2015 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne

[AnthonyG]

I'm in Barcelona that weekend, is F1 a big thing there you can folow live in certain places/bars?

I don't know whether bars have any interest in broadcasting F1.
Antena 3, Movistar [payed], TV3 and Esport 3 all broadcast F1 live. Movistar is pay so i don't expect that to be accesible.

I think you'll probably be subjected to viewing in your hotel room if they offer these channels in their hotel tv pack,
or streaming through internet. Personally, my advise would be to simply enjoy your stay in Barcelona and upon return in your home country to download the race [ pm me if you don't know how. i'm not offering anything but i can give some usefull tips ].

Thank you, last time I asked was in Greece where I made vroom-vroom noises and gestures to explain to the lobbyboy what I was looking for.

I'm lucky, we just changed our hostel to an air bnb apartment with tv's in every room. Problem solved.

[taperoo2k]

I think at this point Mclaren are the only ones who can stop the mighty Mercedes team.

Simply because we don't know how fast Mclaren are. I have no faith in Mclaren to get it right, but if I had to bet on a team beating Mercedes, it would be the guys from Woking, because we already know Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams are already beaten

Sadly I don't even think McLaren will be finishing the first few races, let alone get points,podiums or wins.

I'm expecting DNF's for the first 3-4 races, but would be very happy if I'm wrong, I'd love to see them battling the Mercs. ...heck I'd like to see anyone battling the Mercs

I think the more important thing about McLaren Honda is the actual speed of the cars, not if they finish the first race or not. If the speed is there, then it's just a question solving the reliability issues. Then marching on from there. I fully expect Mercedes will be like last year, almost untouchable save for reliability or driver issues.

Tyres could of course be the joker hiding in the pack, I would find it quite amusing if Mercedes have reverted back to chewing up it's tyres quicker than the rest. But I doubt that will happen.

[Richard]

If Alonso was racing then I'm sure you'd not have a problem finding somewhere!

Barca will be like any other modern city in a country with a decent F1 fanbase so you'll find a sports bar somewhere. It's not as if there is any other sport to show at that time! I'd also ask the hotel to switch on of the screens in the bar/lounge area from the dirge of 24 hour news to F1. You'll find the staff will be interested too because of Alonso (even if he's not actually racing).

[Moose]

It's not quite all over for McLaren yet. Last year, RedBull did 203 laps in testing in total, looked like they were down and out, and proceeded to win 3 races and take second in the constructors. McLaren managed half that many in one day (though admittedly that day was an outlier). McLaren can, and will (at some point) get it together, and may well be a force to recon with.

[doji desu]

I can't wait for the season to start and we actually see where everyone is in relation to the Mercedes team. However, sometime during this season I just want to hear:

"Sebastian, Kimi is faster than you"

[Chuckjr]

I think tires are going to play a much larger role this year and will be a key factor to Merc being catchable...just my 2 cents.

Based on what?

A hunch.

[zioture]

Brembo Brake Facts 01 - Australia

[SiLo]

I think tires are going to play a much larger role this year and will be a key factor to Merc being catchable...just my 2 cents.

Based on what?

A hunch.

They had some of the best tyre management out of all the team last year. I feel if tyres play a larger role, it will actually exacerbate their advantage, not decrease it.

[pob]

Any opinions on tyre strategy? Two stop presumably most likely if it stays dry (option-option-prime).

F1 prediction game thread is up, don't forget to do your predictions by the deadline on Thursday.[/shameless plug]

[dren]

Any opinions on tyre strategy? Two stop presumably most likely if it stays dry (option-option-prime).

F1 prediction game thread is up, don't forget to do your predictions by the deadline on Thursday.[/shameless plug]

That's my guess, two stopper.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

Mercedes to dominate and Max Verstappen will score his first points.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Weather forecast : Dry on Saturday and Chances of Rain on Sunday. Absolutely perfect, if that is going to be the case indeed. I am more excited for the contest of rookies in Toro Rosso. Both think they deserved the F1 opportunity, more than the other.

[WaikeCU]

Weather forecast : Dry on Saturday and Chances of Rain on Sunday. Absolutely perfect, if that is going to be the case indeed. I am more excited for the contest of rookies in Toro Rosso. Both think they deserved the F1 opportunity, more than the other.

I may exaggerate, but I think there's a certain pressure on Sainz despite being his first season. Besides bringing the car to the finish, it's important to win the inter team battle. I don't think Sainz wants to be beaten by a 17-year old rookie either. I do however believe this won't be his only season for STR. I could see him driving for their next couple of seasons too.

[SectorOne]

Arguably the pressure is all on Verstappen. Hes the guy touted as some kind of Senna so if he gets whipped by Sainz his career can be very shortlived.

Some good inter-team battles this year though.

hamilton vs rosberg
alonso vs button
Kimi vs vettel
Sainz vs verstappen

[f1316]

I think tires are going to play a much larger role this year and will be a key factor to Merc being catchable...just my 2 cents.

Based on what? Paul Hembrey of Pirelli, kept saying that, because they expect the power units to get more powerful, it would already add more stress on tyres and they are not planning to add any other variable into tyres by trying to be aggressive. It would be wishful thinking if someone believes that the tyres would become achilles heal for Merc because if someone has paid a huge price to learn about tyres, it's Merc.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116145

Pirelli is hopeful that it will be able to test its 2015 Formula 1 tyres for the first time in the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test.

AUTOSPORT understands that McLaren and Force India were objecting to a proposal by Pirelli to run development tyres in the week after the season finale.

However, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said on Friday that he was optimistic a deal could now be reached so teams could try the new specification tyres before next year.

"It seems that the two teams that were objecting might not object anymore," he said.

"So I think if we go with extra sets on top of the annual allocation, hopefully we can do that."

The changes to the 2015 tyres are only minor, relating to construction and a potentially different compound for the supersoft.

"They are not hugely different - there is a structural change but it is not massive," added Hembery.

"The compounding elements are similar to this year and I think you will see that really for the next two years.

"We don't have any ability to test anyway; more or less where you are today is where you have to be.

"We have a year where we have been in line with a number of pitstops.

"The races could perhaps have been a bit more interesting if there was more of a challenge for the teams.

"But if the cars do get quicker, what is maybe not such a challenge today could become a big challenge tomorrow if you stand still."

We all can wish for great racing and not one team dominating, but when reality is so obviously glaring, it's hard to remain any more optimistic.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I read this differently .

I'm reading hembrey saying that they're going to leave the tyres much the same - not do anything aggressive to change them- but because the cars will be faster, the tyres will become a challenge because they've stood still.

I'm pretty sure I remember him saying something like 'what seemed conservative last year may be quite aggressive this year ' because the tyres are faster. Will try and find the quote.