Post by ffctom_b on Mar 24, 2011 23:07:15 GMT 1
The wait has been a little longer than anybody anticipated due to the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix, but on Friday morning Formula One will be back on track in Australia. For the fans the past two weeks have been made all the more agonising by the amount of unanswered questions building up over the winter. Will the regulation changes improve the racing? Is Mercedes really a front runner? How far is the McLaren off the pace? In Australia all the pre-season pontificating will finally be put straight by some cold, hard results. But until the first qualifying session there's still plenty of time for ESPNF1 to nail its colours to the mast and give you all the information you need about 2011's season opener.
In Form
Red Bull has been used as a yardstick by most the other teams on the grid during pre-season testing this year. The car promises to be as quick as last 2010's championship-winning RB6 and, judging by its sizeable winter mileage, even more reliable. It's ominous news for Red Bull's rivals but we've yet to see the RB7 on low-fuel, making it difficult to tell exactly where it stacks up in comparison to the Ferrari and all the other cars snapping at its heels.
Out of Form
There's no hiding from the fact that McLaren's pre-season testing has not gone to plan. The car was unreliable and, according to team boss Martin Whitmarsh, one second off the pace at the final test at Barcelona. Put simply, McLaren appears to have been a little overambitious with its 2011 car and the fact it launched at the second test while its rivals ran at the first didn't help. The team could still surprise everyone with its planned upgrade in Australia, but the chances are that it will head to Europe playing catch-up after the early-season flyaways.
One to watch
Nico Rosberg had a hugely impressive 2010 season, beating team-mate Michael Schumacher by 70 points and taking three podiums. This year he should have an even more competitive car and Albert Park is a circuit that he has always been strong at. A win will be a bit of a stretch, but he's worth keeping an eye on as media attention again turns to Schumacher ahead of a crucial point in his comeback.
Talking points
Tyres - Pirelli has delivered on its promise to take a more aggressive approach to tyre development and has produced a range of compounds that degrade very quickly compared to last year's Bridgestones. We are expecting the hard tyres to last no more than 25 laps while the softs may only be good for 10-15 laps, meaning drivers will have to complete at least two pits stops but are more likely to opt for three. Timing the pit stops correctly will be crucial as lap times were rocketing upwards when the rubber went past its best in testing.
Moveable rear wing - Probably the most focused attempt by the FIA to improve overtaking in the history of the sport. Whether it will work remains to be seen but it would be unwise to get too caught up in the results of just one race; so don't expect knee-jerk reactions if Australia doesn't go to plan. Aside from boosting overtaking in the race, the wing should also generate excitement in qualifying as there is unrestricted use of it up until Sunday. The result will be a risk versus reward situation, as drivers decide whether to use it in high-speed corners for quicker lap times or play it safe with full downforce.
KERS - It is unlikely to shake up the racing too much as all the top teams are running the system at the first race. However, it does create another reliability concern and could result in a few retirements at early rounds as teams get used to running it in race conditions.
Marbles - While the tyres look likely to mix up strategy, the law of unintended consequences means they could have an undesired effect on wheel-to-wheel racing. During testing bits of rubber have been rolling up on the tyre's surface and flicking off onto the unused part of the track more than in the past. These bits of rubber are known as marbles - as much for the slippery surface they create as their spherical shape - and make driving off the racing line when overtaking treacherous. On the plus side Pirelli is confident the marbles will be less of a feature in warmer weather where the tyres will be more stable.
Fast facts
* This will be the 27th Australian Grand Prix; the race was first staged in 1985 at Adelaide
* There have been 42 retirements at the Australian Grand Prix from 110 starters in the last five years
* Pirelli will bring 1,800 tyres to the first race
* There have been nine safety-car periods during the past five races at Albert Park
Trivia
* Albert Park staged two non-championship Formula Libre Australian Grands Prix in 1953 and 1956, although the cars ran around the circuit anti-clockwise
* The 1953 event was made up entirely of Australian drivers but the 1956 race was timed to coincide with the Olympics and attracted big names such as Sir Stirling Moss and Jean Behra, who were both entered by Maserati in 250Fs. Moss won the race by over two minutes from Behra and by a lap over the rest of the field
* In 1991 Adelaide hosted the shortest grand prix ever when the race was stopped after just 14 laps due to heavy rain. It was just 32.883 miles long and lasted less than 25 minutes. However, in terms of laps it was still longer than some of the old German Grands Prix at the 14-mile Nurburgring, which were often just 12 laps long
* This year's race clashes with start of the Australian Football League, which will not help attendance or viewing figures
The Circuit
Built around a man-made lake and using public roads, Albert Park is one of F1's most popular venues. While overtaking is limited to turns one and three (and even those are at a push), there are plenty of opportunities for drivers to make mistakes. An abundance of gravel traps rather than concrete run-off areas restricts the margin for error even further.
FIA driver steward
Johnny Herbert will join the panel for the fourth time
Weather
Rain is not forecast although it can never be ruled out in Melbourne at this time of the year. Significantly, air temperature will not be very high and cloud cover could result in low track temperatures too. As a result, the high levels of degradation seen in pre-season testing could figure in the race and push some drivers to adopt four-stop strategies.
