[Official] F1 2010 Rd 2 - LXXV Australian Grand Prix

[MrTTraces]

Australian GP - A time for Mark Webber to disappoint again

[frostie]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

/\ If that's the case, would there not be any mileage in some of mid/lower fielders to try a 2 stop and go peddle through the metal?

Selby

There haven't been too many to make that strategy work in the past. Overtaking is pretty tough in Melbourne-turn 3 is the only real place to make a move unless you make a do or die move and your opponent concedes the corner.

Making an additional stop would mean that you would need clean air to maximise the speed advantage and it's generally tough to get that in the midfield so I'd say we'll see one stops through the majority of the field unless the tyres are marginal

[Last2LiftOff]

Now it seems the season will be underway in earnest.

[tblincoe]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

/\ If that's the case, would there not be any mileage in some of mid/lower fielders to try a 2 stop and go peddle through the metal?

Selby

Remember, we've also gone up a step-up from the tire allocations in Bahrain to soft/hard in Australia and Malaysia. I'm confident we'll see at least one team from the midfield split strategy in the next two rounds.

That being said, I'm just not sure Melbourne will be the place to do it due to the lack of overtaking zones...

[ECW Dan Selby]

But wasn't taking an extra stop in Bahrain (admittedly a very different track) worth something like 5-6 seconds a lap in favour..?

It'd be something along the lines of 3-4 here would it not? But yeah, I appreciate what you're saying. It'll be tricky getting past, but I believe Massa/Alonso were around 4-5 seconds a lap quicker than Vettel when he had his spark plug issues, and they managed it with relative ease. Give someone in a midfield car with an experienced pair of hands this strategy and you never know, could end up nicking a point or two.

Selby

[Lotusonpole]

Originally Posted by frostie

One thing worth noting is that in the 14 GPs in Melbourne 7 winners have run a one stop race so don't expect the strategy to be too different to Bahrain unless Bridgestone have made a change to the tyre....and kept it quiet upto now!

Interesting point Frostie.
50 percent says a lot. But they would have taken on fuel even on a 1 stop race so I wonder how it will pan out this time.

Cheers
p

[tblincoe]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

But wasn't taking an extra stop in Bahrain (admittedly a very different track) worth something like 5-6 seconds a lap in favour..?

It'd be something along the lines of 3-4 here would it not? But yeah, I appreciate what you're saying. It'll be tricky getting past, but I believe Massa/Alonso were around 4-5 seconds a lap quicker than Vettel when he had his spark plug issues, and they managed it with relative ease. Give someone in a midfield car with an experienced pair of hands this strategy and you never know, could end up nicking a point or two.

Selby

One would think so, see here: http://bprf1.com/2010/03/17/inside-t...und-1-bahrain/

As alluded to in that analysis, I suspect that the performance envelope of the super-softs on the Bahrain circuit kept anybody from giving it a go. Even still, the two-stop strategy would have paid for itself in about six to eight laps in Bahrain considering qualifying times and fuel loads at the end of the race.

The same could possibly be said in Melbourne, considering the relatively short pit in/out complex accounting for a similar time-loss from an extra stop as Bahrain. I imagine someone at Force India, Williams, Renault, or Toro Rosso in the 'second' car on the grid will give it a go if they slot in somewhere in the 11-15 range after the start. It will just depend on whether either tire can be pushed without overheating while there is a lot of fuel on board...

[neiltb]

I still go back to part of the problem in Bahrain being fuel mileage (my opinion), hopefully the lack of testing lead to some old fashioned Sunday driving until the computer models could be tweaked/verified.

New faster tyres aren't going to help you if you run out of fuel with a couple of laps to go.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by skells22

everytime this race comes out in Albert park we normally see a safety car as some of the walls are close to the track, we had two last year. i wonder if the SC might trigger cars pitting to change thier tyres.

Yeah I suppose that is one thing this race has going for it, that making mistakes might actually come at a cost (instead of keeping the foot to the floor like at the modern Tilkedromes). Not to mention the overall layout is much better than Bahrain.

