**** 2007 Australian GP ****

[sameerrao]

Yeaahhhh Baby! The F1 racing season is on again. The wait has been painful for all the fans including me.

This season should be awesome due to so many drivers changing steeds, pesonnel changes, etc. Hopefully we will get a dynamite season like 2003, 2005 and 2006. Also hopefully Kimi will get his first WDC - there isn't a more deserving guy out there.

First a moment of silence for the absence of Michael Schumacher for the first time since 1991. It will a touch difficult to watch the first few races and not see the red helmet guiding the Ferrari aggressively to a pole or a victory. We miss you Michael! You are one the best of all time! Have a wonderful retirement! 8) 8) 8)

On to Australia:

Circuit info:

2006 Race Results
1 Fernando Alonso
2 Kimi Raikkonen
3 Ralf Schumacher
4 Nick Heidfeld
5 Giancarlo Fisichella
6 Jacques Villeneuve
7 Rubens Barrichello
8 David Coulthard

Melbourne has become a firm favourite of the Formula 1 fraternity since it took over from Adelaide as the home of the Australian Grand Prix in 1996.

The switch caused consternation, for Adelaide had been hugely popular as both a venue and a racetrack.

In its end-of-season position, it played host to two unforgettable championship climaxes: Nigel Mansell’s spectacular tyre blow-out in 1986 and Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill’s controversial clash in ’94.

For 1996 the race not only moved to Melbourne and a spectacular new lakeside track in Albert Park, but to the other end of the calendar, becoming the season opener.

Melbourne soon proved that it could match Adelaide for thrills and spills, as the inaugural race saw Jacques Villeneuve take pole position for his first GP, and ITV’s Martin Brundle escape a massive first-lap crash in which his Jordan flew into a terrifying sequence of barrel rolls.

As the first chance to see where the balance of power lies at the start of the new season, Melbourne is always eagerly awaited.

Its high-speed layout punctuated by chicanes and dusty surface often leads to unpredictable and dramatic races, and punishes the slightest mistake with a trip into one of the ever-present concrete walls.

The safety car traditionally gets a lot of mileage in Melbourne…

Weather forecast:

On Thursday sun gave way to cloud and a very quick shower, and the forecast is for more showers on Friday, with an ambient temperature peak of 23 degrees Celsius. Locals, however, are sceptical about rain as this part of Victoria has been very dry of late. Thereafter it will be partly cloudy on Saturday and Sunday, with respective temperatures of 23 and 22 degrees

Grid run down:
http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?T...al&PO_ID=38643

Thursday press conference: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5771/770.html

I'll add more info tonight

[racer_f50]

Hope Massa and Kimi can pull of a 1-2

All Kimi has been missing these past years was a reliable car so hopefully Ferrari has accomplished that again this year.

[ZfrkS62]

feels so weird not seeing Michael Schumacher on the grid

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by racer_f50 Hope Massa and Kimi can pull of a 1-2 All Kimi has been missing these past years was a reliable car so hopefully Ferrari has accomplished that again this year.

or perhaps he's been pushing the car so hard that he's using 200-300 extra rpm that his teammates havent...

[nejcdolinsek]

MASSA KIMI 1-2!!!!!!

FORZA FERRARI!!!!!

[deuces]

i definitely wanna see massa and kimi tear it up...but look out for kubica!!!

[TopGearNL]

Gonna watch it in hospital with my dad, for sure hope its going to be a great race!

My money is on Massa!

[deuces]

does anyone know of a way to watch the race on the internet, even if its just uploaded after it happens? unfortunately i don't get the speed channel in the dorm which means i don't get the race, so i've never had to deal with this before. any ideas?

[TopGearNL]

Fernando that spanish foo

Everytime I see that LMAO!!

