|
Post by Dirty Epic on Mar 24, 2023 14:17:45 GMT
Really sad to see McLaren trailing round at the back of the field. Such a waste of Lando Norris who for my money is a World Champion quality driver. Ferrari were woeful and have not justified theie getting rid of Binotto at all. Mercedes have not made any advance with their car at all from last year. In fact, I think they have gone backwards. Hard times after years of success. I'm happy to see a new team acheiving success now but wish wish wish it wasn't Red Bull. I loathe the team, those that run it and half of their drivers. Gene. Yeah don't know what's happened to McLaren so far this season Gene, they seem to have self destructed compared to where they were at last 2-3 seasons. There's no real reason why they're at Williams level or worse right now?
|
|
Del Boy
Moderator
Posts: 9,899
Online Status:
|
Post by Del Boy on Mar 24, 2023 15:00:58 GMT
I am attending on the Friday practice day only. The race for tickets is greater than it has ever been! I was a bit too late to get my usual Fangio 4 day grandstand seat so I decided to pick one day to watch the cars on the track. I'll watch the qualifying and race from the comfort of the sofa.
They have certainly increased the ticket prices and decreased the benefits for long term fans. Back in 2019 I could buy and select my grandstand seats six months in advance becoming a GP Advantage member. As a reward for paying upfront a pit lane walk and main straight walk was included on the Thursday afternoon at no extra cost. A private area along the track with a hospitality tent was also only available to GP Advantage members. (That used to be so good particularly on hot days, with food and a bar undercover in a marquee.) I'm glad I got to experience that and enjoyed two nights of pit lane walks.
These experiences now cost an extra $150- as you buy 'bonuses' and selecting an aisle seat will cost you an extra $15-. I suppose we hadn't caught up with the 'real world' prices. I hope the race is a competitive one.
Hope you enjoy the Friday Batgirl. What a shame they've jacked the price up. Watching F1 is eye wateringly expensive but most GPs still get big crowds mostly. Cost has caused the loss of German and French GPs in the past. From what I could see online, It costs around $40 million to host an F1 race including the contract fee.
|
|
Batgirl
Director
Posts: 1,014
Online Status:
|
Post by Batgirl on Apr 1, 2023 1:57:56 GMT
Wonderful Practice 1 and Practice 2 Friday at Australian GP. The weather deteriorated in Practice 2 but Melburnians know to pack for the weather. I was in the Schumacher grandstand, back row which has a magnificent view of Turn 13 and 14. The top five or so rows have roof coverage and the view actually puts you above the line of fencing. If I turned around to look behind me I could see what cars were coming from Turn 12. Gosh there were a lot of steps to get up into that grandstand! I know I've harped on about cost a bit in my previous posts but I will say spending a bit more to have that rain cover was worth it. There was a new Ferrari building for corporates and a Lavazza atrium. These are just as you walk in at Gate 1. Normally you can see the track from this area but those pavillions block the view there.
If you ever come to the Australian GP buy a grandstand ticket as the general admittance views are a bit less now. There are still areas around for GP viewing and the turns 8,9 (the view they always show on tv of the big hill with palm trees and people sitting on the grass) is always popular but all the food areas, merchandise stalls, bars etc are around the turns 12, 13, 14 and turn 1 where the big grandstands are.
There were more at this practice day than I have ever seen. Big crowds meant it took about 45 mins to get from the fan forum stage area over the bridge to get back to the grandstand. That was fine as I allowed myself plenty of time to get back to the grandstand before Practice 2. This is because there are a few roads which the crowds walk across which are also used to drive the drivers and 'celebs' etc in.
While shuffling along waiting for the traffic wardens to allow us to cross, someone squealed "It's Lewis". I don't know how she managed to see anyone in the black Mercedes that was passing us, but the car then stopped and Lewis Hamilton got out to say Hi and sign some autographs. No cars usually stop there, as it is the Melbourne Walk area where you go to see the drivers (I saw Charles LeClerc, Dan Ricciardo there from a distance) or the Fan Forum stage (saw Bottas, Tsonada, Alonso, Stroll, Albon, interviewed). I know it sounds silly but I was excited to be standing only a metre away from Lewis! I could only snap a pic that didn't turn out well (tall people in front of me) but I will always commend Lewis as one of the best drivers who makes time for his fans. It was only 1 minute, then he was back in the car. Legend Lewis. It made our day.
Between the F1 practice sessions were the F2 and F3 practice and a qualifying session. This is the first time we have seen this inclusion in the Aust. GP. Usually they fill the day with demonstration races and of course the Porsche Carrera Cup and Shannons Historic cars demonstration (love seeing the old cars) and Melbourne supercars super sprint was also running so plenty on track if you wanted to sit in the stands and watch. The practice sessions seemed to show the usual strengths of the current top teams. Alpha Tauri kept spinning out (Yuki Tsonada) - inexperience and first time at Aust. GP. Williams were in and out of their garage.
Apparently in FP1 the cars temporarily lost their GPS so they weren't alerted to the position of cars near them. A few near misses and slow laps while that occurred.
Practice results: 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 3 Sergio Perez Red Bull 4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 7 Lando Norris McLaren 8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 9 George Russell Mercedes 10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 11 Alex Albon Williams 12 Oscar Piastri McLaren 13 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 15 Logan Sargeant Williams 16 Esteban Ocon Alpine 17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 19 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas
I posted some pics on my Insta as that seems to be the only way I can put pics on the forum, so here goes.
