Official 2012 formula 1 australian grand prix thread

[Hawk]

I guess it's pretty hard to read anything out of wet practices. But it is nice to see Schumacher up there (never thought I'd say that.) Quali tonight!

[rrr rr]

Camera shows Massa in the gravel at turn 9. He comes on the radio and says: Can you guys check the car. I touched the brakes and it went sideways.

Then, they show the replay and as he comes up on turn 9, you can see him getting both left tires on the grass right before braking.

Massa. 14th fastest time.

The car did look like it darted over toward the grass under braking. Maybe there was an imbalance in brake pressure left to right that caused the car to pull left. Just giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[Sump]

I guess it's pretty hard to read anything out of wet practices. But it is nice to see Schumacher up there (never thought I'd say that.) Quali tonight!

I really want to see Schumi win a race and even better if he can fight Vettel for the title. That'd be an epic season. (and I hate that word)

[kfzmeister]

The car did look like it darted over toward the grass under braking. Maybe there was an imbalance in brake pressure left to right that caused the car to pull left. Just giving him the benefit of the doubt.

No need to give him the benefit of the doubt. Most of the F1 community already is crucifying him over that "rookie mistake".

[kfzmeister]

I really want to see Schumi win a race and even better if he can fight Vettel for the title. That'd be an epic season. (and I hate that word)

That's a big IF Vettel is the alpha dog this season!

[Sump]

That's a big IF Vettel is the alpha dog this season!

Just trying to stay confident with my $50 bet.

[kfzmeister]

Just trying to stay confident with my $50 bet.

[rscshakespeare]

kfz, thank you for correcting what should have been my response. well done mate....

Hawk and Ninja, yes true i did call her a bad name. my mistake. and no hawk i did not to my knowledge call anybody else but her one. the reason for this is i am in the same industry as her and she is known amongst the industry insiders as one. her voice is bad and wears way way too much makeup(looks terrible without) and has extremely poor grammar. many industry people do not want to do anything with her but she will do anything. get my point. so i apologize if it bothered the both of you and i will be more political in my responses next time. back to talking F1. all the best.

[wiredvw]

Holy helmet cam! A little hard to see what's going one wit the bouncing, but a cool view!

[Hawk]

Vettel in the gravel.

[mx5er]

Lookin' at the P3 times, it looks like Caterham has made great progress. Sure their place on the times sheets as best of the new teams is not unusual. But the gap to the established teams is more competitive.

I'm sure they'll score a handful of points this season.

[kfzmeister]

Holy cow, what a mixed bag!

RB nowhere near the front. And everyone said that they were the team to beat. Lmao.
WTF with Ferrari. That thing is even worse than last year's truck!
Grosjean in P3? Really???? Wow.
Gonna be a great season. The two Macca boys will duel i out tomorrow. Go Jense!

[GTIVRSEX2]

Go Michael you can do it!

I bet he is second or third by the first corner.............

[Kylen721]

Sometimes I think I am the only non schumi fan.

I am pulling for a button win with vettel being competitive during the race and grabbing a podium spot.

[rscshakespeare]

not sure how to read this just yet. it is only the first qualy and race. very dissappointed for kimi. i was hoping for him. now that he knows the qualy strategies it will not happen again. of course my countryman, schumacher. well done. i think he will pass the mclarens at some point with his duct. jense should get a podium and not sure if hamilton will kill his chances with his tyres. i am sure he will get on fine but will not win.

feel bad for alonso, but he is a racer through and through and will push no matter what the issue.

redbulls........ not worried about that. they will make their way up. horner said they have been working on their own duct for a while now.

so lets just enjoy the first race. it does not mean everything!

[vdubjb]

want to see the pace of development. There doesn't seem to be any interesting/controversial bits on the Maclaren's except for the nose. I am shocked by the Red Bull's lack of pace/grip. Looks like HRT are excluded. HRT will not compete in Australia

March 17, 2012 by Joe Saward

The HRT team has failed to qualify for the Australian GP. The FIA Stewards were asked to consider a request from the team to allow Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan to start the race, despite the two having failed to set a lap time within 107 percent of the fastest Q1 time. The stewards decided that the performance was not sufficient to warrant a waiving of the regulation.

[8v_gti777]

Glad they enforced it, 10 seconds off the P1 is a little scary.

[Binary Star]

Hell yeah... pretty kick ass quali! Rosberg would've probably split the McL's had it not been for his lock up. He looked really quick, as well as Michael. Mercedes have got a pretty quick car on their hands, about time!!

Nice job from Grosjan too, wow! Just like last year, they've come out of the gates with all weapons busting, just need to keep it together throughout the season in development. I give it a race or two before Kimi really starts to show his speed.

Sucks for Alonso, similar mistake as Massa made in practice. Ferrari looks like a DOG of a car, yet again.

Saubers look pretty damn quick as well... going to be an interesting midfield battle tomorrow.

HRT - Get that team out of F1. Their drivers kept blocking people during Q1. WTF were they doing in F1 with a car that can't even match pace with GP2 cars?

Oh and... Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Jensen!

[dubsix]

Awesome start, couldn't have hoped for more. Go macca!!

[Kidstar]

Awesome start, couldn't have hoped for more. Go macca!!

For real... now let's get on with it....

[mrping01]

cant believe Grosjean ate the gravel that early! but WOW how bout McLaren killing it!!

