Season openner - Australia 2015

[J.Clark]

Here we go.

The grid is set, more or less, for the first race. 
1. Hamilton   Mercedes   1m 26.327s
2. Rosberg      Mercedes   1m 26.921s
3. Massa      Williams   1m 27.718s
4. Vettel      Ferrari   1m 27.757s
5. Raikkonen   Ferrari   1m 27.790s
6. Bottas      Williams   1m 28.087s
7. Ricciardo    Red Bull   1m 28.329s
8. Sainz Jr      Toro Rosso   1m 28.510s
9. Grosjean      Lotus    1m 28.560s
10. Maldonado   Lotus    1m 29.480s

11. Nasr      Sauber   1m 28.800s
12. Verstappen    Toro Rosso   1m 28.868s
13. Kvyat      Red Bull   1m 29.070s
14. Hulkenberg   Force India   1m 29.208s
15. Perez      Force India   1m 29.209s
16. Ericsson   Sauber   1m 31.376s
17. Button      McLaren   1m 31.422s
18. Magnussen   McLaren   1m 32.037s
19. Stevens   Manor Marussia   no time
20. Merhi      Manor Marussia   no time

Mercs were in a league of their own, as everyone expected.  Post qualifying interviews indicated that (my opinion) things for the moment are going well between Lewis and Nico.  With a 1.4 second advantage, the question becomes reliability, which did hamper them occasionally in the past season.

Good to see Massa in that interview.  He did a fantastic job, especially considering that he sat out the afternoon practice yesterday while his car got an engine swap.  It would truly be a boost for him and Williams to have him finish the race tomorrow (hopefully on the podium of course) because Australia has not been good to Massa over the years.
Bottas    may not race tomorrow due to a back problem that began in Q2 and was no doubt exacerbated in the final turn of his last lap in Q3 when he had a hair raising off on the exit after losing it mid-exit and going wide.

Ricciardo still smiling.  What a fantastic personality he has.  Barring car troubles, he may be able to move up during the race, as he was so good at in 2014.

Ferrari have emerged as the most improved team over the winter.  It was interesting to hear one of the commentators mention that the new boss, Arrivabene, noted that something was wrong and he knew when he walked into the garage and found Kimi smiling.   
Hopefully they can have good race tomorrow and get both cars into the points at the end.

[Scott]

I know you said you didn't want to, but really J. Clark, huge thanks for the intro preview.   

Maybe we can rotate it around this season.  I have no time this race as I have visitors from Canada with us, but I wouldn't mind giving it a go for a race or two, but probably would bow out of doing it the whole season.  It would be nice if a few of the regulars would give it a go this season.  Just a short summary with Q times and makes a good thread to keep the general post race discussion in. 

[Irisado]

No Manors tomorrow, so there will only be a maximum of 18 starters, assuming Bottas is fit.

It should be a Mercedes tour de force at the front, all things being equal, and I think that Hamilton will win.  The race is for third, and that's really close, although I think that Williams has a slight edge over Ferrari.

The rest is up for grabs.  Toro Rosso, Lotus, and Red Bull look the most likely points scorers behind Williams and Ferrari, but if Red Bull suffer engine trouble again, Sauber or Force India could benefit.

I can't see either McLaren finishing, so the question is how many laps Button and Magnussen can complete before their Honda engines fail.  My guess is not very many.

[Wizzo]

Excellent summary as always JC thanks.

Wiz

[Scott]

Heroes & Zeroes

Heroes:

Hammy...no missed step all weekend.  Managed the race well, even gave Nico a sniff at the end.

Nico...could do no better, at least today.  I think Nico will still give Lewis trouble this season, and it was clear from the body language after the race that there us still no love lost between these two.  Not sure Blackberry us getting their money's worth when the cars are only on TV for the first and last lap, though I'm glad we get to see the racing.

Vettel, did everything right and stayed out of trouble.  Maybe he really is the right replacement for Alonso at Ferrari, so far filling his shoes just right.

Sainz, driving the STR brilliantly...sorry his tires weren't managed properly at the end.

Ericsson, impressed.

Sauber & FI, all the cars in the points!      Now let's go get some sponsorship on the blue cars.

Zeroes:

VDG for bringing the whole stupid lawsuit against Sauber.  Promises are worth nothing in F1, and I side on Sauber on this.  The team is more important than any person, simple as that.  Saw Peter in the paddock, I wonder if he came to sort things out.

