FORMULA 1 2018 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: RACE *** SPOILERS ***

Great race, Great win for Seb.

What I took from the race is the top 3 is tighter than expected in race trim and Hass can be in that mix as well once they get there stuff together.. Seb seems to be the master of tire management as I did not expect him to go as long as he did.

What has not changed from last season? Hammy is still a huge crybaby along with all of his fanboys

Sorry Liberty but the "Grid Kids" have go to go.

 

Is it possible to vomit in an F1 car???? Sainz and his water pump issue.

 

Congrats to Vettel hopefully it's a good sign for this year

 

Exactly. Take out all the batteries and such things. Replace with bigger fuel tank. Even keep the V6. Add in 2 turbos (conventional, off the shelf ones). Give minimum weights of engine block so fancy materials won't be used. Cost of engine will go down to 100K. Turbos 5K each, so a no brainer if they do blow up. Easy and chump change to replace. No need for stupid penalties for using an extra turbo that needs to last a ridiculous 7 races. At this rate use an engine a weekend and it would still be cheaper than using 1 engine of current regs for the entire season...

The sport needs to be dumbed down. Significantly. F1 is supposed to be a sprint race. It's now Le Mans, broken up into 20 weekends. stupid stupid stupid.

 

Webber has done it...

 

Please be patient with Ferrari fans celebrating at this moment, they are not use to winning

 

Kimi vs. Lewis

 

It isn’t.

Seems to be the same as last year.

Mercedes still has the fastest car and it took a rare occurrence(to happen at the exact moment) for Ferrari to win.

Hamilton would have won that easily if not for the safety car and who knows what would have happened if bottas did not crash.

More work needs to be done by Ferrari.

 

Was Bottas' car not set up correctly after the rebuild? It took him forever to work through the pack.

Or are the 2018 cars so aero sensative there is no passing even with DRS?

Lewis couldn't get past SEB even with Party Mode. Granted Sebs tires were newer,... but... DRS plus 0.6-0.7 sec party mode advantage. I would have though he would've blown by.

 

It's the latter mate...cars are so aero sensitive overtaking is neigh on impossible. There's an ''overtaking group'' that Ross Brawn has set up a long time ago now but my guess is that their offices are as busy as Enron these days...

 

That's my take as well. Shocking Elton couldn't pass Seb. Same with Bottas progress working through the pack. and P3-P10/11 during the last 1/3 of the race... just a parade.

 

The Mercedes is faster during quali, that's for damn sure. Race pace we simply do not know accurately. In the early stages Lewis didn't get a big gap to Kimi (IIRC 3 seconds prior to Kimi's pit). At this time it would've been advantageous for Lewis to try and build as big a gap as possible. This track is pretty much impossible to overtake so Kimi couldn't get close enough, neither could Hamilton in party mode later in the race to Vettel. After Vettel got the lead, there where no more stops coming so there would be no point for Vettel to go on a massive charge and tax the engine (I know, "racing"...right?), all he had to do is block the track a little if Lewis came too close. My guess is Vettel drove into mode 7 out of 10, enough to have a sizable dose of energy if he needed it to defend. Lewis in party mode couldn't do anything.

We need a proper track to see who really is the fastest and by how much. IMO the Mercedes still looks to be the faster but by how much is unknown. I think 3-4 tenths or thereabouts. What is true though....be in the front and you effectively control the race. Aero makes it too hard to come close enough.

 

Yep. Even Verstappen couldn't overtake, nor could Ricciardo apart from his move on Hulkenberg early in the race. FIA fails to act again. Again the deadline for next years rules is May. Will anything be done to sort out aero for overtaking? My guess is no and we'll be stuck with the same **** in 2019. It's not racing. It's as you say, a parade.

Vettel winning today and I was bored to tears.

 

Talk about Ferrari and Mclaren getting about as lucky as one can possibly get. Worried for the season, without the VSC HAM runs away with that one.

 

Seb finding the address and taking the high road.....class and sportmanship. That's how you do it Lewis. In your "effing" face.



Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association) Seb, do you take any extra satisfaction in the win today, given the comments that Lewis made yesterday about wiping the smile off your face after qualifying?

SV: Not really. He said he was joking and I believe him. I think we are old enough, I don’t think we need to go on that sort of level. It’s fine as long as we joke with each other and I don’t think… apart from a point last year, we don’t have a problem with each other. I think even if we are very different persons, I think we share – all of us – a common passion and that makes us quite equal again. We love racing and we try to do our best, once we’re in the car and beat all the others. I think in that regard, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get on with each other.

Q: Do you see it the same way, Lewis?

LH: Sorry, I wasn’t listening.

Q: No reason you shouldn’t get on with each other?

LH: Don’t think so, no.

 

I’m happy for Sens win but I’d sure like to see it done on merit. Ironically I just posted yesterday that hoping we capitalize on a Merc mistake just isn’t all that exciting. It’s racing... true... but not my favorite kind. Lewis deserves the win... he scorched everyone on Saturday and today... but again thats racing and Ferrari should be grateful for the win which I think they are. I don’t believe they’re under any illusions at this point

The real new to me was Bottas. What s joke of a race for him. If Hass could’ve figured out how to put tires on a car, he may have finished outside the points if a couple other things didn’t happen. How in the world could he not blow through the pack like Lewis or Seb? Maybe his car wasn’t 100% but he looked like an also-ran out there wearing daddy’s suit.

Max was just as disappointing. Yeah I’m sure he “could’ve pipped” everyone in qually but it sure didn’t translate in the race. Wild and out of control with nothing to show for it. But like both him and Ric...they spend too much time waxing philosophical about what could’ve/should’ve happened.

This changes nothing for me. It was still a disheartening event that showed Merc is so far ahead of everyone else...again... and that with exception of a circuit here or there, the only way anyone will win is if Merc hands it to them like they did today.

 

I had a friend in a Supercross race barf inside of his helmet landing from a jump. Needless to say he did not make the next corner, hit the wall of the stadium and broke his arm and 3 ribs.

 

oooouch.

 

They need to do something about the number of tracks where overtaking is impossible. It took the VSC to generate most of the 'passing.' WTF.

Some positives:

-Ferrari race pace looks solid
-Merc are ahead but behind them comparable Ferrari and RB should make for great races
-Awesome to see Alonso back in action.
-McLaren and Renault will catch Haas due to resources. Mid-field is going to be an awesome spectacle this year.
-Bottas said the engine gap has definitely closed up, that his engine wasn't as much an advantage on the Renault powered cars as in previous years.

Bottas has had overheating, thought they miscalculated cooling.

 

Wolff now says they lost from a software mistake.

Lame. F1 is a video game now. Drivers don't matter.

 

Positives from today’s race..... can’t think of any! Oh one, missus let me loaf on the sofa for a bit.

Negatives.

- Stupid signs at the side of the track instead of pit girls; DULL

- Far far too much aero. I’m not sure anybody overtook another car on track? Might have been one or two but that’s it. They really need to sort this out. DULL

I grew up with f1 in the 70s and 80s and loved it! Senna, Prost, mansell etc etc

This era is just BORING!!!!! As Coultard said at about lap 45 ish; that’s the positions to the line!!!

 

Please be patient with McLaren fans.

They are not used to finishing 5th.

 

Too much aero but waaaaaaaaay too much software.

 

James Hunt did on at least one occasion. I think that he actually won the race?

 

Actually it's pretty easy. Squirt some water down your throat. You'll gag for sure. It's a reflex.