March 18, 2012

2012 Australian GP Executive Summary


Here we go, start of the longest Formula One season ever, Melbourne as a low grip street circuit is notoriously not representative of how the rest of the season might unfold so let's dispense with big pronouncements in favor of a simple winners and losers list

WIN:

Jenson Button: flawless, showed Lewis again why he carries number 3 and not 4.

Mclaren, looks good went fast. will it continue to grow?

Fernando Alonso: showed why it is he's paid the big bucks and he's the best driver in the field. Especially impressive, how towards the end of the race with his tires gone he controlled Maldonado pushing only in the last section of the lap to get away from DRS range.

Kimi Raikkonen: he's been away for two years? I'd hate to think what will happen when they wake him up on time for qualifying.

Kamui Kobayashi, Sergio Perez, Sauber: Just check the starting and finishing positions.

Williams: yes Maldonado was helped by the safety car shuffle but great to see a Williams do something.

New Safety car rules: perhaps it was not a factor today but finally lapped cars will not decide the race.


FAIL

Lewis Hamilton: Starting from pole and getting thoroughly dusted by your supposedly slower team mate shows it takes more than a green liner in a yellow helmet.

Mercedes: Clever aero is not too much use if your car breaks and eats tires fast.

Rosberg: not so happy to have to chase "grandpa" Michael's times?

Force India: expected more out of Di Resta.

Mclaren: you blew the fuel calculations, seriously?

Massa: why postpone the inevitable, Indy car is calling.

Maldonado: could have scored points for the team, oh wait, he bought the team so he can stuff it in the wall if he wants to. Or maybe that voodoo doll Grosjean was playing with actually worked.

Check out our Australian GP Executive Summary after the jump





PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Australian Grand Prix
Albert Park, Australia;
58 laps; 307.574km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           1h34:09.565
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +     2.139
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +     4.075
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     4.547
 5.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    21.565
 6.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    36.766
 7.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    38.014
 8.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +    39.458
 9.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    39.556
10.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    39.737
11.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    39.848
12.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    57.642
13.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +     1 lap
14.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps
16.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +    4 laps

Fastest lap: Button, 1:29.187

World Championship standings, round 1:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Button        25        1.  McLaren-Mercedes           40
 2.  Vettel        18        2.  Red Bull-Renault           30
 3.  Hamilton      15        3.  Sauber-Ferrari             12
 4.  Webber        12        4.  Ferrari                    10
 5.  Alonso        10        5.  Lotus-Renault               6
 6.  Kobayashi      8        6.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          2
 7.  Raikkonen      6        7.  Force India-Mercedes        1
 8.  Perez          4       
 9.  Ricciardo      2       
10.  Di Resta       1       
       
All timing unofficial

35 comments:

  1. Very well done! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Same as Qualifying, i have no permission to see videos, even on vimeo and after log-in, this video is private (europe connection).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about your issues, there is no geo restriction but they will only play on the actual axis page (otherwise they would disappear in 20 minutes)

      Delete
    2. Same here (no permission), trying to view it within axis blog.
      It worked well last year.

      Delete
    3. Just try, it works from US proxy, you may have a Geo.

      Delete
    4. now it works!(i made the initial post). I don't understand what happened...
      Great job!

      Delete
    5. now it works (i did inital post), i don't understand what happened...
      Great job, thanks!

      Delete
  3. Hamilton bashing from the first race. Excellent, keep it up you clown.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha, Lewis fans are SO sensitive! Well if part of F1 is beating your team mete then Ham belongs in the FAIL column today, right? and did I mention he will always fail as long as he tries to pretend he's Senna rather than himself?

      Delete
    2. AC, your blog is perfect as it is. Please don't change anything.

      Delete
  4. Re the above, I'm moved to write to say that I agree with you. Hamilton is pretty racey but Jenson brings superior brain power to the job, and he's pretty quick with it. My hope is the Ferrari will produce a car worthy of Alonso's sublime talent, rather than relying on it to cover their deficiencies.

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  5. One of the reasons i was missing the F1 is because this summaries. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hamilton fans are bound to get sensitive when a lot of your F1 related posts involve some negative comment towards him. I understand that it's your blog and you have the right to express your opinion, but the constant Hamilton bashing does get a bit annoying to read.

    What about Alonso's hissy fit when the track worker went over to help him out of the car after his driver error in qualifying? Why not bash Massa further for his terrible driving? You didn't even mention the coming together between him and Senna. If that were Hamilton, surely there would have been at least a full paragraph of Hamilton bashing.

    And your theory that he tries too hard to be like senna and not himself is a bit ridiculous I must say. I remember last year Hamilton had said himself in an interview that if it was Senna in the car he would have put it on pole, obviously implying that he is not senna, nor is he trying to be. So he has a helmet and helmet lining similar to his hero Senna, it's idiotic to think that he would try to embody him while he is racing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Two questions: have you seen the clip and have you seen Hamilton's helmet? Bonus round, who's on the Axis header?

      Delete
  7. I hate to sound like a broken record. But the videos, they are not working.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I hate to sound like a broken record. But the videos, they are not working.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I ran into work today, logged in and the first thing i checked was axis to see what youve written about the grandprix weekend. But unfortunately im having issues watching the embedded vimeo clips. It used to work fine earlier but now it shows,

    "The creator of this video has not given you permission to embed it on this domain. This is a Vimeo Plus feature."

