Australian Grand Prix - March 16, 2008

hm, it’s pretty obvious McLaren walked away with the biggest win here; BMW had a seriously solid showing, especially Robert Kubica; having two Toyotas in the top 10—not bad at all 🙂; Red Bull landed 8th, while the best Renault was 12th (just a tenth behind Red Bull); and Honda... well, they missed the mark again...

Hamilton is the clear favorite now, but I’ve got a feeling Robert Kubica might actually cross that line first 😁

Quick question (I missed qualifying): what does it actually mean when they say they refueled and then ran that last stint—how much fuel is left in the tank when they head out? Are there any tells regarding how much fuel everyone has? Does Vettel have enough for at least 10 more laps than the nine drivers ahead of him? (Though honestly, it's probably hard to tell)

Andrew Bennett54 said:hm, looks like McLaren definitely walked away with the biggest win here; BMW had a killer showing, especially with Robert Kubica; seeing two Toyotas in the top 10 is pretty sweet 🙂; Red Bull landed 8th, while the best Renault was 12th (just a tenth behind Red Bull); and Honda... yeah, they basically missed the party again...

Hamilton is the absolute favorite now, but honestly, I wouldn't bet against Robert Kubica crossing that line first 😁

Quick question since I totally missed qualifying: what does it actually mean when they say they were refueling Bengay, doing their final run, and then how much fuel is left in the tank for them to start? Is there any way to tell how much gas everyone has left? Does Vettel have at least 10 more laps worth of fuel than the nine guys ahead of him? (Though I guess that might not even matter)

Exactly, there wasn't any real indication of who was carrying what in terms of fuel weight

Honestly, those guys killed it, major props to them. Tomorrow is going to be absolute chaos.🙏🙏🙏 🙏

Kimi’s having rotten luck again... and honestly, I really expected more from Alonso and Renault.
I mean, he was right all along when he said they'd just be fighting to scrape into Q3... fingers crossed they show some actual life during the race.

Hamilton was his usual self, and that car looks solid. But man, Robert Kubica caught me totally off guard. Like, seriously. Maybe Thiessen was just talking out of his ass before the season started.
Then again, if Kimi’s car had been behaving and if Massa wasn't being such a total amateur like he usually is, maybe Kubica wouldn't have even grabbed 2nd.

Or maybe they're all just dreaming. 🙂

Robert Kubica!!!! 👋 👋

Bradley Nelson2 said:Robert Kubica!!!! 👋 👋

I doubt they'll make it through the first turn.☕

Kimi is just Kimi. No luck to be found.😢

Jason Campbell70 said:I doubt he’ll even make it through the first turn☕

But that's just Kimi for you—he can never catch a break.😢

Come on, you know as well as I do that Kimi can pull off some absolute madness even when he's starting from 16th.
😉

Jason Campbell70 said:I don't think he makes it through the first turn.☕

But Kimi is Kimi. Just no luck today.😢

If he does make it, I'll be waiting for your post: "Robert Kubica is the God of F1, worship no other gods."👍

Jason Campbell70 said:I honestly have a feeling they aren't even going to make it through the first turn.☕

Kimi is just Kimi, I suppose; sometimes you simply run out of luck.😢

It would appear, though I hate to be the one to say it, that they’ve actually run completely out of fuel...

It’s honestly just incredibly stupid, and what a massive waste of everything involved...

I’ll be honest with you, I can't quite wrap my head around when the gaps between them actually became that massive.
The cars just seemed so small...

And then there’s the obvious misery of it all, though I suppose that's a bit of an understatement, given that almost everyone seems to be struggling just to maintain any semblance of control over their cars lately.
And then there's the matter of the massive tire degradation we're inevitably going to see; honestly, that's where the real fight is going to happen, and it should make for some pretty damn interesting action.

