Round 1 ~ Australia 2017

[J.Clark]

Since on one has posted on it yet, I'll put the grid up.

1.  Hamilton      Mercedes   1m 22.188
2.  Vettel      Ferrari  1m 22.456
3.  Bottas      Mercedes    1m 22.481
4.  Raikkonen      Ferrari    1m 23.033
5.  Verstappen    Red Bull   1m 23.485
6.  Grosjean    Haas    1m 24.074
7.  Massa      Williams    1m 24.443
8.  Sainz      Toro Rosso   1m 24.487
9.  Kvyat      Toro Rosso   1m 24.512
10. Ricciardo    Red Bull    No Time - crashed - RED FLAGGED

11. Perez      Force India   1m 25.081
12. Hulkenberg      Renault    1m 25.091
13. Alonso      McLaren   1m 25.425
14. Ocon      Force India   1m 25.568
15. Ericsson      Sauber   1m 26.465
16. Giovinazzi      Sauber    1m 26.419
17. Magnussen    Haas   1m 26.847
18. Vandoorne      McLaren  1m 26.858s
19. Stroll      Williams    1m 27.143 *
20. Palmer      Renault    1m 28.244

Ferrari looks to be back at the pointy end of the spear.  In fact, if Vettel and Hamilton have starts similar to 2016, Ferrari will be leading the race after turn one, and with the pace of the two nearly identical, we could have an excellent two team race for the win.  Bottas and Kimi have some history so that should be quite interesting.

Haas 

Giovinazzi - showed up not knowing that he was going racing today.  He just jumped into the car and nearly out performed Ericsson.  Awesome performance from him.  I watched the post session interview - very likable young man too.

[J.Clark]

Race result:
1.  Vettel      Ferrari    57 laps
2.  Hamilton      Mercedes    +9.975
3.  Bottas      Mercedes    +11.250
4.  Raikkonen      Ferrari    +22.393
5.  Verstappen     Red Bull    +28.827
6.  Massa      Williams    +1m 23.386
7.  Perez      Force India   +1 lap
8.  Sainz      Toro Rosso   +1 lap
9.  Kvyat      Toro Rosso   +1 lap
10.  Ocon      Force India   +1 lap
NO POINTS 
11. Hulkenberg      Renault    +1 lap
12. Giovinazzi      Sauber    +2 laps
13. Vandoorne      McLaren   +2 laps

DNFs
14. Alonso      McLaren   53 laps completed
15. Magnussen     Haas    49 laps completed
16. Stroll      Williams    43 laps completed
17. Ricciardo    Red Bull    28 laps completed
18. Ericsson      Sauber    23 laps completed
19. Palmer      Renault    18 laps completed
20. Grosjean    Haas    15 laps completed

 Congrats to Ferrari and Seb
The bells are ringing in Maranello!

Bottas did well in his first race with the new team; although, the Merc power wasn't and unfamiliar thing to him.

Massa had a fairly good race, but I was hoping the Williams had better pace.  At least he was lapped, as were the remaining points finishers.

STR & FIF1 with both cars in the points - great start for them.

The DNFs    There are usually a few, but this was way beyond the norm I think.

[cosworth151]

Grosjean was having a great race for Haas until his engine packed it in. I look forward to what he does in Shanghai.

Overtaking seemed to be almost impossible with the new cars. Lewis was over a second a lap faster than Max but said it was impossible to get around. I really hope they get that sorted out before China.

We had a good turnout in the Chat Room. I invite all other members to drop in for the next race. I think you'll like it.

[Scott]

Bottas let the cat out of the bag in his post race interview where he said that unless you had a massive straight, there was no way to get closer than 2seconds to a competitive car.  The front end simply loses all grip in the corners.  May as well throw DRS out the window since nobody can get within the zone leading up to the straight. 

As usual, the FIA and its fancy regulations have blown the aero rules again.  I could fix it tomorrow.  I would go in, snap the front and rear wings off all the cars and let them have at it.

[Dare]

Unless something is done  it looks like were in
for a follow the leader .Qualifying and pits stops are vital

Maybe it was my monitor but it seems like the sun
fades out the cars colors more this .

Funny how drivers I used to not care for have become my
favorites now.Kimi,Perez,and Vettel.I have a way to go with Lewis

[Irisado]

It's always difficult to overtake at Albert Park, regardless of the rules, so I will reserve judgement until we get to a permanent racing track.  What I will say is that the cars looked more exciting, which was a positive.

