The Official 2019 Australian Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[TheDeuce]

Speed Badger said:

I predict there will not be a Mercedes in the top 4 in qualifying.

I agree, there will be two.

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

Let’s be fair they are preparing for the race, with different compounds, last yrs fastest lap was a 1.25, long run times fuelled are not far off this.

Live timing is/was showing a lot of lifting down the straights, harvesting/testing engine modes or are the top teams going to fuel light?

FP3 should shed some light.

Yes, other than Williams laughable performance it's too early to make any confident predictions. But no harm in making a few optimistic ones for those brave enough

[Deesee]

TheDeuce said:

Deesee said:

Let’s be fair they are preparing for the race, with different compounds, last yrs fastest lap was a 1.25, long run times fuelled are not far off this.

Live timing is/was showing a lot of lifting down the straights, harvesting/testing engine modes or are the top teams going to fuel light?

FP3 should shed some light.

Yes, other than Williams laughable performance it's too early to make any confident predictions. But no harm in making a few optimistic ones for those brave enough

Friendly banter from what feels like the longest F1 lay-off ever (I know it’s not).

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

Friendly banter from what feels like the longest F1 lay-off ever (I know it’s not).

Indeed! It's because we were shown more detail of testing and behind the scenes via netflix. It's all come together to make most of us care a bit more about what we now get to see on track. Which is a victory for Liberty I think, they said that was their goal..

I am actually excited for FP! Haven't said that for years

[seymourski]

Interesting article on the BBC website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47527705

[HustleRussell]

GOATever said:

HustleRussell said:

Does anyone know what rattled Hamilton’s cage today? I heard he made an early exit from the press pen

Someone mentioned that Bottas has been given Carte Blanche to try for the drivers title this year, with no early intervention from anyone. I don’t think Hamilton agrees with that decision.

Interesting if true. I doubt it is though. Hamilton is one of the few who doesn't tend to play that particular game.

[M3ax]

HustleRussell said:

GOATever said:

HustleRussell said:

Does anyone know what rattled Hamilton’s cage today? I heard he made an early exit from the press pen

Someone mentioned that Bottas has been given Carte Blanche to try for the drivers title this year, with no early intervention from anyone. I don’t think Hamilton agrees with that decision.

Interesting if true. I doubt it is though. Hamilton is one of the few who doesn't tend to play that particular game.

Has anyone listened to the chequered flag podcast yet? Apparently they discuss it there.

[TheDeuce]

How about the Renault power vs Honda power debate now? So far the RB's have looked fantastic. So planted, gives the impression a headcase like Max might be inspired to lean on the car a little more in FP3

[kambites]

seymourski said:

Interesting article on the BBC website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47527705

Good article that - it strikes a nice balance of layman's simplicity and detail. Makes an interesting point too.

[5678]

seymourski said:

Interesting article on the BBC website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47527705

Thats a good read. I think I just about followed it!

We should get more like that as fans.

[HustleRussell]

M3ax said:

HustleRussell said:

GOATever said:

HustleRussell said:

Does anyone know what rattled Hamilton’s cage today? I heard he made an early exit from the press pen

Someone mentioned that Bottas has been given Carte Blanche to try for the drivers title this year, with no early intervention from anyone. I don’t think Hamilton agrees with that decision.

Interesting if true. I doubt it is though. Hamilton is one of the few who doesn't tend to play that particular game.

Has anyone listened to the chequered flag podcast yet? Apparently they discuss it there.

That's where I heard mention of it. Jennie Gow said that they didn't get a chance to talk to Hamilton because he left the press pen early and implied that he seemed aggravated about something but they didn't know why and didn't bother speculating.

[HustleRussell]

Kraken said:

There is no way anyone is sandbagging at this stage. Hopefully the time differences are just mistakes in setup rather than the true pace or otherwise F1 is going to lose another few million viewers.

Speed Badger said:

I predict there will not be a Mercedes in the top 4 in qualifying.

Prepare to be surprised

[Deesee]

Nice feature from F1.com and Mark Hughes..

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.mark-hu...

Comments and video!

[Deesee]

Fastest lap so far by team



Predicted race pace by team

[dunc_sx]

The Mercedes quali-engine mode is going to make the others look very silly I think - Easily fastest laps but slow (relatively) trap speeds.

Unless they've gone for massive down force settings as they can get away with it due to big bhp?

Dunc.

[Mark-C]

Deesee said:

FP3 should shed some light.

And at the end of FP3 we'll be none the wiser and waiting for Quali ...

[Deesee]

dunc_sx said:

The Mercedes quali-engine mode is going to make the others look very silly I think - Easily fastest laps but slow (relatively) trap speeds.

Unless they've gone for massive down force settings as they can get away with it due to big bhp?

Dunc.

Trap speed from his fastest lap 1.22



Trap speed from a long run 1.27

[dunc_sx]

Deesee said:

Trap speed from his fastest lap 1.22

Trap speed from a long run 1.27

Yeah deffo capping the top end!

[patmahe]

I really hope this morning is not an indication of things to come, if Mercedes are 0.8 seconds ahead of the field it's going to be a long season.

[rallycross]

patmahe said:

, if Mercedes are 0.8 seconds ahead of the field it's going to be a long BORING season.