2014 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne

[SiLo]

They use a lot less fuel as they use less throttle. They usually turn the engine down as well to help the driver deal with the power.

[turbof1]

A positive effect. Cars will run almost automatically slower and thus consume less. Furthermore, saving extra fuel is less costly because the emphasis starts to get down to feeling how much grip there is in corners. So lifting and coasting will not be a huge issue.

[Juzh]

By 2/10 with a car that was clearly rain optimized. Something which then bit them in their backsides heavily during a dry race. Meanwhile Vettel killed opposition in malaysia and brazil by much larger margins.

[Unc1eM0nty]

Agreed that tyre temp in the wet is everything with the Pirelli's, such a shame, wet conditions used to be a great leveller.

I fear that the new cars could be undriveable in the wet with so much torque and so little downforce.

[ecapox]

Agreed that tyre temp in the wet is everything with the Pirelli's, such a shame, wet conditions used to be a great leveller.

I fear that the new cars could be undriveable in the wet with so much torque and so little downforce.

Heavens! I wonder how they survived in the early-mid 80s?!

[Unc1eM0nty]

Agreed that tyre temp in the wet is everything with the Pirelli's, such a shame, wet conditions used to be a great leveller.

I fear that the new cars could be undriveable in the wet with so much torque and so little downforce.

Heavens! I wonder how they survived in the early-mid 80s?!

Haha, fair point I guess, I'm hoping with so much wheel spin keeping the tyres up to temp wont be a problem

[Del Boy]

A power plant conceived 2 years ago mated to a teams chassis are about to take their place in the history books. The biggest challenge ever to face Formula1 is about to played out on the worlds television screens. None of the teams know if their car can do 5 laps let alone 58 laps. The power plant is genuinely at the cutting edge of current technology. For the first time in 65 years we are stepping into the unknown. What is for sure, one team and one man stand on precipice of a major achievement!
And some say Formula 1 is boring!!

[Juzh]

Funny that you mentioned Vettel in monza because the toro rosso was clearly pretty quick at that point of the season; his teammate bourdais was on the second row of the grid at that race; and even though he stalled, once he got going he was doing similar laptimes to Vettel. Also, had hamilton qualified in the top 10 there, I think he would have made it a lot harder for vettel.

I didn't say toro rosso was bad. It was not on a mclaren level though by any stretch of imagination. I'm sure it would of been harder had others not blew theirs qualis, but they did.

Had it continued to rain, Lewis would have won it easily. He was catching Vettel like a mad man but then it stopped raining and he had to pit.

My memory is sketchy here but wasn't he supposed to pit for refuelling anyway? I remember Vettel being told on the radio "hamilton HAS to stop again". Vettel was already fully loaded for the final stint at that time?

Irrelevant anyway, I'm not saying Vettel is better than lewis. All I'm saying is hamilton is still for whatever reason perceived as the second coming when it comes to rain, when in fact his glory days are long gone. People praise his silverstone win, but dismiss Vettel's monza on a number of excuses.

[iotar__]

A power plant conceived 2 years ago mated to a teams chassis are about to take their place in the history books. The biggest challenge ever to face Formula1 is about to played out on the worlds television screens. None of the teams know if their car can do 5 laps let alone 58 laps. The power plant is genuinely at the cutting edge of current technology. For the first time in 65 years we are stepping into the unknown. What is for sure, one team and one man stand on precipice of a major achievement!
And some say Formula 1 is boring!!

Yes, potentially boring - one engine (or three tire) formula with one (two?) possible winner combined with not pushing 100% (tragedy of 2013) and random results (apocalypse of 2012).

Reliability most important and "hare against turtle", no one will take risks counting on someone else running out of fuel or falling apart. Crowd that barely survived brilliant racing Pirelli era must be leaving F1 altogether in disgust. Or maybe not - if rules benefit my favourite driver/team and there's no crusade from media selling particular teams/driver it's apparently quite OK to have not pushing 100% F1. Pinnacle of hypocrisy.

BTW this thread quickly turned into who's my favourite driver (in the wet) and blaming Pirelli for his (only bad) performances .

[djos]

TBH I'll be quite surprised if there aren't 2 Williams F1 cars on the podium on Sunday (assuming RG and his team mate don't start anywhere near them)!

Their reliability has been the class of the field so far.

[beelsebob]

TBH I'll be quite surprised if there aren't 2 Williams F1 cars on the podium on Sunday (assuming RG and his team mate don't start anywhere near them)!

My bet for now is:
1. HAM
2. ROS + 2.0
3. MAS + 20.0
4. BUT + 25.0
5. BOT + 26.0

Of course, this is all wildly speculative just now based on testing.

[Racer X]

I bet

Hulk
Ham
Ros
Button
Massa
Per
Bottas

[Godius]

I bet

Hulk
Ham
Ros
Button
Massa
Per
Bottas

Good one but I would rearrange the top 3 if it was my bet: 1. Rosberg, 2. Hülkenberg, 3. Hamilton.

[diemaster]

1- ROS
2- ALO
3- HAM
4- BOT
5- RAI
6- MAS
7- BUT
8- MAG

[voicey]

My bet for now is:
1. HAM
2. ROS + 2.0
3. MAS + 20.0
4. BUT + 25.0
5. BOT + 26.0

Those are lap differences right?