The Qantas Australian Grand Prix Official Race Preview Thread

[Quiet One 15]

Bianchi make good race bikes and nice mountain bikes....

That fellow Bianchi is about as useless as tits on a bull compared to Massa....a rookie in the second seat at Ferrari will never do for them.

So Murray Abraham, it is.

Go, Salieri, go!

[Schumikonen 2]

Bianchi make good race bikes and nice mountain bikes....

That fellow Bianchi is about as useless as tits on a bull compared to Massa....a rookie in the second seat at Ferrari will never do for them.

What about Gene? he'd crash into a wall if necessary.

[AleHop 0]

Apparently F1 is bad for mental health in some cases. I was tempted to change my nickname to Napoleonen.

[Schumikonen 2]

With Kimi's car Alonso would have won the race by a lap and a pint of Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick day!

now that's typical, Alonso's fans saw Kimi doing great at Mclaren and wanted to see Alonso there, then Kimi won the WDC at Ferrari and once again Alonso's fans wanted to see Alonso driving in Kimi place, but even when Alonso went to Mclaren and Ferrari after Kimi he is still looking for that elusive next title so is that Kimi's car is good, is Kimi the one making things looks good at those teams.

[HandyNZL 1]

Apparently F1 is bad for mental health in some cases. I was tempted to change my nickname to Napoleonen.

"Das Fuhrer" is better suited I should think....

[AleHop 0]

Breaking news!!!

Alonso will leave Ferrari for an offer in a semi-official WRC and then he will become a NASCAR truck driver.

[Schumikonen 2]

Breaking news!!!

Alonso will leave Ferrari for an offer in a semi-official WRC and then he will become a NASCAR truck driver.

[AleHop 0]

"Das Fuhrer" is better suited I should think....

If I took the German mental path I would pick a name related to Herr Marko. I'm open to suggestions.

[LabradoRacer 2]

Utterly shocked by Mercedes's lack of pace. They've slid further down the field.

Maybe they didn't cheat with the F-duct, but they sure did cheat us hopeful fans.

[LabradoRacer 2]

Mercedes seem to be the new Toyota. Put in stonking quali, flop the next day.

Decent comeback by Kimi. Grudgingly concede that Alonso drove well. And it'll be the 8th wonder of the world if Massa's allowed to keep his seat.

[Insider 0]

Jenson was supreme. Certainly looks to have the car and mindset to double his WDC tally. However, Lewis was unlucky but I believe Button has his measure. RBR suprised me somewhat, Vettel was excellent and Mark hounded Hamilton all the way to the flag. Merc disappointed but will be more competitive perhaps at circuits with longer straights. Unfortunately, that's not enough. Ferrari need to grab Perez asap. He's a banker. Massa was a mess but Peter Sauber may give him a home if he can rustle up a serious chunk of sponsorship. Sauber and Williams can be proud of themselves and so can Kimi. Nice return.

[dribbler 6]

Jenson was supreme. Certainly looks to have the car and mindset to double his WDC tally. However, Lewis was unlucky but I believe Button has his measure. RBR suprised me somewhat, Vettel was excellent and Mark hounded Hamilton all the way to the flag. Merc disappointed but will be more competitive perhaps at circuits with longer straights. Unfortunately, that's not enough. Ferrari need to grab Perez asap. He's a banker. Massa was a mess but Peter Sauber may give him a home if he can rustle up a serious chunk of sponsorship. Sauber and Williams can be proud of themselves and so can Kimi. Nice return.

A pretty concise summary of events. One I agree with.

I would add that on days like today, with a Ferrari even the most occasional viewer can see is an ill-handler, Alonso was nothing short of breath taking.

Schumacher would have been sixth or seventh, at best. Mercedes still don't have a car that can be consistent or get quicker. I know it's race one, but that's how it looks, to me.

I'm not sure whether Frank Williams will hug or slap Pastor. I would do both. Hug first though.

Questions remain over how good the Wiliams and the Renault actually are. I get a sense of anomoly that only comes with a first day back at school.

[Insider 0]

A pretty concise summary of events. One I agree with.

I would add that on days like today, with a Ferrari even the most occasional viewer can see is an ill-handler, Alonso was nothing short of breath taking.

Schumacher would have been sixth or seventh, at best. Mercedes still don't have a car that can be consistent or get quicker. I know it's race one, but that's how it looks, to me.

I'm not sure whether Frank Williams will hug or slap Pastor. I would do both. Hug first though.

Questions remain over how good the Wiliams and the Renault actually are. I get a sense of anomoly that only comes with a first day back at school.

To be honest Dribs, I missed Alonso out for no good reason at all. He was excellent. He is the epitome of a great driver getting a good result out of a very bad car. No one else, not even Hamilton can claim to be able to pull that of at this moment in time. Jenson deserves comparison with Prost at his best - he's earned that sort of accolade now but Alonso is without doubt the greatest pilot out there. he is one of the all time greats, for sure.

