The Official 2015 Melbourne Grand Prix Thread ***Spoilers***

[RichB]

Really looking forward to this and want Hamilton to win his 3rd championship. Hope Bottas and Williams do well but couldn't really care less about McLaren. Although Jenson comes across as likable I don't much care for the manufacturer and the whole Ron Dennis OCD thing. Oh and Ferrari, well no doubt those people that have the baseball cap and anorak without the car will be cheering them on but either way I suspect it will be funny to watch. Kimi and Vettel should be hilarious in the after race recriminations.

[glazbagun]

1/Rosberg
2/Hamilton
3/Ricciardo

Button and Magnussen dnf. Though it would be great if they managed what Red Bull did on their debut, I really can't see it.

[FreiWild]

I sincerely hope Rosberg has sorted out his tyre saving skills and can take the title. Also Vettel at Ferrari is going to be very very interesting.

Excited!

[BritishRacinGrin]

As I alluded to in my original post I, like many others I suspect, think that like last year we'll be seeing Mercedes way out in front and Williams the team most regularly able to get cars onto the second row of the grid and onto the podium.

What goes on behind Mercedes will be intriguing though. It's going to be a very busy mid-pack which will change throughout the season, the only real stragglers being Manor. Sauber and Lotus should leap forward, Ferrari seem refreshed and there will be the ever-developing McLaren to look out for.

The Renault powered cars, too, should be ones to watch as the season develops. They have kept a lot of development tokens up their sleeves and I believe that after being swamped by the mid-pack in the first part of the season we'll see Red Bull coming on strong in time for Europe, although IMO still not as strong as they were in 2014 as they've lost some key players from the design office.

1) Hamilton
2) Rosberg
3) Bottas

I think that after reliability issues in testing, McLaren will show up in Melbourne with much more conservative bodywork for cooling. They'll also have blown the car to pieces and inspected everything to identfy any other parts which had a potential weakness in an effort to gain some semblance of reliability. I reckon one of them will finish, probably Magnussen's, although I can't really imagine them getting into the points.

[angrymoby]

London424 said:

Lewis should walk this title. Rosberg only gave him a run when reliability went against him or when driver coaching was allowed.

Can't coach this year...who knows about reliability, but Merc focused on it heavily this pre-season.

Rosberg did seem to suffer when the coaching was banned ...Lewis won 5 out of 6 after the rule change

[RGambo]

If the mercy are reliable, I've got to go for a Lewis-nico 1-2. Behind them, I think we're in for a bit of a scrap. Boats, massa, raikkonen, vetted?? But I think Danny Ricc will be strong again in the race.
I'm looking forward to it.

Bloody auto correct!

[MiniMan64]

Hamilton
Nico
.
.
.
.
.
a lot of time
.
.
.
.
.
Riccardo

[jodypress]

Teppic said:

Sky's programming starts at 5am for qualifying and 04:30 for the race. The actual qualifying and race start is 6am, in case you want to miss the build-up and enjoy a bit longer in bed.

I wish it was a 6am race start buut alas it's 5am.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/live-on-sky/

[RichB]

London (United Kingdom - England) Sunday, 15 March 2015, 05:00:00 GMT UTC
Melbourne (Australia - Victoria) Sunday, 15 March 2015, 16:00:00 AEDT UTC+11 hours
Corresponding UTC (GMT) Sunday, 15 March 2015, 05:00:00

[lee_fr200]

I'm going to be brave and say

1.button
2. Vettel
3.hamilton
4.rosberg
5. Massa
6. Kimi

[Mark-C]

sb-1 said:

Going to Aus for the race.....was all a bit last minute,bought tickets for flights & race on Friday!

Oh good work! Very Jealous

[suffolk009]

lee_fr200 said:

I'm going to be brave and say

1.button
2. Vettel
3.hamilton
4.rosberg
5. Massa
6. Kimi

I have similar thoughts about the top three. Long odds.

[ajprice]

007 VXR said:

Hoping Mclaren can put on a good show.

Yeah, the fire, smoke and sparks should look great against the chrome paint.

Seriously though, I think finishing the race will be a good result for them. Where they are compared to the rest when they're running, who knows!?!

Ferrari/Red Bull/Williams should hopefully be a good close scrap behind the Mercedes cars.

Edited by ajprice on Monday 9th March 11:20

[998420]

suffolk009 said:

lee_fr200 said:

I'm going to be brave and say

1.button
2. Vettel
3.hamilton
4.rosberg
5. Massa
6. Kimi

I have similar thoughts about the top three. Long odds.

suffolk009 said:

I have similar thoughts about the top three. Long odds.

Long ? Put a pound on that and you could bankrupt Saudi Arabia in one fell swoop.

My fantasy quid would be on Magnussen for the WDC, but I do want a go on whatever Lee_fr200 is smoking first

[andy-xr]

Expectation: Vettel in the wrong pit mid race, Hamilton retiring with engine failure, Manor probably calling it a day after first round of pit stops.

1) Rosberg
2) Ricciardo
3) Bottas

[P-Jay]

Can't wait, this off-season seems to have taken forever.

I reckon Riccardo, yes I know Merc seemed to be in the lead in testing, but that can often count for nothing.

[andburg]

Not wanting to curse anything, but given last year I'm hoping for Lewis to actually score a point!

I'd like to see Lewis and Nico having a close race whoever wins!

Double DNF for McLaren, its a hard crcuit, lots of stop start that will punish the ERS system on the Honda.

[wevster]

1) Rosberg
2) Lewis
3) Bottas

I have a feeling Nico will win the title this year.

[Walford]

1st and 2nd yawn yawn yawn
3rd VB and DR could be a race

[RichB]

Walford said:

1st and 2nd yawn yawn yawn
3rd VB and DR could be a race

You must have missed last season because 1st and 2nd will also be a race. I fail to see how the cars being the same or different colours changes that fact?