Joined Chandhok-Approved Castrol GP Predictor and to our league. This one will be tough

James Allen just said on 5 Live that McLaren seem about a second and a half slower that the head of the field. Did I miss-hear or is that the case?

rogue_pigeon said:

God predictions for this race are so tough. I'm going to be asleep between FP3 and Qualifying, so I already have as much insight as I'm going to get before the predictions are locked off.

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If its any consolation, you have to make them before qualifying
So the only thing your missing out on is FP3 - like most of us i would guess

pants said:

shot my load early, predictions made

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You can can change them as much as you want until 5 mins before quali

SCHUEY F1 said:

What is the GAF league code?

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21665c091c6d528a30cd654ff50a2035

or click http://gppredictor.com/league/join/code/21665c091c6d528a30cd654ff50a2035

Thanks!

I can't be arsed with the whole prediction league thing, but I reckon Kimi on the podium tomorrow.

Lach said:

The Chandhok-Approved Castrol GP Predictor. As the name says it's only prediction and not actually managing.
Join here: http://gppredictor.com/league/join/code/21665c091c6d528a30cd654ff50a2035

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thats to bad, why are we not doing the team management thing any more?

Omiee said:

thats to bad, why are we not doing the team management thing any more?

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http://f1racemanager.com - they aren't doing it this year

We tried to decide on a new one, but no one really had any strong opinions of which one to choose. So since the season was about to start we just picked http://gppredictor.com a few days ago

Reading through the last couple of pages, and all I have to say is wow.

We haven't even reached P3 yet and the 'congrats Vettel WDC' and 'lol Hamilton's a pleb' brigades are already out.

I signed up for the league though, maybe I'll do better at this one.

Sutil looks like mass murderer on that mugshot

paskowitz said:

So Mclaren is the new Ferrari?

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From what I have heard they are trying the same pull-rod suspension Ferrari had so much trouble with last year...

so yeah

DrM said:

Sutil looks like mass murderer on that mugshot

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Well, he spent last year training with the dolphins, who knows what terrible secrets he's learned...

Flo_Evans said:

From what I have heard they are trying the same pull-rod suspension Ferrari had so much trouble with last year...

so yeah

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If they started winning championships again they wouldn't be able to keep up their lessons in how to not win a championship.

Ark said:

If they started winning championships again they wouldn't be able to keep up their lessons in how to not win a championship.

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Who Ferrari or McLaren?

Flo_Evans said:

Who Ferrari or McLaren?

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Mclaren i think they are only team that can screw up fantastic car in 14 days

The tires are even more brittle than last year.. I'm pretty sure I saw vettel have graining after 6 laps, and his laps times went from mid 1:32's to 1:34's. Kimi seemed to go the longest without slowing too much, about 10 laps. Bet Schumi is quite happy sitting at home at the moment

tHoMNZ said:

The tires are even more brittle than last year.. I'm pretty sure I saw vettel have graining after 6 laps, and his laps times went from mid 1:32's to 1:34's. Kimi seemed to go the longest without slowing too much, about 10 laps. Bet Schumi is quite happy sitting at home at the moment

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You know, at a certain point is it even racing if the main thing that a driver is concerned with is managing tyre degradation so they are unable to push 100%? These are the fastest road racing vehicles on the planet and some of the most gifted drivers in the world and they are being held back due to the rate of tyre wear all for the "spectacle".

I do enjoy the excitement but seeing the most technically impressive machinery and wheel men not able to push it to the max is a little off-putting.

This forced tire degradation is right up there on the stupid list along with Bernies idea of artificial sprinklers (thankfully thats not implemented....yet)

I'm sure Pirelli can make damn good tires if this degradation crap wasnt implemented.

Joined the GAF GPP. I'm horrible at these things but should be fun.

Don't forget you have until 5mins before qualifying to enter vettel as winner, pole and fastest lap in the predictor.

TylerD said:

You know, at a certain point is it even racing if the main thing that a driver is concerned with is managing tyre degradation so they are unable to push 100%? These are the fastest road racing vehicles on the planet and some of the most gifted drivers in the world and they are being held back due to the rate of tyre wear all for the "spectacle".

I do enjoy the excitement but seeing the most technically impressive machinery and wheel men not able to push it to the max is a little off-putting.

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Now it wont happen because of safety concerns but that could be helped by allowing re-fuelling back into the sport. The problem with tyre management is worsened by the fact that at the start of the race the car is a whale compared to qualifying or the end of a race so it has a massive effect on tyre management.