[LabradoRacer 2]

Ross Brawn has identified massive tire degradation as a serious problem and has promised to tackle it. Let's see, but I'm not too hopeful.

[Schumikonen 2]

To be honest Dribs, I missed Alonso out for no good reason at all. He was excellent. He is the epitome of a great driver getting a good result out of a very bad car. No one else, not even Hamilton can claim to be able to pull that of at this moment in time. Jenson deserves comparison with Prost at his best - he's earned that sort of accolade now but Alonso is without doubt the greatest pilot out there. he is one of the all time greats, for sure.

Alonso had a great result but I think you are giving him a little more than what he really deserve, remember that this was an abnormal race considering the reliability that F1 cars have today, usually we wouldn't have all those problems with so many cars like we have, he has the credit for not getting into trouble like so many others did, that's a very good thing, but I think in a "normal" you'll find both Lotus and both Mercedes ahead of that Ferrari who was struggling to keep a Williams behind, both Saubers showed to be faster than Ferrari but also started from the back of the field and had to loose time in that first corner incident too like Kimi did, also remember that the SC came just after Alonso's pit stop (that's not always the case) and others around him were affected because that, so I think he got a great, not expected result (especially when you compare him to Massa ) but he had a lot of help from those that were suppose to finish ahead of him.

[Schumikonen 2]

Ross Brawn has identified massive tire degradation as a serious problem and has promised to tackle it. Let's see, but I'm not too hopeful.

there not much that they can do before the next race but hopefully a different set up for a different track will help..

[AleHop 0]

Button, excellent race. You can't ask for more, he did everything he had to do and he did it well.

Vettel, very good race. Always there, ready to take advantage of any oportunity that could arise during the 58-lap GP.

Hamilton, he didn't look himself. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but I missed his always trying attitude. Sliding the tires at the start then he was hurt by the SC. Third is what he deserved.

Webber, poor start. WTF problem with the starts?

Alonso has been at his peak, a very high one, for the last three seasons. Only first half of 2010 season he was below his current level but you can't really say he underperformed with the car he had to drive against the competitors. It's a pleasure watching him wrestling the car but painful when you realise he's still 2xWDC and time goes by.

Maldonado, hug and slap (see dribbler's post above).

Schumacher, he deserve deserved a finish somewhere ahead of Rosberg.

Raikkonen, first GP in a while. He did very well, we'll see Lotus fighting for podiums soon.

Some others deserve to be mentioned but I leave it here.

I hope we have a 100% dry weekend in Malaysia. It's a very good track to asses the performance of an F1 car. I remember PDLR said it when he was a test driver.

P.S.- For some reason I forgot MASSA. The car ain't good but Ferrari have to do something. Who? I don't know, they look a joke of a team right now.

[JHS18 0]

Good race today I thought.

Had been hoping to avoid the results and watch highlights but then I stupidly signed in to Twitter and Facebook and that rather gave it away.

Still some great racing I thought - seemed to be plenty of wheel to wheel racing. Impressed with the Sauber duo and Maldonado for their performances. Toro Rosso too - great to see their drivers really racing to the end.

Shame about Mercedes, and particularly Schumacher. I'm sure they'll sort their problems out though, both were running in the thick of it at some points, so they'll bounce back. Credit to Alonso for hauling that car into the top 5.

Just a quick question - what happened to Rosberg on the last lap? The replays the BBC highlights showed didn't really make it clear - was it a puncture or damage from hitting a Sauber?

Still feels odd watching highlights, although it wasn't as bad as I had been expecting. I don't think I'll ever come to totally accept highlights, certainly at some points it was easy to get confused who had pitted when and particularly how Vettel had benefitted through the SC. I'm sure throughout the year they'll get better at it though.

Looking forward to Malaysia already. Can't wait till BBC shows races live again too.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Have to say that was a very enjoyable race to watch. A lot of battles going on & constant position swappings meant it was hard to keep up!! Felt sorry for Grosjean who got his suspension broke on the 2nd lap & felt even more sorry for Maldonado crashing on the final lap

McLaren look really strong & dominated before the SC. I guess that new Lego nose isn't much good after all Sauber had a great race too as did Kimi on his return! Delighted to have him back Roll on Sepang

[Rainmaster 7]

Fantastic race! My incoherent hungover thoughts are this (St Paddy's day, you have beat me again): Alonso was the star of the race and proves once again he is the best of them. Like Andres said, Ferrari owe him a lot and no doubt they know it. Massa is barely worth a mention, he never had class but I wish at least his some of his form would return; we can't have that seat wasted for the whole season. Who knew that Vettel kid could race? Raikkonen did a solid job on his comeback, he still has it.

