2008 Australian Grand Prix Thread

[Fed up 0]

OK, just to finish this off, I listened to an interview Kubica gave for Polish TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ737XxJEkM...feature=related

To translate loosely - first off, he really looked PO'd and was rather resigned. In his own words (more of a paraphrase than a translation - sorry):

"The race started good, I even kept up with Hamilton for several laps, but then my rear tires got worn out, but I kept my own rythm."

"After the first stint, something happened to the engine and my throttle response had a lag of 2-3 seconds. I would step on the gas and, literally, nothing would happen. I couldn't pas Bourdaise, or defend from Alonso."

"In the middle of the second stint the team, for some reason, decided to fuel me up through the end of the race. So I went out with a full tank and on the soft tires, which on this circuit is not a good news."

"I would still be in the points, if Nakajima didn't fall asleep."

The reporter then asked "are you looking forward to Malaysia with optimism, then?"

Robert responded "as always..."

My prediction - Either Mario will let Robert beat Nickky once or twice, or Robert will be in a different team in a couple of years.

I can think only of one reason why throttle response would have a lag (and no idea how telemetry would NOT show it) and why would you change a successful strategy to the one that was obviously doomed to failure. The fact that the "team" didn't bother explaining this to Kubica speaks volumes.

Judging by this interview I don't think he'll be at BMW long. It's a bit strange as Mario loves the guy (or so I thought)

[HandyNZL 1]

Well, me planes landed, and I'm back home infront of the ol' PC box and of course, finished reading the 150 odd posts before mine.

So my two pennies:

1 Yes, some drivers were a bit shoddy at the start, but high attrition is not a bad thing in F1, and is actually expected. I don't think the teams were ready for such high temperatures...it was 40-deg C on Friday, and 39-deg C on Sunday...only about 10-12-deg higher than normal for Melbourne. Having done the majority of their testing in the cooler European climes, I think the heat was a major factor in tyre degredation, engine overheating, and water bottle boil-overs.

2 Kimi drove well for half the race....it was obvious he was on a sort of single stopper, and he seemed to sit behind Rubes waiting on him to pit than try to overtake. From my position in the stands at turn 9 (where Junior stopped), he was fighting the Ferrari far more than Rubes was the Honda. He was messy at best. In the second half, he proved that TC loss is actually going to decide the occasional race this year, no matter what the drivers have said up to now, and this is what I have suspected all along. With TC he would never have spun when he touched the grass. Without it he spun. With engine braking, he may not have overshot the corner, but without it, he did. He had it all within his grasp thanks to good strategy and some lucky SC periods. However, he cooked it for himself in the end.

3 Whats up with Nelson? Either that car was a dog for him, or he is just not up to it. Watching him all weekend, he was driving tight, and on all the lines in the corners I was at. The car never sounded flat...certainly not like Kimi's sounding like there was a Smurf with a spanner whacking the engine cover. He looked pretty dejected when he got out of the car and looked back at it rather forlornly. I hope he has better luck in Sepang.

4 Nando was VERY messy at turn 9/10. Of all the drivers he was the one most often hitting the grass verge, or slipping the back out. Everyone else was smooth through there...oh, apart for Massa...you talk of Nakajima kamikazing Kubica, but Massa almost did it to Nakajima right there infront of me at turn 9. He was a mere inch from launching himself skyward Ralfy styles over the back of the Williams.

5 Hamilton has sublime car control. In Q2 on his hot lap he came around the penultimate corner (the 85kph left hander) and came up behind (from memory) one of the Force Indias. Lewis had obviously thought about overtaking the other car on that corner as he came in hard and fast, four-wheel drifting it, massaging the power, keeping it on track, and deftly tucked up under the FI diffuser. He would have lost a few tenths doing it, but I think a lesser driver would have taken a small spin on the grass.

Pix to follow

[dribbler 6]

My prediction - Either Mario will let Robert beat Nickky once or twice, or Robert will be in a different team in a couple of years.

I can think only of one reason why throttle response would have a lag (and no idea how telemetry would NOT show it) and why would you change a successful strategy to the one that was obviously doomed to failure. The fact that the "team" didn't bother explaining this to Kubica speaks volumes.

Conspiracy theories are dodgy territory at the best of times but when they are backed by no substance they look even more daft. You accused Katyh of having little substance to her arguments earlier in the week, i have no comment on that but it seems you are doing similar here.

