2012 Australian GP: Qualifying *** Spoilers ***

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/73302.html

 

This season looks to be quite promising with at least 3 competitive teams - Merc / McLaren and Red Bull. I will wait to see if Lotus' performance is a flash in the pan or consistent and they can develop a car. Ferrari is at least a second a lap slower. Hopefully they will get competitive by mid season.

 

I cannot agree more, Nico blew it on two hot laps when in Q3. He was awesome through Q1 and Q2, but on both hot laps in Q3 he made an error.

Michael did a great job. Should be a terrific race, very sad about Ferrari though.

 

Better they don't hold up the quick guys.

 

John, you had very valid points all along, especially considering the build up of the MB technical staff throughout last year. My prediction on Thursday was Hamilton on pole and MS second with some friends.

 

With how poorly Narain was acting out on the track yesterday theres no reason they should be allowed to race.

 

you got predictions right but fans of this sport in general are mostly biased anyway

 

I think you're wrong here. Sure we are upset over Alonso's mistake. But at least he was driving well enough to have a good chance to be in Q3. Massa barely made it out of Q1 on soft tires and only did so because of Kimi's mistake.

Lastly, when Alonso went out, Massa had a golden chance to be a hero for the team and his fans. He failed.

Alonso may have screwed up but Massa hasn't shown any pace in this car ever.

Either Alonso is the greatest driver on the circuit or Massa is too weak. I think the latter.

 

Sorry I'm late to the party but after watching Q on the DVR it seems like we're in for a great season. (assuming you're an F1 fan not a Ferrari fan).
The rules change has really mixed things up. Killing the blown diffusers and the exotic throttle mapping has put RB (renault) back into the pack. It has also made the cars a lot tougher to drive putting a premium on skill vs tech. Always a good thing.
Tire performance in race mode is still unknown and the new Pirelli's may suit some cars and pilots better than others but baring that it looks like we have many more drivers in contention for wins than in a long long time.
In that no one looks to be likely to put a lock on the championship quickly Ferrari may have time to effect a rethink and still contend. But I suspect that it might be a good year to send the Maranello church bells out for a refurb.

 

Relax boys its not thst bad. There is still the x factor of tire wear during the race and Alonso can easily move well into the points. He did look like a tw@t though treating the marshal like that.

 

Step back from the ledge everyone! What a bunch of whiners! Bwah, bwah, bwah. F1 is hard, as it should be. Just because the cars are red doesn't give 'em the right to be at the front as some here seem to believe.....

From Fred - I do like his "hypothetically" disclaimer though

Deja vue all over again? I'm pretty sure I could go back to this exact point last year and find pretty much the same "culprits" howling the same howls;

- Fire everyone, from LdM thru Stefano & the drivers to the truck drivers. [They did fire Aldo and it seems he's not doing badly at Merc.....]
- Hire Newey - Ain't gonna happen.
- Bring back Rory - While I'd like to see him again, apparently "his" floor has already been thrown on the scrap heap.
- They need to innovate - Now they're being crucified for trying to innovate too much!
- They need to be conservative - Doesn't get you anywhere.
- They should throw in the towel and do next years car! We haven't had a single race yet!
- There's no testing, so they're screwed for the whole year. They won race 9 last year folks. OK, not what we were hoping for but they can still develop a car. While I agree the no testing rule sucks, and it does mean you better be good straight outta the box, it is the same for all of 'em. Maybe, just maybe, a little more time and they can unlock this things secrets - I happen to think they're both as good at development as almost anyone else out there. And they're vastly experienced - Does anyone honestly believe there's a driver out there that could have done better in what is patently, currently, a turd? Di Resta? Koby? and now, of course, Lettuce will be thrown into the fray..... None of these guys are (yet) entitled to carry Freds jock IMO.

All they can do now is keep their heads down and try and work it out - Just like everyone else. It would be nice to have the front row (or even be in Q3 ) but as always, there's only two guys that can be there. RBR aren't "happy" either, but I doubt if they'll throw in the towel quite yet.

Cheers,
Ian

 

McHam and Jenson's 1-2 in qualifying isn't a good portent as Mclaren tend to get stronger throughout the year. Judging from Whitmarsh's comments, they're likely readying a version of their own Super-DRS by the time Spain rolls around.