Betting
It'll be no surprise that Sebastian Vettel is the 2/1 favourite to win the race on Sunday. But Lewis Hamilton (10/1), Michael Schumacher (12/1), Nico Rosberg (12/1), Felipe Massa (16/1) and Jenson Button (16/1) have tempting odds and could all pull off a win in the right conditions. Perhaps the smartest money will go on home hero Mark Webber at 9/2.
In Form
Red Bull has been used as a yardstick by most the other teams on the grid during pre-season testing this year. The car promises to be as quick as last 2010's championship-winning RB6 and, judging by its sizeable winter mileage, even more reliable. It's ominous news for Red Bull's rivals but we've yet to see the RB7 on low-fuel, making it difficult to tell exactly where it stacks up in comparison to the Ferrari and all the other cars snapping at its heels.
Out of Form
There's no hiding from the fact that McLaren's pre-season testing has not gone to plan. The car was unreliable and, according to team boss Martin Whitmarsh, one second off the pace at the final test at Barcelona. Put simply, McLaren appears to have been a little overambitious with its 2011 car and the fact it launched at the second test while its rivals ran at the first didn't help. The team could still surprise everyone with its planned upgrade in Australia, but the chances are that it will head to Europe playing catch-up after the early-season flyaways.
One to watch
Nico Rosberg had a hugely impressive 2010 season, beating team-mate Michael Schumacher by 70 points and taking three podiums. This year he should have an even more competitive car and Albert Park is a circuit that he has always been strong at. A win will be a bit of a stretch, but he's worth keeping an eye on as media attention again turns to Schumacher ahead of a crucial point in his comeback.
Talking points
Tyres - Pirelli has delivered on its promise to take a more aggressive approach to tyre development and has produced a range of compounds that degrade very quickly compared to last year's Bridgestones. We are expecting the hard tyres to last no more than 25 laps while the softs may only be good for 10-15 laps, meaning drivers will have to complete at least two pits stops but are more likely to opt for three. Timing the pit stops correctly will be crucial as lap times were rocketing upwards when the rubber went past its best in testing.
Moveable rear wing - Probably the most focused attempt by the FIA to improve overtaking in the history of the sport. Whether it will work remains to be seen but it would be unwise to get too caught up in the results of just one race; so don't expect knee-jerk reactions if Australia doesn't go to plan. Aside from boosting overtaking in the race, the wing should also generate excitement in qualifying as there is unrestricted use of it up until Sunday. The result will be a risk versus reward situation, as drivers decide whether to use it in high-speed corners for quicker lap times or play it safe with full downforce.
KERS - It is unlikely to shake up the racing too much as all the top teams are running the system at the first race. However, it does create another reliability concern and could result in a few retirements at early rounds as teams get used to running it in race conditions.
Marbles - While the tyres look likely to mix up strategy, the law of unintended consequences means they could have an undesired effect on wheel-to-wheel racing. During testing bits of rubber have been rolling up on the tyre's surface and flicking off onto the unused part of the track more than in the past. These bits of rubber are known as marbles - as much for the slippery surface they create as their spherical shape - and make driving off the racing line when overtaking treacherous. On the plus side Pirelli is confident the marbles will be less of a feature in warmer weather where the tyres will be more stable.
Fast facts
* This will be the 27th Australian Grand Prix; the race was first staged in 1985 at Adelaide
* There have been 42 retirements at the Australian Grand Prix from 110 starters in the last five years
* Pirelli will bring 1,800 tyres to the first race
* There have been nine safety-car periods during the past five races at Albert Park
Trivia
* Albert Park staged two non-championship Formula Libre Australian Grands Prix in 1953 and 1956, although the cars ran around the circuit anti-clockwise
* The 1953 event was made up entirely of Australian drivers but the 1956 race was timed to coincide with the Olympics and attracted big names such as Sir Stirling Moss and Jean Behra, who were both entered by Maserati in 250Fs. Moss won the race by over two minutes from Behra and by a lap over the rest of the field
* In 1991 Adelaide hosted the shortest grand prix ever when the race was stopped after just 14 laps due to heavy rain. It was just 32.883 miles long and lasted less than 25 minutes. However, in terms of laps it was still longer than some of the old German Grands Prix at the 14-mile Nurburgring, which were often just 12 laps long
* This year's race clashes with start of the Australian Football League, which will not help attendance or viewing figures
The Circuit
Built around a man-made lake and using public roads, Albert Park is one of F1's most popular venues. While overtaking is limited to turns one and three (and even those are at a push), there are plenty of opportunities for drivers to make mistakes. An abundance of gravel traps rather than concrete run-off areas restricts the margin for error even further.
FIA driver steward
Johnny Herbert will join the panel for the fourth time
Weather
Rain is not forecast although it can never be ruled out in Melbourne at this time of the year. Significantly, air temperature will not be very high and cloud cover could result in low track temperatures too. As a result, the high levels of degradation seen in pre-season testing could figure in the race and push some drivers to adopt four-stop strategies.
Betting
It'll be no surprise that Sebastian Vettel is the 2/1 favourite to win the race on Sunday. But Lewis Hamilton (10/1), Michael Schumacher (12/1), Nico Rosberg (12/1), Felipe Massa (16/1) and Jenson Button (16/1) have tempting odds and could all pull off a win in the right conditions. Perhaps the smartest money will go on home hero Mark Webber at 9/2.