2016 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 18-20

[djos]

It could also have to do with the selfie Hamilton took when riding a motorcycle. Safety minded fans and all.

Us Aussies would not boo him for that!

[F1NAC]

I remember they all were cheering after Vettel got wide off track

[SectorOne]

Hamilton so lucky he's got that mercedes, otherwise he gets eaten by the field in seconds. Average. It doesn't matter how much you screw up yourself, car will ultimately carry you to the podium.

Do you really have to hate on Hamilton in every other post you make?
Calling a 3 times F1 champion (and various other title) average doesn't make you appear any smarter.

Juzh has three areas he focuses 99.9% of his discussions on.

Vettel
Hamilton
Renault engine having a trillion horsepower less then the Mercedes engine

[dren]

Well Williams is saying they are now behind Toro Rosso in the pecking order. They are in the mix with Red Bull and FI. Interesting... TR really wrecked the strategy along with Verstappen stepping on it and pitting when he wants. He will continue to spin, go off, and crash on his own just like he did last year. It's a shame, that's a damn good car at the moment. Vettel back in the TR seat would be contending for podiums.

If Hamilton didn't botch the start, the race would have been a bore, even with the red flag. Mercedes had the pace and tire advantage. They would have dictated the strategy and Ferrari would have likely finished even further back.

One thing's for sure, the Haas (Ferrari 2015) car is capable of points, even without the excellent strategy call that 'won' them a free pit stop. Without any future qualification mishaps, they should be right in the mix.

[George-Jung]

Peoples, could we please stop bashing Verstappen..

Yes, he was wrong 2nd part of the race, but lets not forget what he did on Saturday and during the early part of the race. The boy is still only 18 and the most important thing is that the boy is talented and fast. He will learn communicating and controlling his temper.

[Juzh]

Hamilton so lucky he's got that mercedes, otherwise he gets eaten by the field in seconds. Average. It doesn't matter how much you screw up yourself, car will ultimately carry you to the podium.

Do you really have to hate on Hamilton in every other post you make?
Calling a 3 times F1 champion (and various other title) average doesn't make you appear any smarter.

Juzh has three areas he focuses 99.9% of his discussions on.

Vettel
Hamilton
Renault engine having a trillion horsepower less then the Mercedes engine

Can confirm.

[giantfan10]

If Hamilton didn't botch the start, the race would have been a bore, even with the red flag. Mercedes had the pace and tire advantage. They would have dictated the strategy and Ferrari would have likely finished even further back.

Everything after "IF" is pretty much your best guess at what would have happened based on what team you root for. Lol

[dren]

If Hamilton didn't botch the start, the race would have been a bore, even with the red flag. Mercedes had the pace and tire advantage. They would have dictated the strategy and Ferrari would have likely finished even further back.

Everything after "IF" is pretty much your best guess at what would have happened based on what team you root for. Lol

No, it is quite frankly based on the performance of the cars. If it was based on what team/driver I prefer, Button would have lapped the field 5 times over.

[Pierce89]

Hamilton so lucky he's got that mercedes, otherwise he gets eaten by the field in seconds. Average. It doesn't matter how much you screw up yourself, car will ultimately carry you to the podium.

Do you really have to hate on Hamilton in every other post you make?
Calling a 3 times F1 champion (and various other title) average doesn't make you appear any smarter.

Juzh has three areas he focuses 99.9% of his discussions on.

Vettel
Hamilton
Renault engine having a trillion horsepower less then the Mercedes engine

You've certainly got him nailed there. Also Red Bull is the best.

[turbof1]

Hamilton so lucky he's got that mercedes, otherwise he gets eaten by the field in seconds. Average. It doesn't matter how much you screw up yourself, car will ultimately carry you to the podium.

Do you really have to hate on Hamilton in every other post you make?
Calling a 3 times F1 champion (and various other title) average doesn't make you appear any smarter.

Juzh has three areas he focuses 99.9% of his discussions on.

Vettel
Hamilton
Renault engine having a trillion horsepower less then the Mercedes engine

I guess everybody needs to specialize in something these days .

[justmoi]

Bear in mind that Rosberg never showed his true pace when running on equal tires. He was stuck behind Kimi, so of course Vettel was able to build a bit of a gap. That gap was nothing extraordinary though - 7 secs is effectively 3.5 seconds between cars. Rosberg clearly dropped back a bit after he realized he wasnt going to easily pass him on track, yet the gap was sufficient enough to comfortably undercut him in the pits.. When you re-watch the race, note how close Rosberg actually got to Vettel when Vettel came out after covering Rosberg. Yes, they covered Vettel, not Kimi, but evidently by the gap to Vettel, Kimi never stood a chance once Rosberg pitted, that much was evident.

I got a bit confused with the stints and actually wrote that wrong.

I was meaning to say that Vettel build that 7sec gap at the start of the 2nd stint when he came out of the pits only just in front of Rosberg. Rosberg was as close as he can be directly behind Vettel yet only several laps later he was already trailing by 7sec. Therefore he managed to keep up in the later phases mostly because it was crucial for Vettel to make the SS tires last. There is no question Ferrari on SS is much much faster than Mercedes on M. It's silly to suggest otherwise.

