Australian GP 2010 - Melbourne

[Mr Alcatraz]

I may be way off on that. I'm not sure. It was so damned exciting Hamilton was taking over 1.5 out of the Reds, after he put on the new boots. I was watching timing and thought no way in hell are they going to hold him or Webber off! Then on Hamilton's radio you hear: "my tires have gone off”. I mean just like that. It was really high drama for the last 15 laps. If you can't enjoy that, you’re watching the wrong sport!

[Mysticf1]

Webber isn't able to drive fast enough to do the car any harm so he just throws it off the track.

Could this failure be related to the aggressive brake caliper position?

Webbo set the fastest lap of the race so that is BS. [-X

It was a carbon disc failure according to the team and that is usually a caused by a defect - RB dont make the carbon discs themselves so it's a supplier issue.

under a 10th behind Seb in qual and fastest lap of the race...yeh thats pretty slow...Webber had a very scrappy race but atleast he drove aggressively and had a red hot go of it...everything that could go wrong did. I enjoyed it being a Webber fan in spite of the poor result.

[ringo]

Hamilton mass raped the field today, Button was the only one that escaped. Kubica was lucky as well.

This is off topic, but can we get a moratorium on the rape talk? It is an unnecessarily brutal descriptor for a car race.

Sorry about that,
You should be around to hear what I actually say when I watch the race. Jamaican here, can't help the aggression thing. just kidding; brutal descriptions only spice the race up for me; especially when good races are far and in between. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

I'll say manhandled instead, fair enough?

[i70q7m7ghw]

Racing incident as decided by the stewards. Button won the race, Alonso finished 4th - put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I am fine with that - racing accident as you say, but some people want to make it look like it was Alonso's fault

Not at all, far from it - he didn't see Button and the most likely reason for that was the mirrors. Alonso is one of if not the best driver on the grid and he would not make such an error easily. Hence the fact it's a racing incident

[ernos5]

Hamilton mass raped the field today, Button was the only one that escaped. Kubica was lucky as well.

This is off topic, but can we get a moratorium on the rape talk? It is an unnecessarily brutal descriptor for a car race.

I would use the term "raped" referring to Hamilton's shunt with Webber. At least Webber hit him from "behind" so the term "raped" applies more appropriately.

[segedunum]

You certainly saw the car's straight line advantage today.

Yer, and it helps them that much more during the race. If they can gain an advantage in a straight line against their competitors, which they have, then they can do so effectively for free whilst conserving their tyres, not working them too hard and gaining speed that way. That's why their race performances have generally been better. However, we'll really see how much downforce and cornering speed they're lacking from Malaysia onwards, and the interviews from MW and JB didn't sound too hopeful.

I think the other teams will be desperate to get the stalled wing working to stop McLarens punching through their wakes on the straights.

They certainly would like to have it but not if it compromises their downforce and cornering speed. We'll see what happens when teams have done some serious evaluation in a few races' time because they'll all be looking at it. It's not a free system like a flexi wing, and it requires a not inconsiderable amount of ducting and packaging compromises.

Imagine if they had kept KERS with this....

Maybe that's the way they should head?

[raymondu999]

First it's a Renault now it's a Brembo (they use Brembo brakes, right?) problem? Gee. That seems very coincidental. But I can't understand why Mark had (reliability-wise) problem free races and Vettel can't even get through a race without a problem!!!

[ernos5]

Webber isn't able to drive fast enough to do the car any harm so he just throws it off the track.

Could this failure be related to the aggressive brake caliper position?

Webbo set the fastest lap of the race so that is BS. [-X

It was a carbon disc failure according to the team and that is usually a caused by a defect - RB dont make the carbon discs themselves so it's a supplier issue.

under a 10th behind Seb in qual and fastest lap of the race...yeh thats pretty slow...Webber had a very scrappy race but atleast he drove aggressively and had a red hot go of it...everything that could go wrong did. I enjoyed it being a Webber fan in spite of the poor result.

