The 2008 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix Thread

[Southernman]

Just back from Phuket. Forgot to set the dvd recorder and did not see or hear anything about the race. I am thinking my tips will be crap but it is only the start of the season.
Hi to all and hopefully catch some of the regulars soon.

Good to see you back jacfan. I hope that you had a great time on holiday.

It was a good race to watch as alot happened in it. Plenty to keep those who like trivia happy for years to come.

[Ed]

Greetings Chaps (and, especially, Ed):

So what happened to the press coverage of the teams? Last year we got not only an overall view from the race director for each team, but quotes from each driver.

The brief little digest of team response doesn't help much

Are the teams not releasing any more data and commentary? I tried to find something at the 'Official F1 site' but, of course, thats' the blandest source of non-information possible! My assumption is that it is managed by Bernie E.; it would be hard to find a less fan friendly site if you tried!

I am, of course, anxious to know something about the Ferrari engine situation. Saying that the motors would be shipped to Maranello was a little absurd. It would make better sense IMHO to ship some race engineers and crew members to Woking where they could learn something about running an F1 racing operation!

Well, anyway, on to Malaya. I assume, because of the mixed up results in Melbourne, the Pole n'8 results won't be posted until after Malaya.

But shouldn't there be a Malaya thread by now?

Jim Watt

Hi Jim,

We have not posted the Team and driver quotes for the last race and thought the summaries would be sufficient. The quotes are still available by following the links on the news page (http://www.newsonf1.com/news/), however if the readers prefe to see them here then we will try and provide them in the following events.

As for the Ferrari engines, there are a number of stories we covered on that. You can find them at the news section but specifically:

Ferrari suspects ECU to blame for Aus woes
Engines not to blame for Ferrari failures

I believe the Australia 8 'n' Pole results will be out over the weekend.

[JayVee]

Congratulations to Hamilton on winning but how lucky can you get ? Kovalainen was catching him before the safety car came out but then it was a drive in the park.

I don't think that was the case . . . when Lewis and Heikki were nose to tail this is what the FIA Live Timing was telling us:

On lap 23 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 11.7
On lap 24 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 12.2
On lap 25 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 12.6
On lap 26 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 12.4
On lap 27 Saftey car deployed,

On lap 30 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 0.6
On lap 31 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 1.6
On lap 32 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 2.3
On lap 33 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 3.4
On lap 34 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 4.1
On lap 35 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 4.7
On lap 36 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 5.1
On lap 37 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 5.5
On lap 38 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 6.0
On lap 39 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 6.5
On lap 40 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 5.9
Lewis made a mistake in the first sector posting a 29.9 instead of his usual 29.0 or 29.1
normal service was resumed on lap 41 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 6.5
On lap 42 the gap between Lewis & Heikki was: 5.9
Lewis is in the pitlane when he passes the start finish line

Unfortunately for us the battle was never rejoined as the pace car was deployed on lap 44 and Heikki's race was cruelly ruined.

I don't have access to this data. Is it publically available ?

I noticed that Kovalainen was closing in on Hamilton just before Hamilton stopped and for more than one lap. When Hamilton pitted Kovalainen stayed out and set the fastest lap of the race then the safety car came out. We won't know how many laps he would have stayed out.

As a matter of fact Hamilton had less fuel for qualifying and hence less fuel in his first stint and stopped earlier the second time so he had less fuel for his second stint.

We'll see how the strategies happen in Malaysia but if we see a repeat then it becomes obvious Hamilton is getting favoured and I'd like to hear your comments on that Snowy.

Just a note on Hamilton's claim that he could have gone quicker. For sure he will say that given that the fastest lap of the race was by Kovalainen

[Snowy]

The word is that Heikki had two more laps worth of fuel. It has also been stated that McLaren brought Lewis in two laps earlier than planned and that they did or were going to bring Heikki in two laps earlier.
We can not be sure if Lewis was entirely honest about being able to go faster, previous evidence from winter testing and from the free practice suggested that the McLaren was quick over a single lap but lacked pace over a longer stint. In this race however McLaren showed pace over an entire stint with none of the random fluctuations that had characterised their testing and free practice. They may be playing mind games with Ferrari, lulling them into a false sense of security. Although that sounds like the kind of sophisticated behaviour and thinking that F1 teams seldom actually possess.

If we adjust for fuel Lewis was a tad quicker
Heikki Kovalainen lap 43 1:27.418
Lewis Hamilton lap on 39 1:27.452