2010 Formula One Spoilers

your comments never made it clear to me that you were only referring to the first day/s of testing. i think you're just making stuff up to suit your argument.

 

Organisers are considering moving the Australian grand prix from Albert Park to Avalon, a suburb about 40 minutes from Melbourne.

A report in the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper said the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) has been granted $130,000 in funding by the FIA to look into building a $200m permanent circuit.

The Albert Park race contract runs through 2015, but it is believed the Avalon plans are designed to accommodate floodlight night racing and therefore boost Melbourne's chance of retaining the grand prix in the long term.

The proposed site is owned by Australian transport company Linfox, whose director Andrew Fox said a year ago that moving the race from Albert Park means taxpayers would no longer foot the costs of preparing the temporary circuit each year.

"I'm happy to put the capital up on behalf of the (Fox) family at Avalon and build a world class standard," said Fox.

The CAMS/FIA study is being conducted by UK experts.

"We, as part of the feasibility study, will be looking at a whole range of options and opportunities for a potential venue at Avalon," CAMS chief executive Graham Fountain confirmed.

Victorian sports minister James Merlino added: "A decision to relocate the race is ultimately up to government, regardless of CAMS's findings."



Source: GMM

 

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:55.409 23
2 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.854 0.445 22
3 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:55.903 0.494 23
4 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:56.076 0.667 28
5 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:56.459 1.050 18
6 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.501 1.092 26
7 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:56.555 1.146 30
8 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:56.750 1.341 26
9 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:57.140 1.731 25
10 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.255 1.846 24
11 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.352 1.943 27
12 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:57.361 1.952 29
13 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:57.452 2.043 21
14 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.833 2.424 29
15 11 Robert Kubica Renault 1:58.155 2.746 29
16 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:59.799 4.390 31
17 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 2:00.444 5.035 12
18 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.873 5.464 23
19 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.990 5.581 14
20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.037 6.628 3
21 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.188 6.779 21
22 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:06.968 11.559 17
23 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari No time 1
24 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth No time 0

 

Michael Schumacher admitted he is still "a little rusty" on his first day back in Formula One, after spending three years in retirement.

Schumacher was outpaced by his younger team-mate Nico Rosberg in both practice sessions and was quite clearly struggling to find a good set-up early on. He said that he expects to struggle for qualifying pace this weekend but was happy with the car over longer runs.

"We worked very well this afternoon after having a few issues with the balance this morning," said Schumacher. "The car felt much better in the second session although I am still a little rusty on one lap runs and need to get back into the routine. On the long runs, the car felt good and once you get into the rhythm, it feels very natural. I'm happy with our work today and feeling ready for the weekend."

His team-mate Rosberg set the fastest lap of the first day but did not draw attention to the headline time, instead focussing on the good work he completed on heavy fuel.

"We improved the car over the course of the day but it didn't feel great initially with the new track, lower downforce and the conditions were very sandy this morning," he said. "So we had a few balance issues to work on but it came together very well this afternoon. There are areas where we can still improve but we have a good comparison with the tyre compounds and on the long runs. Overall we learnt a great deal today so it's a positive start to the weekend."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

 

Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:55.029 1:53.883 1:54.101 14
2 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:55.313 1:54.331 1:54.242 16
3 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:54.612 1:54.172 1:54.608 20
4 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.341 1:54.707 1:55.217 19
5 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:55.463 1:54.682 1:55.241 13
6 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:55.298 1:54.318 1:55.284 13
7 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 1:55.593 1:55.105 1:55.524 15
8 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.715 1:55.168 1:55.672 17
9 11 Robert Kubica Renault 1:55.511 1:54.963 1:55.885 17
10 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.213 1:54.996 1:56.309 16
11 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:55.969 1:55.330 12
12 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.628 1:55.653 13
13 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.375 1:55.857 14
14 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.428 1:56.237 13
15 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:56.189 1:56.265 14
16 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.541 1:56.270 13
17 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:56.167 1:56.619 14
18 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:57.071 6
19 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.728 7
20 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.852 6
21 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.313 7
22 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:00.587 7
23 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:03.240 6
24 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 2:04.904 7

 

Force India's Adrian Sutil is hoping his decision to use hard tyres in Q3 will pay off in the race, as the rest of the top ten will be starting on softs.

Sutil qualified tenth and under the this season's regulations the top ten drivers have to start the race on the same tyres they qualified on. Many drivers have complained of rear tyre wear in the hot desert conditions, a problem that will be exacerbated by a heavy fuel load. The hard tyres are likely to last longer and Sutil thinks this might give him an advantage.

"At the moment I'm in tenth and hopefully we can make one or two positions up as I'm the only car on the hard tyre so it may be an advantage," he said. "I'm surprised that the others were on the soft tyres so our decision could pay off tomorrow. We are strong under heavy fuel loads but we were very fast in Q1 and Q2 when everyone was on soft tyres so there are a few more positions we could gain. We worked very hard over the winter and over the last four years and it's nice to see it giving dividends now."

Force India CEO Otmar Szafnauer told ESPNF1: "We don't know where we could have qualified if we had been on the same tyres as everybody else. We were tenth on the hard tyres and everybody else [in the top ten] was on soft. There is a delta in performance. Was it big enough to move us ahead of tenth? Maybe. We will see in the race. But in qualifying we are a solid top ten car even though we were tenth."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

 

That wasn't quite as exciting as I hoped it would be.

MS did pretty well ok I reckon all things considered.

 

1 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 49 Winner 3 25
2 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 49 +16.0 secs 2 18
3 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 49 +23.1 secs 4 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 49 +38.7 secs 1 12
5 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 49 +40.2 secs 5 10
6 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 49 +44.1 secs 7 8
7 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 49 +45.2 secs 8 6
8 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 49 +46.3 secs 6 4
9 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 49 +53.0 secs 12 2
10 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 49 +62.4 secs 11 1
11 11 Robert Kubica Renault 49 +69.0 secs 9
12 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 49 +82.9 secs 10
13 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 49 +92.6 secs 18
14 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 48 +1 Lap 13
15 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 47 +2 Laps 21
16 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 46 +3 Laps 15
17 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 46 +3 Laps 20
Ret 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 28 +21 Laps 14
Ret 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 17 +32 Laps 23
Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 16 +33 Laps 19
Ret 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 13 +36 Laps 17
Ret 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 11 +38 Laps 16
Ret 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2 +47 Laps 22
Ret 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1 +48 Laps 24

 

who?

 

ohhhh...yeah. so many people said that's him over and done for. it seems a few people were wrong with their predictions (that's why i don't make any)