It has been very busy thus far in Albert Park, catching up with the folk unseen in the winter, filling in the gaps… The oddest story thus far has been the disappearance of Dickie Stanford, the Williams TM. No real explanation as yet as to why one of the pillars of the team has been taken out… Otherwise real news is thin on the ground. There’s a lot of waffle about who will be where when the cars fire up… There is a sense that things are coming to a climax with the Formula One group and some speculation as to who will walk into the hail of bullets that a successor will face. The other interesting news is the departure of Renault-Nissan fixer Simon Sproule, who was trying to build bridges between the two firms over F1. That will change the dynamic over the future of Viry Chatillon. He’s gone to Tesla. A nice quiet place… without any Frenchmen. Otherwise a lot of hot air with a cooling breeze coming off the bay. Looks like rain on Sunday!
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joeblogsf1 
Dickie will have been pensioned off back to the factory I bet. They don’t like old faces ‘front of house” any more do they, ‘spoils the show.
Well, I wouldn’t say Tesla is such a cool place, neither that it is without Frenchmen.
RAIN?
Dear god after even more limited wet running way back on day 2 of Jerez and drivers still learning how to deal with the traction and lack of down force in the dry, this race might be a lottery!
If it does indeed rain, my lottery numbers are:
22-6-77-19-14-44-7-4
“jail of bullets ” Freudian slip?
Let me be the umpteenth person to say “a jail of bullets” – what a wonderful Freudian slip! Enjoy the weekend, Joe. 🙂
It is not a Freudian slip. The damned telephone has a life of its own.
Very quiet day too, Joe, as always for Melbourne’s first two days.
The organisers said 64,000 were there but I went right round the track and estimate fewer than 13,000. Why does F1 have these used car salesmen making up bull…? Can’t they handle the truth?
Dickie Stanford, taken out! Sounds very sinister…. According to another F1 publication he will still have a factory job at Williams. Maybe its nothing more than he wants to slow down a bit and spend more time at home.
Hopefully not in a jail of bullets though..
Rain and all that torque? Yike!
Oh, Joe I’ve emailed you 3 times about a certain team and potential sponsor, either your email’s knacked, or your silence means I’ve guessed correctly….?
Thanks for the talk last night, sorry I had to leave before the end. Getting up at 3:00 am for work is a killer, unless you are on UK time! Glad to see the ego is still there and able to give and take, except for the double points!
Also good to see that the age gap is alive and well. That’s obviously a problem going forward, as you pointed out!
Hope to see you Monday
Rain on Sunday! So, maybe the possibility of an unusual result… oh, hang on!
Joe
We are glad that you are aldeady in Melbourne.
Looking forward to what it looks as one of the most exciting F1 seasons in recent times so far!!!
And indeed to your insights.
Reading between the lines of Autosport’s article, DS doesn’t want to travel anymore but perhaps that “doesn’t” is passive and he has no choice.
I really like the ‘Jail of bullets’ how appropriate.
Joe, Myself & my girlfriend witnessed on TV the journalistic torture that was the drivers press briefing ahead of the Australian GP. Please don’t mistake our flippancy as ignorance of F1 as we are both huge fans, but has no one ever tried to liven it up a little bit by asking them what their favourite cheese is? I am joking of course but you must agree that the occasion is mind sappingly dull (for us and the drivers) and very short of any decent questions at all! Great blog by the way.
These things have become progressively tedious in the media savvy/corporate age. I share your boredom and ache for someone to just say or do something to liven the damn thing up. Put a whoppee cushion on another drivers seat perhaps. Just something spontaneous or truthful instead of the usual mogaddon corporate airbrushed niceties we have to put up with
In which case, step up please Mr. Kimi Raikonnen………
Was that a Freudian slip for “hail of bullets,” or a sly dig?
The cars are enough of a handful for some drivers/teams; why not throw some water that them, too? ^_^
“jail of bullets”!! Paging Dr Freud.
Not at all. It is called predictive text
Joe the GP+ preview was excellent. Thank you all.
DS out of Williams!
Is it possible Sir F is planning to elevate Symonds? or, even, Smedley?
I think DS will still be at Williams but in a different role.
Jail? Hail? Oh boy.
Well Quali will sure be interesting at this rate. FP1 & 2 were, bit surprised at Ferrari pace, but not at RB pace, although their reliability was much improved to say the least. Still looks like a tough weekend for the Regie!
Any race team mechanic who has ‘time-served’ and mixes well, will always be offered a factory job. Any team would be mad to lose the experience.
Experience is everything for hands on people that get things done.
Maybe a good shower of rain will be just the thing to keep those turbos cool – especially for Red Bull … Brings to mind the wet Le Mans a few years back when the rain got into the electrics of the (then) brand new Bentley!
Rain on Sunday. Just to remove any whiff of predictability! I’m so looking forward to this race and in fact the whole season……
But what news of The Ron Joe?
Joe Saward..
“Not at all. It is called predictive text”
Predictive indeed.. here’s hoping!
Joe, I think you and I have the same foam problems.
I see that former McLaren man Pete Vale has assumed the role that Dickie has vacated.