I am in the Emirates Lounge at Tullamarine International Airport in Melbourne with an Apple in one hand, and a glass of Cloudy Bay in the other. So life is not too bad. It has been a slow day, after finishing GP+ at some crazy hour of the night. I had a wander around Melbourne and then fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the airport. Tonight it is overnight to Dubai and in the morning I will bounce on to Paris, getting back just in time to head down to the Chinese Consulate to try and get a visa sorted out in the few days before I go back to Charles de Gaulle and head out to Kuala Lumpur. The websites have been busy analysing the results of yesterday and deciding who will be World Champion in 2011. I think there are several points of interest. I do not hold with the theory that Red Bull has some mini-KERS system. This makes no sense at all. Given the way the team has handled questions I would suggest that the Red Bull KERS system was not working in Melbourne. This is a sobering thought given the pace of Sebastian Vettel. However, one should also note that Lewis Hamilton was not left behind by Vettel in the race. The German chipped and chipped and built a gap, but the Red Bull was not a million miles ahead of the McLaren. I mentioned this to Adrian Newey after the event and, with a smile, he thanked me for pointing it out. It is clearly something that the team noticed as well… What was interesting was that Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes and Williams (not to mention Lotus) all felt that they had not done as well as they had hoped and all felt that they could do a lot better.
I felt very sorry for Sauber because Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi had both done very good jobs to finish seventh and eighth. Perez in particular was impressive, completing the race with just one pit stop. I went down to the Sauber area after the race to congratulate Peter S. He was smoking a very large cigar (which looked rather like a stick of dynamite) and a very large smile.
“Not bad for a pay driver,” he said, with more than a touch of irony, remembering that I had written that Perez’s recruitment was more to do with money from Carlos Slim than his talent. Perez had shown some decent pace in GP2 on occasion, but one has to take that championship with a pinch of salt because of the different budgetary levels of the various teams, which means that all GP cars are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Perez had done a really super job. Sauber said that a one-race strategy had never been the plan but after a first stint of 23 laps, Sergio took on soft tyres, which had been used very briefly in qualifying and he then drove his car all the way to the finish. Thirty five laps. The team did not understand it. Pirelli did not understand it. It was not at all what had been expected. The Pirelli men said that the had known that the Sauber was very light on its tyres, but there were still amazed.
On the face of it, the Australian Grand Prix was a Red Bull massacre, but a closer look at the results reveals that the domination is not perhaps as complete as it seems. For a start McLaren was able to match the Red Bull race pace for much of the afternoon. Vettel did not end the afternoon with an advantage of 45 seconds. The margin of victory was 22 seconds, but that was thanks to Lewis Hamilton backing off in the final laps. Ferrari reckoned that it will much better when the temperatures are a little higher. Renault is in the ballpark. Williams screwed up and Mercedes had a bad day.
To give Pirelli credit the tyres provided to the F1 circus were very good. All things considered, therefore, the
season promises to be an exciting one.
Bring it on!
The other possibility that occurs to me is that Vettel was only going as fast as he needed to in order to develop that small lead, in essence hiding the true performance capacity of the car.
Any credence to that theory?
And if that’s correct, makes Webber’s form all the more worrying….(both for RBR and for those of us from down under).
Just subscribed to GP + after listening to Sidepodcast for a while. Love the Aside with Joe specials, and I liked what you had to say so much I thought that the magazine would be a great resource of information for me in my podcast F1 Galaxy. keep up the great work Joe!
Nice of you to include the bit about what Peter S said to you. I’m sure that there are a lot of other Journalists that wouldn’t have mentioned that.
Almost makes up for drinking Kiwi wine on Australian soil.. one hopes the Apple was Australian.
Hi Joe,
What was the atmosphere like in the paddock – is Melbourne a dead race walking?
“…deciding who will be World Champion in 2011…” he he he. Honest flattery: just the right amount of sarcasm. Glad to hear you can also take a ribbing. Great post.
You point out that Vettel did not finish too far ahead of Hamilton – this is one of those “what if” situations. If Hamilton’s car had not been damaged, he might have gone for it more, thus forcing Vettel to hurry up as well. I got the impression that they were both on cruise control towards the end – Hamilton to make it to the line and Vettel to maintain the gap.
Bring on the next race! I don’t think the Bulls are quite as far ahead as thought.
Christian Horner admitted to the BBC team after the race that they took off KERS after Friday, because Newey didn’t want to compromise the car, and they were worried about its reliability. I presume he’s telling the truth, so the qualification and the start, that was all KERS-free!
