2016 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 18-20

[GTO99]

I'm very much looking forward to the start of the season. Melbourne is one of my favourite tracks - not a great actual race track given the dearth of overtaking opportunities, but in sims and such it always has such a lovely rhythm and flow to it that I can't help but enjoy it.

The big questions for me this season will be:

Have Ferrari managed to reduce or even close the gap to Mercedes?

Will Williams be able to be the 'best of the rest' and retain its third place?

How will Red Bull's decision to step away from its relationship with Renault affect their performance?

Will McLaren take a half step or a full step forward this year, or is the second year of the McHonda relationship going to be another damp squib?

Will Haas be battling with Manor (and/or Sauber and Reanult) at the back of the field, or will they be pressuring the top 10 for points?

How will the mid-field scrap develop? - Toro Rosso and Force India looked mighty quick during testing. Will they be pushing the top five this year?

How is Renault's return as a full works team going to pan out?

Will Manor be able to pick up some points this year?

Will Sauber take a step fwd up the grid this season or will they continue to slide to the back of the grid?

Will Rosberg continue a more assertive & competitive form where he left off (3 wins in a row over Ham) at the end of last season?

Will Kimi be more competitive in races this season to be challenging Seb in the fight for podiums?

Is this a make of break season for Kimi? If he is not competitive, which driver will most likely replace him next season?

[Hail22]

Hopefully someone adds a clip comparing V10, V8, V6H and now the V6H 2016...

I doubt much has changed

[superdowg316]

Hopefully someone adds a clip comparing V10, V8, V6H and now the V6H 2016...

I doubt much has changed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9N7ObkhfF8

"Can't hear ya mate" God I love being 'Strayan

[djos]

Hopefully someone adds a clip comparing V10, V8, V6H and now the V6H 2016...

I doubt much has changed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9N7ObkhfF8

"Can't hear ya mate" God I love being 'Strayan

It's fooli sick mate!

[mikeerfol]

Finally it's time for the early wake up for the race!

ps can someone sticky this thread?

[Juzh]

At the moment bet365 has a 1.18 odds on mercedes winning the australian gp. Cash in while you can

[BanMeToo]

Small picture gallery in case anyone missed it

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/03/16/w ... -pictures/

[FrukostScones]

clean Red Bull victory.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

clean Red Bull victory.

Why not?

[Shrieker]

Small picture gallery in case anyone missed it

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/03/16/w ... -pictures/

I had missed it, thanks

[Phil]

So I am going to humbly predict (just a bit of fun):

- If a Mercedes car wins, it will be Rosberg (god I hope I'm wrong, yes, I'm biased)
- Vettel won't win the Australian GP
- We will have a surprise victor, meaning either Kimi, a Williams or a Redbull, maybe even a Torro-Rosso?
- McLaren will be at best on race day 7th (perhaps as a result of qualifying madness), but I expect them more around 9th or lower. Realistically I think they'll be at the back of the midfield.

Why? For some reason I think the new qualifying mode will cause havoc. There will be lots of traffic and finding a good gap will be difficult in all that chaos and I think the teams who usually are the strongest will be hurt the most. So we might see a lottery pole setter. Added to that, I think the weather will be quite unpredictable; Cold or rainy. It being a street circuit and overtaking rather difficult or higher risk, I think will lead to a surprise winner.

We will walk away from Melbourne not entirely sure what the definite form order is... that's my humble guess.

[bauc]

I Agree more or less with Phill's post above.... and hopefully Mclaren can end up 6th or 7th on Sunday.

Anyway I'm getting ready for a sleepless night as FP1 starts @02.30 am at my local time here and FP2 @ 06.00 am so .... it will be long day tomorrow at work

[FrukostScones]

always the same.. rain on Friday, maybe Saturday, and arse dry on Sunday.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

We will walk away from Melbourne not entirely sure what the definite form order is... that's my humble guess.

Even if it becomes clear, everyone would say, "Oh, Melbourne is an Odd circuit, the fly aways are not the right races to gauge the pecking order, so let's wait for European season to start."

[WaikeCU]

So I am going to humbly predict (just a bit of fun):
- We will have a surprise victor, meaning either Kimi, a Williams or a Redbull, maybe even a Torro-Rosso?

I'm not entirely sure. I have this strange feeling that STR will be on the same level like last season. The Renault PU was weaker than the Ferrari and Mercedes PU. Since they have the old 2015 Ferrari PU now, which no updates are expected for the season, I think the Renault powered cars might overtake STR in performance during the season. STR's main weapon is its chassis imo.