Yes, the tyres will still go off when the cars are lighter, but at the very least it'll be more consistent, and the teams and drivers could then concentrate on getting the very best out of the tyres, rather than having to balance 2 very different set of requirements with the same car.

Anyway, entered the new prediction thing as we can't have our old one this year. Put Vettel as pole, but not to win, or even place. Grosjean's got to hit someone, right?

criesofthepast said:

Joined the GAF GPP. I'm horrible at these things but should be fun.

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Me too

TylerD said:

Don't know if I am going to F1 this year. Most likely just V8 Supercars in May.

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They're there in May? What period? I'm gonna have some time free then...

Also joined for the first time, sole greek on gaf league it seems.

AcridMeat said:

They're there in May? What period? I'm gonna have some time free then...

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17th-19th


Wow, up to 83 people in the league!

84 on the GAF league now. I just joined up (Tiger Racing sponsored by Amway. It's a hockey joke.)

Also, haven't posted much here during the off-season, but FUCK YEAH, IT'S TIME AGAIN!

How long till the 3rd practice session?

drifter444 said:

How long till the 3rd practice session?

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An hour I believe

The Australian coverage of the event has been absolutely appalling and riddled with ads so far. Does anyone know of a live stream for all the F1 sessions so that I can watch that instead?

Adamm said:

60 People now in the GPredictor league!
I was expecting around 20-30

http://gppredictor.com/league/join/code/21665c091c6d528a30cd654ff50a2035

Join up now if you havent already!

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Joined, probably gonna do horribly.

So any streams at all for practice 3?

Welp, there be the rain.

Still 23 degrees C here, but has just started pissing down.
Thankfully, premium seats have paid off this time, unlike povvo seats in 2012.

Currently no-one on track.

Lach said:

Looking forward to another exciting season. Last year started out with 7 different winners from 5 different teams and it looks like this could start out with the teams even closer together. After a win by Williams and 4 podium finishes by Sauber I hope the smaller teams will continue to close the gap and provide serious competition.

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Dead Man said:

Going through the calendar, there seems to be a lot of races that I only enjoy because it is a Formula 1 race, the tracks tracks are boring. Melbourne is not one of those, I really enjoy watching the cars here.

I really enjoy the first race of the season, regardless of where it is. The first chance to see the cars running in anger, the first real test of the teams work over the off season, and the first chance to see a new pecking order.

And my Schadenfreude is anticipating Chilton and Sutil failing miserably.

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dubc35 said:

After an amazing end to 2012 and a short offseason we're back in Melbourne. There are new faces in new places but the top three teams are still in the spotlight. The final evolutionary year before the revolutionary 2014 technical rules should prove to be exciting. I can't wait for the lights to go out!

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2012 Race Summary

Jenson Button made the better start away from the line, leading the field into the first corner. Lewis Hamilton slotted in behind him in second place. Romain Grosjean was overwhelmed at the first corner and fell from third to sixth, while Mark Webber fell down the order after making contact and getting sandwiched in between Jean-Éric Vergne and Nico Hülkenberg. The contact was heavy enough to end Hülkenberg's race. Additionally, at the first corner Sergio Pérez, after gaining several positions from at the start, was unable to avoid the rear wing of his Sauber teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, leaving Kobayashi's rear wing damaged for the remainder of the race. Meanwhile, Bruno Senna's Williams was turned sideways with two wheels airborne above Daniel Ricciardo's front wing, as a consequence both cars pitted on lap 1 leaving them effectively last in 19th and 20th respectively. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg settled into third and fourth before Rosberg was passed by Vettel. Grosjean made contact with Pastor Maldonado at Turn 13, the impact snapping Grosjean's steering arm and retiring the French driver on the spot. Fernando Alonso clawed his way up from twelfth to seventh. The minor placing benefited from the retirement of Schumacher on lap 10, when he ran wide across the run-off outside Turn 1 as he tried to nurse a gearbox problem, and he was seen limping down the approach to Turn 3. This left Vettel, who had been quickly catching Schumacher, in third place behind the two McLarens.

