F1 2009- The season opener at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.

[I Look Like Kevin Costner]

And was that Jonathon Legard co-commentating with Brundle? Whoever it was, he's cr@p DT_Xtremez_09:

It was Jonathan Legard...

David Croft (who commentates for Radio 5 Live) is better!

 

[I Look Like Kevin Costner]

Hamilton's broken gearbox and whoops... The car at the back is a Toyota!

Hamilton's broken gearbox and whoops... The car at the back is a Toyota!

Hamiltons gearbox lost 4th gear and has had to be replaced, meaning he would have started plum last...

However, both Toyota's have failed post quali scrutineering for illegal flexible rear wings and have been demoted to the back of the grid!

Williams have protested against Ferrari and Red Bull for having similar wing structures. stewards haven't made a decision on that yet!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7969641.stm

 

[MrMasher]

How exciting was that????

Got my heart racing away. Very close behind the outstanding Brawns.
Nice to see old man Rubens can keep pace as wellDT_Xtremez_30:

As usual the behind the scenes protests, hopefully they'll keep it behind the scenes.

I fancied Webber for 3rd, he seemed prettty quick through q1 and q2, I guess he must be fuelled up? Good job from Vettel though.

Shame Alonso screwed his last lap up.

It'll be interesting to see the race strategies. I reckon the Brawns have gone light, they'll go short on softs and then run off into the distance on their hards.

Disappointed with the reds:S. At least they made the top 10 though.DT_Xtremez_15:

Cant wait until tomorrow..........

 

[grumpyoldb]

The Brawn cars were not running light........................

The Brawn GP cars, which locked out the front row of the grid for the Australian Grand Prix, have been revealed to have had no weight advantage in qualifying after the FIA published a list of each car's race-start load.

With each car's minimum weight set at 605kg (including driver), the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello weigh in at 664.5kg and 666.5kg respectively. This suggests an opening race stint for the pair of more than 20 laps, depending on safety car intervention.
By comparison, Sebastian Vettel weighs in at 657kg from third on the grid, with fellow second-row starter Robert Kubica at 650kg. This means that the BMW Sauber driver is the lightest car in the field, helping him to qualify well despite not showing that kind of pace in free practice.

Of the top 10 in Q3, only Toyota's Timo Glock was on a heavier fuel load than the two Brawns, although Toyota's times have been disallowed.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74013

 

[MrMasher]

The Brawn cars were not running light........................

The Brawn GP cars, which locked out the front row of the grid for the Australian Grand Prix, have been revealed to have had no weight advantage in qualifying after the FIA published a list of each car's race-start load.

With each car's minimum weight set at 605kg (including driver), the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello weigh in at 664.5kg and 666.5kg respectively. This suggests an opening race stint for the pair of more than 20 laps, depending on safety car intervention.
By comparison, Sebastian Vettel weighs in at 657kg from third on the grid, with fellow second-row starter Robert Kubica at 650kg. This means that the BMW Sauber driver is the lightest car in the field, helping him to qualify well despite not showing that kind of pace in free practice.

Of the top 10 in Q3, only Toyota's Timo Glock was on a heavier fuel load than the two Brawns, although Toyota's times have been disallowed.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74013

Bugger me!
I didnt realise that they could publish the car weights. That gives away a bit of strategy info to all the teams!

 

[grumpyoldb]

It's a new thing for this year after qualy...................
Here's the full list................

Weightings:
1. Jenson Button 664.5kg
2. Rubens Barrichello 666.5kg
3. Sebastien Vettel 657kg
4. Robert Kubica 650kg
5. Nico Rosberg 657kg
6. Felipe Massa 654kg
7. Kimi Raikkonen 655.5kg
8. Mark Webber 662kg
9. Nick Heidfeld 691.5kg
10. Fernando Alonso 680.7kg
11. Kazuki Nakajima 680.5kg
12. Heikki Kovalainen 690.6kg
13. Sebastien Buemi 675.5kg
14. Nelson Piquet 694.1kg
15. Giancarlo Fisichella 689kg
16. Adrian Sutil 684.5kg
17. Sebastien Bourdais 662.5kg
18. Lewis Hamilton 655kg
19. Jarno Trulli 660kg
20. Timo Glock 670kg

 

[MrMasher]

So I've been thinking, whats the point of loading the cars with race fuel in Q3 if they're going to publish the weights?

They should make Q3 the same as Q1 and Q2, low level fuel, fastest raw pace wins then fuel up after qualifying.

 

[grumpyoldb]

So I've been thinking, whats the point of loading the cars with race fuel in Q3 if they're going to publish the weights?

They should make Q3 the same as Q1 and Q2, low level fuel, fastest raw pace wins then fuel up after qualifying.

Doesn't matter if they publish the weights after quali, as no-one can change anything unless your down the back end.

It's to give us armchair pundits a bit more understanding of what's really happening. I like the idea.

 

[MrMasher]

Doesn't matter if they publish the weights after quali, as no-one can change anything unless your down the back end.

It's to give us armchair pundits a bit more understanding of what's really happening. I like the idea.

But it does give teams something to react to during the race, thats what I meant.
I preferred the old format of pure pace in qually and put in race fuel afterwards. It gave an unknown element to race day.

 

[Cake or Death]

It's a new thing for this year after qualy...................
Here's the full list................

Weightings:
1. Jenson Button 664.5kg
2. Rubens Barrichello 666.5kg
3. Sebastien Vettel 657kg
4. Robert Kubica 650kg
5. Nico Rosberg 657kg
6. Felipe Massa 654kg
7. Kimi Raikkonen 655.5kg
8. Mark Webber 662kg
9. Nick Heidfeld 691.5kg
10. Fernando Alonso 680.7kg
11. Kazuki Nakajima 680.5kg
12. Heikki Kovalainen 690.6kg
13. Sebastien Buemi 675.5kg
14. Nelson Piquet 694.1kg
15. Giancarlo Fisichella 689kg
16. Adrian Sutil 684.5kg
17. Sebastien Bourdais 662.5kg
18. Lewis Hamilton 655kg
19. Jarno Trulli 660kg
20. Timo Glock 670kg

Great post, and i am also pleased with my maths, as i had worked out that the brawns were on for a 15 -20 lap first stint after MB saying that a laps worth of fuel is around 1/10th of second more. I had the brawns running at 1.6 ish seconds slower than the earlyer sessions!

 

[bombdasand]

45 minutes to go before the season starts proper!

got up in time for six so I could hear the best sporting theme tune on the box!!!

Go on Button!

 

[grumpyoldb]

Morning all! Egg & Bacon banjo on the go, and a mug of tea. Let the fun begin!

 

[Killer Queen]

Morning Folks

Here we re again all set for the off.

 

[ZebrasKneecaps]

Has the coverage started on BBC 1 yet? and does anyone know when it starts online and what site?

Its on here, but its mot the same listening to yanks trying to commentate on F1

Come on Button!!!! DT_Xtremez_14:

 

[ZebrasKneecaps]

Just found it!!! Time to get the beers out...

oh, and morning all DT_Xtremez_28:

 

[Hammer and stillson]

Think the CBBC presenter needs to brush up on his A/C! that was a 380 not a 747 wasn't it?, airbus will be over the moon with that. Looks like it could be a good one today if the temperature stays up and Kimi wakes up.cup of corrrfeee

 

[grumpyoldb]

Safety car out. Time for coffee.

 

[Killer Queen]

Safety car in

Piquet off track

 

[Killer Queen]

excitement in the final laps

 

[T55]

I must admit I was hoping for a little tangle to help Lewis but never thought they would really mess it up like that!