The Official Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[48Valves]

REALIST123 said:

Bradgate said:

I have my fingers crossed hoping for a properly competitive season, but it is just a hope, not an expectation.

Mercedes’ race simulations in testing were hugely impressive, and suggest they may have plenty in hand over the field. The fact that they didn’t even try to demonstrate their single-lap pace suggests they are very, very confident.

Predictions? I’m sticking my neck out....
Driver’s championship : Hamilton.
Constructor’s championship: Mercedes, by a distance.
Over-achievers - Toro Rosso Honda
Under-achievers - McLaren, for the fourth consecutive year.

In what way are you ‘sticking your neck out’?

Not sure I would consider Mclaren having a bad season as underachieving. More busines as usual. They appear to have turned into a proper mid table almost amateurish setup.

[rdjohn]

cuprabob said:

rdjohn said:

I will be driving home all Saturday and Sunday. No internet when I arrive.

Does anyone know if C4 broadcast highlights at a later time / date?

You can watch on the "All 4" player.

That fails on the “no internet” score.

[Mr_Yogi]

rdjohn said:

cuprabob said:

rdjohn said:

I will be driving home all Saturday and Sunday. No internet when I arrive.

Does anyone know if C4 broadcast highlights at a later time / date?

You can watch on the "All 4" player.

That fails on the “no internet” score.

To be fair, if you ever watch the All 4 stream you do sometimes wonder if you are still connected to the internet

[red_slr]

Looking forward to seeing how Sergey Sirotkin does.

I think tyres will play such a big part this year. I think the driver line up is pretty boring though, very much A and B driver in each team.

I just hope Kimi gets his elbows out.

My prediction

Q3

1st Hamilton
2nd Vettel
3rd Bottas

Race

1st Verstappen
2nd Bottas
3rd Ricciardo

Hamilton and Vettel to have a coming together in turn 1

Kimi will have a puncture / power unit failure / kers fire / insert failure here / get lost after track excursion / stops at the ice cream van.

[HorneyMX5]

Is the UK start time of 6:10 take my into account the clock changes?

I need to be at Brooklands for 8:30 which is an hour from me and will be gutted if I can’t watxh the full race.

[Dr Z]

The Moose said:

HustleRussell said:

The Moose said:

do you know what the opening lyrics to the Lion King actually mean? I looked it up for something else recently.

There comes a lion.

Yep, it's a lion.

Lion.

It sounds better in Zulu.

thegreenhell said:

Don't forget that clocks go forwards an hour overnight Saturday/Sunday if you're planning to set your alarm to watch it live.

Forgot that, OP updated.

HorneyMX5 said:

Is the UK start time of 6:10 take my into account the clock changes?

I need to be at Brooklands for 8:30 which is an hour from me and will be gutted if I can’t watxh the full race.

The race at local time is starting an hour earlier than qualifying (according to the F1 app) which matches up with the clocks going forward here in UK...

red_slr said:

Looking forward to seeing how Sergey Sirotkin does.

I predict he'll be quicker than Stroll, which unfortunately for him, is not really saying much.

Looked good in GP2/F2 though.

[Europa1]

REALIST123 said:

In what way are you ‘sticking your neck out’?

I'll stick my neck out and say in the tongue-in-cheek way/

[Oilchange]

Looking forward to this, my fave.

[civicduty]

red_slr said:

Looking forward to seeing how Sergey Sirotkin does.

Reading something this morning it will all depend on how long his sponsorship money lasts if sanctions are levied against the bank that sends him money!

Don't know how credible the source but something to think about.

https://thejudge13.com/2018/03/19/kubica-could-be-...

Edited by civicduty on Tuesday 20th March 13:08

Edited by civicduty on Tuesday 20th March 13:08

[HustleRussell]

The Moose said:

HustleRussell said:

The Moose said:

do you know what the opening lyrics to the Lion King actually mean? I looked it up for something else recently.

There comes a lion.

Yep, it's a lion.

Lion.

So beautiful and evocative

[red_slr]

HorneyMX5 said:

Is the UK start time of 6:10 take my into account the clock changes?

I need to be at Brooklands for 8:30 which is an hour from me and will be gutted if I can’t watxh the full race.

Forgot about that. So its 6am start BST?

[The Moose]

HustleRussell said:

The Moose said:

HustleRussell said:

The Moose said:

do you know what the opening lyrics to the Lion King actually mean? I looked it up for something else recently.

There comes a lion.

Yep, it's a lion.

Lion.

So beautiful and evocative

I was rather disappointed personally!

[rdjohn]

[quote=civicduty]

Don't know how credible the source but something to think about.

https://thejudge13.com/2018/03/19/kubica-could-be-...


Completely unreliable - probably best filed under “fake news”

[Jasandjules]

Really looking forward to this. I didn't refuse to let a friend come and spend the weekend as it would stop me watching this race, no sir.......Mind with these times I will be recording it all and watching at a more reasonable hour...

[Gad-Westy]

Jasandjules said:

Really looking forward to this. I didn't refuse to let a friend come and spend the weekend as it would stop me watching this race, no sir.......Mind with these times I will be recording it all and watching at a more reasonable hour...

I'll be on NowTV so I'm going to have to get up Clocks changing won't help matters very much.

[anonymous-user]

Hamilton will walk the championship, as will Mercedes, Ferrari and RB will scrap it out for the minor placings on the podium.

My curve ball for Australia is Fred will make the podium.

The action this year will be in the teams below the top 3, that looks to be very promising apart from Sauber and Williams, who are off the pace right now.

I think McLaren will give Red Bull a hard time from mid season onwards. I'm hoping Torro Rosso Honda has a great season and surprise the pack now they have some funds from the Honda deal to develop.

[ghost83]

1. Lewis
2. Fred
3. Ricciardo
4.vettel
5. Verstappen
6.bottas
7. Kimi

Wonder what the odds would be on that outcome

[Gad-Westy]

jsf said:

Hamilton will walk the championship, as will Mercedes, Ferrari and RB will scrap it out for the minor placings on the podium.

My curve ball for Australia is Fred will make the podium.

The action this year will be in the teams below the top 3, that looks to be very promising apart from Sauber and Williams, who are off the pace right now.

I think McLaren will give Red Bull a hard time from mid season onwards. I'm hoping Torro Rosso Honda has a great season and surprise the pack now they have some funds from the Honda deal to develop.

Much as I think McLaren did the right thing in ditching Honda, I would like to see the Honda engine come good. Years of failure takes it's toll and it would be nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel for those involved. Maybe a few solid points finishes this season for TR with better reliability and push on from there.

Nobody seems to be talking much about them ,but I'm interested to see how Haas get on. Well established now. Time to kick on.

Can't see much changing at the top though I pray for some parity between the top three teams but I'm skeptical. Wonder if Kimi can finally bag a win.

[RobGT81]

I can see McLaren struggling again, mostly due to being being stubborn about their rear engine packaging. Renault will be 4th by a fair distance, with a few podiums until McLaren sort themselves out towards the end of the season.

An easy championship for Hamilton, Vettel cruising to 2nd.

[K50 DEL]

One of the best races of the year timings wise... get to watch all of both FP sessions before heading to the office on Friday and the Sat/Sun times don't disrupt the rest of the weekend much.

I have a feeling this season is Hamilton's to lose, Vettel took a commanding lead at the start of last season but that was more to do with Merc / Lewis dropping the ball than it was Ferrari being ahead of the game. This year I don't see the same silver mistakes.

As to this race, harder to predict, though I foresee Ricciardo doing well, Sirotkin overdriving and a Vettel / Lewis collision of some kind as they both seek to prove an early point.

Can't wait!