I'm watching the race again. Second stint Rosberg was running within two seconds of Seb until Lewis held him up. When Lewis pitted immediately after safety car came out. After Lewis held him up timing screen showed Rosberg 3.5 seconds behind Seb as off when safety car came out. Few seconds after and still under safety car timing showed Rosberg 7 seconds behind, which would no doubt have meant he backed off. So I don't think it's accurate to suggest Seb opened up 7 seconds to Rosberg on pace.

Just saying

[dot235]

Bear in mind that Rosberg never showed his true pace when running on equal tires. He was stuck behind Kimi, so of course Vettel was able to build a bit of a gap. That gap was nothing extraordinary though - 7 secs is effectively 3.5 seconds between cars. Rosberg clearly dropped back a bit after he realized he wasnt going to easily pass him on track, yet the gap was sufficient enough to comfortably undercut him in the pits.. When you re-watch the race, note how close Rosberg actually got to Vettel when Vettel came out after covering Rosberg. Yes, they covered Vettel, not Kimi, but evidently by the gap to Vettel, Kimi never stood a chance once Rosberg pitted, that much was evident.

I got a bit confused with the stints and actually wrote that wrong.

I was meaning to say that Vettel build that 7sec gap at the start of the 2nd stint when he came out of the pits only just in front of Rosberg. Rosberg was as close as he can be directly behind Vettel yet only several laps later he was already trailing by 7sec. Therefore he managed to keep up in the later phases mostly because it was crucial for Vettel to make the SS tires last. There is no question Ferrari on SS is much much faster than Mercedes on M. It's silly to suggest otherwise.

I'm watching the race again. Second stint Rosberg was running within two seconds of Seb until Lewis held him up. When Lewis pitted immediately after safety car came out. After Lewis held him up timing screen showed Rosberg 3.5 seconds behind Seb as off when safety car came out. Few seconds after and still under safety car timing showed Rosberg 7 seconds behind, which would no doubt have meant he backed off. So I don't think it's accurate to suggest Seb opened up 7 seconds to Rosberg on pace.

Just saying

Were are probably talking about different parts of the race.

Mercedes attempted to undercut Vettel with the pitstop.
They almost made it as Rosberg was sitting right behind Vettel's gearbox.
Then Vettel started steadily opening the gap. It kept increasing until the red flag.

If not red flag, there is no way on earth Mercedes could have gotten 1-2. Not only because of that gap, but their tires would be completely gone with some 3 laps to go making it very easy to overtake them even on this track.

no red flag = ~7sec in Vettel's favor + bigger Merc tyre deg (or converted strategy) = Vettel retakes the lead comfortably before the checkered flag.

[giantfan10]

If Hamilton didn't botch the start, the race would have been a bore, even with the red flag. Mercedes had the pace and tire advantage. They would have dictated the strategy and Ferrari would have likely finished even further back.

Everything after "IF" is pretty much your best guess at what would have happened based on what team you root for. Lol

No, it is quite frankly based on the performance of the cars. If it was based on what team/driver I prefer, Button would have lapped the field 5 times over.

And how exactly did u figure out the race pace of the front running cars? when do you compare them? first stint on same compound when vettel was in clean air? second stint on different compounds? third stint(Vettel) on different compounds? is this purely based on qualifying? If there wasn't a red flag...... if.. if ... if...

[Phil]

Were are probably talking about different parts of the race.

Mercedes attempted to undercut Vettel with the pitstop.
They almost made it as Rosberg was sitting right behind Vettel's gearbox.
Then Vettel started steadily opening the gap. It kept increasing until the red flag.

If not red flag, there is no way on earth Mercedes could have gotten 1-2. Not only because of that gap, but their tires would be completely gone with some 3 laps to go making it very easy to overtake them even on this track.

no red flag = ~7sec in Vettel's favor + bigger Merc tyre deg (or converted strategy) = Vettel retakes the lead comfortably before the checkered flag.

Bear in mind, in this situation; we'd still have ~40 laps to go; Rosberg on softs, Vettel supersofts. Even with 7 seconds gap, i have no doubt Rosberg would have gotten closer, as a result of more durable tires. Vettel pits earlier for the last stint, which would have likely put him back in the lead once Rosberg had pitted, back on SS or fresher softs. I am confident Rosberg would have closed that gap, but i too would be inclined to think that Rosberg might not have found a way past Vettel.

[giantfan10]

Were are probably talking about different parts of the race.

Mercedes attempted to undercut Vettel with the pitstop.
They almost made it as Rosberg was sitting right behind Vettel's gearbox.
Then Vettel started steadily opening the gap. It kept increasing until the red flag.

If not red flag, there is no way on earth Mercedes could have gotten 1-2. Not only because of that gap, but their tires would be completely gone with some 3 laps to go making it very easy to overtake them even on this track.

no red flag = ~7sec in Vettel's favor + bigger Merc tyre deg (or converted strategy) = Vettel retakes the lead comfortably before the checkered flag.

Bear in mind, in this situation; we'd still have ~40 laps to go; Rosberg on softs, Vettel supersofts. Even with 7 seconds gap, i have no doubt Rosberg would have gotten closer, as a result of more durable tires. Vettel pits earlier for the last stint, which would have likely put him back in the lead once Rosberg had pitted, back on SS or fresher softs. I am confident Rosberg would have closed that gap, but i too would be inclined to think that Rosberg might not have found a way past Vettel.

For a Ferrari to pass a Mercedes or Mercedes getting past Ferrari it looks like on that track you needed a drastic difference in grip levels....The DRS zone was useless