Formula 1 2009

[2jayzgte]

Yep it was quite surprising that how fast those Brawn cars were.

Who would have guessed Mclaren 14th and 15th on the grid for the first race of the season.

Toyota looked quite good aswell.

[Adamal]

See Branson in the pits looking all smug

[GTTpower]

Heard a rumor that toyota got penalised to the back of the grid, issues with the rear wing?

[Mr Revhead]

yeah they have been.... back of the grid
stewards deemed the top element of their rear wing to flex too much.
flexible areo is banned so times disallowed.
unintentional aspect of the design they say.

williams had also protested ferraris and RBRs sidepods, but withdrew the protest

[Jdawg]

More fun, They have just published the weights of the cars as they were in qualifying.

[thornz]

More fun, They have just published the weights of the cars as they were in qualifying.

Wow, the Brawns are two of the the heaviest cars in final qually, now that is impressive. I thought they may have been running light, just to ensure the front of the grid to attract more sponsers etc, but damn that is impressive. Reminds me of melbourne 98 when Mclaren were so dominant that they just cruised round to victory.

So who is your pick for victory? Im gonna go with the old dog Barrichello.

[Jdawg]

I reckon Button is more hungry for it. Ever since Hamilton came on the scene and became the new darling of the English press JB is the forgotten one and has had to put up with a lot of stick. Nothing like a bit of payback

[fivebob]

Out of the two Brawn drivers I's give Rubens the edge. He's had more experience with winning and knows what it's like to drive a really good car, plus he had the fastest lap in qualifying.

That said however, given the usual high attrition rate at Melbourne, and the lack of any real testing of the Brawns, I wouldn't be surprised if they failed to finish and Rosberg takes the win.

[Mr Revhead]

possible, but they running a mercedes drive train.... which hasnt been too bad on reliability..... ignoring hamiltons issue!

are brawn running the exact same setup as mclaren this year? or last years mclaren setup? or a mix of the two?

[fivebob]

williams had also protested ferraris and RBRs sidepods, but withdrew the protest

But in the end it all came to naught as Williams withdrew their protest. In a statement released after 1am in Melbourne, the team declared: ' After further detailed consideration, Williams has withdrawn both protests in the interests of the sport.'Williams recognises the possibility that in this area there could be more than one interpretation of the rules and therefore does not feel it appropriate to continue with the protests.'

[Mr Revhead]

i wonder if they managed to keep a straight face whilst saying that

[2jayzgte]

I still got Raikkonen to win..If he can get away well and get near the front I reckon he'll go well.

Anthing can happen off the start line and into the first corner..

The Brawn cars will be tough but I still think Ferrari are a good chance if they get away well.

As for over-taking I don't believe there is going to be as much as everyone thinks.

Pitty about the Toyota's but thats the brakes we'll see how fast they really are and see if they can come through the field.

[Mr Revhead]

hmmm i would say ferrari will need awesome starts, some rivals reliabilty issues and awesome pitstops to be in with a chance of a podium.. let alone a win! i think raikkonen def the fav over massa though, remember massas tendancy to loose the plot if it doesnt go his way....

if the brawns dont break, they have it in the bag.
if they do break, i think vettel could be taking a win!
looking at car weights, vettel, and the ferraris very similar, kubica a little lighter. heidfeld the heaviest in the top ten, but maybe too far back to make it work to beat the brawns as they could build up a decent lead with their fuel load and pace....

[thornz]

hmmm i would say ferrari will need awesome starts, some rivals reliabilty issues and awesome pitstops to be in with a chance of a podium.. let alone a win! i think raikkonen def the fav over massa though, remember massas tendancy to loose the plot if it doesnt go his way....

if the brawns dont break, they have it in the bag.
if they do break, i think vettel could be taking his maiden win!
looking at car weights, vettel, and the ferraris very similar, kubica a little lighter. heidfeld the heaviest in the top ten, but maybe too far back to make it work to beat the brawns as they could build up a decent lead with their fuel load and pace....

Did you not see Monza last year

I think the start should be interesting with some cars using kers, and some not. There is aparently quitre a advantage in using kers on the run down to the first corner. Should be great to see. Almost hope someting does happen to the brawns, otherwise I feel they are just going to run rings round the field. Be the dominant Ferrari years.

[fivebob]

I still got Raikkonen to win..If he can get away well and get near the front I reckon he'll go well.

Trouble is that both the Ferraris are fueled light, so there's no oppurtunity to get those extra laps and pass "in the pitstop", Webber is fueled for an extra couple of laps and will likely pass at least one of the Ferraris in the first stop.

Also all the cars behind Webber, with the exception of Hamilton, Bourdais and Trulli are fueled for a long first stint, and I don't think the Ferraris have the pace to get one pitstop ahead of them before the first stop, so they will find themselves held up with those ahead of them (except Kubica) will have less, if any, time behind the slower cars.

Raikkonen's only hope is for a first corner pile up with both Brawns taking each other out and Rosberg getting tangled up in the resulting mess.

[JustinSpiderholden]

Well today is going o very intresting

Both Brawn will win, if they get off the line fine, Ross Brawn will have them on the best stratigy possible
Brawn is an F1 genius so going by what already happend they will take victory

[Mr Revhead]

Did you not see Monza last year

I think the start should be interesting with some cars using kers, and some not. There is aparently quitre a advantage in using kers on the run down to the first corner. Should be great to see. Almost hope someting does happen to the brawns, otherwise I feel they are just going to run rings round the field. Be the dominant Ferrari years.

yes i did, what are you on about?

now, kers....
it uses energy from braking to give a hp for a set amount per lap.
are they allowed to start the race with that energy stored?
or do they have to complete a race lap so store the energy first?
from what iv read ferrari expect kers to help at the start, so that means they must be allowed to start with it stored. i wonder if anyone will protest that, or is it already covered in the rules

[Adamal]

Think I heard the commentators saying the other day that they can build the engery for KERS in the pit before the race with the engine running?
It sounded a bit odd to me, as I thought it only built energy from braking.

[thornz]

Did you not see Monza last year

I think the start should be interesting with some cars using kers, and some not. There is aparently quitre a advantage in using kers on the run down to the first corner. Should be great to see. Almost hope someting does happen to the brawns, otherwise I feel they are just going to run rings round the field. Be the dominant Ferrari years.

yes i did, what are you on about?

now, kers....
it uses energy from braking to give a hp for a set amount per lap.
are they allowed to start the race with that energy stored?
or do they have to complete a race lap so store the energy first?
from what iv read ferrari expect kers to help at the start, so that means they must be allowed to start with it stored. i wonder if anyone will protest that, or is it already covered in the rules

From what they were saying in qually yesterday, I was under the impression that they could charge the system before they left the pits. Perhaps it is different for the race, I'm not 100% sure. Even if they werent allowed to pre charge it, they could probably get a bit stored into the syetm from the lap to join the grid, and then also the warm up lap, they could drive with a foot on the brakepedal the whole way.

[Mr Revhead]

yeah i was wondering what the rules were, as i thought there may be a clause about only allowed during race, so they couldnt use it until the lights go out.