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
Very well done! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSame as Qualifying, i have no permission to see videos, even on vimeo and after log-in, this video is private (europe connection).
ReplyDeleteSorry 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)
DeleteSame here (no permission), trying to view it within axis blog.
DeleteIt worked well last year.
Just try, it works from US proxy, you may have a Geo.
Deletenow it works!(i made the initial post). I don't understand what happened...
DeleteGreat job!
now it works (i did inital post), i don't understand what happened...
DeleteGreat job, thanks!
Hamilton bashing from the first race. Excellent, keep it up you clown.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, 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?
DeleteAC, your blog is perfect as it is. Please don't change anything.
DeleteRe 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.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons i was missing the F1 is because this summaries. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHamilton 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.
ReplyDeleteWhat 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.
Two questions: have you seen the clip and have you seen Hamilton's helmet? Bonus round, who's on the Axis header?
DeleteI hate to sound like a broken record. But the videos, they are not working.
ReplyDeleteI hate to sound like a broken record. But the videos, they are not working.
ReplyDeleteI 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,
ReplyDelete"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!
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.
ReplyDeleteAnd 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?
Ho right: can't see the videos either.
ReplyDeleteKimi asking about the blue flags was classic!
ReplyDeleteVid 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?
ReplyDeleteblogspot.com is redirecting to blogspot.CA for me (and no doubt other TLDs) as well- therefore no video
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm being redirected to blogspot.pt, hence no videos.
DeleteAhh... stupid geo location stuff. So there is a workaround right now. Add /ncr to the url. i.e. axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/ncr/2012.... etc...
DeleteIt works. ncr = "no country redirect"
OK, try now...
Deletejust found this....thank you PIPPA
ReplyDeleteWhy 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteAlso 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.
I really want to see the last lap from Kimi's perspective. Anyone know where to find this?
ReplyDeleteBOOM! 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?
ReplyDeleteBecause 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.
How is Petrov a dumbshit? His steering column failed him, how could that possibly be his fault?
DeleteHamilton seemed upset at himself. How the hell did you come to the conclusion that he "felt wronged somehow?"
DeleteIce man: the stacked pit stop?
DeleteAnd 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...
AC, where's the new Daytona Coupe header photo from? Very awesome.
ReplyDeleteGreat video, worked fine for me (in Greece), loaded fast, no restrictions
ReplyDeleteExcellent summary gentlemen (and women just in case there are in your team)!
ReplyDeleteSure to follow this blog!
Thanks
J