Official 2020 Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[TheDeuce]

thegreenhell said:

I predict the race will go ahead, and finish Mercedes 1-2-3-4.

[Mr Dendrite]

Blimey it is only two weeks away, I’m losing it...

[sparta6]

SpudLink said:

I’ve been talking about this with colleagues. I think Australia can be quite sensitive about biosecurity. The Ferrari contingent from Northern Italy might be a concern.

The F1 circus is almost designed to help spread a contagious virus. Vast numbers of people fly from around the world to gather in a single location. Then all fly home, and a fortnight later do the same to another continent.

Hopefully calmer heads will prevail and it all goes ahead as planned.

I agree - F1 is the perfect circus for spreading a deadly virus.

[sparta6]

TheDeuce said:

thegreenhell said:

I predict the race will go ahead, and finish Mercedes 1-2-3-4.

Pink then silver - or silver then pink ?

[Jasandjules]

It is going to be fascinating to watch Free Practice to see if the testing translates to race pace.

[slipstream 1985]

my early prediction

1. mercedes
2. red bull

3. ferrari
4. tracing point

5. mclaren

6. renault
7. alpha tauri
8. alfa romeo

9. haas
10.williams

Gaps represent who they will likely be closest to.

[TheDeuce]

slipstream 1985 said:

my early prediction

1. mercedes
2. red bull

3. ferrari
4. tracing point

5. mclaren

6. renault
7. alpha tauri
8. alfa romeo

9. haas
10.williams

Gaps represent who they will likely be closest to.

Pretty much agree (tracing point... Haha), but would maybe swap them and Ferrari around.

Also might even swap HAAS and Williams around... Hopefully have more of an idea of that tomorrow - so far HAAS have shown no sign of anything remotely competitive.

[slipstream 1985]

TheDeuce said:

Pretty much agree (tracing point... Haha), but would maybe swap them and Ferrari around.

Also might even swap HAAS and Williams around... Hopefully have more of an idea of that tomorrow - so far HAAS have shown no sign of anything remotely competitive.

See I pondered that but I think racng point will not bother to develop this car at all and just use the big start of season jump it gives them to bag big points early on and slide slowly down from maybe 2nd or 3rd at the start of the season to 4th even 5th by the end of it but ultimately end up 4th.
Unless we get a close fight between the top teams the end of the season may just be a coast to the end development wise.

[Europa1]

sparta6 said:

SpudLink said:

I’ve been talking about this with colleagues. I think Australia can be quite sensitive about biosecurity. The Ferrari contingent from Northern Italy might be a concern.

The F1 circus is almost designed to help spread a contagious virus. Vast numbers of people fly from around the world to gather in a single location. Then all fly home, and a fortnight later do the same to another continent.

Hopefully calmer heads will prevail and it all goes ahead as planned.

I agree - F1 is the perfect circus for spreading a deadly virus.

I expect to get flamed for this, but deaths from coronavirus are as nothing compared to deaths from 'normal' 'flu worldwide.

[TheDeuce]

slipstream 1985 said:

TheDeuce said:

Pretty much agree (tracing point... Haha), but would maybe swap them and Ferrari around.

Also might even swap HAAS and Williams around... Hopefully have more of an idea of that tomorrow - so far HAAS have shown no sign of anything remotely competitive.

See I pondered that but I think racng point will not bother to develop this car at all and just use the big start of season jump it gives them to bag big points early on and slide slowly down from maybe 2nd or 3rd at the start of the season to 4th even 5th by the end of it but ultimately end up 4th.
Unless we get a close fight between the top teams the end of the season may just be a coast to the end development wise.

I agree, I believe Ferrari can and will move upwards somewhat as the year rolls on - but I thought these were predictions for the first GP

Not that it matters very much. If come Melbourne they get beaten by Mercedes AND Red Bull alone, they will be returning to a ststorm in the Italian media. If they also get beaten by upstarts racing point... horses heads all round.

On the other hand, maybe Binotto is pulling off the biggest sandbag ever. I can't see that personally but I'll at least wait for the end of testing before making any firm predictions..

[DanielSan]

Europa1 said:

sparta6 said:

SpudLink said:

I’ve been talking about this with colleagues. I think Australia can be quite sensitive about biosecurity. The Ferrari contingent from Northern Italy might be a concern.

The F1 circus is almost designed to help spread a contagious virus. Vast numbers of people fly from around the world to gather in a single location. Then all fly home, and a fortnight later do the same to another continent.

Hopefully calmer heads will prevail and it all goes ahead as planned.

I agree - F1 is the perfect circus for spreading a deadly virus.

I expect to get flamed for this, but deaths from coronavirus are as nothing compared to deaths from 'normal' 'flu worldwide.

Very much this, isn't CV basically a new strain of influenza? Or have I misread that.

[slipstream 1985]

TheDeuce said:

slipstream 1985 said:

TheDeuce said:

Pretty much agree (tracing point... Haha), but would maybe swap them and Ferrari around.

Also might even swap HAAS and Williams around... Hopefully have more of an idea of that tomorrow - so far HAAS have shown no sign of anything remotely competitive.

See I pondered that but I think racng point will not bother to develop this car at all and just use the big start of season jump it gives them to bag big points early on and slide slowly down from maybe 2nd or 3rd at the start of the season to 4th even 5th by the end of it but ultimately end up 4th.
Unless we get a close fight between the top teams the end of the season may just be a coast to the end development wise.

