2015 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne

[f1316]

I'm interested to get a better understanding of how the tyres behave in proper conditions- for some reason I have a feeling they might be a bit more of a handful than we've seen so far.

I don't want to see wet qualifying; always nice to get a definitive understanding of the pecking order after quali and we've been robbed of that in the past two years.

A bit more handful will not be enough, they last forever and I don't think they can play with compound choices (like last season). No risk soft-medium for Australia? Pecking order: Australia is a weird track, let's wait for Malaysia + 2 following races.

Both for the whole season and first race: at least fight for second place should be interesting. Hopefully no more situations where losing 8 places at the start or blowing qualifying doesn't matter and drivers end up in predetermined places no matter what. If it's close between RB, Ferrari, Williams every mistake should count which is good. Might be interesting with strategies, qualifying vs race pace, top speed/tyres etc.; different strengths and weaknesses.

Pity Lotus is nowhere near this group, best engine and on Toro Rosso's level. When the main topic is reliability (everyone is reliable) and hopes for improvements (which means we are slow) it's not a good sign.

I don't think we can make any assumptions on how the tyres last or work based on testing - the conditions were so much colder than they'll be Oz.

One thought that occurs is that Mercedes- who have been able to get a lot (sometimes too much) heat into their tyres for years- were able to switch on the soft tyres much better than the other teams, who could only get the super softs in the right range .

Also, if for example Mercedes' pre-2014 tyre problem returns (definitely saw Paul embry calling this year's tyres more aggressive a few months ago) then it changes things completely. Someone noted in the testing thread that they could afford another pit stop over the others, but that's not the whole point- in Spain 2013 for example they were lightning in qualy but losing seconds per lap regardless of how much they tried to look after their tyres.

I'm not saying either is going to happen- most likely everything will pan out as anticipated- but testing in European winter just can't possibly tell the full story, so tyre-related twists are still possible.

[DarkJRO]

Hope Alonso travels to Melbourne to keep Ron company
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McLaren-Honda has to provide that Alonso is there. Overwise roumors will spread again
I mean if it's really "just" the second-impact-syndrome what causes him not to race, he should be there an watch everything in the team on that weekend, because he surely would drive the second race. But was there something else (e.g. electronic shock) in his testcrash, what would cause him not to drive this car, he would not have any reason to be in australia with the team.
So just to stop the roumors, McLaren should make sure that Alsonso is in Australia.

So IF we get a dry qualy, and in an ideal world no one suffers any issues how do you guys see the head to heads coming out in the Saturday ? I see it like this

Merc Ham above Ros
RedB Ric above Kvy
Will Bot above Mas
Ferr Vet above Rai
Mcl But above Mag
F.I Hul above Per
ToRo Ves above Sai
Lotu Mal above Gro
Man Wil above xxx
Saub Nas above Eri

In this perfect world and just regarding the team fights, i think these are certain:
Merc Ham above Ros
Ferr Vet above Rai
Mcl But above Mag
F.I Hul above Per
the other battles are quite hard to judge for me.

I hope that we get a dry weekend so everyone can go to their limit, so that we can get a better view where erveryone is standing. I personally think that Merc is miles away. After that there should be Ferrari (at least in the quali because their hotlap pace looked promising) before Williams. Maybe they switch position in the race.
Than there should be RedBull. I don't think they showed everything in testing and i'm not sure how much renault has gainied over the winter, but think of last year, than Ricciardo made the 3rd place (if the forget about the fuelflow ). So they could be strong again this year

[dren]

Qualification:
1. Rosberg
2. Hamilton +.100
3. Massa +.750

Race:
1. Hamilton
2. Rosberg
3. Ricciardo

[Harsha]

Tire Choices for Australia
Option - Soft , Prime - Medium (same as 2014)

[PlatinumZealot]

Hope Alonso travels to Melbourne to keep Ron company

He has to - Ron will need a shoulder to cry on

Those fluffy eyebrows are very absorbent. They will make the perfect hankies for Ron to wipe his tears with.

[Jonnycraig]

In related news, Omnicorse report that even if Manor pass crash tests in time, they still haven't paid for the suspension & bodywork from suppliers who understandably want cadsh upfront. Equally they report that Marussia's brake by wire was banned after Suzuka, so the team will use the Ferrari system from the F14.

http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/49343/ ... re-il-muso

For the race itself, personally I have little interest or excitement for the season ahead. Realistically barring catastrophic reliability problems, Merc & Hamilton will have the titles wrapped up by the summer break.

When people are with a straight face admitting that the main excitement comes from which Ferrari is 7th and which 8th, you know the product on offer is not up to much.

[SectorOne]

They remind me of SAAB, don´t have the cash to play but somehow is still lingering around and won´t die.
Just kill it with fire and await a team that actually can afford to play the game (HAAS)

[Juzh]

They remind me of SAAB, don´t have the cash to play but somehow is still lingering around and won´t die.
Just kill it with fire and await a team that actually can afford to play the game (HAAS)

For once we agree on something.

[Manoah2u]

Rosberg DNF
Massa DNF
Kvyat DNF

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Magnussen
4. Bottas
5. Ricciardo

you read it here

Alonso's scream can be heard from the mars rover.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Let the chase begin !

[ME4ME]

Somehow expecting the resurgence of Raikkonen. We all expect Vettel lead Ferrari, but Kimi looked very sharp in testing. He got a great beating by Alonso last year, but in a car he likes, he can be darn quick. Should be interesting

[WaikeCU]

Somehow expecting the resurgence of Raikkonen. We all expect Vettel lead Ferrari, but Kimi looked very sharp in testing. He got a great beating by Alonso last year, but in a car he likes, he can be darn quick. Should be interesting

That's the thing about Kimi. The only thing he likes about F1 is the driving part. He doesn't care about anything else. Kimi always talks about driving for a team that can offer him a championship winning car. I don't think he's the driver you need to develop a car. He's more a driver that puts a banging lap on the board before heading for a good afternoon nap. If the Ferrari turns spot on for Kimi, I believe he'll be up there with the best. I consider him the 2nd best driver on racecraft in the field. The no. 1 isn't present in Melbourne.

[GoranF1]

Fernando fan since 2003...i am trying to find inspiration to watch this race every day since he annunced he will not race.
The only interesting thing i can think of,is to see how will Honda handle first race.

[dren]

Rosberg DNF
Massa DNF
Kvyat DNF

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Magnussen
4. Bottas
5. Ricciardo

you read it here

Alonso's scream can be heard from the mars rover.

That's a ballsy prediction. You'd take Magnussen for 3rd before you'd take Button? I don't see how either Mclaren will finish the race, let alone start it.

[dren]

I'm expecting a good battle between Grosjean and Verstappen.