2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix Qualifying

What an utter joke. Horrible. I cannot believe no one saw that coming.


Mark

 

I did. I even wrote about it but many disagreed.

It's even worse than I expected though, as I didn't expect the bottom end to just sit there. Whoops.

 

Lauda saw this coming and was told by Bernie he could say nothing at all in the Strategy Group meeting where this was decided.

 

SKY thinks the new qualy format will be gone by Monday - New qualifying format slammed as 'unacceptable' and 'embarrassing' | F1 News

Also an F1 team bosses meeting on Sunday now.

 

All I can hope for right now is that the Ferrari's both have a sensational start to get ahead of those pesky mercs and give us a race

Or the two mercs colide. Verstappen on podium...

 

as we saw last year, once in front, it's an easy race for the leader. Lewis only cracks if he's not in front, so it would be a huge surprise to me if it's not a merc 1-2

 

SKY saying Bottas might be starting last/pit lane. Williams did not turn in a required suspension set up sheet. Ted said hard and fast rule with no room to counter.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bottas-under-investigation-over-absent-set-up-sheets-680737/?s=1

 

Assuming this is true, perhaps F1 should just tank at this point. Let the whole ship go down so that maybe it can be reborn into something more palatable. The current crop of cars and regs are all miserable.



Mark

 

Hahahahaha, I love the comedy in these threads, hilarious don, keep em coming! (By the way, who is this ricrado you speak of, he sounds awesome)

 

Ferrari closer to Mercedes than it looks, say Raikkonen and Vettel - F1 - Autosport

lets hope Kimi is right!

 

Lauda provides this from Motorsport.com - Lauda: Qualifying debacle caused by refusal to reverse grids

 

We heard that last year too. I'm hoping that the Ferrari is easier on its tires, something you see on race day, not in qualifying, especially on the faster circuits.

 

The ferrari looks really nice. Give them a few races at real tracks and they'll be closer. That said, Merc have another terrifying car.

I don't know about you all, but the look on Alonso's face tells me he will be at Merc next year and I'd guess Nico will be at ferrari after Kimi retires. The silly season will be extra ridiculous this year.

 

I see max at sf next year.

 

Putting my anger at the farcical rules aside for the moment, my view:

Manor was as per usual slowest. A massive 6 seconds though, I tried to compare their times to last years but since they actually didn't put a time down, i looked at the next race, and realized the same happened. At China last year, a bigger, longer lap, they where also 6 seconds behind the Q3 times. Did they go backwards, despite the much faster engine?

Haas:
Truth be told I expected a bit more from them. Some say that car is identical to the Ferrari almost, well...that's proven untrue I guess. Grosjean is quite close to kimi (compared to their 2013 performance), and I doubt he's suddenly lost 5 seconds in talent.

Sauber:
Nothing has changed from last year, presumably. updated Ferrari engine but still rubbish. Sad times from what was previously one of my favourite teams.

Renault:
Stuck with their own engine now, the car looks easier to drive on this track (little I did see of it). Kmag outqualified by Palmer I didn't really expect to see!

Mclaren:
Drivers proclaimed their happiness but I'm not sure what's there to be happy about. They pick up 2 places from the new boys (nothing to write home about), a further one by an out of place Red Bull. They've only jumped a reversing Renault. Err. Why the happy dance? The engine is undeniably more reliable and thankfully the car isn't a ****ing pig, but you're still qualifying out of the top 10.

Force India:
Great job from a team once again performing beyond their budget. Say what you want about VJM, they are doing something right!

RBR:
Step backwards. Kvyat was unlucky regarding timing/traffic (I'm shutting up about the quali rules), Ricciardo's position shows they've made a step backwards though. Somewhat expected them to be where they are, and within close proximity to Williams/Baby Bulls, so not all is lost for them

Williams:
Bottas struggling for grip in Q2, Massa a smidgen behind Verstappen...Previous years they have been all over the place too though, anywhere from fighting Ferrari for the final podium to struggling at the back end of the top 10...I don't think much has changed except for their ability to fight with Ferrari, which is based on gut feeling.

STR:
Baby bulls done good. They've build a very solid car, their drivers are excellent and they delivered. As I expected, they'll make life difficult for Williams and they hit the ground running already. I expect them to sneak a podium here and there and pissing of the big boys at Ferrari.

Ferrari:
where it gets interesting. Drivers seem happy with the car, and whilst an 8 tenths deficit pissed me off to no end this morning, last year they where 1.3 seconds back and still managed 3 wins. Also they did have conservative runs in Q3, or rather their single run, as they where a tire down each and would have the 2nd row in lock down most likely. Burying my panic and anger for the time being.

Mercedes:
We all knew they where good, the question was how good. We won't beat them on reliability.

 

Interesting. If kimi leaves end of season, I'd hope for either Max or Ricciardo. Not so sure if Mercedes wants to risk having the 2 together, seems like suicide to me. Either one will implode and quickly. Bring it on, I say!

This. I hope. Still my one concern is that Max will heckle the 50m a year Vettel a bit too much, and they both have things to prove still so it's counter productive in Ferrari's interest to have him there. I'd quite like to see Max tear Hamilton a new one though.

 

"The new format is awesome Formula 1 has never been better!" Said no one ever! I am so glad I did not stay up to watch this farce and just wasted an hour this morning watching the recording. Let me get this straight, we are supposed to believe viewership numbers are down because people are watching it illegally, yeah it has nothing to do with the product sucking and self destructing.

 

From the other thread on the qualifying format:

Is qualifying even worth watching anymore if they keep this crap new format?

All the best,
Andrew.

 

+1

The streamers are in the following category:

-Kids who live at home but their parents are too cheap to get the F1 package, so they look for the next best option and just stream.

-People fed up with terrible, terrible local broadcasting (such as the entirety of the USA, or me here in Holland where the F1 can be renamed to the Verstappen Channel. And the commentators are ****/terrible)

-People who WANT to buy a stream from Sky, but are unable to do so. Not because of $ reasons, but because of their geographical location making it impossible. Looking at the success of apps like Netflix, makes me belief that plenty of people WILL pay for a proper online service. Anyone can get anything that's on Netflix for free but still pay for it. Ease of use etc.

We'll always have illegal streamers, but most sites are buggy as hell. Hopefully f1 will come with a proper online solution. Not holding my breath though, we know how their ''solutions'' often pack out (engines, tires, qualifying, rules...to name a couple of things)

 

Ted on SKY said that Alonso's gear is not on the Mclaren website like JB's. Speculation growing already as to why. Claire Williams in the press earlier this week was saying silly season will be amazing this year as so many changes are possible. Deserves its own thread it does!!

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10205062/formula-1-in-2016-a-big-year-for-the-f1-transfer-market

 

I knew Merc couldn't continue making massive leaps but they clearly innovated and took some pretty big steps. I just had a sick feeling that Ferrari despite their massive step would not really close the gap that much...maybe cut it in half...if that. Races may be different but I think we're looking at another carbon copy season.

 

Just could not keep my eye's open for qualifying....results?

 

The keys are: a possible vacancy at Mercedes; Max Verstappen. I would love to see Max at Ferrari with Vettel but if he has a chance to go to Mercedes he will grab it. Ferrari will always be there, Mercedes will probably pack up and go after 3 or 4 constructors championships. I think Riccardo and Vettel at Ferrari would be terrific.

 

I fell asleep in Q3

 

I'm impressed with Haas. They should have been top 14 if it wasn't for this terrible qualifying format.