Button, good job! The Mclaren looks the best of the cars, and with their development rate through the season, it's looking very good for them in terms of the WCC. The big problem they have for the WDC is that Ham and JB will take points off each other, and if an unchallenged Vettel can sneak in performances like that, I wonder if he might just snatch it in the end. This is all a bit early, I know, especially as Australia is really not the best track to understand the performance of the cars.

Oh, and I watched the Beeb's highlights package. I thought it was pretty well done, I'd still prefer the real thing, of course It's at a convenient time, it doesn't take your whole Sunday, and I felt like I got a good understanding of the race (or as well as I could with my brain operating at reduced capacity). I didn't like Ben Edwards' commentary too much, he says some irrelevant things and uses some odd phrases. I'm just being picky, though.

[Insider 0]

Alonso had a great result but I think you are giving him a little more than what he really deserve, remember that this was an abnormal race considering the reliability that F1 cars have today, usually we wouldn't have all those problems with so many cars like we have, he has the credit for not getting into trouble like so many others did, that's a very good thing, but I think in a "normal" you'll find both Lotus and both Mercedes ahead of that Ferrari who was struggling to keep a Williams behind, both Saubers showed to be faster than Ferrari but also started from the back of the field and had to loose time in that first corner incident too like Kimi did, also remember that the SC came just after Alonso's pit stop (that's not always the case) and others around him were affected because that, so I think he got a great, not expected result (especially when you compare him to Massa ) but he had a lot of help from those that were suppose to finish ahead of him.

My rating of Alonso goes way beyond today and was an overdue accolade from me. I accept what you say but he can still wring the neck of a dog far more effectively than any of his rivals might.

[AleHop 0]

My rating of Alonso goes way beyond today and was an overdue accolade from me. I accept what you say but he can still wring the neck of a dog far more effectively than any of his rivals might.

Now I understand why some tifosi have baptised the F2012 as the dog with a wiggling tail.

[F1 FANatic 1]

A really nice start to the season. Interesting to see how it all turned out. The McLaren is a very strong car this year but I think this season will be closer than last year's, Out of the two McLaren drivers I have to say if one of them takes it it will be Button. I don't think after this race people can say that Vettel Does not know how to race. He most certainly does.

Hamliton pulled a Hamilton, screwed up his start and then could not take advantage of the DRS and was a sour puss that things didn't go his way. The child star is heading into that part of his career where is is doing C class movies and ending up with a bad mugshot for DUI. Give it 10 more years and he will be sober and headlining a decent psyco drama that gets an Oscar nomination but will loose out to someone else who really doesn't deserve it but gets the award anyway because of "lifetime achievement".

Webber pulled another Webber. Is there no place they can practice starting?

Shumi would probably have been 4th or 5th. He looks a lot more at ease in this year's car. The car is still not where it needs to be but better. Throughout the season Michael will be run into by someone 7 times and hit someone twice, and be DNF because of mechanical problems 3 more times and so will have fewer points than Nico even though Nico will scrounge around for 7th and 8th while Michael will be fighting for 4th and the Haters will still be saying Michael should go home.

Raikonen had problems in quali getting out on track and then made a mistake that caused him not to quali higher but still showed that he could drive.

Williams looked faster than last year but are handicapped by crap drivers.

STR looks good and their new drivers look good. 2014 will show us two new faces in STR again.

Force India looked a lot more promising before the race than in it. The Hulk was a victim of circumstances but Paul was able to salvage something from the race. Too bad they will be bankrupt by mid season and selling their organs on Mumbai street corners to pay off Mallya's debt.

The filler teams do what they do best: Fill. And HRT could not even do that simple task.

Oh, almost forgot Ferrari, they were so boring that they were less noticeable than a team that didn't even make the race.... This will be another year for us Ferrari fans that will be hard to watch. I really like Massa as a person but as a driver he needs to realize he has had it. Hungry changed him. It would be bad if it hadn't, but he is no longer the driver he was. I think he was better than most people give him credit for before his accident, and it is a shame to see something like that take it away from him, But Ferrari need to replace him. They should pick up the Hulk before he sells too many of his body parts....

[Argento Reloaded 1]

To be honest Dribs, I missed Alonso out for no good reason at all. He was excellent. He is the epitome of a great driver getting a good result out of a very bad car. No one else, not even Hamilton can claim to be able to pull that of at this moment in time. Jenson deserves comparison with Prost at his best - he's earned that sort of accolade now but Alonso is without doubt the greatest pilot out there. he is one of the all time greats, for sure.

Agreed. Disapointing race for Force India. I think they could outperformed Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso but they didn´t. Massa deserves an Indycar with Rubens and Senna! Stefano call Sutil or someone else, please!

[JHS18 0]

Stefano call Sutil or someone else, please!

Err, no.

Wait till Perez is free at the end of this season.