2014 Australian Grand Prix Thread - A New Dawn?

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:19

Lotus are set to start plum last. What a fall from the giddying heights of last year. Perhaps Brazil was a foreshadow of things to come wasn't it, even if they have been unlucky in this session. With their team boss and start driver gone, could we see Lotus become a reject team i.e. qualify and race at the back perenially?

Post by **Londoner** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:20

Lotus. This is just depressing now. :cry:

But, TALENT is 17th! :mrgreen:

And peope rate Bianchi over him? GTFO. :mrgreen:

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:20

Lotus to be this generation's BMW Sauber in terms of failure for the new regs?

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:23

I can used to both Williams drivers getting past Q1

Post by **mario** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:26

sswishbone wrote:I thought Kobayashi had a chance but not at the expense of both Lotuses, that really is an absolute shock, Grosjean 1.8 seconds slower than Ericson! Are Lotus really that far behind?

And at the expense of Gutierrez as well - what's also noticeable is that they were only a few tenths behind Perez and Hulkenberg too, indicating that the grid is perhaps quite a bit tighter at the tail end than in the past.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:31

Yeah which is a potential awesome point for the early races, these lap-times are slow in the wetter conditions, seven different manufacturs for top 7 now

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:37

Ricciardo looks set for pole, while Vettel is 12th and in the garage with 3 minutes left.

Stareagle · Post by **Stareagle** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:39

With 60 seconds left, Vettel is over 5 seconds off the top.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:40

Raikonnen ends Q2 early in crazy style! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA VETTEL!!!

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:44

Vergne and Kvyat in Q3! Wasn't expecting that

Post by **Londoner** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:44

The crowd just then. They really like Vettel, don't they? :lol:

Kimi you utter herbert.

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:44

Take that Seb, take that. Ricciardo never even came in for a new set of inters.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:44

9 consecutive wins, now this, blown away by new teammate Ricciardo. What if this continues into the early races. Did the yellow flags contribute to the slow lap? That's Vettel's first Q3 elimination since 2012.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:45

Kimi ruined that! It looked like a proper old school last man standing battle

What Vettel was hearing after seeing the results

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBxcoY7OJdw

Gerudo Dragon · Post by **Gerudo Dragon** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:45

No offence to any of his fans but...

Maldonado's screwed

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:46

3 WDC's out in Q2.

apple2009 · Post by **apple2009** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:48

At least Super Seb didn't bin it...

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:50

good_Ralf wrote:9 consecutive wins, now this, blown away by new teammate Ricciardo. What if this continues into the early races. Did the yellow flags contribute to the slow lap? That's Vettel's first Q3 elimination since 2012.

All streaks end eventually -- just unlucky timing with the yellows.

Loved the antics of Mastercard Lotus during qualifying. Definitely brought a big smile on my end.

HawkAussie · Post by **HawkAussie** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:51

I love seeing no Vettel in Q3

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 15 Mar 2014, 06:56

Do it for Dale, Ricciardo!

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:02

Great job from Riccardo, so much for not making Q3 eh Red Bull?

Stareagle · Post by **Stareagle** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:03

Daniel Ricciardo just crushed Sebastian Vettel in qualifying. He's in row 1 with Seb in 13th. Magnussen was much better than Button. This season is going to be fun.

Post by **mario** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:04

good_Ralf wrote:9 consecutive wins, now this, blown away by new teammate Ricciardo. What if this continues into the early races. Did the yellow flags contribute to the slow lap? That's Vettel's first Q3 elimination since 2012.

Not directly, since Kvyat was able to improve his time despite the yellow flag (and knocked Button out at the very last second), so time could be found elsewhere around the circuit. However, it probably made Vettel push overly hard later on in the lap (especially around the Turn 11/12 complex) which resulted in that mistake that threw him off line.
Either way, it's been a pretty trying time for Vettel so far - he hasn't had an answer to Ricciardo over a single lap so far and his car looks poorly set up judging by the switch from understeer to snap oversteer, plus he is now stuck a lot lower down the grid than he is used to whilst his team mate has only just come up short on a pole position in his very first race for the team.

apple2009 wrote:At least Super Seb didn't bin it...

True, and it has to be said that Kimi looked like he was constantly struggling throughout that session whereas Alonso looked like he was much more confident - it hasn't been a great return to Ferrari for him.

Post by **Londoner** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:04

K-Mag 4th. Bloody hell's bells. :mrgreen:

I'll admit, I was rooting for a Ricciardo pole, just to rub it in Vettel's face even more. A front row start will do nicely. :mrgreen:

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:05

Wow, that roar when Ricciardo briefly had pole. Amazing. He must have heard that.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:06

That. Was. Awesome.

This is going to be a good year.

apple2009 · Post by **apple2009** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:07

I was hoping the Vettel hate had calmed down by now. I was wrong.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:07

Well done to Ricciardo, his first ever front-row start in F1. Ex-teammate Vergne also set a good lap time, 6th the best he has achieved in F1 so far.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:08

Jocke1 wrote:Wow, that roar when Ricciardo briefly had pole. Amazing. He must have heard that.