I agree, I believe Ferrari can and will move upwards somewhat as the year rolls on - but I thought these were predictions for the first GP

Not that it matters very much. If come Melbourne they get beaten by Mercedes AND Red Bull alone, they will be returning to a ststorm in the Italian media. If they also get beaten by upstarts racing point... horses heads all round.

On the other hand, maybe Binotto is pulling off the biggest sandbag ever. I can't see that personally but I'll at least wait for the end of testing before making any firm predictions..

Ah ok nah I went for the end of the season result. Right now I would swap ferrari and racing point around. Haas have got a great big bag of nothing imo and williams have now caught up to the back at best.

[TheDeuce]

slipstream 1985 said:

Ah ok nah I went for the end of the season result. Right now I would swap ferrari and racing point around. Haas have got a great big bag of nothing imo and williams have now caught up to the back at best.

Crazy isn't it? Start of 2020 and the great debates are: 1) is Ferrari able to keep racing point at bay? 2) are HAAS somehow threatening Williams for last place?

Quite a contrast to last year!

I think the start of this season will be bizarre but expect that a few teams will slot back into the natural order in the second half. Especially Ferrari, because if we're to believe what we're seeing in testing and what Binotto is saying, then clearly that's not a situation they'll be comfortable with for very long. Ferrari outside the top three!?

[rev-erend]

One other thing to consider. This is a stop gap year, so many of the less well off teams I think will swap their best staff to the 2021 car as new rules should create a new opportunity for all.

[RemarkLima]

DanielSan said:

Europa1 said:

sparta6 said:

SpudLink said:

I’ve been talking about this with colleagues. I think Australia can be quite sensitive about biosecurity. The Ferrari contingent from Northern Italy might be a concern.

The F1 circus is almost designed to help spread a contagious virus. Vast numbers of people fly from around the world to gather in a single location. Then all fly home, and a fortnight later do the same to another continent.

Hopefully calmer heads will prevail and it all goes ahead as planned.

I agree - F1 is the perfect circus for spreading a deadly virus.

I expect to get flamed for this, but deaths from coronavirus are as nothing compared to deaths from 'normal' 'flu worldwide.

Very much this, isn't CV basically a new strain of influenza? Or have I misread that.

You're missing the point, normal flu kills, as does lots of other stuff... However it's the rate of infection that's the issue.

If you give the flu to everyone on the planet within a few months and the death rate is 1% (currently about that), it's 78 million deaths in a very short period - that's greater than the population of the UK!

It may be that it's the vulnerable at the greatest risk, but I'm sure we do not want all of them to die...

[sparta6]

Europa1 said:

sparta6 said:

SpudLink said:

I’ve been talking about this with colleagues. I think Australia can be quite sensitive about biosecurity. The Ferrari contingent from Northern Italy might be a concern.

The F1 circus is almost designed to help spread a contagious virus. Vast numbers of people fly from around the world to gather in a single location. Then all fly home, and a fortnight later do the same to another continent.

Hopefully calmer heads will prevail and it all goes ahead as planned.

I agree - F1 is the perfect circus for spreading a deadly virus.

I expect to get flamed for this, but deaths from coronavirus are as nothing compared to deaths from 'normal' 'flu worldwide.

It's early days but CV is predicted to reach around 70% of the global population in some projections.

Cheap flights are doing their job !

How many poor flight attendants are infected ?

Stock markets are tanking.

Contracting flu in your local British town now seems a quite romantic notion

https://www.flightradar24.com/3.11,101.61/3

[Gazzab]

I am astonished that they haven’t already cancelled the Australian GP. Whilst everyone would rather normality continued, lots of other global events have been cancelled eg world mobile congress. I guess the difference here is that the participants have significant commercial pressures.

[kambites]

DanielSan said:

Very much this, isn't CV basically a new strain of influenza? Or have I misread that.

Flu isn't a coronavirus. The common cold is.

[TheDeuce]

Gazzab said:

I am astonished that they haven’t already cancelled the Australian GP. Whilst everyone would rather normality continued, lots of other global events have been cancelled eg world mobile congress. I guess the difference here is that the participants have significant commercial pressures.

Also for Melbourne (Victoria) the GP is a fundamental part of their economy, it's huge for them.

However, the awkward truth is that the authorities have put in place bans on casual visitors from certain countries, including Italy... People with specific work/purpose will still be allowed entry but will be subject to a 14 day quarantine. So how do Ferrari, Alfa and pirelli get to the track?? There is already less than 14 days before FP1.

As it happens Ferrari have held part of their normal engineer team back in Italy instead of bringing them to Barcelona - that could be part of a token quarantine effort ahead of travel, or it's even possible they're in Australia already. Whatever their solution is for Melbourne, it's already clear that the travel bans are going to keep coming and will doubtless screw up a number of scheduled GP's. The question is, how many?

[BrettMRC]

TheDeuce said:

Also for Melbourne (Victoria) the GP is a fundamental part of their economy, it's huge for them.

However, the awkward truth is that the authorities have put in place bans on casual visitors from certain countries, including Italy... People with specific work/purpose will still be allowed entry but will be subject to a 14 day quarantine. So how do Ferrari, Alfa and pirelli get to the track?? There is already less than 14 days before FP1.

As it happens Ferrari have held part of their normal engineer team back in Italy instead of bringing them to Barcelona - that could be part of a token quarantine effort ahead of travel, or it's even possible they're in Australia already. Whatever their solution is for Melbourne, it's already clear that the travel bans are going to keep coming and will doubtless screw up a number of scheduled GP's. The question is, how many?

Quarantine them in the pits