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by deuces does anyone know of a way to watch the race on the internet, even if its just uploaded after it happens? unfortunately i don't get the speed channel in the dorm which means i don't get the race, so i've never had to deal with this before. any ideas?

last year, i used www.f1.com 's "live timing" and read the race as it happened. sometimes, i used it in conjunction to while watching the race

[sameerrao]

Originally Posted by nthfinity Originally Posted by deuces does anyone know of a way to watch the race on the internet, even if its just uploaded after it happens? unfortunately i don't get the speed channel in the dorm which means i don't get the race, so i've never had to deal with this before. any ideas? last year, i used www.f1.com 's "live timing" and read the race as it happened. sometimes, i used it in conjunction to while watching the race

I used it on occasion too when I was travelling! The info on the net is actually a bit ahead of the so called "live" TV broadcast here in the US.

Another possibility - There is a software called "tvuplayer" that allows you to catch TV broadcasts from Asia. Go to the Star Sports channel - they should be broadcasting F1 there. You will get a blurry and small image but hey it is free and better than no image.

Google for the link - her is one random source: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Interne...VUPlayer.shtml

[deuces]

^^ sounds good thanks a lot

[Mattk]

This will be a very interesting race. Alonso is in a new team, no Michael Schumacher, Raikonnen in a reliable machine...the playing field is levelling.

[sameerrao]

Friday Practice 1 times
1 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.214
2 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:30.707
3 35 Sebastian Vettel BMW 1:30.857
4 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.878
5 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:31.162
6 38 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:31.401
7 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:31.528
8 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:31.571
9 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:31.661
10 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:31.737
11 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:31.782
12 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:32.011
13 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:32.194
14 20 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:34.043
15 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 1:34.627
16 21 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.055
17 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:37.249
18 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:39.221
19 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:39.242
20 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:39.550
21 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 1:41.763
22 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:44.130

Report

A slippery start in Melbourne Alonso heads Massa as track conditions improve 16 March 2007 At last, the first official practice session of the season got underway under grey Melbourne skies here at Albert Park on Friday, with BMW’s Sebastian Vettel heading out Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Spyker’s Adrian Sutil promptly at 10am. Conditions were fearsomely greasy initially as a light drizzle persisted, with Sutil besting Vettel in an inter-German fight. As things dried a little, Fernando Alonso for McLaren and then Jenson Button in the earthy Honda vied for fastest time with respective laps of 1m 42.878s and 1m 42.769s. The next spell saw the Ferraris set the pace, Kimi Raikkonen lapping his in 1m 39.242s and Felipe Massa coming out to do 1m 39.277s after sitting out all of the session up to that point. Strong overtones of Schumacher there! For these new hour and a half long practice sessions teams must nominate which drivers will run. In this first one everyone ran in team order except for Vettel standing in for Robert Kubica, and Kazuki Nakajima for Nico Rosberg at Williams. There were plenty of minor incidents; Rubens Barrichello, Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Button and Alonso all had minor off-track adventures, and one of the BMWs decimated a pigeon that unwisely stayed on the line a moment too long. The times all fell further as conditions continued to improve, a fact signalled when Nick Heidfeld pushed his BMW to the fore with a lap of 1m 37.249s shortly after the hour. Before long Alonso was back out, pushing his McLaren to second place ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton (1m 37.610s and 1, 37.962s), but with seven minutes left Red Bull timed it well to put Mark Webber on dry tyres, and he slashed down to 1m 32.194s to go fastest. No prizes for guessing the crowd’s reaction! The local hero subsequently improved to 1m 31.661s before a minor off in Turn One, narrowly holding off Button who did 1m 31.976s before being supplanted by team-mate Barrichello’s 1m31.737s. But quicker than you could write that Button went quickest in 1m 31.162s from Nakajima’s 1m 31.401s, and then Vettel beat them with 1m 30.857s. Conditions were improving so fast that those who made dry-tyre runs went so much quicker than those who only shortly before been setting the pace on wets. In the final minutes Alonso stamped his authority by taking fastest time away from Massa, 1m 29.214s to 1m 30.707s. And to please McLaren further, Hamilton’s super-clean first session yielded 1m 30.878 for a close fourth behind Vettel. Behind them Button’s 1m 31.162s held up for fifth ahead of the impressive Nakajima (1m 31.401s), Coulthard (1m 31.528s), Kovalainen (1m 31.571s), Webber (1m 31.661s), Barrichello (1m 31.737s) and Takuma Sato (1m 31.782s). Left behind in all this were Giancarlo Fisichella (1m 32.011s), Wurz (1m 32.194s), Sutil (1m 34.043s), Liuzzi (1m 34.627s), Albers (1m 35.055s), Heidfeld (1m 37.249s), Davidson (1m 39.221s), Raikkonen (no dry-tyre run and 1m 39.242s), Schumacher (1m 39.550s), and then Speed and Trulli (1m 41.763s and 1m 44.130s), each having mechanical problems. What does it all mean? It’s hardly worth trying to assess just yet, as the track will be drier still this afternoon. But for the first proper run of the year, it was great fun to watch.

