So, after the Bahrain was cancelled, it is now only 4 days until Friday Practice in Melbourne, Australia.

Track: Albert Park, Melbourne


Number of Laps: 58
Circuit Length: 5.303 km
Race Distance: 307.574 km
Lap Record: 1:24.125 - M Schumacher (2004)

Free Practice 1
Fri 25 March 2011
01:30 - 03:00

Free Practice 2
Fri 25 March 2011
05:30 - 07:00

Free Practice 3
Sat 26 march 2011
03:00 - 04:00

Qualifying
Sat 26 March 2011
06:00

RACE
Sun 27 March 2011
07:00

Red Bull Racing and Ferrari look strong from testing, but Whitmarsh said this week that they added a new part to the McLaren and gained a second a lap, that is huge!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/9428957.stm

It looks like the F1 season is already heating up, even before the first race weekend gets under way!

I am a staunch McLaren fan so I will be supporting the efforts of Jensen and Lewis this season and hoping for the Championship! Although I think RBR are going to be strong again and Webber/Vettel stronger than ever. Alonso will of course also be dominant.

The Renault could be the wild card, it was looking quick in testing, but whether Heidfeld and Petrov can get the most out of it is questionable. Mercedes GP is definitely mid pack.

Let the mayhem commence!

Graham

 

Nice introduction Graham! The map layout is also a nice touch, will you be providing this kind of detail for every race?

Who will I be supporting? you'll find out when I've updated my avatar on race day

 

I think you may find you have Mclaren and Mercedes the wrong way round! Whitmarsh "hopes" to get a second a lap which doesn't really sound too confident to me and the cars have had poor reliability in winter testing - I think there will be a lot of whinging from Jenson this year.

I suspect Rosberg will outperform Schumacher again, but that both will be nearer the front thanks to Mclaren's poor performance. Red Bull will be fastest and I tip Vettel for the double, as he seems to usually have the edge over Webber for outright speed.

The biggest challenge is going to come in terms of the tyres as nearly all drivers are talking about how quickly the performance goes off and the smartest guys (Alonso and Schumacher) will probably come off best. That said, I'm sure they'd both rather be in the fastest car (a Red Bull).

If tyres and weather intervene we could be in for another great season and I can't wait for it to start. Really glad to lose Bahrain as it's a sh*t track and these Middle Eastern countries and others with no motorsport heritage/interest have no right to be involved in GP racing, especially when there's no French or US GP Unfortunately, Sir Bernie has decreed otherwise

 

Have been looking forward to the start of the season. It means I wont get dragged down the garden centre on a Sunday afternoon anymore !

I would like to see Lewis and Jenson do well this year but I think it will be Alonso and Vettel fighting it out. I get the feeling McLaren have lost a little of their hunger.

and will be live in Istanbul this year....subject to revolutions and no fly zones. !!

 

I fear Red Bull could make this a pretty boring year. Hopefully Ferrari will be able to consistently challenge them, but it's not looking like anyone else will. But Division 2 with McLaren, Mercedes and Renault, maybe Williams and Sauber too could be quite close. It'll also be interesting to see how close Lotus,Virgin and Hispania get to Toro Rosso.

BTW as this is already called "The Formula 1 Thread", does anybody think we should make it a sticky and have one place to discuss the whole year? Usually we end up with different threads for different races (or not).

 

I think they have dropped a clanger with the new tyres.... Hamilton claims you cannot drive the car like a formula 1 car anymore as the tyres will be down to the canvas in 9 laps....

He said you need to drive like a granny to get round...

I know they are trying to make it more competitive and keep costs down, but this is the pinnacle of motorsport? yet the best drivers in the world have to drive like grannies to get round 10 laps...I would rather watch them drive like formula 1 drivers for 5 laps, but the pitstops will kill the races.

I hope it isn't, but i can see this season being a bit of a flop with yet again the car winning and Redbull looking front runners so far. again.

Adrian Newey should get the drivers championship for designing a winning car rather than the guy who just needs to point and squirt the thing around a track.

Bring back Bridgestone compounds, set a team budget (not sure how you enforce that) and get the fastest cars you can, time to relax the regs somewhat i think....

Lets race!

 

Looking forward to the season opener - especially as it's in HD. I might even get up & watch the race in real-time.

EDIT: Actually I might dust off my F1 2010 game and put in a few laps to get a feel for the circuit

 

Yeh I will be, probably update a few days before Friday Practice. I will just update this thread probably!

I have not heard much about the tyres as I didn't read up over the last few weeks, but if Hamilton said they are going to wear out in 10 laps then that is crazy! I mean it will mix it up in the pits I guess but a F1 car should be driven hard, that is what makes them so amazing when they enter a corner at a speed nothing else can. The tyres are crucial for this, it would be a real shame if tyre technology has taken a backward step!

Pirelli make very soft and quick wearing road tyres, seem to be transferring this logic to F1 haha!

I am still confused by the Lotus situation, did that ever get resolved or are we starting with Team Lotus and Lotus Renault?

 

HELLA CORNER

 

Maybe it's time to finally buy an HDTV. Hmmm.

Preserving tyres is nothing new in F1; certainly it's been a major factor in all the time I've been watching. There's an argument for saying it'd be better if they drove like touring car drivers, but then you'd have to have 10 lap races.