Webber made my race at the end, god bless him

[i70q7m7ghw]

A fastest lap doesn't win you a race. Webber can be fast on a single lap, we all know that and he is widely regarded as a great qualifier - but I've yet to see him string together a decent race weekend.

I don't see how pointing the finger at suppliers is the answer to Red Bull's problems...

[ringo]

Today was always going to be a good chance for that car I think. Malaysia is a rather different kettle of fish than today or Bahrain. It's the first of the real high and medium speed corner, high downforce circuit. It doesn't look good for McLaren in that department there currently, and both MW and JB tried to pour cold water on how well they might do there. If they have an inherent lack of speed and downforce then qualifying can't just be the only problem for the car.

The car has the downforce. I don't think it has enough to beat a redbull, but the pace is there to knock the ferraris. The quali is the problem. When the race is underway, it's like all their problems disappear.

[horse]

I think it was 50/50. Alonso did squeeze Button, but Button would have seen him coming past and could of let him go. I think they both knew they were being "competitive" at that point.

Excellent drive from JB. Glad he got this victory so soon, a lovely moment for him and another underdog come good story. Hamilton had a monster of a race. Being a JB fan I was biting my nails, because I thought nothing could stop Hamilton on the new tyres. Yet, he got stuck behind Kubica before his stop and behind Alonso afterwards. Still really tough to pass in normal conditions it would seem.

I also thought Kubica had a great drive. I don't think Renault should be there (second) and he had a very quiet but confident race.

Oh, but that Kobayashi crash! That was nasty! Poor guy, what a weekend. And he was lucky not to kill the Hulk on his way through.

PS. Does anyone know what this speech was that Eddie Jordon was praising Jenson for?

[Mr Alcatraz]

Hamilton should have been able to finish, his first stop was much later than Button's. He and Kubica were basically in the same boat. Tyre wear was not a big issue for Kubica either.
The team made a gamble, becuase of fear of the Redbull and ferrari possible putting in a late stop.
His tyres were good, he was lapping very fast behind Kubica.
One driver being able to care tyres drastically better than the other is overrated, all drivers do a fine job of preserving their tyres when the need arises. I don't think Hamilton had any problems with his.
This race only makes him stronger and more beastly. He is clearly in a league by himself in terms of skill, he should do well next race with a good qualifying, the championship is still very young.

If he's in a league by himself, it would have to be in a parallel universe.
He is not superior to Fred period!

[Raftaar]

Com'on people! Let us not squabble over the incident. Yes, it was a little too optimistic from Button, and perhaps you can say he was lucky to get out of that, but I am sure it was not deliberate. Let us just forget it as a racing incident.
But, it did ruined the whole race for Alonso. He had a poor start, he came off the blocks slowly, starkly in contrast to that of Massa, who capitalised and overtook, and which left Alonso wheel-to-wheel with Button coming into the 1st corner, he broke maybe a little late and his RR wheel was caught behind Button'd LF wheel. The wheels collided, and made Alonso spin.
It compromised his whole race, and in retrospect, that poor start really cost him dear.

[vall]

somebody remember in which lap Alonso caught LH? It was too early, I was sleepy and don't remember. But it recovered from last quite fast.

I would say excellent drive from Alonso. Had he managed to pass The Bulk, he would finish 2nd.

[Tim.Wright]

under a 10th behind Seb in qual and fastest lap of the race...yeh thats pretty slow...Webber had a very scrappy race but atleast he drove aggressively and had a red hot go of it...everything that could go wrong did. I enjoyed it being a Webber fan in spite of the poor result.

I'm actually getting pretty frustrated at being a Webber fan. It felt like he was trying to throw the car off the track all afternoon. grrrrr.

Messy scrap with one of the Mclarens early in the race, then completely missed a braking point at the end. I can't aggree with the claims that he lost downforce.

Tim