Schumacher stand Back row
It didn't work. I will try it in a new post.
|
|
Batgirl
Director
Posts: 1,014
Online Status:
|
Post by Batgirl on Apr 1, 2023 2:06:36 GMT
Pics from the Schumacher stand Australian GP
Practice 1 and 2 Friday 31/03/2023
|
|
Batgirl
Director
Posts: 1,014
Online Status:
|
Post by Batgirl on Apr 1, 2023 4:01:38 GMT
Above I posted the FP1 results.
Here are the Top ten results for the wet FP2 session.
1 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:18.887 13 2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.332 +0.445s 10 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:19.502 +0.615s 12 4 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.672 +0.785s 20 5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:19.695 +0.808s 12 6 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:19.725 +0.838s 12 7 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:20.083 +1.196s 15 8 Lando Norris McLaren 1:20.176 +1.289s 20 9 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:20.194 +1.307s 19 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault
|
|
Batgirl
Director
Posts: 1,014
Online Status:
|
Post by Batgirl on Apr 2, 2023 2:44:51 GMT
Some silly fun at the paddock club entry. Troy Hawke
"Shoulders Back, Toto!" Greeters Guild Welcomes Everyone to the 2023 Australian Grand Prix
|
|
Batgirl
Director
Posts: 1,014
Online Status:
|
Post by Batgirl on Apr 2, 2023 3:11:40 GMT
I'm just posting the Qualifying results and won't comment on the race (only a few hours away in Melbourne) as most will watch a replay. It is a sunny day in Melbourne today.
Qualifying results
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:17.384 1:17.056 1:16.732 24 2 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.654 1:17.513 1:16.968 29 3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.689 1:17.551 1:17.104 28 4 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:17.832 1:17.283 1:17.139 26 5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:17.928 1:17.349 1:17.270 28 6 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:17.873 1:17.616 1:17.308 26 7 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.218 1:17.390 1:17.369 25 8 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:17.962 1:17.761 1:17.609 27 9 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 1:18.312 1:17.574 1:17.675 25 10 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 1:18.029 1:17.412 1:17.735 26 11 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:17.770 1:17.768 18 12 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 1:18.471 1:18.099 22 13 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:18.243 1:18.119 24 14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:18.159 1:18.129 18 15 21 Nyck De Vries AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 1:18.450 1:18.335 23 16 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 1:18.517 12 17 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:18.540 12 18 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 1:18.557 12 19 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:18.714 12 NC 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT DNF
Perez had a shocker of a qualifying, failing to set a time after locking a front brake and heading into the gravel at turn 4..
Max Verstappen set the fastest lap ever set on the Melbourne circuit. Wouldn't he be a little concerned though that his team mates's car has reliability issues?
Surprising solid results from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. They will definitely put pressure on Max. Mercedes has a strong following in Melbourne.
Oscar Piastri (as the local Melbourne driver) set a disappointing 16th position but McLaren sadly need upgrades on their cars already with Norris only managing 13th. There was some support at the track for Oscar but the Aussie crowd need to get to know him over the season. Dan Ricciardo's presence around the track still had the strongest fan support and screaming.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll set excellent times again. First time I've seen fans wearing Aston Martin gear at Melbourne.
Ferrari seems at a disappointing position, hoping for a strong race from both Sainz and LeClerc. Plenty of support for Ferrari in Melbourne.
Alfa Romeo seem to be in trouble, at the far end of the grid. Valterri Bottas is a fan favourite, helped by Aussie cyclist girlfriend, Tiffany Cromwell.
Alpine appear to be stronger than their close competitors McLaren this year.
Haas may have made the right decision going with experienced drivers this year. Albon seems positive about the Williams chance of point scoring this season.
AlphaTauri will be an interesting team to watch. Too early to tell if they will stay in the 10 to 13 position.
|
|
|
Post by Dirty Epic on Apr 2, 2023 10:26:32 GMT
Some brilliant pictures and background on the race BG I hope to do this one some day! The race results, don't view this if you're going to watch later. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/65153091
|
|
|
Post by Sam Tyler on Apr 3, 2023 22:34:15 GMT
I sat and watched the highlights last night and, well, words fail me. What on earth goes on behind the closed doors of the decision makers? Are they smoking something they shouldn't be? The way that race ended was just farcical, not as bad as the 2021 season finale but a pretty close second. I'm just glad that I recorded the program and skipped the prologue BS to go straight to the race start.
As for the race itself: shame about George Russell's DNF when he'd been running so well, some good overtaking by Perez and ... er ... I think that's it. What else to say apart from the fact it had more red flags than a communist march and the only thing missing was Karl Marx! Mind you, it was more like Groucho Marx in race control.
I'm really trying to enjoy F1 still but as each race passes I find I'm going on to Youtube more and more to watch historic race highlights.
Sam.
|
|
|
Post by Gene Hunt on Apr 4, 2023 19:03:43 GMT
It was a total farce. Why bother sending the cars out to finish the race in set positions on the last lap? Perez overtakes? Reginald Molehusband could overtake in that Red Bull such is its speed with DRS open. It fear the only way RB won't win every race this year is if they both record a DNF.
Gene.
|
|