Australian GP 2012 - Albert Park

[mahesh248f1]

I rem last years , quali session, where , Button and Hamilton were stunned by , Vettel's timing ... so different now ...

situation is quiet similar , just that Vettel is not there

[GrizzleBoy]

Was listening to quali on five live radio (SCREW YOU SKY!!!!) and couldn't believe what I was hearing..

Ferrari out of the top ten, Lotus and Mercedes squeezing Red Bull out of the front rows and WILLIAMS in P8????

WAAAAAT?

Just for clarification. I was looking at official timing app for android which shows what tires have been used and all drivers from McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Lotus were only using Medium compounds in Q1. Grosjean third quickest time in Q1 was done on harder compound.

There is only medium and soft. All top teams are running medium except for Ferrari who run soft in Q1. Q2 and Q3 all front runner are running soft.

When he says "harder compound" he is referring to the medium tyres.

Medium tyres being "harder" than the soft.

[Gerhard Berger]

Aldo Costa must have a good time right now. Nice revenge.

I think they made a huge mistake booting him and the design team, Ferrari had a decent car which had a good basic concept and they only lacked in the EBD. Had they carried the concept to 2012 with the some evolution they could've easily been up the sharp end I'm tempted to say.

I'm thinking the same thing.

Plus i thought the problems last year were due to wind tunnel calibration issues. Costa is clearly a good designer, we lost him too easily.

[Shrieker]

Was listening to quali on five live radio (SCREW YOU SKY!!!!) and couldn't believe what I was hearing..

Ferrari out of the top ten, Lotus and Mercedes squeezing Red Bull out of the front rows and WILLIAMS in P8????

WAAAAAT?

Welcome to 2012. I'm gobsmacked as much as you are

[Fredy4]

The speed trap times are interesting.

If RB get behind a merc or mac they will struggle to get past, even with the DRS open.

[WhiteBlue]

The pecking order seems to be absolutely clear at the top, McLaren have build the fastest car and Lewis could be set for great honours this season. He already has the best odds to become WDC in 2012.

Lotus is probably slightly ahead on second but Red Bull and Mercedes are so close that it could change at any race. Red Bull have missed the boat on the F-ducts but they have the capability to claw that back and so the most likely fight for the championship is Vettel vs Hamilton.

Kimi made a lousy start to his come back and must feel a bit embarrassed by his team mate Grosjean. Grosjean did a fantastic job in qualifying and I'm really keen to see whether he can turn that into a good race result tomorrow. Webber did well and was slightly ahead of Vettel, but this is not expected to continue through the season. Webber can be fast at times but usually is no match for Vettel over a season.

Schumacher was another surprise beating his younger team mate and showing what the motivation of a top car can do for his results. I still do not expect that to continue over the season. Over time I expect Rosberg to get the upper hand in qualifying again.

According to this singular form test the mid field would be Williams, Force India, Toro Rosso and in eights position Ferrari. This looks absolutely unreal and one cannot believe that the obvious catastrophe at Maranello is so deep. Ferrari will probably claw back their way to fifth pretty soon. Alonso made a mistake in Q2 and I guess that without that he could have put the Ferrari somewhere behind Rosberg's Mercedes. One thing should be relatively clear. The gaps between the top cars are relatively close and Ferrari is far away from the top. They can probably forget the 2012 season. By the time they are on a level with Red Bull even Alonso will be so many points behind that his chances for 2012 WDC need a miracle to catch up.

Beaten under value were probably the Saubers because they over did the tyre saving. They could have ended up higher telling by their previous form.

The biggest hype that came down to earth was Caterham. They remain the best of the rest. All the talk of solid mid field positions did not materialize at all in this first test when it counted. Gascoyne could be in serious trouble unless the teams rises it's performance very quickly.

HRT missing the 107% limit was not a big surprise. The Spaniards are just trying to do too much at the same time and shooting themselves in the foot in the process. That went entirely to expectations considering the management decisions over the last six months.

[ParanoiD]

we cant draw accurate conclusion just from 1 qualifying session.

Yes, it give clearer picture of the grid but not what it will be through out the season.

We can see that McLaren is really fast followed by Mercedes AMG/RedBull/Lotus

Now, we have seen the qualifying pace of the cars, we will see its race pace tmr.

And one thing I'm aware of, is that Ross Brawn is a genius when it comes to race strategy.

It will be an intense season! Super intense if Ferrari could overcome their problem (they got the resource I guess) and the midfield team kept up with the development pace(for them to take a chance of unusual race events)

[multisync]

The biggest hype that came down to earth was Caterham. They remain the best of the rest. All the talk of solid mid field positions did not materialize at all in this first test when it counted. Gascoyne could be in serious trouble unless the teams rises it's performance very quickly.

.

MG always seems to get found out in the end....

[mahesh248f1]

Mclaren are going to shine on low speed circuits , their low CG cars can come better all low speed circuits.

[NathanOlder]

Low Chassis looking good, I had my doubts, but its great to see the best looking Car shut out the front row

[Powershift]

The biggest hype that came down to earth was Caterham. They remain the best of the rest. All the talk of solid mid field positions did not materialize at all in this first test when it counted. Gascoyne could be in serious trouble unless the teams rises it's performance very quickly.

.

MG always seems to get found out in the end....

Especially when he does not have FI aero models to copy off of.

[ArchAngel]

D@mmit! Grosjean got in the way of the Merc party and denied Michael a return to the qualy top 3 interview. Anyway, well done to Romain. But I Hope Schumi blows by him right on the opening lap so he can stay in touch with the Maccas. Nico might have a more interesting time behind the Bulls, unless he can get the W03 wings to work its magic early. Mercedes AMG -- gives you ducted/blown/stalled wings.

One thing that remains to be seen is how tyre degradation will affect the race tomorrow. Will it bite Merc and cause them to fade a bit? Will it allow the Bulls to slowly creep up the order and get back in the game?

[GrizzleBoy]

http://www.f1technical.net/news/17142

Looks like HRT are not allowed to race tomorrow

Hardly my favourite team, but it would be good to get the season under way with all cars on track ready to race.

[mith]

Good HRT wasn't allowed to race. Dura lex sed lex. It's only their own fault. I'd love to seen it all once again. Do you know about any rebroadcasts?

[Unc1e_M0nty]

I had a feeling that Macca were quick but I didn't think they'd be clear of the field like this.

I think Red Bull are suffering from a lack of running with the new spec car, Vettel only managed 13 laps on the last day of testing, then rain reduced their running this weekend, I get the feeling they still need to understand the car.

I still think their race pace will be enough to get them past Grosjean & Schuy, not on the straights but through better tyre wear & pit stops,the Maccas should be long gone by then though.