2013 Australian GP - Albert Park

[Nando]

Piece broken in Hamilton´s off,

He explained afterwards that damage to the car left him with very little front downforce.
"I had separation of the front splitter, so it was pushed right up underneath and touching the underneath of the chassis," he explained.
"I lost a lot of front end. I went into Turn 6, turned in and nothing really happened, I just went straight on.
"I was complaining of shed-loads of understeer as I was beginning my long run. I came in and asked for three holes in the front wing, which is quite a lot.
"As they did that, they changed tyres and I went back out. I was braking, turned in and it just didn't turn.
"I thought to myself, 'what an idiot', but when I got back they explained to me that the front of the bib underneath the chassis was broken."

http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/07339

[JimClarkFan]

One thing I especially noticed about Ferrari is that they were consistently slower by 4-5 tenths in the final sectors compared to Red Bull, Mercedes and Lotus. The Ferrari didn't look like it was struggling through the faster corners 13 and 14, so what might be the reason for their loss in speed there?

Watch the onboards above, if they are anything to go by they are not showing their true pace yet.

[Gridlock]

[Shrieker]

Does any1 know what problem Lewis' car had ?

Broken splitter

He had taken to the grass on his fast lap on ss tyres. IIRC he went back to the pits and they must've checked the car and the floor for damage. It seems they couldn't find the damage...

[Pandabeer]

Australian GP: Splitter damage caused Hamilton's off
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106046

[NathanOlder]

I really want to thank Jules Bianchi for smashing Max Chilton. He just trashed him over 1 second faster. After the last test you could immediately see that Chilton is a rubbish driver Bianchi who never drove that car was 0.5 second quicker within 30 laps. Max Chilton is waste. I really hope Bianchi trashes' Max during the whole season. Bianchi is already my favorite driver for the 2013 season, can't stand pay drivers that take up seats they don't deserve. Really loved how Ted Kravitz put it out in the open, all the others were glancing over that topic because he is British. Also loved how Sutil reinstating himself against the in my eyes over-hyped Di Resta. Sutil will beat Paul this season hands down. Already making mistakes, looks if the pressure is getting to him. Felipe Massa I really hope is pace is genuine because I really feel that Massa can beat Alonso when everything goes for him. But the biggest question mark was Lewis's unfinished time on the SS-tyres. He was faster then Vettel without cutting a chunk of the chicane. That was easily 0.1 - 0.15 seconds worth. So i reckon Lewis could have done the fastest lap in FP2.

Really dissapointed by Williams and BOTTAS. Both talked the FW35 up, but with the inexperience of both Bottas and Maldonado I was expecting this. Being quicker then last year is no improvement in F1 as anyone improves. Think Force India did the best job of the midfielders strong line-up and quick car. P6 is the constructors championship is really achievable.

I was looking at the onboard of the Ferrari that car in my eyes doesn't look as planted and stable as the Lotus or Merc.

My prediction for Quali:

1.Vettel
2.Hamilton
3.Raikonen
4.Rosberg
5.Webber
6.Massa
7.Alonso
8.Grosjean
9.Sutil
10.Hulkenberg

If you check the best sector times, Max was faster in sector 1 & 2. Jules was faster by over 1 second in sector 3. So in my opinion Max never had a clean run on new tyres with light fuel in that last sector. Theres no way he would be faster than Jules in sector 1 & 2 and 1 second off in sector 3, so dont count max out just yet buddy

http://www.formula1.com/results/season/ ... times.html

[Ferraripilot]

Notice RB9 is running what appear to almost be a Spa specification rear wing. I do not believe they are as quick in the turns as some others but rather their speed is coming from reduced drag from the rear wing. Malaysia will require a full downforce rear wing arrangement so it will be interesting indeed if they are as quick there.

[garygph]

suprises for me this far is how much off the pace Williams and McLaren are, really caught me out. I also think people are underestimating the long stint strength of the Lotus on the race result and are looking too much on one lap pace. I would not be suprised to see Lotus being VERY strong in the race due to not destroying tyres but we will see very soon how right or wrong I am.

[Vasconia]

suprises for me this far is how much off the pace Williams and McLaren are, really caught me out. I also think people are underestimating the long stint strength of the Lotus on the race result and are looking too much on one lap pace. I would not be suprised to see Lotus being VERY strong in the race due to not destroying tyres but we will see very soon how right or wrong I am.

I was expecting much more from Williams, I hope that the rest of the weekend will be better with the initial aero package but they car hasnt looked so good. I want to see Maldonado fighting in q3.

I thought Mclaren was going to struggle a bit but not so much...

[GrizzleBoy]

Also, for all the hoohah about the McLaren pace, they were running what looked like Monaco level rear wing angles in comparison to Red Bull who almost had Monza like rear wing angle going on.

On the contrary : http://www.formula1.com/results/season/ ... _trap.html

[Vasconia]

I agree about the Ferrari. Especially in turns 11 & 12 it looks like he had very good turn-in and grip through there and definitely left some time on the table.

I hope you are right, and I also think that Alonso is hidding some potential. I want to see a close battle tomorrow.

Mclaren seems to have some problems with the rear, the lap of Button is far from being clean.

[Vasconia]

Also, for all the hoohah about the McLaren pace, they were running what looked like Monaco level rear wing angles in comparison to Red Bull who almost had Monza like rear wing angle going on.

On the contrary : http://www.formula1.com/results/season/ ... _trap.html

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DCQ9 ... 160506.jpg

Its weird, I dont understand why they are using so different set-ups and rear wings, perhaps Mclaren has some big issues with the rear part and they need to increase the rear downforce, but its sound very strange to me.

[GrizzleBoy]

Well watching that video of Perez on the previous page, the car seems to have a huge balance bias towards rear down force and the car under steers horribly.

He lifts substantially through turn 5 and through 11 and 12, just to get the car to turn the corner.

You never know, McLaren might switch to a skinnier wing and shift some of the balance forward to even out the handling of the car.

[Vasconia]

Well watching that video of Perez on the previous page, the car seems to have a huge balance bias towards rear down force and the car under steers horribly.

He lifts substantially through turn 5 and through 11 and 12, just to get the car to turn the corner.

You never know, McLaren might switch to a skinnier wing and shift some of the balance forward to even out the handling of the car.

Its clear that there is something wrong with the car when they are tying things like that. But its Mclaren, they can change and try 1000 things and then the car flies, we will see.

[CjC]

Well watching that video of Perez on the previous page, the car seems to have a huge balance bias towards rear down force and the car under steers horribly.

He lifts substantially through turn 5 and through 11 and 12, just to get the car to turn the corner.

You never know, McLaren might switch to a skinnier wing and shift some of the balance forward to even out the handling of the car.

As I simlpton I have thought the very same, why dont they loose some rear downforce? I'm very suprised they have understeer this year, unlike previous years all teams have been struggling for rear downforce, meaning they had an abundance of front downforce? I'm sure its not as simple as that though or they'd have already tried it.