Australian GP: just add water.

Reports of the rebirth of Formula 1 fun will be as greatly exaggerated as reports of its demise were after the Bahrain GP but, once again, the Australian GP delivered the goods.

Now here is a radical idea: how about Formula 1 hold all of its races where there are actual people watching? Notice a difference in the stands in Melbourne? Notice that there actually are spectator stands all around the race track? You don't believe the energy of that many fans can be felt by the drivers? Nothing more needs to be said, right?

The race, like any variable conditions race, was great fun to watch. I was traveling this week end and did not see it until late last night and I must say, I could not take my eyes off the screen. There were some fantastic drives. Vettel, man he's good, he pulverized Webber in the same car and Webber is not exactly slow. Weber felt it for sure and made some pretty bad judgement calls and took out a now rather tense Lewis Hamilton.

Interesting about Hamilton in contrast with Fernando Alonso. Fernando was spun in what can only be described as a "racing incident" by Jenson Button and ended up dead last. He clawed his way back to fourth place, just behind a slower Massa. Yet there was no complaining, no demands for a pass, at least in public. Rightly, Alonso figured an epic climb from 22nd to 4th and keeping the lead in the championship was good enough for the day. Hamilton instead went fairly ballistic on his team over the open radio about his pit stop strategy. This looked kind of bad when Button was being praised for making his own call on tires. Hamilton had a great drive, but questions over his tire management will dog him.

Kubica, getting a midpack car on the podium speaks for itself. Great to see.

Button drove a perfect race and benefitted from his gamble on the tires and, as Alonso did in Bahrain, from Red Bull possibly pushing the envelope a bit too far with the car design.

And Schumacher? I think Schumacher's race showed where F1 really is, you still can't pass unless you are willing to go Webber Kamikaze or, the guy in front makes a big mistake. The race in Melbourne just had the right condition for mistakes to happen. Don't get too excited, you probably saw that in the final phase of the race, on the dry track the usual blanket of rolled up rubber covered the track except for the narrow racing line making overtaking essentially, impossible.

This klag buildup is one of the main problems F1 should address. What's the point of building wider tracks in the middle of deserts when, by half race, it becomes a single lane toboggan?

Finally, the new teams are simply moving chicanes, dangerous ones when they lose parts along the way. Kobayashi's wing failure accident would have killed three people not so long ago. it's not wise to tempt fate like that.

Highlights after the jump.
(photos: F1photos.org)

I did not have time to prepare the usual reel this time, but I think the BBC's are well worth watching.


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