    And its not just on this article. How do i watch them? Help!!! I need my axis fix!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Entertaining read AC, as always. It seems to me the RBR drivers did a decent given the car they had this weekend. I was surprised how Vettel couldn't do anything against Button after the safety car.

    And no words about Petrov's completely stupid choice to park his car?! Am I the only who thinks he couldn't do worse? Not to mention the truck lapping the whole track: dafuq?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ho right: can't see the videos either.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kimi asking about the blue flags was classic!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vid worked for me on an ipad, great summary always has incar shots I don't get elsewhere.. Only thing it was missing though was Ricciardo v Vergne v Di Resta v Perez final lap.. I saw the Ricciardo v Vergne during the coverage but would love to see the whole final lap from Di Resta or Ricciardo cam, did the wreckage of Maldonado contribute to all the action?

    ReplyDelete
  14. blogspot.com is redirecting to blogspot.CA for me (and no doubt other TLDs) as well- therefore no video

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'm being redirected to blogspot.pt, hence no videos.

      Delete
    2. Ahh... stupid geo location stuff. So there is a workaround right now. Add /ncr to the url. i.e. axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/ncr/2012.... etc...

      It works. ncr = "no country redirect"

      Delete
  15. just found this....thank you PIPPA

    Why does my blog redirect to a country-specific URL?
    Q: Why am I seeing a URL change?
    A: In the next few months the website address of a blog you're reading may be redirected to a country-specific domain. For example, if you're in Australia and viewing [blogname].blogspot.com, you might be redirected to [blogname].blogspot.com.au. The country-specific domain should correspond to the country where you're currently located.

    Q: Why is this happening?
    A: We are doing this to provide more support for managing content locally. If we receive a removal request that violates local law, that content may no longer be available to readers on local domains where those laws apply. This update is in line with our approach to free expression and controversial content, which hasn’t changed.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great write-up. I agree complete with your comments on Alonso and Massa. I cannot wait until Ferrari buld Alonso a decent car. Also, I can understand why Ferrari kept Massa on for another year following his terrible injury, however he has quickly proven that he does not have the speed in an "uncompetetive" car.

    Also I like the Hamilton bashing.. I certainly feel that the TV commentry completely over rates him, and Button has shown many times who the better driver is.

    Lastly, Come on Kimi! A rally potential unfurfilled for sure, but it is great to have him back in F1.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I really want to see the last lap from Kimi's perspective. Anyone know where to find this?

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  18. BOOM! That was an excellent first race. As for the Hamilton bashing : SCREW YOU WHINERS. I'm a Hamfist fan and I TOTALLY AGREE w/AC. Why?

    Because once again Hamilton BLEW IT. Not only that, but he acted like a little baby after the race, once again pouting because he felt wronged somehow, even though he lost the race through his own actions.

    Alonso's tantrum in quali speaks for itself - do you really need someone to break it down why that was such a joke? We all saw it live, his mistake and his hissy fit, whereas Hamilton's fail was several components over the entire race. WE EXPECT MORE FROM HIM, THEREFORE WE BASH HIM OUT OF DISAPPOINTMENT. He totally could have won that race but Button simply out-drove Hammy to turn 1 and drove an almost flawless race.

    Not much to say about Vettel. Deep down, there is a suspicion the he would have had second even without the safety car (I know I wasn't the only one screaming 'BULLSHIT!' when I realized what was going down). But it was practically handed to him by Petrov (dumbshit) and Hammy didn't have his head on straight to bring the fight to Seb. Honestly I would have rather seen Alonso or even Grandpa Shumi on the podium rather than the little finger banger.

    Again, it all comes down to Hammy's crappy attitude after the race - he deserves to be called out because his fans, myself included, know and expect better from him. After last year's incidents you'd think he could find a way to be civil and not a big baby in the post-race interview. For eff's sake man, you won a giant trophy and your car is quick, slap a smile on and fake it!

    That said, during the grid walk, Brundle managed to get Button on the mic, and asked him a total softball question straight away, and Jenson answered like immediately: Brundle: You're looking cool, etc JB: Only on the outside Brundle: How does it feel on the inside? JB: GREAT! - Jenson had a straight face, totally snapped into media mode like instantly. I broke out laughing b/c you know even these guys are nervous. One of the best pit-walk interview snippets I think I've ever seen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How is Petrov a dumbshit? His steering column failed him, how could that possibly be his fault?

      Delete
    2. Hamilton seemed upset at himself. How the hell did you come to the conclusion that he "felt wronged somehow?"

      Delete
    3. Ice man: the stacked pit stop?

      And here are some sites where you can find Massa trashed and Alonso criticized. Normally they do a lot of LH flag waving too:

      http://adamcooperf1.com/
      http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/
      http://badgergp.com/
      http://www.planetf1.com/
      http://en.espnf1.com/

      There might be some other sites that have similar content as well...

      Delete
  19. AC, where's the new Daytona Coupe header photo from? Very awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great video, worked fine for me (in Greece), loaded fast, no restrictions

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  21. Excellent summary gentlemen (and women just in case there are in your team)!

    Sure to follow this blog!

    Thanks

    J

    ReplyDelete

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