[SilentEngine]

Finally race weekend is here!

It was a pleasant surprise to see all practice sessions covered live in ESPN. Hope it's not one-off. The new Fox sports deal seems to have changed a few things. It looked like the feed is from Sky sports along with commentary.

From FP1 and FP2 looks like Vettel and Redbull are still the favourites while Mercedes may be fighting for pole. Ferrari and Lotus showed strong race pace, so it will be an interesting race. McLaren may struggle. Super softs disintegrating quickly may cause some drama.

Predictions for qualifying:
VET
HAM
WEB
ROS
RAI
ALO
GRO
MAS
BUT
HUL

[deetjohn]

Looks like Vettel and RBR are off the leash from the word go. The Mercedes look fast, but had problems. Ferrari and Lotus look fast too. Button seems disappointed with the car after FP2. Will wait till tomorrow to find more.

And it could rain during Qualifying.

Hoping for a tight battle in the race. Managing the difference between the option and the prime will be key.

[D33-PAC]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

And it could rain during Qualifying.

3 hours to go till qualifying and that is exactly what is happening now in FP3.

From the looks of the onboard cams, which barely shows anything in the first place due to the mist, and also from the poncho cladded and umbrella holding crowd - it wouldn't take a genius to say it's pouring down there.

I have never actually seen, nor do i remember the skills of any of these guys in the rain. Who is the ULTIMATE rain meister the current line up ?

Sutil and Alonso are good in wets AFAIK. Who else ?

[deetjohn]

Now, watching the Sky telecast of FP3 in ESPN on our TV.

It is raining heavy in Albert Park. And track looks really bad.

The Ferrari is fast but Alonso was aggressive on the medium and the drive was not so smooth. I hear the drivers cannot do that on the super soft as the tyre will go off just in a couple of laps.

Edit:

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

I have never actually seen, nor do i remember the skills of any of these guys in the rain. Who is the ULTIMATE rain meister the current line up ?

Sutil and Alonso are good in wets AFAIK. Who else ?

Vettel, Lewis, Button, Kimi... I see many who can do very well in the wet.

[speedmiester]

Grosjean put in the fastest time in FP3 ahead of the Ferrari's of Alonso and Massa. But this is not an indicative time with the weather affecting the final practice session.

Vettel had an hydraulic failure that left his car stranded in the first sector of the lap. With the qualifying in just under two hours this could be a challenge for the Red bull team to fix the car as soon as possible.

Looking forward to the first qualifying session of the season.

[kaushik60]

Michael Schumacher quits, and Albert Park deems it fit to give a rainy tribute to the regenmeister!
It's going to be a crazy qualifying session. I hope it rains tomorrow also!

[deetjohn]

That's it. Q2 & Q3 scheduled for 11:00 AM (local time) tomorrow. Its looks quite dark out there.

[D33-PAC]

I want a refund -_- .

What's the point of racing then - might as well wait till the summer since the track will be at its optimum utility to them at that time.

This is unnatural, I wanted to see qualifying in rain .

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

I want a refund -_- .

What's the point of racing then - might as well wait till the summer since the track will be at its optimum utility to them at that time.

This is unnatural, I wanted to see qualifying in rain .

The amount of standing water cannot be cleared by even the wet tyres. It is highly dangerous to let the cars drive.

What if there is a serious accident and the race needs to cancelled. Please try to think about the drivers who are required to drive their cars at more than 250Kmph in such deplorable conditions.

[D33-PAC]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

The amount of standing water cannot be cleared by even the wet tyres. It is highly dangerous to let the cars drive.

What if there is a serious accident and the race needs to cancelled. Please try to think about the drivers who are required to drive their cars at more than 250Kmph in such deplorable conditions.

I don't wish anyone harm but that's exactly what makes it fun for me ( for me at least).

High speeds, light weight cars, little traction, and the only objective is to go as fast as you can ---- ooohhh that sounds fun to watch.

Also I hear there have been races in conditions worse, according to the commentators, and if the so called 22 best drivers in the world cannot drive in these conditions then I'd be damned.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

I don't wish anyone harm but that's exactly what makes it fun for me ( for me at least).

High speeds, light weight cars, little traction, and the only objective is to go as fast as you can ---- ooohhh that sounds fun to watch.

Also I hear there have been races in conditions worse, according to the commentators, and if the so called 22 best drivers in the world cannot drive in these conditions then I'd be damned.

I am not saying these are not the best drivers in the world. It's just that the cars they drive and the tyres cannot cope with the amount of water on the track. Already in the first session we saw many cars spin off and damage the cars.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

That's it. Q2 & Q3 scheduled for 11:00 AM (local time) tomorrow. Its looks quite dark out there.

Is that 530am IST? I wonder if it will be telecasted on Star-ESPN.

[Maky]

Bah! After watching the three FP sesseions I'm getting a feeling the first half of this season may just get dominated by Vettel as the entire 2011 one.
Although, The margins are close between the top 3 so I have hope they will mix it up. Would love to see mid-field players get on the podium.
My Prediction barring alternator failures :P:

1.)Alonso
2.)Vettel
3.)Hamilton

I put Alonso above Vettel as I feel he can drive at the limit for almost the entire duration of the race and the cars are very close. Vettel tends to make mistakes when he tries to do the same.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by tharian

Is that 530am IST? I wonder if it will be telecasted on Star-ESPN.

Yes it will be. On ESPN at least. I am loving the Sky commentary!

[MDe]

I have always thought of iceman as a real cool driver. He definitely did not have the machine compared to Hamilton or Vettel last year but he still came third in the championship. Hope to see him do much better this year. Not much faith on Lotus, but lets hope for the best in the season. Frankly, I have started following Motogp more than F1 because of the sheer thrill of overtaking and lack of surity on the winner as compared to F1 where it has become pretty standard.