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Last edited by samjh, Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:41.

Schumacher vs Liuzzi in karts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR6WvS8WbHU

Quote from Wilko868 :

It's not boxing either. (think Brazil 09)

Brazil 09? Pfft! Germany 82!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JogHiSR5P4

Some old Australian racing vids:

ATCC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfRAfJ4XaFw

F5000: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnn6HDhks4E

Tom Walkinshaw's qualifying at Bathurst: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbhxrIhkbhk

Quote from Hotdogxx60 :

I have to agree, I've really gone off the V8's. I be eagerly waiting from the Merc's or BMW's to get involved. The Holden and Ford's have run their race and basically it's the same car. Variety is the spice of life and the format needs a change.

I know the Holden and Ford purists still go on about it, but their not the same as they were 20 years ago.

Definitely! The days of the Australian Touring Car Championship (which included BMW, Nissan, Volvo, and Jaguar, among others) produced perhaps better racing than today.

The ATCC in all its [tank-slapping] glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfRAfJ4XaFw

Put away the razor blades, mate.

My crystal ball says Force India may not be as quick in Australia as they were in Bahrain. They seem to do really well in the high-seed sectors, and struggle in the twisty bits. Albert Park is a twisty, bumpy track.

Unfortunately, I don't have enough money to upgrade my chassis or engine to something definitely better.

Perhaps mandatory tyre stops should be introduced. Martin Whitmarsh suggested it after the race, and although he suggested banning the DDD as well, it's too late for the latter. It's not too late for compulsory two or three tyre stops though. We might actually see drivers really pushing then.

Ban the DDD and introduce limited ground-effect next year, please.

Ouch. We're thoroughly out of form in the subleague comp!

Oh well, it's only the first race. There is still a long way to go yet!

That sounds so wrong, ATC...

Great job by Ferrari, especially by Alonso.

I really wanted Vettel to win after his magnificent qualifying and race pace. Too bad his exhaust conked out on him. Adrian Newey and the Red Bull engineering team really need to focus on their reliability.

Good drive from Hamilton too, but the McLaren always showed good performance through winter testing and free practice. Also a good drive from Rosberg and Schumacher; Rosberg showed he deserves a seat in a top team, and Schumacher hasn't run out of steam yet!

What a topsy-turvy race. Those who picked Lotus for their low-cost choices made the right decision!

Quote from tristancliffe :

Yes, and I have been talking about components of that net force. Horizonatal and vertical relative to the chassis!!!

Is this a new field of study in obstetrics?

You can have bad luck with any choice you make. I had some boo-boos last season too, when my choices should have been bullet-proof. Darn Murphy's Law!

The key is consistency. One should not be too quick to change their team's composition based on one-off performances.

My line-up is doing well so far: 194 points just from qualifying (compared to Hyperactive's 174 )! Fingers crossed for the race.

Last edited by samjh, Sun, 14 Mar 2010 07:13.

Actually, points go all the way down to 24th place. Re-read the Faq 'n rules page again.

Quote from Hyperactive :

According to my excel sheet this was the best combo for that amount of money

Real men use their heads to calculate.

Quote from Intrepid :

Sutil will start on the harder compound. Everyone else gunned it by the looks of it

Yup. The ideal trick for the front two row starters will be to get back onto the track after their first pit stop before Sutil and other hard-tyred guys get ahead. With pit stop times reduced to around 18 to 20 seconds, it should be possible for at least Vettel and the Ferraris.

I think McLaren and Mercedes are very well-matched in absolute performance. The bigger factor is in the drivers. Hamilton is the only driver among the four who is in a position to extract maximum performance from the car and the team. Button is new, Schumacher is rusty, and Rosberg is also new. With time, I think you'll see a lot of shuffling in the rank order between those four.

As for Red Bull, I think it'll be a tough fight against Ferrari.

So far:
RBR = Ferrari > McLaren = Mercedes > Renault = Force India > Williams > Sauber = STR > Virgin = Lotus > HRT

Quote from Mustafur :

In hard consideration this is the best line up possible considering the FP times so far.

I've actually managed to change it from di Grassi to Senna. Mathematically speaking, the extra expense is not worth the reward. I'd rather have 6 million credits in reserve for the next round.

Actually you're right. Q3 qualifiers have to race on the tyres they used to set their fastest Q3 lap, so we could possibly see a lot of Q3 drivers getting stuck in traffic after their first and early tyre stop.

Quote from JCTK :

the good thing is that Williams' system is light, so would be much less a compromise on handling and setup of the car~

The smaller mass is an advantage, but the disadvantage is that their flywheel system can affect the car's handling adversely. The flywheel is a heavy mass rotating at tens of thousands of revolutions per minute. The gyroscopic effect could possibly cause unwanted stability.

Last edited by samjh, Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:29.

Here's my final line-up. I don't think I'll be able to change it before qualifying.

di Grassi
Chandhok
FI
FI
Total

I'm hedging my bets with my fuel choice.

Quote from Bean0 :

HRT only 1.5secs faster than the GP2 pole

A bit embarrassing, considering that F1 cars have around 150BHP more power than GP2 cars. I wonder whether Dallara used the same engineers for their HRT design as they did when they designed the GP2 cars (you read it right: Dallara designed the GP2 cars, and are the design partners for HRT).

Quote from JCTK :

some cars are ought to be better at heavy fuel long run than low fuel single lap pace, or vice versa.

Indeed. Bridgestone has stated that the fastest four (Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, RBR) have similar tyre wear characteristics, but Sauber has the advantage in tyre conservation. The Renault engine is known for being fuel-efficient, contrast to Ferrari, which is rumoured to be fuel-hungry. There are whispers that Williams might reintroduce KERS some time during the season, although it seems very unlikely.

FI looks far more consistent than STR. I think its drivers are also more capable. For STR, Buemi isn't bad, but I'm afraid Alguersuari shouldn't be in that seat -- he's become a European version of Yuji Ide.

I'm really unsure over what to pick. Should I sacrifice driver quality by picking Total for fuel to hedge the risks? Or perhaps choose the cheapest fuel and bump up one of my chassis/engine suppliers? Or perhaps sacrifice chassis/engine and fuel, and choose better drivers?

Choices abound...

While the new teams are slow as snails, I love the look of their cars! HRT and Virgin look very cool, and Lotus' paint job is a wonderful blast from the past.

Neither of the two FP sessions are reliable indicators of real performance. FP3 is closer to the truth, but still a little off.

Quote from Intrepid :

Webber might not be the best drive out there but he's entertainment!

"That's a LOT of room for your penis, mate!"