 

+1

Pat Fry (I guess there'll be calls for his head next! )

Dunno how many the others have left, but it's ain't over till the fat lady does her thing. IIRC, the Mclaren wasn't going too well over long distances in testing - Maybe they'll eat their tires. They're not gonna be on the podium (barring weirdness) but hopefully both will score some points and that's gotta be a positive......

Cheers,
Ian

 

I actually don't particularly care for Mclaren but I do like Vettel.

 

Great post Ian. Thanks

 

I guessed Hamilton on pole as well. The Mclaren was hiding a good amount during testing. That thing is quick all over. Although I'm very curious to know just how good it will be at a real track like Malaysia. Really looking forward to that one.

 

Me as well John, I honestly thought Nico was going to be in 1st or 2nd during Qualifying. I thought he had it on his first hot lap in Q3, but he made a big error, then he locked up hard on his next flyer in Q3. Now I think he has the right car, but needs to keep a bit more self control and he will be fine.

 

Great posts but feel its time someone is held to account, the team principal runs the team and thus he is accountantable. Blaming driver is pointless they are only driving whats looking like a dog of a car in the mould of the 312 T5.

If by mid season the car is still a dog I think heads should roll and the team principal must the first to go because by then it would be clear as a leader he cannot get the most out of those he manages.

If we as Ferrari fans are honest last years car wasnt good either and it didnt get much better through the year, this years car is at this point in time worse then last years, again is these results persist its clear Ferrari going backwards.

 

Yeah Nico really tried to push it to crack out his first pole position, and I can't blame him. But I noticed Schu experimented with the tires during FP3 to see what their brake-away point was at that specific corner. Perhaps Nico should have done that. Also, Michael definitely lost a tenth during his S3 hot lap due to a small turn in error at the penultimate corner. I bet nerves were getting him as well! How awesome would it have been to have Hamilton and Schu at P1,2 though

 

Last year they were 1.4 seconds off, this year "only" a second (!) So, you could make an argument (as Fred did above) that that's progress.......

As for Stefano, he didn't design the thing! OK, he's the team principal but what positive is going to come from chopping him? They'll have to hire/promote another fall guy, the team would have to get used to a new leader, all the engineers will be more worried about their jobs than making progress and so on. I just don't think it would achieve anything positive.

OTOH, Nick T *has* been penning these turds for a few years - Maybe it is time for 'em to revisit his place as chief designer? [Although, it seems to me he was told to pursue an "aggressive strategy" to try and get 'em back to the front, and that's always a high risk scenario as we know......]

Cheers,
Ian

 

The grid could have ended up quite differently. Not to take anything away from anyones performance but a lot drivers owe their slots to either their good fortune or the bad luck and timing of others. The predictability of recent years is gone. For now...

 

+1

The front *seventeen* cars are covered by just over 1.7 seconds! On a ~1.30 lap I think that's incredible and about as close as we've seen 'em for a long time. It's not like Mclaren blew everyone's doors off! And (with respect to Aircon ) "it is only Australia" - Round one, on a street course is well known to not portend the future very well..... They would have got away with their mistakes in Malaysia given the tarmac runoff areas for example.

Cheers,
Ian

 

The rules changers have achieved their end.
Its (very) early days yet but I think that this may be the most competitive season in years.

 

Would have loved to see MS in 2nd just so he could have been at the Press Conference, here is to him finishing in the top 3 tomorrow. I personally think they will finish:

1) Hami
2) Button
3) MS

But who knows.

 

But the ones howling for Massa's head were proved right over the year, and with Oz practice and qualifying Massa has firmly established that they were right last year already.

Honestly, he'll spin at the slightest sign of damp, guaranteed that he slows down more than others when it gets wet, he's always been useless when it's not dry. He's still 0.5 - 1.0 seconds behind Alonso, all the time. As someone else pointed out, when Alonso spun out of Q2 it was Massa's chance to shine and be a team hero - instead, he might as well not have left the garage, finishing 4 places back of his teammate who only got one lap in!! Alonso would have at least made Q3, Massa was lucky to make Q2, only because of Renault/Kimi screwups in Q1.

The argument for keeping Massa seems to be only that he's experienced and knows the team and could anyone do better? Bogus argument; imagine if Ferrari had grabbed Grosjean for 2012 - you think Grosjean couldn't have done better than Massa? There are at minimum 3 or 4 of last years or this years rookies that would do better than Massa. Massa is an embarrassment to the team, and brings nothing to aid the results. Now is the time to cut him loose, put a promising junior or rookie driver in the car to grow with the team this year.