The Qantas Australian Grand Prix Official Race Preview Thread

[AleHop 0]

Them and Kimi...

I would've added the HRT guys, but then I thought they have a better chance than the Ferraris and Kimi

Alonso to Lotus-Renault, PDLR to Ferrari and Kimi to HRT, ok?

[BradSpeedMan 6]

No RB domination...

Kimi out in Q1..

This is disaster!!!

[LabradoRacer 2]

Bloody hell, a power cut caused me to miss entire quali. Going by the times & commentary, it was pretty exciting.

Huge relief not to see JADC (Just Another Drinks Company) on the pole.

Bittersweet about Schumi being 4th. He was 2nd in Q2!

Romain, good on you for being up there.

Read on Pitpass that Ross Brawn was stunned by Hamilton's pace. Perhaps the molotov c#cktail was right when he said he's sorted out his issues.

[LabradoRacer 2]

I hope Charlie Whiting still upholds Merc's F-duct as legal. I'm p**sed off with RBR's & Lotus's protests.

[AleHop 0]

And no, it is not because of the accident in 2009. It never was about the accident in 2009. He just plainly sucks.

Maybe it has to do with Alonso being a much better driver.

He never looked that bad with Kimi.

[LabradoRacer 2]

Schumi will have to drive out of his skin to get a win...or even a podium.

I'm going to stock up on diapers for tomorrow's race.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Maybe it has to do with Alonso being a much better driver.

He never looked that bad with Kimi.

He had the support of the team

[AleHop 0]

I still can't believe Ferrari produced such a piece of crap after so many months working on the F2012. There's something very wrong in Maranello. I hope LdM kicks Alonso out and let things get back to normal.

[LabradoRacer 2]

Wonder if Alonso's feeling "homesick"? I don't like him, but for the sake of an exciting championship, I really wish he were in Lotus this year.

[AleHop 0]

He had the support of the team

There's no support they can give to Massa in Ferrari, they're too busy with the car. Race pace is supposed to be even worse.

[LabradoRacer 2]

A bit disappointed with Kimi's showing. Is the car (steering?) contrary to his prefered settings? Anyway, hope he ups his game down the line so that the season can be even more exciting.

[LabradoRacer 2]

There's no support they can give to Massa in Ferrari, they're too busy with the car. Race pace is supposed to be even worse.

True

[Insider 0]

What I have deduced so far this w/e is that the 2012 WDC looks firmly between Lewis and Jenson with Mercedes being the main pain in the neck. Ferrari don't have a car - period. Vettel is having to learn to drive a car that doesn't have a built-in suction pad and will struggle as he did before he had one of those. Renault have a contender if Kimi gets to 'man up' and get down to his highly paid work. Romain made him look like a amateur. Kingfisher's financial problems seem to have morphed Team Vindaloo into Team Korma but Williams appear to have some sunshine in their world now. As ever, watch those Saubers and STRs.

[LabradoRacer 2]

What I have deduced so far this w/e is that the 2012 WDC looks firmly between Lewis and Jenson with Mercedes being the main pain in the neck. Ferrari don't have a car - period. Vettel is having to learn to drive a car that doesn't have a built-in suction pad and will struggle as he did before he had one of those. Renault have a contender if Kimi gets to 'man up' and get down to his highly paid work. Romain made him look like a amateur. Kingfisher's financial problems seem to have morphed Team Vindaloo into Team Korma but Williams appear to have some sunshine in their world now. As ever, watch those Saubers and STRs.

Well, Mercedes could be having the upper hand on proper circuits with at least reasonably long straights. Let's see.

Kingfisher's financial problems seem to have morphed Team Vindaloo into Team Korma

[Ikyrotz 0]

A bit disappointed with Kimi's showing. Is the car (steering?) contrary to his prefered settings? Anyway, hope he ups his game down the line so that the season can be even more exciting.

The comments I heard from him after the quali were that, while the steering is not ideal for him, it didn't affect the result. He drove slightly out on his fast lap and was told by the team that he has time for another lap, but didn't after all. Says he had plenty of speed to go further, but I guess they gambled a bit with the tires (surprised by the tight field?) and left the final fast run a bit too late. Hopefully we'll see him charge through the field tomorrow.

[LabradoRacer 2]

The comments I heard from him after the quali were that, while the steering is not ideal for him, it didn't affect the result. He drove slightly out on his fast lap and was told by the team that he has time for another lap, but didn't after all. Says he had plenty of speed to go further, but I guess they gambled a bit with the tires (surprised by the tight field?) and left the final fast run a bit too late. Hopefully we'll see him charge through the field tomorrow.

