2019 Formula One Australian Grand Prix

[apex11]

Key things for me this weekend are, how much up the grid the Ferrari can get LeClerc, he should be looking for being at least the 4th fastest based on car.
Gasley in the Red Bull.

If we figure that the Merc / Ferrari are the best again so F1.
The F0.5 is the rest down to Williams, who are going to be an insult to F1 this season IMO Claire, what the hell have you done.... There is always one and can't believe it is them....

The F0.5 is where the real close racing is to be had.

If we think Merc / Ferrari SHOULD be locking down the top 4 spots, then we have to factor in Red Bull scratching at their heals...
Is Ricciardo ever going to see a podium again?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Seeing the pace of Norris and McLaren I think Alonso retired a bit too soon.

 

[Sasha Jednak]

Well, that was...expected!
Noris very good, RB call on Gasly very bad, and Renault oops. F0 in front row, F1 red and blue, F1.5 the rest, and Williams on their own. Let’s see tomorrow and is there any hope for podium racing in race. Anything less than 26 points will be loss for Lewis

 

[apex11]

Anything less than WDC for Lewis is a loss. His to lose yet again. Oh joy.
I don't think we'll see smiley Dan so much this season...
Norris did very well, considering his Dad is worth 200 million and friends with Zak Brown and is only in F1 due to that..he did well...
Just proves that given the chance any number of kids can drive F1 cars...

I am sad for Kubica...

 

[farjam]

Well, that was...expected!
Noris very good, RB call on Gasly very bad, and Renault oops. F0 in front row, F1 red and blue, F1.5 the rest, and Williams on their own. Let’s see tomorrow and is there any hope for podium racing in race. Anything less than 26 points will be loss for Lewis

I don't write ferrari off this soon,i like to be still positive the qualy gap between lewis and seb is the same as last year Australian GP's qualy , and seb won that race and the next race and also we knew seb was is the lead of championship at the start of german GP and was able to extend the gap easily (as he got the pole and lewis was 14th in qualy) and lost the championship by his own mistakes from germany and the next ones.
if you watch lewis and vatteri's laps in Q3 and Q2 and compare it with vettel and leclerc , the merc was too lively and vibrating (somehow their car was so aggressive on the kerbs and sometimes flying with a little extra touch lol ) but the Ferraries were like a boat on a pond , i don't think merc will be able to convert this easily to the fastest race pace (again like last year that they have a very bad race pace compare to their godly qualy) without ruining the tire , but hey maybe they have another magic for us , something with tire management
i have lost the interest in top teams in championship btw, but even if redbull and ferrari can't challenge the merc, the constant ferarri vs redbull would be nice and entertaining as we didn't experience a hard fight between 2nd and 3rd team in the last few seasons too, because the redbulls only could do a few one off good races and too much reliability problems, f1.5 is the series to watch this season, at least the qualy was so promising and damn we have williams as GT class to produce more overtaking

 

[Warren Schembri]

New season, New car and Lance Stroll is still crap.

Despite the dominance of the top 3 teams, the middle pack may be interesting.

 

[apex11]

When they talk of the Merc being 'edgy' its all relative, this is F1 where the cars have so much aero they could drive upside down.
Lewis has to move his wheel 5 mm more than Seb to correct it and its a 'difficult' car to drive....laughable..
The Williams is the 'worst' one to drive yet is more technologically advanced than pretty much any race car outside of F1...
800 clever people working at Williams..they haven't made a bad car...just the rest have made a better one..

 

[LeSunTzu]

So the Ferrari actually is quite slower than the Merc at this GP. Very disappointing.

 

[paracletus]

Alonso after testing: "sorry boys, the car is good - I'll have my seat back now"

But yeah, merc flying at the moment. Just one qualifying though, plenty of time for things to change.

 

[apex11]

Alonso after testing: "sorry boys, the car is good - I'll have my seat back now"

But yeah, merc flying at the moment. Just one qualifying though, plenty of time for things to change.

Merc have won what the last 5 WCC which is far more important than a WDC.
The minute they haven't got the best car they will pull out.
Yet another season of Merc dominance...
The good news is the rest of them are close...

 

[Allan Ramsbottom]

Hope it’s not another boring season where Merc just pushes when they need to. It’s now the fifth consecutive boring season.

Hmmmm,is that a bit like Schumacher few years ago albeit without the cheating thou????

 

[Nick Hill]

A better poll might be "under what circumstances does Hamilton NOT win the GP?"

Mechanical failure?
Dingo sucked into air intake?
Bottas hides his helmet from him?
Ferrari finds extra 50 HP underneath seat in team bus???

Trying to stay positive because I've really been looking forward to this, but it's getting old.

 

[pcraenme]

Seeing the pace of Norris and McLaren I think Alonso retired a bit too soon.

Alonso qualified 11th last year (a bit worse than Norris this year), but the gap to Hamilton on pole was less than Norris has this year. However, Alonso is probably a faster driver than Norris, so the gap may have been less when Alonso was still driving. McLaren had quite an ok start less year, but they gradually went down the grid. Let’s hope McLaren can keep up or even improve this year.

And... Alonso will be back!

 

[Paulo Ribeiro]

Unfortunately, 2019 F1 seems to be more of the same. Boring. The supra, hyper, ultra racing sport, continue the same as last years. Boring.
I hope I can be wrong after this 1st GP.

 

[NDG]

ah bugger it, I don't want to, but I'm off to bed. 1.30am here, and I need to be up at 6 for work

Stupid job, getting in the way once again.

If anyone mega rich reading this wishes to donate enough money to allow me to step away from paid employment, drop me a PM or email

Goodnight chaps - enjoy the rest of FP1 !

Read The Bible mate! You'll never need a job!

 

[farjam]

So this is the lap comparison between seb and lewis , and it is not in the straights that mercedes is able to gain massive time over Ferrari, it's in the braking zones and in the entry or middle of corners that merc is able to pulling away. actually the long straights are the only parts that Ferrari can keep up with mercedes, am i right?! it was not the case last year in Q3 and the pure gain for merc was in straights and high speed areas. maybe they are using way more higher aero than ferrari (normaly it was ferrari known for better cornering and overall aero an these last couple of seasons) as their new engine can cover the deficit cased by high drag in the straights.
*6 hours and 40 minutes to the race , damn my holiday will start a few days later so i can't get a day off before that, i have to watch the replay not the live you have a good time guys

 

[BP]

New year, new drivers, driver swaps, no races done yet...same old comments.

Those that love jumping into every F1 thread just to derail it over how boring the hybrid era is, could you do some of us a solid and please just stay in your corner? At least until 2021 when the current formula changes? Every thread it's the same thing...that is what's truly getting old.

Boring to you. Cool story bro. Now move along...obviously nothing to see here.

 

[Durge Driven]

For mine all they need do is have 2 - 75% races or 3 - 50% races with 1 or 2 reverse grid. Make tyres that can last and do away with pit stops

Would not even matter if races were slower
To watch all the fastest cars come from last would be spectacular .
50% more race distance too .+ 50% more prime time ads for Liberty

 

[TrumpetReich]

Hmmmm,is that a bit like Schumacher few years ago albeit without the cheating thou????

01-03 were far from boring

 

[snyperal]

Ferrari had the better car last year, it was the driver who let them down. I don't think it's a Lewis easy season just yet.