The 2016 Australian Grand Prix Thread

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Moderators: cmlean, Ed, The Qualiflyer, The Heretic

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Australian Grand Prix Driver of the Day

Nico Rosberg
0
No votes
Lewis Hamilton
1
25%
Sebastian Vettel
0
No votes
Daniel Ricciardo
0
No votes
Filipe Massa
0
No votes
Romain Grosjean
3
75%
Other
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 4

cmlean
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The 2016 Australian Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:07 pm

This is the place to discuss everything related to the first round of the 2016 season taking place in Australia between the 18th and 20th of March.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for Australia click here, to register in the competition click here

Picks for Australia close at the start of Saturday practice.

The event timetable for the Australian Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 12:30 local time - 01:30 GMT
2nd Practice 16:30 local time - 05:30 GMT

Saturday
Practice 14:00 local time - 03:00 GMT
Qualifying 17:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 16:00 local time - 05:00 GMT
Last edited by cmlean on Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by cmlean » Sat Mar 19, 2016 9:10 am

Day 1 of practice for the 2016 Australian Grand Prix is done and dusted.

What have we learned.

1. Melbourne weather in temperamental. Just when it looked like we would get some serious runs in on slicks, another shower passes across the circuit putting us back to square 1.

2. Even the best can make mistakes. Nico Rosberg tried to squeeze just a little more out of the car and the track bit back. Damage is minor, just a wing and maybe a good look over the left side suspension. The steering wheel wasn't straight so something is not quite right.

3. Manor and McLaren all did a lot of laps. Manor probably so the drivers can familiarize themselves with the track, McLaren because they need to.

4. Williams are conspicuous by their absence, particularly in FP2. Do they know something we don't or haven't we got the bits to fix the cars should something go wrong?

5. The top teams, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and to some extent, Toro Rosso are all sitting pretty and waiting for Saturday qualifying. Other than Nico sticking the car into the wall in FP2 and Carlos jr sitting out FP1, things have gone well.

The weather forecast for today, Saturday. Morning showers clearing to a fine afternoon. This should allow the cars and drivers to get down to business.

Let the fireworks begin.

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Post by cmlean » Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:28 pm

Q1 has been completed

22. Wehrlein
21. Haryanto
20. Gutierrez
19. Grosjean
18. Kvyat
17. Nasr
16. Ericsson

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Post by cmlean » Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:39 pm

Q2 has been competed

15. Magnussen
14. Palmer
13. Button
12. Alonso
11. Bottas
10. Hulkenberg
9. Perez

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Post by cmlean » Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:57 pm

Q3 has been completed

8. Ricciardo
7. Sainz
6. Massa
5. Verstappen
4. Räikkönen
3. Vettel
2. Rosberg
1. Hamilton

So much for the new qualifying format. No cars on the track and the clock is still counting down.

The first 2 qualifying sessions were quite exciting, the last was an anti-climax.

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Post by cmlean » Sun Mar 20, 2016 8:46 am

So, after considering what happened in qualifying, my thoughts turned to a compromise rather than a total scrapping of the current system.

1. Retain the new system for Q1 and Q2.
2. Revert back to the old Q3 with all 8 cars on the track.

This should ensure that the debacle of no cars on the track for the final 4 minutes of the session doesn't happen again while the uncertainty of who is on pole until Q3 has concluded will be retained.

Your thoughts....

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Post by cmlean » Sun Mar 20, 2016 5:21 pm

Well, what a race! Good to see Fernando climb out of the wreck with basically no injuries. He will be a bit sore tomorrow though.

As they crossed the line.
1st . Rosberg
2nd. Hamilton
3rd. Vettel
4th. Ricciardo
5th. Massa
6th. Grosjean
7th. Hulkenberg
8th. Bottas
9th. Sainz
10th. Verstappen

Let's hope that there are no post race penalties.

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Post by Thaddeus » Sun Mar 20, 2016 8:55 pm

Due to the BBC's Judas Iscariot-type approach to coverage a few years ago, giving the whole season to pay TV for the first time in UK history (and then half the live rights to another, albeit free-to-air, broadcaster this year) I had to listen on the radio.

However, it did sound a very interesting race. Ferrari cocked up massively. Couldn't believe they left Vettel's tyres unchanged under the red flag. Crazy decision.

Hugely impressed with Haas and Grosjean. I thought they'd hit the ground running, but never thought he'd get 6th. Verstappen being irked about getting pitted second, despite being ahead of his team mate, was fair enough, but his constant bleating was juvenile.

I'd make Grosjean driver of the day, with an honourable mention for Palmer's assured drive (shame he was 11th and missed out on points).

Also, Palmer's nickname according to Twitter is BananaPalmerama. [I'm MorrisF1, for those interested].

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Post by cmlean » Fri Mar 25, 2016 9:37 am

I know how you feel Thaddeus. Last season, Network TEN in Australia did the same thing of selling off live coverage to the cable providers. On free to air, one race is live and the alternate race was a 1 hour highlights package. After about 29 years of continuous coverage on free to air, we are given this abridged piece of .... 24 hours after the event.

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Post by cmlean » Fri Mar 25, 2016 9:47 am

cmlean wrote:So, after considering what happened in qualifying, my thoughts turned to a compromise rather than a total scrapping of the current system.

1. Retain the new system for Q1 and Q2.
2. Revert back to the old Q3 with all 8 cars on the track.

This should ensure that the debacle of no cars on the track for the final 4 minutes of the session doesn't happen again while the uncertainty of who is on pole until Q3 has concluded will be retained.

Your thoughts....
http://www.newsonf1.co.uk/2016/news/Mar ... rvive.html

http://www.newsonf1.co.uk/2016/news/Mar ... ybrid.html

Maybe the brains trust aren't as silly as I think they are....

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