Yeah, he's got an extra set of softs left, so he could very well finish in the top 10 at least.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

There's no support they can give to Massa in Ferrari, they're too busy with the car. Race pace is supposed to be even worse.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

I still can't believe Ferrari produced such a piece of crap after so many months working on the F2012. There's something very wrong in Maranello. I hope LdM kicks Alonso out and let things get back to normal.

something like 4 months b4 all the teams?

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Yeah, he's got an extra set of softs left, so he could very well finish in the top 10 at least.

Brand new ones I guess? He sh/ould do soft/soft then hard cause then the fuel load should have dropped off...

a crash somewhere should help his cause..

I must say a very stunning pole by Lewis

[Caesar 0]

SH!T

[JHS18 0]

Woke up quite early (for me on a weekend) and was left tossing and turning thinking who might be on pole. Didn't really know how to work it with highlights on at 1pm. Gave in to temptation and looked at the results.

I'm not a Hamilton fan, but certainly very exciting to see a non Red Bull driver on pole - and that's coming from a Vettel fan. I'd rather see Jenson win tomorrow if it came down to a straight fight between the McLarens.

Grosjean F-YEAH. All those people saying he was going to get destroyed by Kimi etc - this proves the kid is quick. Even if he does look like Sideshow Bob.

Schuey - even bigger F-YEAH! Would seriously love to see him get a podium tomorrow, or even more if the situation arises. This year could be very good for Michael.

Red Bulls - what's going on there? Although it seems a lot of people think Red Bull have superior race pace to most the other teams - so they could move forwards tomorrow. Wouldn't be surprised if it became a fight between McLaren and Red Bull as the race progressed.

Ferrari - the less said the better, I think. As well as supporting Vettel and Schuey I do support Ferrari - so that's kinda a shame to see them so far down. Work to do.

Good job by Maldonado to get in the top ten, and strong showing by Ricciardo and Vergne. Nice to see Ricciardo get in the top ten at his home race. Hopefully Sauber can progress too. Will be interesting to see what Kimi can do from 18th.

Credible job by Marussia to at least have their cars out there and seemingly working reliably after missing all of testing. That's more than HRT has managed...

[Schumikonen 2]

I hope Charlie Whiting still upholds Merc's F-duct as legal. I'm p**sed off with RBR's & Lotus's protests.

yeah me too, it looks like they just can't stand when someone outsmart them, they should receive this as a good news as now they have more room to improve.

[Schumikonen 2]

He had the support of the team

I bet (and I have money to do that) that Kimi will finish ahead of Alonso tomorrow

[LabradoRacer 2]

Reactions after quali:

Luca di Montezemolo : "I think 3 cars is a bad idea"

Seb Vettel: "My car's name is Frigid Abbey"

[Schumikonen 2]

This is what I like about the guy, he doesn't blame anyone (unlike some other driver who enjoy pointing fingers even to marshals) , take full responsibility and always try to make the best out of the situation

Raikkonen explains dismal qualifying performance

Kimi Raikkonen thought he would get another shot at making Q2 in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, but a mix-up in communication meant he crossed the line after the chequered flag came out.

Raikkonen will start from 18th on the grid while Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean impressed the paddock by qualifying third. Raikkonen was attempting to make it through to the second stage of qualifying without using a set of soft tyres but a mistake cost him time on what he thought would be his penultimate lap. He then slowed down to prepare the car for his final attempt but ran out of time in doing so.

"We had plenty of speed and I just ran wide in turn 12 and we were supposed to have one more lap and that's why I slowed down. Probably if I'd just kept going we would have been fast enough to go through. I was supposed to have one more lap and I was just speeding up through the last corner when the red lights came on … it was close but I just missed my last lap."

Asked who should have warned him that he was running out of time, Raikkonen said: "Probably the people on the pit wall, but for some reason we didn't notice it. It's many things that have gone slightly wrong and we've ended up in the situation [we're in]. There's no point to blame anyone. What's happened has happened and we just have to do the best job with the situation."

And he thinks he could have qualified alongside team-mate Grosjean had he made it through to Q3.

"I don't see why not. We didn't have any proper laps in the morning or yesterday but the feeling was that the car was good. I don't know why the lap wasn't very good, I'm sure that we should have been quite easily in the top ten."

Raikkonen lost out on some Friday practice time when he decided he did not like the feel of a new power steering system on the E20 and asked his team to swap it for the original system. But the Finn said the steering had nothing to do with the result on Saturday.

"It's not as perfect as it should be but it's the same as it was in testing so it doesn't really affect me," he added. "That's not reason we didn't go through, purely the reason was what I told you. I had an issue with the seat being in the wrong position, but we've fixed all those things. There's nothing wrong."