[nipcarlover]

Loved the race.

That Mercedes car looks crazy good, Nico was going at least 1 sec a lap faster than ANYONE throughout the entire race. And the car was good on tire wear as well. Would have loved if Hamilton didn't have the issue with his engine.

Mighty impressed by Magnussen, Kvyat and Ricciardo. Magnussen carried himself with incredible confidence through the race.

Bottas was impressive too, without that mistake, I guess he would easily have been at least in the Top 4.

Awesome start to the season, looking forward to Malaysia. Would be interesting to see how the cars fare in the heat at Sepang.

[vb-saan]

Interesting race! But it was almost like watching a track test of a group of road cars - sounded so soft. Probably live audience can do away with ear plugs from this season

[zenren]

Excellent race with the underdogs beating their more accomplished team mates to the podium. I wanted to see Hamilton's face when Rosberg praised the Mercedes for the reliability from the podium.

Ricciardo seems to have taken all the luck and left Vettel in the situation that Webber faced last year - looks like all breakdowns and issues would be for Vettel this year.

Ferrari seems to be closer to midfield than at the top with the only consolation that Alonso and Kimi are the experts in salvaging the points and mounting a championship battle in a mediocre car purely on the basis of consistent finishes. Constructors could be a tight fight if Mercedes doesn't find the reliability for both cars.

Sauber would be looking for the experts who kept predicting that finishing the race should ensure points. They managed to finish both their cars without scoring a single point.

Marussia has gained a strong advantage in their battle with Caterham by finishing P14. That's a position they can hope for only if others retire and would be difficult for Caterham to beat. Chilton finishes the race again which is impressive.

Williams and McLaren seem to be good while Force India doesn't seem to have the pace. Bottas really impressed with the pace though he got really lucky to get away with that encounter with the wall without losing time thanks to the safety car. Looks like he took all the luck in the Williams team depriving the unlucky Massa from completing first corner.

Toro Rosso would be impressed with the double finish in points considering the Renault reliability.

Will have to wait for 2 weeks to know the fuel efficiency pecking order for each engine.

[ecenandu]

Oops, thats not good for Red bull.

[zenren]

Ricciardo's car consistently exceeded the fuel flow rate and has been referred to the stewards. We'll have to see if he would be disqualified or whether he might get away with a time penalty.

Considering the drive through awarded to Grosjean at the start of the race for leaving his garage early and the strict warning regarding the fuel usage limit before the race began, anything less than disqualification would be seen as preferential treatment for Redbull and might be challenged by other teams. Looks like an Australian on the Australian GP podium is jinxed!

EDIT:
On second thoughts, issue with fuel flow limiter could be a reason Vettel was unable to get similar power from his car like Ricciardo.

[mayankk]

Quite a good opener.
Had to stay offline throughout the Delhi meet today to catch the recording, and JUST wasnt dissappointed!

Mclaren, welcome back to the score.


So disappointed for Hamilton, but at least Rosberg got his win, compared to last year's one lap wonders.
Bottas - Amazing drive.

Rest of the season should be fantastic!

[ganeshtvpm]

What a bad start to F1. Can't even hear the cars at the start. Sounds like road cars racing. Missed the V10 and V8 sorely.

[nipcarlover]

Originally Posted by zenren

Ricciardo's car consistently exceeded the fuel flow rate and has been referred to the stewards. We'll have to see if he would be disqualified or whether he might get away with a time penalty.

Considering the drive through awarded to Grosjean at the start of the race for leaving his garage early and the strict warning regarding the fuel usage limit before the race began, anything less than disqualification would be seen as preferential treatment for Redbull and might be challenged by other teams. Looks like an Australian on the Australian GP podium is jinxed!

EDIT:
On second thoughts, issue with fuel flow limiter could be a reason Vettel was unable to get similar power from his car like Ricciardo.

OFFICIAL, Ricciardo has been disqualified from the Australian GP.!

[deetjohn]

It was a very engaging race. Even though the Ferraris were way off pace (due to some electric trouble?), I was not bored at all.

I was very impressed by Ricciardo and Magnussen today. The young guns didn't put a wheel wrong all weekend and Magnussen goes one better than Lewis in 07 due to RBR' disqualification. Such a shame for Ricciardo, the Aussie podium jinx continues.

The fuel flow rate restriction is very complex rule to officiate and make teams adhere to. Stewards detail reasons for Ricciardo’s disqualification

And Williams looks the real deal this season. High time the great team get some wins at least. I think Bottas and Massa had a great chance to finish inside top 5 today. And Merc as fancied looks scarily fast!

Safety cars meant the teams saved enough fuel and thankfully it was not a big constraint for the race.

