2017 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, 24 - 26 March

[henra]

So what got you triggered that you had to make that pointless reply?

Honestly, I'm happy that we might have a real battle for WDC (and to some extent WCC although I doubt that) on hand and have two different Teams fighting on the same performance level. Strategy decided this one. Races where strategy decides who (or especially which Team) wins are usually the better ones. When was the last time another Team could really fight with the Mercs on pure pace rather than simple luck/misfortune?
Number of overtakes in the Midfield do not make an interesting race for me.
Reading such a comment after three Years of pretty hefty Merc/Lewis dominance made me think of you as a sore Hamilton fan who considers any race boring where Lewis didn't win.

[Jordan44]

So what got you triggered that you had to make that pointless reply?

Honestly, I'm happy that we might have a real battle for WDC (and to some extent WCC although I doubt that) on hand and have two different Teams fighting on the same performance level. Strategy decided this one. Races where strategy decides who (or especially which Team) wins are usually the better ones. When was the last time another Team could really fight with the Mercs on pure pace rather than simple luck/misfortune?
Number of overtakes in the Midfield do not make an interesting race for me.
Reading such a comment after three Years of pretty hefty Merc/Lewis dominance made me think of you as a sore Hamilton fan who considers any race boring where Lewis didn't win.

No, it's very much the case that there are sore fans around that think any race where Mercedes didn't win is a good one. I'm all for positive regulation change which leads to more competitive cars, but all the signs point towards these being a failure.

[PlatinumZealot]

Bottas' pace though, was that all down to the 8 laps younger tyres? Lewis should be worried if Bottas shows such intentions again...

[dans79]

Bottas' pace though, was that all down to the 8 laps younger tyres? Lewis should be worried if Bottas shows such intentions again...

8 laps younger, and no substantial amount of time spent giving another car a colonoscopy!

[godlameroso]

This quote from Hamilton intrigues me:

I didn't know how quick they would be in the race but their pace from testing was true and their first stint on the ultrasofts was fantastic. My real strength wasn't until right at the end by which time it was far too late

Perhaps this 'strength' is the Mercedes' car behaviour on low vs. high fuel and/or how Hamilton had set the car up (favouring track position from quail over tyre management)?

When the cars are so close then little things can make the difference that's what this race made so interestingly apparent.

The nature of the track, the weather, the amount of sun on the track, the wind direction and speed, how the driver feels(psychological aspect), how the car is set up all have bigger implications when the difference in performance is small. A lot of factors can swing the tide one way or the other, just like the mid field battle has shown, so I expect Mercedes to be better at more normal tracks and Ferrari to be better in the more classic low grip high downforce tracks.

[SiLo]

Pretty good race, always hard to tell where people are as overtaking is difficult and the nature of the track is a bit strange. Think the Mercs and Ferraris will have a good battle this year though.

Strange call from Mercedes to pit Hamilton then, Vettel was going to struggle to overtake so they could have kept him out longer. I did chuckle when Hamilton complained of grip yet was either fastest or second fastest man on the track at the time.

[ringo]

I wonder what went wrong with Mercedes , Hamilton was complaining all day about his tyres yet we did not hear a word from Bottas.

Bottas had the same complaints after the race. He said he was sliding around in the first stint. Basically the same as Hamilton, and the pace he had shows that.
I think Mercedes W08 has the same DNA from previous cars on street circuits. It just doesn't treat the tyres right. Singapore is usually where ferrari shines and mercedes suffers, the new regs may be exaggerating that effect on their car now, where we see them suffering here in Melbourne.
This issue is something the team need to look into.

[PlatinumZealot]

Lew-Lew interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG60tyshmkQ

Vallie-B Interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BY3aOwGATs

[Andres125sx]

This season, it's going to come down who gets on pole, who gets a good start, and who makes the fewest mistakes.

like last season?

like last 30 seasons I´d say

[Sevach]

Bottas' pace though, was that all down to the 8 laps younger tyres? Lewis should be worried if Bottas shows such intentions again...

Hamilton and Vettel might've used more fuel than Bottas in the first stint.
That could explain why he looked average at the beggining and the fastest midrace.

From what has been said about tires i think the hardest option shouldn't burn up in 8 laps, even if a significant portion of those is spent looking at a guys gearbox.

Anyway, good job by Bottas, if he keeps doing that he still gonna have a career after teaming up with Hamilton =D>

[Fifty]

Move of the race: Ocon vs Alonso!

I am not an Ocon of FI fan, but that car seems to have possibilities of being the best of the rest.

And Ocon stuffing it to Alonso. Awesome. And in typical fashion Alonso finds a problem with the car right after having his lunch money taken from him. I just don't understand why people rate him so highly. Maybe years ago, but not for years.

[Andres125sx]

What a race!

Frankly, I went into this season with sheer hopelessness because sport has been very brutal to me in the past 3-4 years.

Sorry mate but you are not allowed to complain, that was a short period after 4 years on heaven!

[Andres125sx]

Also, what a drive by Alonso! But then, his interview after was quite pathetic.

Pathetic? Why?

He said he drove probably his best race ever. Imagine his frustration when that was only good for a 10th place, and not even that was achieved because of a car failure


Pathetic is current McHonda situation, Alonso only express what any driver in his position would. Fair question here, what do you think Seb would have said in that situation? Think twice before posting please, we all have hear his complains for much less than that


I think people usually forget how frustrating must be Alonso situation. This was a 3-4 years proyect to fight for victories, we´re in third and after an awesome drive he was 10th to then retire. And you say he´s pathetic because of saying he can´t be happy with this result?

[Andres125sx]

- How did Magnussen not get a penalty? That wasn't even attempt gone wrong. I can guarantee there will be penalties for less.

And you´ll fail. That is exactly what Liberty said about driver battles, this season they will allow much closer racing

And in alll honesty, not even with past season standards that was a move to punish any driver, going a bit too long on first corner can´t be enough to punish anyone

[TwanV]

Good race and I loved it to see drivers actually give it their all. Nice that Ferrari has at least closed the gap, that accomplishment alone is worth a victory. Hamilton seemed a bit shakey on the tires, although I'm not sure how much the suspension-changes have put them at a dissadvantage on the short term in terms of setup. I'm a bit worried though for the rest of the season in terms of overtaking, as Max Verstappen stated that the decrease in downforce is very noticable following someone upto 2 seconds behind. Of course this is Melbourne but still, fingers crossed for good racing this year.