hulk.

Cant wait till Malaysia come on Ferrari!

[Trebs]

Just to clarify on this 'team orders' thing between Massa and Alonso, it turns out Alonso made the decision himself to come in early as his tyres were in bad shape. Massa said he didn't want to come in that early and wanted to wait and complete a longer second stint. All the way through the two drivers were treated equally.

[beninho]

I do think that alonsos team outmanouvered (sp) team massa. but massaged was not really doing enough. he was faster then vetell and barely made a move on him.

[sportform]

Good win for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus. Will be interesting to see if they can mount a proper Championship challenge. They will surely be favourites for Malaysia but I expect teams to be catching up by the time we get to China and Bahrain.

I am a little surprise Lotus haven't had more coverage.

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