Without being rude, i am seeing a trend of blind patriotism amongst some members which causes them to be unobjective. Can you tell me why BMW who are desperate to get on level terms with McLaren and Ferrari would sabotage their driver? The one who qualified on the front row and who was best positioned to fight for victory? I think i know what you are going to say already.

[Jean Todt 4]

Conspiracy theories are dodgy territory at the best of times but when they are backed by no substance they look even more daft. You accused Katyh of having little substance to her arguments earlier in the week, i have no comment on that but it seems you are doing similar here.

Without being rude, i am seeing a trend of blind patriotism amongst some members which causes them to be unobjective. Can you tell me why BMW who are desperate to get on level terms with McLaren and Ferrari would sabotage their driver? The one who qualified on the front row and who was best positioned to fight for victory? I think i know what you are going to say already.

I know. BMW and Mercedes are planing to merge, and as the part of platform sharing, They have to let Mercedes win, then, BMW can have their airmatic and parktronic and pedestrian recognition system technologies. So, they screwed up Kubica's chances of victories. Unfortunatley, They had to choose Kubica since Nick is a German. But, Mario is a little worried, since he has a soft corner for Kubica. But, there is a romour that, both Mario and Kubica cant kiss because Kubica's nose always comes in the way, while Mario's moustache tickels.

[maure 1]

Conspiracy theories are dodgy territory at the best of times but when they are backed by no substance they look even more daft. You accused Katyh of having little substance to her arguments earlier in the week, i have no comment on that but it seems you are doing similar here.

Without being rude, i am seeing a trend of blind patriotism amongst some members which causes them to be unobjective. Can you tell me why BMW who are desperate to get on level terms with McLaren and Ferrari would sabotage their driver? The one who qualified on the front row and who was best positioned to fight for victory? I think i know what you are going to say already.

Agreed. Blind patriotism, or any kind of patriotism for that matter, is only acceptable and justified when it serves the cause of the best driver in F1 history...

[Max Mosley 2]

Pix to follow

Good!

But, there is a romour that, both Mario and Kubica cant kiss because Kubica's nose always comes in the way, while Mario's moustache tickels.

Haha so that's Bob's problem...

Agreed. Blind patriotism, or any kind of patriotism for that matter, is only acceptable and justified when it serves the cause of the best driver in F1 history...

Actually the Germans deserve credit for rarely being like that.

[Jean Todt 4]

Good!

Haha so that's Bob's problem...

Actually the Germans deserve credit for rarely being like that.

Oh yes, I agree with you, may be each German thinks he is a better driver anyways!

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Then we shall have to agree to disagree! OK I agree that it's nice to have a surprise winner every now and then, and races like this one can produce that, but if it happens every race then it's going to look like ChampCar...and we know what happened to that. I like the idea of drivers being challenged but if none of them finish then that says a lot about 'the best drivers in the world' and F1 loses credibility imo.

Kimi was exceptional..ly poor today, an utterly s##t drive if I ever saw one. I'm not sure what he was playing at but he won't be winning another title like that. Felipe was Felipe, although I don't think the clash with DC was his fault, just a racing incident really, but I don't think DC saw him...

Kimi was really bad, the last I saw a top driver perform like that was Schumie (Japan 2003).

There seems to be this thing about great manipulative driver's, when it's not their days, it's really not!!!

[David Adams 0]

My only theory for the Kubica thing is that he was not fast enough to keep second, so they pitted him to fill him with fuel incase of the SC, BMW are only here for one reason at the moment, to win. They seem to be pushing all out to meet this target, they finished second last year and what did that get them? An advert saying "Were the second best team, oh yea baby, feel it!" I think not

[Fed up 0]

Well, me planes landed, and I'm back home infront of the ol' PC box and of course, finished reading the 150 odd posts before mine.

So my two pennies:

1 Yes, some drivers were a bit shoddy at the start, but high attrition is not a bad thing in F1, and is actually expected. I don't think the teams were ready for such high temperatures...it was 40-deg C on Friday, and 39-deg C on Sunday...only about 10-12-deg higher than normal for Melbourne. Having done the majority of their testing in the cooler European climes, I think the heat was a major factor in tyre degredation, engine overheating, and water bottle boil-overs.

2 Kimi drove well for half the race....it was obvious he was on a sort of single stopper, and he seemed to sit behind Rubes waiting on him to pit than try to overtake. From my position in the stands at turn 9 (where Junior stopped), he was fighting the Ferrari far more than Rubes was the Honda. He was messy at best. In the second half, he proved that TC loss is actually going to decide the occasional race this year, no matter what the drivers have said up to now, and this is what I have suspected all along. With TC he would never have spun when he touched the grass. Without it he spun. With engine braking, he may not have overshot the corner, but without it, he did. He had it all within his grasp thanks to good strategy and some lucky SC periods. However, he cooked it for himself in the end.