First corner accident was racing...Sauber pinballed from Kimi into Maldo, nobody's fault.  Perez into Button was Perez's fault...as usual.  Otherwise fairly clean race.

Some rear tire change guys need to go back for Spring Training.  Sorry for Kimi especially.

Why didn't Williams have a reserve driver ready?  Isn't this exactly what they are for?  Especially when constructors points are so important.

My kids, for doing something to my laptop that created so many pop ups that running an English stream for Phil and I impossible.

Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to get Arnold up there to interview the drivers.  We were sure Jackie was there for that...why else was he even on stage?  I don't even think Arnie knew Rosberg's name.

[J.Clark]

Chaos 

Williams couldn't use a reserve driver because the rules say that if the driver is unable to race AFTER qualifying is over, he may not be replaced by a standby.  Valteri did not look happy to be sitting in the garage.  Massa did have a good race, but as was suspected by many (me included), Ferrari's race pace was just a bit better than Williams.

McLaren finally completed a test. 
Button was very happy in the post race interview.  He had, of course, just completed more laps in one session than he had been able to complete in all of the pre-season tests and practices combined.  They have a long way to go, but today was a positive result for the team.

Too bad about Kimi.  He has been doing well through testing and everything up to his first pit stop, and in fact was doing okay after it, but I think the threads on the left rear axle were galled in the first stop, causing the problem at the second.  He would likely have been able to finish fifth behind Massa.

Vettel ran a fairly straight-forward race.  He was fortunate to jump Massa in the pit stop because I don't think he could do it on track.  Ferrari may have a slight advantage over the long run, but not really enough to get passed Williams on track.

Sauber was a wonderful surprise with both cars finishing in the points.  Nasr is quite impressive.  I imagine we'll be seeing more of this from him.

1. Hamilton   Mercedes   58 laps   25 points
2. Rosberg      Mercedes   +1.3s        18 points
3. Vettel      Ferrari   +34.5s       15 points
4. Massa      Williams   +38.1s       12 points
5. Nasr      Sauber   +1m 35.1s   10 points
6. Ricciardo      Red Bull   +1 lap          8 points
7. Hulkenberg   Force India   +1 lap          6 points
8. Ericsson      Sauber   +1 lap          4 points
9. Sainz Jr      Toro Rosso   +1 lap          2 points
10. Perez      Force India   +1 lap          1 point
11. Button      McLaren   +2 laps

Not Chance 
Rtd Raikkonen   Ferrari   40 laps completed
Rtd Verstappen    Toro Rosso   32 laps completed
Rtd Grosjean   Lotus    0 laps completed
Maldonado      Lotus    0 laps completed

Did Not Start 
Kvyat              Red Bull   gearbox
Magnussen      McLaren   engine
Bottas           Williams   back injury
Will Stevens      Manor-Ferrari   did not qualify
Roberto Merhi      Manor-Ferrari   did not qualify

With Williams and Ferrari both having only one car finish, Sauber is in the number 2 slot in the Constructor's Championship.  That will no doubt change rather quickly, but I am sure they are happy at the moment.

[cosworth151]

I was very impressed with Nasr. I think Ericsson would have done better but he had an extra pit stop.

I wonder if Kimi had damage to his left rear spindle, possibly from the lap 1 bumper cars. That would explain why they had problems installing that wheel on both stops, while Vettel's went without a hiccup. (A envelope of cash from Seb to the wheel guy would be an alternate explanation    )  In fairness to the wheel changer, they never raised a hand on the second stop. Either the lollipop man or the front jack man jumped the gun.

Jenson did a great job of holding off Checo in an obviously underpowered McLaren. Jense had to be worried about his engine after K-max's problem.

Memo from Ross to Ron: "You've got it backwards. I said you can win both the WCC & WDC by dumping the Honda lump & going to Merc, not the other way around!"

[J.Clark]

I saw two guys waving their hands/arms on Kimi's left rear at the second stop.

Too bad that Ricciardo was in front of Massa for those two laps before Vettel pitted.  It held Massa up enough to let Vettel over-take him.  Had it not gone down that way, I don't think Vettel could have taken the position on track.

In the end, Merc are in a class of their own; Williams and Ferrari are equals; Sauber is a bit better than Red Bull and STR come about even with FIF1.