Also do the margins mean much nowadays? Vettel probably backed off as soon as he knew Hamilton wasn’t going to catch him?
On the BBC red button forum both Red Bull drivers and Christian Horner confirmed that their KERS system had been removed adfter Friday practice as it was a ‘risk’ to reliability.
The Red Bull KERS situation to me is pretty obvious.
They were the first heard on the radio complaining about rear tyre wear. They were the first to pit. KERS would only increase rear tyre wear.
They dont need it since they clearly have the fastest car already, and using it may cause them problems – possibly requiring an extra pit stop.
Seems like a no-brainer.
I do love the way these stories get started between the journalists in the media centres though. 1 guy has an idea, independently or with the assistance of 1 or another of the teams – who knows, so writes the story. Great, even silly ideas make for decent stories at times. 100 sheep jump to publish the same thing as ‘strong rumours in the paddock’, scared that it’ll turn out to be true.
I wonder how much the pace of Mclaren is going to last, its not really based on anything but I suspect it was partly due to catching the others napping. As a Mclaren supporter I hope it does last though.
Quote:
On the face of it, the Australian Grand Prix was a Red Bull massacre, but a closer look at the results reveals that the domination is not perhaps as complete as it seems. For a start McLaren was able to match the Red Bull race pace for much of the afternoon.
…
And not to forget that if Button hadn’t received his drive-though penalty, he too could have finished ahead of Webber.
Joe we heard all of the negative press being bandied about by the killjoys about the GP in Melbounre, but as we all know the true measure of the mood of a city is from the cabbies – what did your driver think before you fell asleep?
Joe,
glad you are able to adapt to the stressful travel life of Airports (I guess its a necessity in your job).
This is off topic, but seems as good a place as any to put this question to you. Maybe you find the time to answer this over another glass of Cloudy Bay?
Do you know what happened to Ferrari’s Chris Dyer now? Has he moved to a factory job or has he left the company?
There was also some talk about Mercedes reshuffling their race engineers. I’ve seen Jock Clear being given a farewell “reception” from the pit crew last season (it looked messy
. Has Nico nowa new race engineer this season? What about Michael?
Thanks and enjoy your break!
People who have watched Perez/GP2 say that he is very quick. Interestingly the winner of that series, Pastor Maldonado is not rated so highly. However, I agree with you Joe, there is no doubt in my mind that them bringing sponsorship was the key to securing their seat.
A shocking weekend for Heidfeld should not disguise the excellent weekend had by Vitali Petrov. I don’t think it is a disappointing weekend for Renault, I think a podium is far more than they were expecting (especially from their ‘number 2 pay’ driver).
I remain supportive of HRT, given no winter testing or practice laps, a car built late with a ragtag bunch of people from around Europe, it is indeed a miracle they were a mere 2 seconds off the pace of the virgins. I can’t help but support the underdog.
Definately a much more exciting start to the season than Borehain 2010 was.
So many surprises in one race. Heidfeld way behind Petrov, Ferrari & Mercedes looking slow, McLaren go from very slow to title contenders, Hamilton makes his tyres last, Button makes a bad strategic call, Huge gap between the Red Bulls, Barichello has an off weekend and Perez dumfounds everyone with his one stop race.
Now we can finally get back on with discussions about wing flex, poor stewards decisions and other conspiracy theories.
The circus is definately back.
So in your opinion thus far Dragging Really Strong or Dumb Removable System??
Yes I’m asking a question about DRS in a silly manor!
What foxes me is that the Sauber can be so light on its tyres, yet Ferrari were so heavy (the only front runners needing 3 stops).
Since the Sauber has essentially a Ferrari back end, can the difference in tyre wear be solely down to the rest of the aero package; or did Ferrari royally screw up their set-up. And does this vindicate McLaren’s investment in a sophisticated tyre simulator?
So many questions…
Just another quick comment.
Its amazing how different peoples opinions are on the performance of the Red Bull.
Mark Hughes’ article on the BBC website seems completely removed from the facts that were laid out to the masses.
I’m glad that you have a proper eye on the ball Joe and realise that the Red Bull “dominance” is not as great as it may first appear.
BBC F1 journalism seems to be getting worse and worse.
Couldn’t agree more Joe. Every season we hear hyperbole about this might just be the greatest season ever. Surprisingly, there’s been less of that this season.
But roughly looking at the raw ingredients on show in Melbourne, we have a tasty season in store.