[sameerrao]

Another report:

Free practice: Champ Alonso leads the way Friday, 16, March, 2007, 00:45 World champion Fernando Alonso got his title defence off to a perfect, if slightly misleading, start as the first 90-minute practice session for the Australian Grand Prix was affected by heavy morning rain. Subsequently the McLaren star came out top of a five-minute scramble by a number of drivers, including his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who switched to dry tyres in the final moments of the session. To his credit, Alonso was always near the top of the times whenever on track, but questions as to whether he has the pace to challenge Ferrari on Sunday remain unanswered as the drying track turned the session into a lottery. Felipe Massa, the winter pace-setter, was also among the gaggle of late, dry-shod, runners and the Ferrari driver ended the session 1.5s slower than the leading McLaren. But both the Brazilian and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen looked ominously fast when the track was still wet, half-way through the session, and are likely to be more of a threat in session two. The Finn, never even bothered to try slicks, such was his confidence in finding his touch in the afternoon. For many, the spotlight was on the other McLaren of Hamilton though, as F1's first black driver took his public bow. But while the track was treacherous for the first hour of the session, and the pressure was clearly on the 22-year-old Englishman, he didn't drop so much as a wheel on the grass. In fact Lewis took just two laps to match the pace of his senior team-mate in the wet, and went quietly about his business to end the session fourth fastest overall. Test driver Sebastien Vettel was third for BMW as the young German sat in for Robert Kubica. Vettel was one of a couple of drivers (along with Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil) to venture out early on in the session and was never far from the front when he was on track. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld also set the pace for a while as the track was drying out, proving BMW's winter potential, but his 17th place can be put down to his lack of a dry run. Behind Hamilton came Jenson Button in fifth, another to revel in the wet conditions - circumstances in which he is peerless - but the Briton grabbed the chance of a dry run late-on to stay in the mix. Japanese tester Kazuki Nakajima, briefly second in the last-minute shuffle, was sixth fastest as he stood in for Nico Rosberg at Williams, ahead of David Coulthard's Red Bull and Heikki Kovalainen's Renault – which twice ran off the track mid-session. Mark Webber had home glory stolen from him in the last three minutes. The Aussie was the first to venture out on dry tyres, immediately going five seconds quicker than Heidfeld's previous mark, but Mark had fired too soon and was quickly usurped by the pack. Rubens Barrichello rounded out the top ten ahead of Takuma Sato's impressive Super Aguri/Honda and Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault. Alexander Wurz was 13th for Williams, the last of the dry runners proper. Adrian Sutil worked hard for 14th in the Spyker. The German debutant clocked up 26 laps as he learned the Albert Park track, and he was rewarded by outpacing his senior team-mate Christijan Albers by more than a second. Vitantonio Liuzzi's STR split the two Dutch cars. Anthony Davidson ended up 18th just behind Heidfeld's BMW, but the Englishman, effectively still a rookie, was as high as third when the track was still wet and was another not to bother with dries. Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Scott Speed and Jarno Trulli (lucky not to clout the wall in a huge spin at Turn 11) completed the runners.