2018 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, 22 -25 March

[zoroastar]

#ESPNfail at F1 coverage. good job Liberty.

[Mandrake]

Nico Rosberg great as RTL expert giving great insight especially into Mercedes operations

[Sierra117]

Toto says it might be a software bug that may have represented the VSC delta times inaccurately.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Hopefully, Toro Rosso - Honda would learn to be humble, after humiliating McLaren in the preseason testing with their nonsense tweets.

[bauc]

I am really surprised by the reaction of the Sky pundits. The problem with pitting under VSC has been there since the start, but somehow was never mentioned until the Brit boy did not get screwed up .

Agreed!

[dans79]

Gutted for Hamilton, after such a flawless display to lose like that is a hard, but it will make the season more interesting.

If anything, it will motivate him to make sure he absolutely crushes everyone around him from this point on in the season. Kind of like Monaco 2015.

[bauc]

Hopefully, Toro Rosso - Honda would learn to be humble, after humiliating McLaren in the preseason testing with their nonsense tweets.

Well said! I guess systems were not WOKING this weekend for STR

[Poleman]

On a serious note,after the pitstop HAM gapped RAI from about 3.2 seconds to around 5.6 and 11 sec to VET...2+ sec in 2 laps or so...Merc has some serious pace and whats more serious is that they can sustain the quali mode for more in the race,(i think that was rumored over winter testing).Tires was non issue same as fuel consumption.The burning oil bs that some people still mumble about,is just that...bs! They both burn oil FER and MERC (heck even RENAULT) and we all see the results so even if they ban it completely its not like MERC will stop burning oil and FER still stay at 0.6L If anything they will be at least even grounds with MERC PU.

[Restomaniac]

Apparently, Ferrari was running way less wing (relative to Mercedes) to be more fuel efficient. That is probably why the Ferrari in qualifying (and the race) lost that much in the corners and was quick on the straights.

Melbourne is very heavy on fuel.

Mercedes are very strong, but the gap might just be a little exaggerated.

As for the race... almost typical Melbourne. Mercedes was vulnerable by only having one car at the front, Ferrari gambled by leaving Seb out and got extremely lucky. Gutted for Hamilton, after such a flawless display to lose like that is a hard, but it will make the season more interesting.

Fair points.
But what happens on tracks when Mercedes don't need as much wing? What happens in tracks where Ferrari HAVE to carry more? It doesn't look good for Ferrari in either situation.

I doubt Vettel is stupid enough to think that this was anything but pure luck. In fact his radio comments post race hinted he isn't.

[FrukostScones]

Toto says it might be a software bug that may have represented the VSC delta times inaccurately.

makes sense, so maybe HAM drove to a wrong value?

[giantfan10]

Vettel won the race....the end..... Vettel was lucky to end up in first after the VSC...i can recall a couple of races last year where the safety car benefitted hamilton. it happens...that being said the best driver ever to race in the best F1 car ever made had 20 laps to pass an inferior driver in an inferior car.... that my friends is what you call karma. who got the smile wiped of their face today?

[Phil]

Just to add: Toto just stated on ORF that their computers said that a 15 second should be sufficient to retain the lead. At that point, Vettel was 12.1s ahead.

One tricky thing though: the pit entry and exit are not included for the VSC delta, so Vettel accelerated on the pit entry and extended the gap to 16s.

Either way, Mercedes got the gaps wrong and should have calculated more margin.

[JonoNic]

These 3 PUs per season are spoiling racing. When last have you heard Hamilton say; "Let's live to fight another day"

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[Sierra117]

Toto says it might be a software bug that may have represented the VSC delta times inaccurately.

makes sense, so maybe HAM drove to a wrong value?

As a software engineer myself, I can see it happening and honestly I'd count on it. It happens all the time, especially these days where updates to software are rolled out within days with barely any testing (testing is more or less in live production environment now - I'm look at you Windows 10).

Nonetheless, the Merc on older tyres, turbulent air and what not still had RIDICULOUS speed. I agree with the other post here - great to have an Aussie GP but please get a better track.

[dans79]

These 3 PUs per season are spoiling racing. When last have you heard Hamilton say; "Let's live to fight another day"

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

But but, we have to feed the little teams.........