I think people were a bit harsh on DRS but actually, it led to *some* overtaking on a circuit not particularly known for it. So it bodes well for the races at the otherwise soporific tilkedromes, with their runway length straights.
Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel all look good. I can’t wait for the next GP.
Just took a gander at the times.
Perez was the Best Of The Rest with 1:30.064 on lap 55!
Wow!
(and is that enough to get the strategists at other teams scrambling and tripping themselves up for Sepang? What a delightful thought . . )
Can you remember what brand of cigar Peter S. was smoking?
I want to make sure i’ve of those ready, next time i pull a trick out of my hat.
As one to have joined in disdaining the new South American intake – though i hit upon Maldonado as Primary Target – i am awash with a complex fragrance of chagrin and unadulterated elation. My apologies to team and driver.
In hope this sort of performance will continue. It’s a rejuvinating experience.
Safe journeys, Joe!
– j
Well it just so happens that sometimes pay drivers are damn good as well! One has to consider where their money comes from and if it was won on merit or from family connections. I don’t know but I’ll bet Joe does!
Great GP+ thanks Joe, its it true that you never sleep?
“To give Pirelli credit the tyres provided to the F1 circus were very good. All things considered, therefore, the
season promises to be an exciting one.”
Hear hear. I like thinking that we have renault, mercedes, williams, maybe sauber, all fighting over the upper mid-field. Torro Rosso got into Q3 also…Everyone seems a bit surprised about Ferrari, not least ferrari themselves? Do you think it was mostly a set-up issue, not quite getting the newer tyre compounds, or just a slight lack of downforce? Either way, those big teams can develop downforce at an alarming rate (red Bull included of course) but hopefully we will have close racing at the front not just the midfield…I was pleasantly surprised with Mclaren, I have to say I thought the failure of Hamilton’s splitter looked almost as though they had been trying to get some flex out of it but it broke…any thoughts?
p.s. as usual, thanks for the great reporting Joe.
Has everyone in F1 forgotten that most tires tend to last a little longer if they have a heat-cycle on them? Any racer on a budget that’s had to buy their own tires definitely knows this, and will usually scrub a set before using them.
Gives up that two-lap window of awesomeness in exchange for a longer life of usefulness…
Horner confirmed on BBC that they were not using KERS at all this weekend, which makes Vettel’s start even more remarkable, in my view.
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Was Perez faster due to the wing being illegal? Or does he really have the speed?
They were both illegal
I’m impressed with your multi tasking and intrigued by how you are typing this up with an apple in one hand (unless it is not the fruit but even then holding it and typing in one go is impressive) and a glass of cloudy bay in the other hand
Joking aside thank you for all your hard work this is one fan and gp subscriber who is very appreciative of your hard work!
I am a huge Williams fan, when will we see something done about the same old “Williams screwed up”.
I know F1 is a bitter war but at some point the team must change the staff to move up the grid…don’t they?
[...] In the departure lounge… I am in the Emirates Lounge at Tullamarine International Airport in Melbourne with an Apple in one hand, and a glass of [...] [...]
Joe is it possible that Vettel just maintained the lead he required? Running away into the lead is a lot rarer these days because of the engine and gearbox regulations. Mark didn’t even want to risk the additional parade lap at the end.
You are right re: speculating about the title. A lot of it going on, but it says a lot about the average F1 follower since the journalists are mostly answering the questions they are most asked.
to add, Melbourne should be restored to its place as a season opener. Last weekend had the feel and buzz of a new year in F1, a far cry from Bahrain 2010. Joe, how does that idea rate amongst the scribe’s? I get the impression that Melbourne is a highlight of the year for most.
I think the local government can be bought around, and that a lot of the talk was part of negotiating. I can’t see victoria (‘Australia’s event capital!’) ever giving up the chance to host anything, let alone the F1 Gran Prix.
Joe, if you want to increase your productivity in departure lounges you should invest in one of these.
http://utrashed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Beer-Hat-Beer-Helmet-pic-2.jpg
Then you can type with both hands.
I’m sure you won’t need reminding that one N Lauda was a pay-driver once…
@Scott Bloom
He beat his teammate who was on the same illegal rear wing. Plus it’s the radius of the uppermost element of the wing, which is not really a working component.
The kid has always been quick, having won in British F3, getting 4th in the international F3 series (he was not in a big team in neither of those outings) and being 2nd in GP2 last year (it was his second year, while the champion Maldonado was already in his 4th and considered part of the furniture).
Mr. Bloom… the difference would have been negligible, since the top surface of the wing doesn’t matter much (it’s the underside that does almost all of the work).
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