[Dare]

Hero's

Vettel-great race even though Massa was a bit unlucky.
           bet Alonso is thinking oh mierda

Mercedes-great car...just drive it and score good

Nasr-great job


Zeros

Mclaren-bet Honda is wondering what have I got myself into

Red Bull-no complaining when they had the best car now they talk
              of taking their toys and going home.Man up RB

Engines-instead of a F1 beast it sounds like a hive of passive bees

[lkjohnson1950]

At one point NBC/SP showed Perez and Button's data side by side and the Honda was several hundred RPM down and the Macca about 20 MPH slower than the FIF1. Either the chassis is really bad or Honda has a long way to go.
Heroes:  Nasr and Sainz. They did an excellent job, outrunning their team mates and punching above their expected weight.
Zeroes: The FIA Stupid fuel limiters and only 4 engines per car this year.

[Monty]

There should be an award for 'smiling through adversity' and it would obviously go to Button. If Manor had started I think there is a good chance they would have been in front of the McLaren. The only positive was the car seemed to handle brilliantly (there is no way he could have held Perez off otherwise).
Hamilton was fantastic and Rosberg lost with dignity for once.
Great result for Nasr.
I was really disappointed with Williams strategy calls. Why on earth did they pull Massa in when they did. Surely they should have responded to whatever Ferrari did for Vettel. They robbed Massa of a definite podium.
While mentioning Ferrari - who will find a horses head in their bed after that awful pit stop shambles. There was no indication from the guys on the rear left that they were finished but the jack man still dropped the car. I thought they had some clever traffic light system for release? If so, it clearly didn't work!

[Alianora La Canta]

Heroes

Hamilton - well and truly stamped his authority on the place.
Ericsson - early candidate for best overtake of the season.
Manor - early candidate for "impossible act of the season" by getting to Melbourne. The fact they didn't run does little to dampen the achievement.

Zeroes

Sauber - Four into two does not go. That is first-year maths where I come from. Monishia Kaltenborn's lack of appreciation of this fact single-handedly endangered her entire team's existence.

Perez - Dear Sergio, it is helpful to be awake at the start of races. And Jenson Button is not a punching bag, frustrated as you may be at being last.

Raikkonen's rear-left wheel hub - ruined what looked like a decent comeback race after an insipid 2014 for Kimi.

[jickmagger]

It was not quite Bahrain or Canada 2014, but at least the teams should be on more of an even technical footing this year (McLaren-Honda). Shame there seems to be no place for smaller teams in F1 :-(

[Irisado]

That was a race where getting onto the grid was a massive achievement, so everyone who managed that could count themselves among the top performers.  I've never known so many cars not to actually make the grid when there were places available.

A bit of unreliability was welcome though, as it spiced things up a bit.  There wasn't much action going on at the front after all, as Mercedes annihilated everyone, and the anticipated battle between Williams and Ferrari was neutered by Bottas being injured and Raikkonen's pit stop problems.

The best parts of the race for me were Nasr's drive to fifth, Ericsson's overtaking moves (this was easily his best race in Formula 1), and Button's battle with Perez.  I was amazed Jenson's car finished the race.  Just getting to the end was a massive result for McLaren after the testing woes that they have had.

All in all it was quite an interesting start to the season.  Let's hope more cars make the grid in Malaysia though.  Unreliability in the race is great, but it would be nice to see everyone at least make the start.

[F1fanaticBD]

Hero :

Sauber, Nassr & Ericsson : From ashes of 10th with no points last year (even after two teams didn't compete in the last 3 races) rose the spirit of Sauber, with a massive haul of 14 points and standing 3rd in the standing (though it may be brief, but after all the drama & court judgements, they have every right to enjoy it). I was ecstatic after this finish, because I had a fear that this year they may go bust, but Peter Sauber showed why he is respected.l

Mercedes & Hamilton : Mercedes for making a beautiful fast car and Hamilton for driving it absolutely perfectly.

Zeroes :

1. Me : For not being able to make to the race chat for the season opener and missing out the wonderful people of this forum. 

2. McLaren : As you are trying to fit an untested engine, you should ask your Design engineer to go a bit defensive, but instead he went radical, and you people keep praising it, even though you could not run your engine to the full power because of over-heating.

3. Red Bull : For the tantrums