3 Whats up with Nelson? Either that car was a dog for him, or he is just not up to it. Watching him all weekend, he was driving tight, and on all the lines in the corners I was at. The car never sounded flat...certainly not like Kimi's sounding like there was a Smurf with a spanner whacking the engine cover. He looked pretty dejected when he got out of the car and looked back at it rather forlornly. I hope he has better luck in Sepang.

4 Nando was VERY messy at turn 9/10. Of all the drivers he was the one most often hitting the grass verge, or slipping the back out. Everyone else was smooth through there...oh, apart for Massa...you talk of Nakajima kamikazing Kubica, but Massa almost did it to Nakajima right there infront of me at turn 9. He was a mere inch from launching himself skyward Ralfy styles over the back of the Williams.

5 Hamilton has sublime car control. In Q2 on his hot lap he came around the penultimate corner (the 85kph left hander) and came up behind (from memory) one of the Force Indias. Lewis had obviously thought about overtaking the other car on that corner as he came in hard and fast, four-wheel drifting it, massaging the power, keeping it on track, and deftly tucked up under the FI diffuser. He would have lost a few tenths doing it, but I think a lesser driver would have taken a small spin on the grass.

Pix to follow

beautifully written

[AleHop 0]

Agreed. Blind patriotism, or any kind of patriotism for that matter, is only acceptable and justified when it serves the cause of the best driver in F1 history...

[dribbler 6]

Agreed. Blind patriotism, or any kind of patriotism for that matter, is only acceptable and justified when it serves the cause of the best driver in F1 history...

Or if it helps bushy eyebrowed creatures being slated on websites.

[Jean Todt 4]

Or if it helps bushy eyebrowed creatures being slated on websites.

[Rainmaster 7]

Agreed. Blind patriotism, or any kind of patriotism for that matter, is only acceptable and justified when it serves the cause of the best driver in F1 history...

Indeed. Senna forever. Not Bruno.

Kimi was really bad, the last I saw a top driver perform like that was Schumie (Japan 2003).

There seems to be this thing about great manipulative driver's, when it's not their days, it's really not!!!

Very true! I have no doubt Kimi will come back strongly and produce some exceptional drives this year.

[Jean Todt 4]

Indeed. Senna forever. Not Bruno.

Very true! I have no doubt Kimi will come back strongly and produce some exceptional drives this year.

Bah! Kimi can drive fast, he will be back. He was a bit sleepy on last sunday.

[freaky2 1]

Bah! Kimi can drive fast, he will be back. He was a bit sleepy on last sunday.

Or maybe the alcohol got to his head in mid-race wore off after 30 laps?

[AleHop 0]

Or maybe the alcohol got to his head in mid-race wore off after 30 laps?

No, Ferrari took the drink button off the steering wheel.

Kimi was pushing it accidentaly all the time, something like the speed limiter button for Macca.

[Piotr 0]

You know Kubi is good. Many acknowledge that. There is no conspiracy here. Kubi is BMW's golden boy. It is Nick who is under pressure to perform. Nick is quick, neat. tidy and perfect. Kubi is raw, fast and very unlucky. Kubi and Nick will win this season, judging by Kubi's pace.

OK, point taken and agreed. I guess I don't really believe in a conspiracy, but his bad luck is infurating.

[HandyNZL 1]

All drivers have a spat of bad luck.

Unless you are Mark Webber, and then you have an entire career of bad luck.

Compared to MW, Kubi is very lucky indeed to even be driving a car after his shunt at Canada. Give the lad some time. Not everyone can win on race day.

[Piotr 0]

Well, me planes landed, and I'm back home infront of the ol' PC box and of course, finished reading the 150 odd posts before mine.

So my two pennies:

1 Yes, some drivers were a bit shoddy at the start, but high attrition is not a bad thing in F1, and is actually expected. I don't think the teams were ready for such high temperatures...it was 40-deg C on Friday, and 39-deg C on Sunday...only about 10-12-deg higher than normal for Melbourne. Having done the majority of their testing in the cooler European climes, I think the heat was a major factor in tyre degredation, engine overheating, and water bottle boil-overs.

