[MaserQ]

If anything, the ban on electronic aids has made F1 more interesting! Off track excursions are expected in the first few races, but I shall take that any day. There is nothing more monotonous than a predictable finish, where you know the top 4/best of the rest will interchange places race after race.

Flawless from Hamilton. Great start. Lets not forget Heidfeld and Rosberg, solid racing from them two. Ferrari has a few reliability issues to sort out, hopefully very soon. Driver of the day has to be Alonso. The way he was pushing, one would have thought a) he is going to grain his tyres b) he is going to take himself out. Controlled aggression in the same car that Piquet managed to qualify second from last..Stupendous!

[Shan2nu]

Oh wow, i knew the drivers would have it a bit diff this season but never expected something like this. Just goes to show how easy the drivers have had it with TSC n all in the past.

It's gonna be a hell of a season!!! How i wish Schumi hadn't retired.

Shan2nu

[Steeroid]

That was a cracker of a race to start the season! Looks like this season is going to be very, very different from others.

Originally Posted by LandCruiser

Looks like without TC F1 is going to be boring with too many retirements! Yawn!

On the contrary, I think that has made the race more interesting. We see people making errors. Drivers having to use their skill where electronics used to bail them out earlier. Kimi made two mistakes, and paid for it - though the engine failure in the end isnt his fault.

Alonso - now THAT was some driving. Making an ordinary car look competitive is a special skill. If ONLY he would talk less - he would've been a great champion.

[snaronikar]

Good race. Beginning with a win of my favourite team and driver.

[aZa]

Brilliant race !! 2008 F1 season looks very promising!

[suman]

Brilliant driving from Hamilton tho can't stand him. Alonso demonstrated his excellent driving skills tho can't stand him either.

What's with Kimi & Massa for chrissakes? Looks like Kimi is the biggest loser from the Traction Control point of view, LOL!

Anyway, I'm devastated with the Ferrari failures so I'm off to drown my sorrows so to speak.

I hope this is not an ominous indication of the way the season will end - last year Kimi won this one & the championship, its Hamilton this year; I hope it doesn't mean what I hope it doesn't mean.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by suman

Brilliant driving from Hamilton tho can't stand him. Alonso demonstrated his excellent driving skills tho can't stand him either.

What's with Kimi & Massa for chrissakes? Looks like Kimi is the biggest loser from the Traction Control point of view, LOL!

Anyway, I'm devastated with the Ferrari failures so I'm off to drown my sorrows so to speak.

I hope this is not an ominous indication of the way the season will end - last year Kimi won this one & the championship, its Hamilton this year; I hope it doesn't mean what I hope it doesn't mean.

You can't judge things looking at one race.
Kimi had a great start and was driving really well till the second safety car. I don't think he has any issues with loss of TC control, IMO he is one of the drivers who will gain because of this with his amazing car control. He had two off track incidents but then he had to fight his way through the field so he had to take some risks, but his move on Heikki was unnecessary. If he had started at the front, he would have had an easier race.
But the worrying issue is the reliailty of Ferrari. Its not a good sign and they have to sort out theses quickly

[merve_extreme]

Ok,two more news coming out of Melbourne...

1) Heki did press the speed limiter on the start straight which allowed to Alonso to retake the position.
autosport.com - F1 News: Cockpit error costs Kovalainen fourth

2) Rubens has been disqualified and hence the undeserving Kimi gets 1 point.
autosport.com - F1 News: Barrichello disqualified from Australian GP

[shuvc]

Lovely start by Lewis. Wrap it up quickly this year, boy !
It was nice to see Lewis and Nico enjoy each others' success.
And Suman. Kimi just had one of those days. He'll be back - cool and calculating.

[F50]

We all know one point is very important.

[merve_extreme]

Yeah we sure know.....

[turbo_v12]

Cheers....cheers:...

Bad luck for Heikki though...Would have been great if it was a McLaren 1-2. It's all Massa's fault....LoL....

[Steeroid]

Bring back the daddy of them all. Bring back Michael Schumacher

[merve_extreme]

Not a chance that we'll get him back,though i too wish that he returns for one last time.

[dockap]

Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R

Well can I ask what makes you state that ?

We have two new teams on the podium, both of which have been working hard. Kimi and Ferrari will be even more determined now, Alonso drove well and even if not a podium, it will be almost like a win for the team. I really feel its a bit too harsh to state that its depressing. Its MotorSPORTS after all, even if our favourite team or driver didnt win, the matter of fact that two new teams achieved their goals, is something we must stand and appreciate. In fact this makes the season even more interesting I feel. And thanks for the info merve_extreme, wasn't aware of it. Cheers dude!

i agree that it was a good show for bmw and williams and the exit of driver aids makes it more dependent on driver skill but i don't think seeing only a handful of cars complete each race is fun to watch(ya its fun to watch the spectacular accidents without the driver aids) but if the pace car had not been called out 2 or 3 times hamilton would have won with maybe a 40 second lead over second place hes good and hes got the best car out there so i think for the rest of the season its going to be hamilton wins,wins wins again and again