2023 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 31 - April 02

[vorticism]

Post race driver reaction (funny)

Impressive.

[Artur Craft]

People are always whining for something, and its polar opposite just as well. I'd rather see a few laps after a red flag than an SC finish.

F1 is not for you, then. I suggest you to try out this thing called NASCAR

[AR3-GP]

If you close your eyes when you watch it, Ricciardo and Russell are perfect impersonations.

[mclaren111]

Post race driver reaction (funny)

[mendis]

[langedweil]

One could think one of them is bringing some more drag to the table ..
I guess it only says something if all differences (as far as they happened) are on the table.

[chrisc90]

I actually touched on the DRS speeds vs the Mercedes when Max overtakes Lewis. When Max hits the brakes the speed differential was HUGE.

Mega to pull 2 seconds in 6 corners and a straight and a half (at the finish line).

Just look at the overtake where Max got infront...

You can see the sheer increase in speed the RB gets when Max opens the DRS (the grid line just before HAM text in the chart title).

Then theres a 24kmh difference (DRS vs no DRS) when Lewis' car starts to recover....



Verstappen can then keep his foot in longer and by the time he lifts off to brake for the corner, theres a whopping 56kmh difference between them both.

Of course the speeds are much close using the following Lap (13), but it is a very interesting thing to see.

[cplchanb]

I actually touched on the DRS speeds vs the Mercedes when Max overtakes Lewis. When Max hits the brakes the speed differential was HUGE.

Mega to pull 2 seconds in 6 corners and a straight and a half (at the finish line).

Just look at the overtake where Max got infront...

You can see the sheer increase in speed the RB gets when Max opens the DRS (the grid line just before HAM text in the chart title).

Then theres a 24kmh difference (DRS vs no DRS) when Lewis' car starts to recover....



Verstappen can then keep his foot in longer and by the time he lifts off to brake for the corner, theres a whopping 56kmh difference between them both.

Of course the speeds are much close using the following Lap (13), but it is a very interesting thing to see.

Personally I think the speed difference here is misleading. Ham was probably already on tyre preservation mode and was not pushing as hard and Max was just flooring it. As lap 13 showed the times were much more closer and probably representative of the actual performances.

[Mchamilton]

I actually touched on the DRS speeds vs the Mercedes when Max overtakes Lewis. When Max hits the brakes the speed differential was HUGE.

Mega to pull 2 seconds in 6 corners and a straight and a half (at the finish line).

Just look at the overtake where Max got infront...
https://i.ibb.co/wKfx2Q7/aus1.jpg
You can see the sheer increase in speed the RB gets when Max opens the DRS (the grid line just before HAM text in the chart title).

Then theres a 24kmh difference (DRS vs no DRS) when Lewis' car starts to recover....

https://i.ibb.co/GV0hXbZ/aus2.jpg

Verstappen can then keep his foot in longer and by the time he lifts off to brake for the corner, theres a whopping 56kmh difference between them both.

Of course the speeds are much close using the following Lap (13), but it is a very interesting thing to see.

25kph difference through turn 14 too, that has to be an element of lewis backing off to get completely out of Max' wake surely. What was Lewis minimum speed through 14 the following lap?

[RZS10]

[...]
It is baffling that Niels Wittich somehow believes that this was a situation in which the track could not "be negotiated safely" when the entire field had done just that on the previous two laps without any apparent issues or dangers posed to anyone.

What constitutes unsafe conditions is a subjective decision made in the heat of the moment. That's why the rules give the race director a free hand because it's counterproductive to constrain them. They need to follow their gut instinct based on their experience. If they fear sanctions or repercussions of calling a red flag then it will inevitably lead to fewer red flags being called. Let's be honest, those saying the race should not have been stopped are saying "it spoilt the show"..... which is the last reason that should be on the race directors mind.

Not everyone who believes that the red flag(s) should not have been called thinks "it spoilt the show", for some the second one might have even added to the "show" aspect, the first one arguably did as well simply by maximazing the laps in racing conditions.

I tried to outline why the first one almost objectively did not satisfy the "unsafe conditions" aspect, a bit of gravel on the track with an cleared path is hardly unsafe and hasn't been categorized as such in previous years which leads to the problem of teams not knowing what to expect when there is an incident.

The track could have easily been cleared within 3 laps behind the SC by a few people with brooms - there is a safety car for a reason, it's not just there to lead the pack to the grid and bridge the one lap between racing and red flag conditions ... it's a tool race direction has at their disposal which should be utilized properly.

And all of our opinions aside, judging by their comments after and the team radio during the race the drivers could not understand why those situations lead to red flags and it's about their safety afterall.

[chrisc90]

Just been flicking through the telemetry on F1 tempo and has anyone else noticed the odd braking input from Russel on the straights? You can just about pick out any lap thats recorded and there will be a odd section of speed trace and random dabs of 100% brake.

I presume this will just be a glitch, but it looks a bit consistent in the same places each time.

There's also 104% throttle in places.

[Sieper]

[...]
It is baffling that Niels Wittich somehow believes that this was a situation in which the track could not "be negotiated safely" when the entire field had done just that on the previous two laps without any apparent issues or dangers posed to anyone.

What constitutes unsafe conditions is a subjective decision made in the heat of the moment. That's why the rules give the race director a free hand because it's counterproductive to constrain them. They need to follow their gut instinct based on their experience. If they fear sanctions or repercussions of calling a red flag then it will inevitably lead to fewer red flags being called. Let's be honest, those saying the race should not have been stopped are saying "it spoilt the show"..... which is the last reason that should be on the race directors mind.

Not everyone who believes that the red flag(s) should not have been called thinks "it spoilt the show", for some the second one might have even added to the "show" aspect, the first one arguably did as well simply by maximazing the laps in racing conditions.

I tried to outline why the first one almost objectively did not satisfy the "unsafe conditions" aspect, a bit of gravel on the track with an cleared path is hardly unsafe and hasn't been categorized as such in previous years which leads to the problem of teams not knowing what to expect when there is an incident.

The track could have easily been cleared within 3 laps behind the SC by a few people with brooms - there is a safety car for a reason, it's not just there to lead the pack to the grid and bridge the one lap between racing and red flag conditions ... it's a tool race direction has at their disposal which should be utilized properly.

And all of our opinions aside, judging by their comments after and the team radio during the race the drivers could not understand why those situations lead to red flags and it's about their safety afterall.

As soon as flexible material barriers are (even only slightly) damaged they hang out the red flag nowadays, it seems to me. They take zero risk with that. Seems a bit overdone. Maybe a liability issue?

[RZS10]

Wittich is overly cautious or too pedantic about 'safety', ye ... ultimately the argument with the barriers doesn't really hold up as there were no repairs done, Wittich did not walk over to check it out, which means that someone at the scene of the incident gave the ok and most importantly this is easily something that could have been checked during a safety car phase, if a seemingly undamaged barrier turns out to be damaged they can still suspend the race with good reason, the integrity of the barrier is not of concern when the SC leads them past it at reduced speed.

[Sevach]

Post race driver reaction (funny)

His Russell is just amazing...

[Artur Craft]

I didn´t watch this video but I have already seen previous videos of him. Idk if he did Sainz on this video but, imho, it´s his best impression. It´s really uncanny