[Kylen721]

Wow I nailed top 3 in the pirelli gp challenge! Not a bad start to the season, I enjoyed seeing Schumacher break is car and watching Vettel show he does have some skills racing in the pack. Really looks like this will be a fun year for F1.

[mrping01]

Wow I nailed top 3 in the pirelli gp challenge! Not a bad start to the season, I enjoyed seeing Schumacher break is car and watching Vettel show he does have some skills racing in the pack. Really looks like this will be a fun year for F1.

vettel was awesome fighting through the pack. some very aggressive moves!

[nickthaskater]

That was a great race from start to finish

Great drive from Button, good (and racy) comeback from Vettel, promising start for Michael, and a fantastic result for Kimi.

Plenty of hope for as dramatic a season as ever.

[mx5er]

Wow, great result for Button If the MP4-27 rewards tire management, then Button will be a force to reckon with.

Shame what happened with Schumacher and Grosjean. I think Massa thought he was battling with Hamilton

In other news, Lol Piquet took victory in some regional NASCAR event.

[rscshakespeare]

well done button...... he is the teams leader
well done vettel...... vettel was passing and pushing hard
i wish schumacher would have better luck, but he knows how to handle it. he'll be back
well done to kimi..... in sepang he will understand tyre strategy and will be up there no doubts
well done to alonso...... fighting hard to get a result. the car is not good and 5th is

hamilton... its not the end of the world and third is good but poor poor display of attitude. who is he blaming this time. its only the first race. relax.

[R8TD///M]

well done button...... he is the teams leader
well done vettel...... vettel was passing and pushing hard
i wish schumacher would have better luck, but he knows how to handle it. he'll be back
well done to kimi..... in sepang he will understand tyre strategy and will be up there no doubts
well done to alonso...... fighting hard to get a result. the car is not good and 5th is

hamilton... its not the end of the world and third is good but poor poor display of attitude. who is he blaming this time. its only the first race. relax.

you never have anything positive to say about hamilton huh

[rscshakespeare]

thats not true. i wrote that third is not bad, its only the first race. its a good result. for him to relax and not be so angry. mistakes happen. webber cannot start for crap but he never carries around the hate and anger about it. it brings bad energy. i do not see anything negative about that statement. the negative comment was on the fact that he carries an attitude of hate and anger when things do not go his way. there is nothing about me hating him there, it is just an observation........

[GTIVRSEX2]

I am disapointed by Mercedes result today, I was expecting a podium or a hard fought 4th place and got nothing... After Michael car broke down I just did not care about the race anymore. Remainded me of Japan 2006.... What about Nico going backwards...

Great race for Button, I think this could be his 2nd WC year....

What about Maldonado pushing Alonso almost the entire race to f.ck it up in the last lap...

Massa go home....... I think his carrer is over......

Redbull's car is not as bad a many people thought.

Great year ahead

[Oliver@triplezoom]

Button's dad is awesome.

[vdubjb]

very ironic that Button's dad leaves his top buttons undone all the time, lol

[Mk1Racer]

Thank goodness the season has started! Great start, and great race. Rosberg got an amazing jump on the start! And Webber shows again that he just can't start. Hats off to Button for another quality drive. His ability to manage his tires really pays off. And while Hamilton got dicked by the safety car, I think that Vettel getting by was inevitable. Hamilton certainly had nothing for him after the re-start. I also think it's going to be a very long year for Hamilton, as it looks like it won't matter if he out-qualifies Button. Alonso gets props for putting the Ferrari up the line as far as he did. Unless Ferrari come up w/ serious updates, it's going to be a VERY long year for him. Sure was nice to see Maldonado doing so well in the Williams, shame what happened at the end.

[kfzmeister]

Not bad. Must say that Alonso had his Prancing Dog in places where it had no business being (see Massa ).
Another to Hamilton. WTF? RB had better racepace than i expected. Rev limiter bouncing at the end of the straight.
Too bad Michael. Could he have podium-ed? Safety car bunched 'em up and helped some (Vettel, Webber) and punished some (Alonso, Kimi)
Me thinks Button for 2nd WC...........I'd rather him than Ham or Vettel. Sorry, just can't see Webber ever winning it.

[Hawk]

Wow. Lewis was such a baby on the podium and after the race.

I think Lewis has got to be one of the most overrated guys in F1 and Jenson is the most underrated.

Every time Jenson wins a race everyone is so surprised and everyone is like, 'Hey! Good for him!" and every time Hamilton loses a race it's always about how he has such raw speed and amazing potential.

Well when is Hamilton going to show it?

He hasn't won any more championships than Button. He's only one 4 more races then Button and he's had the good fortune of being in one of the fastest cars his entire career.

And let's be honest, Hamilton was damn lucky to win the championship in 2008, it could have easily gone to Massa (1 point).

Anyway, I use to be excited to see what Lewis could do, but now I just think he's turning into another Villeneuve. Can't wait for him to think his team is the problem and go to some mid-pack outfit to finish off his career.

Here's Hamilton sulking while his teammate wins.








Seem like Vettel and Button are much closer friends.




That said, dudes spraying champagne on each other is still the gayest thing ever (next to UFC).

[24vEngineer]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...-s-it-Gonna-Be

Button drove a pretty solid race. Hats off to Alonso for driving that pig of a car to a 4th finish and Kimi salvaging points after a terrible qualifying.