I admittedly chuckled once Hamilton snatched pole -- mostly because of the crowd reaction -- even though I hate Hamilton with the burning passion most people waste on Vettel.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:11

Daniel Ricciardo is my hero today. He put the car on the front row when Vettel cracked and did shite with the car. Vettel is making a case for ROTR already, quite frankly. He was mostly being oupaced by KOBAYASHI in Q2 until his final lap.

That was a fantastic qualifying session. May the race be ever great in our favor.

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:12

Problem is the Renault cars can hardly get off the line, right?

Still, Australia has a new hero.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:12

apple2009 wrote:I was hoping the Vettel hate had calmed down by now. I was wrong.

I thought cheering on the underdog is what we did. And who is Ricciardo if not the underdog relative to Vettel?

Hell of a job by him to get on the front row, but the race will be another story. Qualifying has always been Ricciardo's stronger suit. Awesome job by Magnussen as well to get into Q3 and 4th on the grid while Button missed Q3 in conditions that should've suited him. This is gonna be one hell of a year.

girry · Post by **girry** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:17

Renault. What.

Weren't they supposed to be dead last? Red Bull looks superb in the hands of Ricciardo (kudos to him), both STR's were convincing and Kobayashi routinely put the Caterham P15. Ok, Mastercard Lotus gave today's laugh, but still, I really didn't expect this.

Stareagle · Post by **Stareagle** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:23

No Vettel hate here - that was just an amazing drive by Ricciardo on the intermediates, plus you've got both Magnussen and Kvyat starting near the front of the grid.

And a Caterham starting on the back bumper of a Red Bull.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:26

Cynon wrote: Loved the antics of Mastercard Lotus during qualifying.

giraurd wrote: Mastercard Lotus gave today's laugh.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6849

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:28

RotQ: Mastercard Lotus, dishonorable mention Kimi.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:34

Maldonado might still be able to start the race. He set a time in FP3 that was within 107% of the benchmark time set by Nico Rosberg.

rachel1990 · Post by **rachel1990** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:35

Yeah I agree about ROTQ with Mastercard Lotus

Special mentions to Raikkonen, Button and Vettel!!

Post by **mario** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:39

eytl wrote:Problem is the Renault cars can hardly get off the line, right?

Still, Australia has a new hero.

There were some rumours in the past that the Renault powered teams were having some issues when trying race starts, but it is unclear if that is still now the case.

Salamander wrote:
apple2009 wrote:I was hoping the Vettel hate had calmed down by now. I was wrong.

I thought cheering on the underdog is what we did. And who is Ricciardo if not the underdog relative to Vettel?

Hell of a job by him to get on the front row, but the race will be another story. Qualifying has always been Ricciardo's stronger suit. Awesome job by Magnussen as well to get into Q3 and 4th on the grid while Button missed Q3 in conditions that should've suited him. This is gonna be one hell of a year.

I think that he might be referring to some of the comments that are being made by certain sectors of the fanbase - to me, it seemed more like the crowd was more interested in cheering on Ricciardo rather than jeering Vettel (as I've seen posted elsewhere, hearing the crowd roar on Ricciardo during his lap was far more atmospheric than any engine note).

giraurd wrote:Renault. What.

Weren't they supposed to be dead last? Red Bull looks superb in the hands of Ricciardo (kudos to him), both STR's were convincing and Kobayashi routinely put the Caterham P15. Ok, Mastercard Lotus gave today's laugh, but still, I really didn't expect this.

Well, it would appear that Renault have found the answer to at least some of their problems this weekend and that Red Bull might be rebounding a lot quicker than some might have expected. Curiously, there is a suggestion that part of Vettel's problems in qualifying might have been down to the fact that he had a different engine mapping on his car - Symonds did mention that the teams were struggling to develop appropriate engine maps, so perhaps Vettel's issues with the car were partially down to a poor wet weather map (perhaps Ricciardo left his car with the dry weather engine map?).

Kobayashi was surprisingly competitive - although, it should be noted, Marussia have shown strong pace in the practise sessions too - and Toro Rosso are perhaps in better shape than we imagined too, although it has to be said that the car looked less competitive in the dry practise sessions (both drivers were regularly running off track). I guess that we will have to see how the cars hold up in race trim though - most of the Renault powered teams will be going into tomorrow pretty much blind as to what to expect with regards to tyre wear and fuel consumption, so we cannot be sure that they will still be so competitive in race trim.

good_Ralf wrote:Maldonado might still be able to start the race. He set a time in FP3 that was within 107% of the benchmark time set by Nico Rosberg.

Whiting has also indicated that the stewards are likely to be a bit more lenient in the first few races given that the teams are still adapting to the new regulations, so he probably will be allowed to start. That said, this is really going to be more of an extended test session for Lotus rather than a competitive race given that the car looked like an evil handling brute.

Rusujuur · Post by **Rusujuur** » 15 Mar 2014, 07:53

I don't really think this Q gave us too much info for the season as a whole or even for tomorrows race. Some cars seemed to thrive in the rain while others were fast in the dry. I think traffic also affected the whole thing rather much, so let see tomorrow and especially, lets see what happenes in a 100% dry race.