Bradley Nelson2 said:If things go according to plan, I’ll be expecting a post from you saying: Robert Kubica is the God of F1, and we shouldn't worship any other gods besides him. 👍

Looking at the BMW, it just strikes me that Fernando Alonso was making similar claims nearly a month ago...

It’s going to be quite interesting to see how these cars actually behave once the race starts.

hollowhawk412 said:but it looks like they just ran out of fuel...

it's incredibly stupid and such a massive waste...

though I have to say, I can't even remember the last time the gap between this many
cars felt this small...

not to mention the obvious struggle everyone's having with car control
and then you throw in the heavy tire degradation, so we might actually see an interesting fight on our hands

tomorrow is going to be absolute chaos🙂

hollowhawk412 said:Looking at the BMW, I can't help but remember Fernando Alonso saying basically the same thing nearly a month ago...

It'll be interesting to see how these cars actually hold up during the race.

Come on, man. I already said Robert Kubica would be champion within a year and a half.🙂
And obviously, I meant this season.😁

Robert Kubica!!!! 🙏🙏🙏
😍

Yeah, it’s gonna be wild seeing a start without TC, especially with those cars stuck on the dirty part of the track

Arthur Doyle70 said:Come on, you know as well as I do that Kimi can pull off something absolutely insane once he starts carving through the field from 16th. 😉

If they managed to snag the title last season, they can certainly pull it off again this year—regardless of how things shake out at the United States Grand Prix.🙏🙏🙏
If he stays clear of any mechanical issues, I'd expect him to finish in third.☕

Roger Williams3 said:Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see the start without traction control, especially for those cars stuck on the dirty part of the track.

Anyone want to place a bet on which lap Felipe Massa spins out, purely because of the lack of TC?

Jason Campbell70 said:If he managed to snatch the title last season, there's no reason he can't pull it off again this year, regardless of how things shook out at the United States Grand Prix.🙏🙏🙏
As long as his car doesn't fall apart on him, I’d say he’s looking at a solid third-place finish.☕

Though, let's be real, he'll still be trailing both McLarens.👍😉

Andrew Bennett54 said:hm, it’s pretty obvious McLaren walked away with the biggest wins here; BMW had a really solid showing, especially Robert Kubica; having two Toyotas in the top ten is actually quite decent🙂; Red Bull finished 8th, while the best Renault sat at 12th—just a tenth behind the Red Bull—and the Hondas just completely missed the mark again...

It turned out exactly how Fernando Alonso predicted...
he was most worried about qualifying...

he seems incredibly happy with how the car handles during those long runs, even though
the single-lap pace is giving him a hard time...especially when they put
those new soft tires on...

he ran into differential issues during Q2...
and he only managed to pull off one decent flying lap in Q2...

I'm reading that he was actually faster than Jarno Trulli up until the final sector, but then those differential problems hit...

I find that believable, considering he was quicker during the third practice session than he was in Q2
and I truly believe he could have clocked somewhere around a 1:25.8 or 1:25.9

but as it stands, with that 12th place time in Q2, he ended up just six-tenths behind 5th place Felipe Massa...

I'm telling you... things are getting more chaotic than ever

I see a fundamental issue with the qualifying format... just speaking generally...

Adrian Sutil ended up blocking half the track toward the end of Q3 and completely ruined
Alonso's final lap...

with all these more frequent spins, this kind of thing is only going to happen more often

Kudos to Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, they did soooooo good

Bradley Nelson2 said:Oh come on, Alonso, I’m telling you, Kubica is going to take the championship within the next eighteen months🙂
and obviously, I was talking about this current season😁

Oh, please... you're clearly just a die-hard Kubica supporter...

Granted, Alonso is actually one of his closest friends
but my point is that Alonso realized something nearly
a month ago that everyone else completely missed over here...

He saw that the BMW is significantly faster than those testing numbers would ever suggest...

And those technical hiccups they were dealing with? That was nothing more than a calculated design gamble
that is perfectly fixable—which, as we've already seen, it is...

But hey, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out in the long run.