[Vid6639]

I don't understand the point of controlling fuel flow rate. There is already a rule that you are limited to 100 kilos of fuel for the entire race. The race is 90mins which means that any car which is crossing the 100 kilo/hour rule will anyways run short of fuel and may not complete the race. On top of that why are they imposing a rule for instantaneous flow rate?

Why are they not allowing a driver to conserve fuel at the beginning of the race and then letting him charge towards the end.

Second rule which I noticed was the gearbox. The 8 speed gearbox is fixed for the entire season. This means that the 8 gear ratios you select need to work for all the circuits. Gear ratios need to work at Monza as well as Monaco. Last year it was 30 gear ratios allowed and you can choose any 7 from that for every race.

Looking at Australian race, the cars are a good 3-4 secs slower from last year with average speeds down by 6-7kmph. Last years last place finisher would have won this year.

The sound of the engines I'm not even getting into. To be able to hear tyre squealing, whistles from marshals was a huge shock. The cars sound like loud blow dryers and more closely the sound resembles an ATR turbo fan engine.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I don't understand the point of controlling fuel flow rate. There is already a rule that you are limited to 100 kilos of fuel for the entire race. The race is 90mins which means that any car which is crossing the 100 kilo/hour rule will anyways run short of fuel and may not complete the race. On top of that why are they imposing a rule for instantaneous flow rate?

Why are they not allowing a driver to conserve fuel at the beginning of the race and then letting him charge towards the end.

It should be fair in an ideal scenario where the some would build up the lead in the initial part of the race while others would conserve fuel to charge at the end but the slower group would still need to close down the gap first before they can challenge for positions.

A safety car would be a huge advantage to the drivers who are slow in the initial part of the race since the lead that others had over them got suddenly vanished and faster drivers during the initial part of the race would have to be conservative on the fuel front during the second half. If this risk makes everyone follow the same strategy of being conservative initially and push in the end, it would eventually become just like the qualifying session- only the last few minutes would be worth watching.

Moreover, overtaking is difficult in F1 and hence the conservative drivers could hold up the rest of the pack while the cars in front of them pull away.

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Looking at Australian race, the cars are a good 3-4 secs slower from last year with average speeds down by 6-7kmph. Last years last place finisher would have won this year.

The sound of the engines I'm not even getting into. To be able to hear tyre squealing, whistles from marshals was a huge shock. The cars sound like loud blow dryers and more closely the sound resembles an ATR turbo fan engine.

THAT's what it was!!!! I heard the whistles. I kept looking out my balcony to see if any kids playing 'holi' were blowing whistles or looked at my daughters to see if they had whistle type toys in their mouths

The cars looked funny, especially the front - nose areas. Reminds me of the ant eater.
Impressed by Bottas!! Hulkenberg seems to have lost the will after lap 40 or so. Good thing for SFI both in points. Glad to see Vettel not in the finishing line!
The race in itself seems more interesting.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I don't understand the point of controlling fuel flow rate. There is already a rule that you are limited to 100 kilos of fuel for the entire race. The race is 90mins which means that any car which is crossing the 100 kilo/hour rule will anyways run short of fuel and may not complete the race. On top of that why are they imposing a rule for instantaneous flow rate?

I think maybe there's a safety angle as well. Depending on strategy, there can be cars using very high fuel flow rate and others using quite severe fuel-saving on track at the same time. If the RB controversy is anything to go by, even a few percentage change in fuel flowrate can have big impact on performance - which means huge speed differentials between cars on the track. The 100kg/hr limit could be to ensure that even if some cars are running at peak limit and others are in fuel saving mode, the speed differential will still remain within acceptable limits (like the 107% rule in qualifying).

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

I think maybe there's a safety angle as well. Depending on strategy, there can be cars using very high fuel flow rate and others using quite severe fuel-saving on track at the same time. If the RB controversy is anything to go by, even a few percentage change in fuel flowrate can have big impact on performance - which means huge speed differentials between cars on the track. The 100kg/hr limit could be to ensure that even if some cars are running at peak limit and others are in fuel saving mode, the speed differential will still remain within acceptable limits (like the 107% rule in qualifying).

But there was no limitation like this last year and we did not see any issue. There was no refuelling last year and cars were running 150-170kilos of fuel. Then they could control the fuel flow as per their wish. We didn't see any safety issues that time so how does it affect it this year.

[Maky]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

But there was no limitation like this last year and we did not see any issue. There was no refuelling last year and cars were running 150-170kilos of fuel. Then they could control the fuel flow as per their wish. We didn't see any safety issues that time so how does it affect it this year.

Unless I'm mistaken to it's utility, I think the fuel flow control serves two primary purposes:

-Limit fuel going into the engine hence create a soft limit to the power.
-Limit fuel consumption in total/Satisfy the green people.


Perhaps It's strategic, allowing more fuel to flow in leading to quicker lap times early on and then settling in slow?. It's confusing.
I think it's anything but safety the way I see it.