I'm optimistic, I think we'll see a pretty decent race

[tblincoe]

^^^ Agree on both points - it'll be interesting to see how safety cars are treated under the new rules!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Lots of useful info to start the thread. Thanks

[PVDA]

The weather forecast for the next few days is as follows;

Forecast for Thursday
Patchy morning fog then a mainly sunny day. Winds north to northwesterly averaging up to 20 km/h.

City Local fog then sunny. Min14 Max29


Forecast for Friday
Cloud increasing during the afternoon with isolated showers developing. Winds north to northwesterly averaging 15 to 20 km/h tending southwesterly during the morning.

City Shower or two developing. Min18 Max27


Forecast for Saturday
Cloudy periods. Isolated showers. Winds southeast to southwesterly averaging up to 20 km/h becoming light later in the evening.

City Shower or two. Min17 Max26

Forecast for Sunday
Cloud increasing late in the day with patchy rain developing during the evening. Winds north to northeasterly averaging up to 30 km/h tending northerly up to 45 km/h later in the evening.

City Dry day. Evening rain. Min17 Max31

Remember our temperature is measured in Celcius.........

Also here is a link to the rain radar should the weather look like getting ugly;

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR023.loop.shtml

Albert Park is pretty much due south of Melbourne (city) itself near enough to call it on the coast.

[Bononi]

Celsius that it is... a bit hot down there !

[bludvl_x19]

That is much better than the alternative, and not quite as hot as last year IIRC...

[sizzle]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Celsius that it is... a bit hot down there !

There will be that much sweat coming off the Melburnites with those temperatures they will be able to get rid of their water restrictions.

[skells22]

if the BBC forecast is correct we might have a little problem if Saturday qualflying is red flagged by the heavy rain shower as this is a late for TV start and we all know that could be a headache for the FIA if true

[wnut]

Originally Posted by neiltb

I still go back to part of the problem in Bahrain being fuel mileage (my opinion), hopefully the lack of testing lead to some old fashioned Sunday driving until the computer models could be tweaked/verified.

New faster tyres aren't going to help you if you run out of fuel with a couple of laps to go.

Had not thought of this - back to the old fuel economy darbys that the FIA inflicted on us in the turbo era in order to limit the power. That was as horrible as our present dilemma!

Regards

wnut

[wnut]

Originally Posted by sizzle

There will be that much sweat coming off the Melburnites with those temperatures they will be able to get rid of their water restrictions.

Bloody place gets to over 45 degrees Celcius sometimes - somewhere around 114 Fahrenheit. So the locals should find it quite mild!

wnut

[broadrun96]

What would be the procedure if it does rain during any round of qualifying and the session has to be red-flagged and then couldn't be restarted due to light conditions?

[duke_toaster]

I think we discussed this last year, I think there isn't a procedure. I suppose they could take it how it was red flagged, but I think the fairer option would be to use either FP3 times or numbers out of a hat from the cars in the session that got terminated.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by wnut

Bloody place gets to over 45 degrees Celcius sometimes - somewhere around 114 Fahrenheit. So the locals should find it quite mild!

wnut

I'll say! Its got up to 46 where I come from in Victoria so 18-29 is quite good actually, just as long as there's a nice breeze, its always welcome.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by PVDA

Remember our temperature is measured in Celcius.........

Originally Posted by wnut

Bloody place gets to over 45 degrees Celcius sometimes - somewhere around 114 Fahrenheit. So the locals should find it quite mild!

wnut

Sorry to rain in your parade but just for the sake of the good grammar, the right temperature scale name is Celsius. And now back to our usual rumblings...

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Sorry to rain in your parade but just for the sake of the good grammar, the right temperature scale name is Celsius. And now back to our usual rumblings...

Too much beer, heat or excitement..Or maybe all three... Love Australia what a great country it is...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Sorry to rain in your parade but just for the sake of the good grammar, the right temperature scale name is Celsius. And now back to our usual rumblings...

You can also use Centigrade.

[1200Datto27]

I prefer Kelvin's personally.