The first round of stops began with Felipe Massa on lap 14, the Ferrari driver complaining of a loss of grip in his rear tyres. Several other drivers pitted around the same time, foreshadowing a switch to a three-stop strategy. Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez went in the opposite direction; having started the race on the harder prime tyre, the Mexican driver stayed out longer than anyone else, once again aiming for the one-stop strategy he had used throughout the 2011 season. Button briefly yielded the race lead to Lewis Hamilton, but immediately took it back when Hamilton pitted on the very next lap. Hamilton's stop was significant as he emerged behind Pérez, who was matching Button's pace despite his older and harder tyres. This would ultimately leave Hamilton vulnerable to the third-placed Vettel. A radio transmission from Räikkönen broadcast where he asked why the blue light was flashing on his steering wheel. There was actually a problem with the computer program controlling the blue flags during the race. Jenson Button was getting some as well, and his race engineer confirmed that there was a slight malfunction on the race organizer's end.

Due to a steering problem, Vitaly Petrov retired his Caterham on the start/finish straight beside the pit wall. The position of the car was dangerous so the safety car was deployed on lap 37 to allow a truck to recover it. This led to a round of pit stops which, significantly, allowed Vettel to take second place from Hamilton. With the new rules allowing lapped cars to unlap themselves, Button now had to contend with Vettel, Hamilton, Webber and Alonso behind him. With the safety car returning to the pits after lap 41, Button opened up a three-second gap at the restart. Hamilton was unable to overtake Vettel for second place, and fell into the clutches of Webber in fourth. Pastor Maldonado harried Alonso for fifth, with a radio transmission from the Ferrari pit revealing that Alonso's tyres were quickly degrading. Maldonado was unable to find a way past Alonso, and ultimately crashed out on the final lap when he applied too much throttle too soon while still on the astroturf through the apex of turn 7. As a result of pushing hard in pursuit of Alonso and ten world championship points, his Williams was forced into a spin which he could not correct. He made heavy contact with the wall, but was not injured, and was ultimately classified thirteenth as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Further down the order, Felipe Massa made contact with Bruno Senna at Turn 3, with the Ferrari and Williams continuing on for some distance as they tried to untangle themselves from one another. Both cars developed punctures, and retired from the race as a result. Senna was able to remain out on the circuit long enough to complete 90% of the race distance, and he was classified sixteenth as a result.

Jenson Button went on to win the race, his third at the Albert Park Circuit in four years. Vettel crossed the line second, two seconds behind Button, while Hamilton held Webber off long enough to finish third. Webber crossed the line fourth, his best result at his home Grand Prix. Maldonado's accident meant that Fernando Alonso finished the race a lonely fifth, with Kamui Kobayashi scoring eight points for sixth place.

Going into the final lap of the race, Pérez in seventh led Rosberg ahead of Räikkönen — who had recovered from seventeenth on the grid to be running ninth — and Jean-Éric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Paul di Resta. Rosberg made contact with Pérez on the approach to the fast chicane at turns 11 and 12, allowing Räikkönen to overtake both of them. Vergne made a mistake at turn 13, opening the door for di Resta and Ricciardo to pass him, and the two fought over ninth place in a fierce sprint to the line. In fact, the racing was so unpredictable 8th to 11th position was separated by less than 0.4s. Räikkönen finished seventh ahead of Pérez (who like last year managed to complete the race with only a single pitstop), with Ricciardo finishing ninth ahead of di Resta in tenth, leaving Vergne to settle for eleventh. Rosberg, who had a left rear puncture from his earlier contact with Pérez, limped to the line in twelfth, twenty seconds behind Vergne. Maldonado's accident left him thirteenth, with Timo Glock in the sole surviving Marussia in fourteenth and one lap down on the leader.



[Click map for onboard lap]




Laps
Circuit length
Race length
Lap Record
Most Wins (Drivers)
Most Wins (Constructors)

Previous Winners & Pole Positions

2012 - Winner: Jenson Button - McLaren Mercedes
2011 - Winner: Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Renault
2010 - Winner: Jenson Button - McLaren Mercedes
2009 - Winner: Jenson Button - Brawn Mercedes
2008 - Winner: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes
2007 - Winner: Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari
2006 - Winner: Fernando Alonso - Renault
2005 - Winner: Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault

Videos highlighting the Australian Grand Prix

Highlights from the 2002 Australian Grand Prix

Highlights from the 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Changes from 2012

-Kerbs on the exit of turns 14 and 16, which had subsided prior to last year’s race, have been repaired.

-Shade cloth will be used again, installed behind the debris fence in the section of track between turns two and three.

