This is not Ferrari's race. And it looks like we are going to have a Vettle / Schumaker battle. I'm looking forward to this one!
Big Mac, Lotus Renault, Mercedes and Red Bull this year wil be the teams to watch! It was fun seeing Schui get the better of Rosbug! I think this years racing will be more suited to MS's style, he's more agressive and can hang the tail out and catch it again, and with the loss of rear downforce, that's going to happen a lot. Williams has improved dramatically, and Force India will no longer be the laughing stock, that falls stricly to HRT, who won't even compete this weekend. I think we're in for a good race, with two DRS zones there will be passing and repassing. Timing and scoring will have their work cut out for them! Ferrari has a tough year ahead of them.... I'm not sure Kimi is going to be much of a factor, at least for the first few races. It's clear the car has plenty of potential, but to have your rookie driver come third while you can't even get into Q2, that says something.
Technical rule changes seem to have slowed the cars a bit and perhaps the blown diffuser ban had a bigger effect on Red Bull than most expected. Hamilton's pole time in the otherwise improved McLaren is roughly 1.5sec slower than Vettel's in 2011. Vettel's quali time in 2012 is a bit more than 2sec slower than his own 2011 quali time. On the other hand, Webber was only about 1.2sec slower this year..... Either there's something wrong with Vettel's chassis -- it wouldn't be the first time a chassis defect hampered one driver and not the other -- or maybe the tail-happy new cars don't match his driving style? Whatever it is, I like a shake-up and some uncertainty. Usually when the seasonal rules changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary things get a bit more predictable. Doesn't look that way so far this time. We'll see.....
Enjoyable race. Lots of action. Some justice served, some not. Looks to be an interesting season! _Dave_
Even the title of this one seems out of place..."chatty" and "Raikkonen" in the same sentence? :skep: Chatty Raikkonen back in the points on F1 return (Reuters via Eurosport.Yahoo.com)
I know one race does not a season make but it does look like we might have some competition this year.
Yep, several factors encouraging here.... the tires don't seem to be as different between the prime and option as they were last year. Even tho the Ferraris didn't qualify well, Alonso drove a masterful race to finish 5th, and Kimi coming from 17th to 7th tells me he will not only be a competitor at the front, but that the Renault is going to be competetive too. I promise you he will not let Grosjean show him up in qually like that again! I'm worried about Massa still being employed by Ferrari after the third race, at this rate. Rumors are already rife that they are talking to Perez..... Two Force Indias and two Saubers in the top 10? Yep, I think this season has a lot of promise. Vettel shut up those who said he can't race from within the pack, and that he's only good from the front. Hamilton again seems to be a sore loser.... Petrov said the Caterham was quite good and that he expects to challenge the mid pack all year - coming from last year's miserable Renault, does he really know what he's talking about? It's great to see the Williams is back from the dead, I expect Maldonado to at least podium this year. Nice to see the $45mil he brings to the team is helping too! I think the new Mercedes definitely suits Michael better than Nico, he may have his work cut out for him this year. I expect Michael to at least podium this year too, and I would not be surprised to see him win one at some point either. Should be a fun and interesting season indeed. BTW, on another forum, I called Button to win and Vettel to come 2nd, I had Michael for third, but that was probably optimistic.... "That said, I'll go out on a limb and say..... 1) Jetson Button-Button 2) Vet-tel 3) Schoomi" From here.... View topic - F1 Australia Predictions
Petrov's Renault was pretty good at the start of the 2011 season -- he even finished 3rd in Australia -- the nature of their radical blown exhaust design restricted sustained development though and rule changes throughout the season made it worse. I did like watching Kimi go. He can still push a car through the field. I'm not so sure he'll quickly improve his quali form though. Apparently something about the feel of the power steering doesn't suit him or his driving style...doesn't feel right to him. They're trying different options but can only test the changes now during the race practice sessions so he says he figures it might take a while before the car feels right and handles the way he likes. In the meantime he needs to learn the rest of the new rules.
Fun race to watch, for sure. Red Bull won't be running away with things this year, definitely. Alonso can still drive and Masa is quickly loosing his grip on the #2 seat at Ferrari who will seemly be having a difficult year as a team. A more closely packed and more competitive midfield. But I would still like to see some dog fights for 1st place and not for the crumbs down the field. But the season is only one race in. I won't start complaining loudly till at least 2nd, or 3rd race. :biggrin5:
I wouldn't count the Reds Bull out just yet, Vettel says they needed to get a race under their belts to know exactly which way to develope the car and that it has a lot of potential. Now that they've gotten one in, he says they know what to do now.... Gonna be a dogfight at the front between those two teams, and if they don't let Button get ahead at the start, it will be a good'un! Then you get a Renault and a Mercedes in the thick of it to and things get interesting fast. Could be a fun year! People expressed surprise that the DRS zones didnt seem to have much impact on this race, but maybe that was just for the front runners, cause there was a lot of passing going on in the field. Lot's of things to watch for this weekend. Getting rid of Massa for a Perez or someone might actually be a good thing, shake things up a bit for the boys in Red.
x2. Whether that loose spring put some fear in him, or whether the damage is more tangible, the result is undeniable. Phillipe is not the same driver he was prior.