F1 2014: The australian GP; Winter's over!

[Ferry_vO]

First qualifying session with the new rules, and some interesting results, no doubt helped by the rain that started at the end of Q1!

Pole position for Hamilton and Rosberg third are not surprising given the winter tests, but Ricciardo out pacing Vettel and taking second sure is! Vettel only in P13 but with engine problems (No surprise there...). Rookie Kevin Magnussen a great fourth, with his McLaren team mate Button only in P11. Both Toro Rosso cars in the top ten, with Vergne in sixth and his rookie team mate, nineteen year old Russian Daniil Kvyat in eight. Williams slightly disappointing in nine and ten though a big improvement over the last two seasons! Kobayashi bringing the Caterham in at P15 is a good job since the team did a total of three laps with two cars on Friday. Lotus in serious trouble with Grosjean in P21 and Maldonado unable to even set a time..

Results:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.699	1:42.890	1:44.231	22
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:30.775	1:42.295	1:44.548	20
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:32.564	1:42.264	1:44.595	21
4	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:30.949	1:43.247	1:45.745	19
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:31.388	1:42.805	1:45.819	21
6	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:33.488	1:43.849	1:45.864	21
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:33.893	1:43.658	1:46.030	20
8	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:33.777	1:44.331	1:47.368	20
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.228	1:44.242	1:48.079	21
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.601	1:43.852	1:48.147	19
11	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.396	1:44.437		13
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:32.439	1:44.494		13
13	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:31.931	1:44.668		13
14	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.673	1:45.655		12
15	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	1:34.274	1:45.867		13
16	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:34.141	1:47.293		13
17	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	1:34.293			5
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:34.794			5
19	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.117			7
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	1:35.157			5
21	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:36.993			6
22	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	No time			3
		Q1 107% Time		1:37.129

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[Panther_99FS]

Good to see Magnussen pipped Button....

 

[Ferry_vO]

Not going to spoil anything since it is still early for those in the US, but it was a race worth watching with a great podium!

 

[Panther_99FS]

I stayed up & watched the race - great stuff!
Here are some interesting F1 factoids.

1986 Turbos
- 1000+ Bhp (1.5 Litre)
- Power To Weight: 1850/ton hp in race trim compared to 2013 F1 car average of 1200/ton hp

 

[Ferry_vO]

Results:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	57	1:32:58.710	3	25
2	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+26.7 secs	4	18
3	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+30.0 secs	10	15
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	57	+35.2 secs	5	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	57	+47.6 secs	15	10
6	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	57	+50.7 secs	7	8
7	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+57.6 secs	11	6
8	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	57	+60.4 secs	6	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	57	+63.5 secs	8	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	57	+85.9 secs	16	1
11	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	13
12	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	20
13	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	55	+2 Laps	17
NC	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	49	+8 Laps	18
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	43	ERS	22
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	29	ERS	21
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	27	Oil pressure	19
Ret	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	3	Power unit	12
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	2	Engine	1
Ret	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	0	Accident	9
Ret	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	0	Accident	14
DSQ	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	57	+24.5 secs	2

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Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg 1:32.478


Note - Ricciardo originally finished second but was excluded after his car was found to have exceeded the maximum permitted fuel flow rate




And a longer explanation why Ricciardo was disqualified: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/3/15579.html

 

[Panther_99FS]

Well no wonder Magnussen couldn't get by him then!

I **think** Lewis suffered an overheating problem due to being on the pole (first car to wait) with the aborted 1st start.
On another note, great seeing Williams back in racing form.....

And a final note: After hearing the pre-race technical analysis, Renault isn't necessarily 'down on power' but rather they are having difficulties of getting all the new things working together & in balance.

 

[SPman]

Red Bull considered the fuel flow readings from their fuel injector sensors were far more accurate than the variable readings they were getting with the officially provided monitors, which they considered were inaccurate. I think that will be the basis for their appeal. Shame for Ricciardo though, as he drove a great, level headed race at his home GP. Once again, F1 shoots itself in the foot, which is why I don't watch it much these days (after 50 yrs of following F1)

 

[Jafo]

(after 50 yrs of following F1)

Last night I received my 30 years' service presentation at the Post-race party. My first International AGP was in 1985 [my first AGP was in 1980] .... all that time was as a Comms/Observer. [hence my nick].
Was kinda 'neat' being in a photo shoot line-up with the likes of Tim Shenken and Charlie Whiting....

I heard about the protest action last night....at the party [though it wasn't for public consumption].
I doubt Ricciardo will be too fazed by any outcome of the protest...he proved himself either way.

The REAL disaster was the noise....or lack-of. Carrera Cup Porsches were louder.
The AGP Corp isn't too happy with it either.....bit like the expectation of uncorking a bottle of bubbly with a pop only to end up with a limp 'fizz'.

All that aside....you could now hear tyre noise...lock-ups, etc. and more detailed sounds from the engine.
They stink more ...are more unstable [under/over-steer], leave a cleaner track and are still quick.

Back in the original turbo days....the 'ultimate' was the Brabham-BMW which could get 1350hp in 'qualifying mode' out of 1500cc and around 950hp for race trim.
They were big, loud and entertaining.
I once had Warrick up in a crane [he wouldn't get out of his car] at Turn 5, Adelaide, with all 1350hp ticking over 20 feet in the air....

 

[Jafo]

My Comms sidekick [on turn 8] scored Vettel's cap after he saw her message 'Alles gut, Vettel' and tossed it to her in the drivers' parade. [I was stuck behind the fence on comms]...