GP Facts

- This will be the 29th F1 World Championship running of the Australian Grand Prix. It is the 18th consecutive year of the race being run at Albert Park, 16 of which have opened the Formula One season.

-In 1996, when the race moved to Albert Park, it produced the oddity of Australia hosting back-to-back grands prix, the closing race of 1995 having taken place at Adelaide.

-Albert Park is a temporary circuit with parts of the track used by general road traffic for the majority of the year. As such, it features unusually high grip-evolution (and thus falling laptimes) over the course of the weekend, as the track ‘rubbers-in’.

-In common with Abu Dhabi, the Australian Grand Prix has a local start time of 5pm. Unlike the event at Yas Island, this race finishes in daylight – but the low angle of the sun and the lengthening shadows have been known to make the latter stages of the race difficult for drivers.

-Another perennial problem in tree-lined Albert Park is leaves and twigs being sucked into car radiators.

-Of the current grid, Jenson Button is the standout performer, having won three times in the last four years. It leaves him one victory short of equalling Michael Schumacher’s F1-era record. Schumacher won the race in 2000, ’01, ’02, ’04.

-On 11 occasions from 17 starts, the winning driver at Albert Park has gone on to lift the Drivers’ Championship trophy at the end of the season.

-The race winner has started on pole eight times at Albert Park. The lowest starter to win was Eddie Irvine, who started 11th for Ferrari in 1999.

-Four drivers start this race for new teams, having moved during the off-season. Lewis Hamilton has moved from McLaren to Mercedes; Sergio Pérez from Sauber to McLaren; Nico Hülkenberg from Force India to Sauber and Charles Pic from Marussia to Caterham. Also, Adrian Sutil is beginning his second stint with Force India.

-Five rookies will contest the Australian Grand Prix: Esteban Gutiérrez (Sauber); Valtteri Bottas (Williams); Giedo van der Garde (Caterham); Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi (Marussia).

-Reigning GP2 Champion Davide Valsecchi is not among the rookie intake. He instead has signed as a test driver for Lotus in 2013. The only other GP2 champion to not move directly into an F1 race seat was 2008 winner Giorgio Pantano – who raced in F1 before going to GP2.

-Giedo van der Garde ends a barren spell for Dutch representation in Formula One. The Netherlands hasn’t had a driver in the Championship since Christijan Albers raced for Spyker for the first half of the 2007 season.

-The demise of HRT returns F1 to a 22-car grid for the first time since the opening rounds of 2008. During that season the withdrawal of Super Aguri after four rounds reduced it to 20. It expanded to 24 in 2010.



[Standings for the drivers, constructors, and fantasy league championship will be updated after the first race]

Figured I may as well post it now if no one is on track.

So hows the forecast for tomorrow?

drifter444 said:

So hows the forecast for tomorrow?

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pm sent about stream

I joined GP predictor as well. TylerD F1

Martin Withmarsh sounded like he was in a funeral.

Are there any streams that aren't Flash based? Otherwise I'm stuck because I only have my iPad and iPhone :/ Like an rtms or whatever they are.

Looks like the rain has stopped (for now) but already there's leaves on one section of the track so I don't know who'd want to go out there first and clean up...

Wait... Go Massa!

We should just name last years F1RM winner champ for life and never think about fantasy again.

I signed up to the Castrol/Cucumber thing, not a fan of the new format. Planning 2-3 races in advance was most of the strategy/fun and that's gone, but if more people can enjoy it for the whole year then that's good, guess we will see.

Did Sutil eat the dolphin? Definitely found something to snack on in the off time.

Berto said:

Martin Withmarsh sounded like he was in a funeral.

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His own. How will he survive another season as director if they struggle all season again?

S.Vettel.

Hmm... Vettel parks it.

Too much sand

Good to see Ricciardo has a silly sense of humour about him

'Cause honey badger just don't give a shit.

PS. What happened to Vettel? Just pulled over for no reason? At least Webber has best time on inters.

Hydraulics. With the KERS failure yesterday it's not looking like a good start engineering wise.

I can't see how Vettel will be able to take the title now after this major setback...

I don't know how the hell to make these predictions for the race. Oh well.

Yeeeehawwww, Lotus representing !

Twitter is saying it's douching rain in Albert Park right now. We may not learn much from qualy, or the GP if it keeps up.

dubc35 said:

Twitter is saying it's douching rain in Albert Park right now. We may not learn much from qualy, or the GP if it keeps up.

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It is. It made for a great V8 supercar race though.