2 Kimi drove well for half the race....it was obvious he was on a sort of single stopper, and he seemed to sit behind Rubes waiting on him to pit than try to overtake. From my position in the stands at turn 9 (where Junior stopped), he was fighting the Ferrari far more than Rubes was the Honda. He was messy at best. In the second half, he proved that TC loss is actually going to decide the occasional race this year, no matter what the drivers have said up to now, and this is what I have suspected all along. With TC he would never have spun when he touched the grass. Without it he spun. With engine braking, he may not have overshot the corner, but without it, he did. He had it all within his grasp thanks to good strategy and some lucky SC periods. However, he cooked it for himself in the end.

3 Whats up with Nelson? Either that car was a dog for him, or he is just not up to it. Watching him all weekend, he was driving tight, and on all the lines in the corners I was at. The car never sounded flat...certainly not like Kimi's sounding like there was a Smurf with a spanner whacking the engine cover. He looked pretty dejected when he got out of the car and looked back at it rather forlornly. I hope he has better luck in Sepang.

4 Nando was VERY messy at turn 9/10. Of all the drivers he was the one most often hitting the grass verge, or slipping the back out. Everyone else was smooth through there...oh, apart for Massa...you talk of Nakajima kamikazing Kubica, but Massa almost did it to Nakajima right there infront of me at turn 9. He was a mere inch from launching himself skyward Ralfy styles over the back of the Williams.

5 Hamilton has sublime car control. In Q2 on his hot lap he came around the penultimate corner (the 85kph left hander) and came up behind (from memory) one of the Force Indias. Lewis had obviously thought about overtaking the other car on that corner as he came in hard and fast, four-wheel drifting it, massaging the power, keeping it on track, and deftly tucked up under the FI diffuser. He would have lost a few tenths doing it, but I think a lesser driver would have taken a small spin on the grass.

Pix to follow

STOP posting things like this. You got me hot all over... and I'm married.

[Piotr 0]

Judging by this interview I don't think he'll be at BMW long. It's a bit strange as Mario loves the guy (or so I thought)

Mario went out of his way to praise Kubica. He did the same thing a year ago after Sepang. He actually does like kubica, and I think he realizes he needs them both on the team. As somebody posted on another thread, they complement each other beautifully, while having completely opposite driving styles.

[Piotr 0]

Agreed. Blind patriotism, or any kind of patriotism for that matter, is only acceptable and justified when it serves the cause of the best driver in F1 history...

"Just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean they are NOT after you..."

No, blind patriotism is to claim that Sutil or Button would be champions simply given a better car. Defending Kubica from incorrect accusations is setting the record straight. I am not going to discuss the strategy, because nobody on this forum is knowledgeable enough to do it in a meaningful way. But claimimg that Kubica is a worse driver than Nick in a race where his car was simply NOT at 100% is a real case of "blind patriotism."

[dribbler 6]

"Just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean they are NOT after you..."

No, blind patriotism is to claim that Sutil or Button would be champions simply given a better car. Defending Kubica from incorrect accusations is setting the record straight. I am not going to discuss the strategy, because nobody on this forum is knowledgeable enough to do it in a meaningful way. But claimimg that Kubica is a worse driver than Nick in a race where his car was simply NOT at 100% is a real case of "blind patriotism."

The definition of patriotism is "devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty." Just for the record. So if someone is being blindly patriotic toward Heidfeld, they would have to be German. I am English. I think you are Polish, is that correct?

Defending Kubica form accusations should be done with substance and proof, something i thought you were a fan of. And yet, not once have you demonstrated the ability to do this. All you have done is accuse others of not being able to do so. That makes you a hypocrite.

Claiming that it is only you who can grasp the concept of strategy and therefore it is pointless discussing it makes you arrogant in the extreme. I can think of at least half a dozen people here who are suitably mentally equipped to match your superior intellect, so please indulge us, if we are worthy.

[HandyNZL 1]

STOP posting things like this. You got me hot all over... and I'm married.

Ummmm...like....huh?

[Kati 0]

The definition of patriotism is "devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty." Just for the record. So if someone is being blindly patriotic toward Heidfeld, they would have to be German. I am English. I think you are Polish, is that correct?

Defending Kubica form accusations should be done with substance and proof, something i thought you were a fan of. And yet, not once have you demonstrated the ability to do this. All you have done is accuse others of not being able to do so. That makes you a hypocrite.

Claiming that it is only you who can grasp the concept of strategy and therefore it is pointless discussing it makes you arrogant in the extreme. I can think of at least half a dozen people here who are suitably mentally equipped to match your superior intellect, so please indulge us, if we are worthy.