I am disappointed that Vettel emerged victorious, but the writing was on the wall even before Mercedes ended up placing Hamilton behind Verstappen after the pit stop.  There was some action elsewhere, but it was mostly confined to the Alonso, Ocon, and Hulkenberg battle, which while very entertaining, could not mask the fact that the wider field spread this year may lead to less on track racing.

Congratulations to Ocon for his first point and to Giovinazzi, who impressed making that last minute debut.

[Dare]

Another thing that makes the Honda look bad is a race with
impossible passing Alonso was passed.

[Irisado]

Was that down to lack of power or the failure which put Alonso out of the race?  If it was the failure, then it's not obvious it was an engine problem.  That said, Vandoorne's race was compromised by engine related issues, so it was hardly an auspicious performance by Honda.

[Dare]

Alonso called it the race of his life to keep the car in 10th
place but I think a little sarcasm there.

[lkjohnson1950]

Early on Ricciardo just blew by one of the McLarens on a straight. And in practice Alonso was under 200 KPH at the end of the pit straight. That is a serious lack of power.

[ChrisCurtis]

I'm looking forward to the next race. I think we'll get a better representation of just where everyone lies when we see some racing on what Alonso describes as "normal" circuits.

[Alianora La Canta]

Heroes

Ferrari strategists - for getting it right and sparing us a Mercedes walkover.

Antonio Giovanazzi - obviously for making a superb debut and looking like he should have a permanent F1 seat, but also for being the only driver to do the autograph session twice (every driver is required to go there once, but Antonio did half an hour at the start of the day and then an extra session in his scheduled team slot) and generally being such a ray of sunshine. Not every rookie can claim such a good debut.

Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg - for getting that triple-shuffle done at the end without landing in the kitty-litter.

Zeroes

Whoever's bright idea it was to let the fans onto the track before the cars had finished racing - this one speaks for itself.

Kevin Magnussen - for wrecking his race and Marcus Ericsson's by forgetting basic properties of a kerb and then trying to straight-line the corner as a "correction". (Also, the stewards for failing to recognise that the accident was predominantly Kevin's fault and therefore for implicitly sanctioning reckless driving. The very problem the "Verstappen rule" was designed to fix).

Lance Stroll - too many strolls down escape roads, plus crashes, equals a not very good debut. Things may improve, but today was not the day.

Dishonourable mention to FOM for their graphics being almost completely useless for most of the weekend (they were largely but not entirely functional during the race).

[Monty]

Albert Park never gives great racing but this was a borefest!
Alonso said on a number of occasions that he was having to do 'massive fuel saving' so that probably answers the real lack of pace towards the end of the race but he also said that the McLaren's current position is 'last'.
Why on earth did Mercedes pit Hamilton when they did? I know he was complaining about lack of grip but Vettel had zero chance of overtaking. If Hamilton had stayed out, Vettel would probably of killed his tyres trying to follow.
Although it was good to see something other than a Mercedes take the win, it would have been fun if Hamilton had come out on new tyres directly behind Vettel. He probably would not have been able to overtake but knowing Hamilton he would have had a few attempts!

[Robem64]

I was pleased with the result although obviously on this circuit the overtake effectively happened while the cars where stationary.

I also used to loath Vettel but I feel he has mellowed a little and his personality shone through after the win I thought. I don't think I've ever seen the guy genuinely smiling and so happy.

Very disappointed that Grosjean didn't get a good go in this race - he looked proper pumped after quali and that was a shame his race ended relatively early.

Immensely forgettable weekend of course for Ricciardo - not much sign of the famous smile at all. It went from bad to worse and I hope Red Bull spend the next two weeks working hard.

McLaren Honda - hmm, probably slight better than they expected although I suppose when the benchmark is set so low then it's not saying much. It will be very interesting to see exactly what unfolds there this season - they look like a team about to implode right now.

Lastly, massive respect for Giovinazzi - awesome performance and I had to agree with a comment David Coulthard made re Wehrlein. How was Giovinazzi better prepared than Wehrlein for the quali and race - I'm not sure we know the full back story on Wehrlein pulling out so last minute but given his replacements stellar performance at such short notice I'd be tempted to give the job full time to the guy as he embraced the opportunity.

I personally would make Giovinazzi or Ocon my drivers of the day!

[Alianora La Canta]

I have a horrible feeling that Pascal may be getting gently nudged out the door - there's no money behind him and a possible engine discount behind Giovanazzi, plus we still don't know how true the allegations of a less-than-easy personality on Pascal's part are. (Giovannazi didn't get injured in the winter, so had about 3 weeks more solid training than Pascal. China, in a fortnight, should be possible for Pascal, given he was able to at least make an attempt in Friday practise).

Antonio's excellent debut clearly won't have helped Pascal's cause.