Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix 2009

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Well its almost time. After the cold F1-less winter months it feels like an eternity from the first test days to the teams arriving in Melbourne. But with less than 8 days left until the start of what is largely regarded as the most unpredictable season in recent years, I thought we better start the thread for it! :P




So who will win?

Brawn GP are showing great success in tests, but can you believe them?

McLaren look terribly slow, but they are rarely not competitive.

Ferrari are looking good, but have a few reliability problems.

BMW are looking like the dark horse, not stunning in tests, but with a race ready KERS system, very good reliability and eyes set on a championship this year you would be crazy to ignore them.

And Renault could continue last years end of season form by producing a few more expert wins from their greatest asset Fernando Alonso.

Red Bull and Williams also look quite competitive.

Only time will tell.
 
Ha ha, your all hilarious. (Actually the sprouts thing is quite good!!) Glad you all seen the point of the thread, just thankful you didn't see how I first spelled Australian.
 
My guess. Brawn to win, get disqualified and then Toyota get promoted to their first win.

My other guess. Front wings to go flying. Often.
 
My guess. Brawn to win, get disqualified and then Toyota get promoted to their first win.

My other guess. Front wings to go flying. Often.

..and then Toyota get disqualified too because of their illegal diffuser :lol:

The FIA can't honestly expect all 3 teams to have changed their diffusers by race day without them being really botched jobs. I hope that either the FIA will be lenient in this case (unlikely) or that the teams will already have rear designs with a more normal diffuser design (again, unlikely).
 
It's so close! In just one week Formula Ramadan shall be be over and we shall celebrate three days of F-1-Fitr!


Excuse the Islam jokes
 
I won't be placing any bets on the BrawnGP car as I'll only believe its dominance untill after the practise sessions. I also have a hunch Mclaren will come forward better than winter testing has revieled. I don't expect something major from Renault or Williams, but I'm rooting for Toyota. Something tells me Glock is going to impress the next weekend, and I'm looking at a BMW - Ferrari - Brawn and hopefully Toyota battle for the top spots with Renault and Red Bull following closely behind.

My dream podium for the weekend would be:

1. Glock
2. Barrichello
3. Kubica

Yes, unrealistic, but there's always space for hopes :D

BrawnGP vs Toyota vs BMW FTW!
 
I would like to see an exciting race with lots of passing that ends with Button (or Barrichello), Kubica and Vettel on the podium.

What I expect to see is a lot of pit action to replace front wings and someone that got away from the first corner shinanigans to cruise to victory.

My pick for winner is whoever gets pole.
 
Any ideas n who's going to cause and be a part of) the traditional first-corner accident? Because he did it in Melbourne last year, my vote goes to an encore performance by Fisichella.[WIKIPEDIA][/WIKIPEDIA]
 
Any ideas n who's going to cause and be a part of) the traditional first-corner accident? Because he did it in Melbourne last year, my vote goes to an encore performance by Fisichella.[WIKIPEDIA][/WIKIPEDIA]

id say it will be amilton. he hasnt had much luck with his car this year and i bet hes arogant enought to try and push through the pack early with a car that cant seem to compete. but i garuntee half the field will be pitting on lap 2 for new wings.
 
Do any of the London betting houses have odds on a sit-in by the teams in protest of the new scoring system? Personally I'd place that at 8-1.
 
Any ideas n who's going to cause and be a part of) the traditional first-corner accident? Because he did it in Melbourne last year, my vote goes to an encore performance by Fisichella.[WIKIPEDIA][/WIKIPEDIA]

Either one of the Force India's, or whichever teams are at the back, but because we don't know for sure who will be, I'll make a prediction after qualifying.
 
F1 2009 is the year that all the teams who never win cause of ferrari and mclaren might have a chance. Brawn might get maybe a 3rd in constructors if BMW isn't up to game. Ferrari, as usual gets first in constructors and mclaren trailing by 20 points.
 
F1 2009 is the year that all the teams who never win cause of ferrari and mclaren might have a chance. Brawn might get maybe a 3rd in constructors if BMW isn't up to game. Ferrari, as usual gets first in constructors and mclaren trailing by 20 points.

I still doubt McLaren will be within the top 4 even. At best they will be middle field, that is one prediction I can make.

The teams I feel look strongest so far:
BMW Sauber - hidden pace, as usual, but we know they are going to be strong this year, good pace during testing and quite reliable. Good KERS system and two good drivers
Brawn - obvious reasons, if we are to believe testing they are a full second ahead of all the other teams, but although they are probably going to still be strong, the gap will be smaller because I think some teams have sandbagged
Toyota - onto a strong season here, the car looks good both drivers are decent they can only really go up from last year
Ferrari - naturally going to be strong but are hampered by reliability particularly in the KERS system, both drivers are good though, but I can see Massa perhaps struggling with the new regs.
Renault - looked weak early in testing but look a lot stronger now, not sure if they will be race winners just yet but certainly top of the mid-field.

Unknowns:
Williams - looked ok in testing, not sure how good they are going to be but they seem to be throwing a lot of radical changes on the car around, such as the skatefins.
Red Bull/Toro Rosso - both have looked ok in the same way as Williams, very radical chassis design and both good driver line-ups but so far no signs of where they will fit in the grid.
McLaren - looked ok at first in testing, then awful then ok and now they are looking a little better. The amount of time they've spent testing all sorts and sorting out problems is time lost working on setups and reliability. They are not going to be on the front row but I'm not so sure they will be behind Force India either.

Likely Failures:
Force India - they seem very happy with themselves at the moment in testing, but their pace isn't anywhere and I see nothing to suggest their year is going be much better than last year. Fisichella is good enough and had some good drives last year but Sutil really hasn't proven himself yet. They may surprise but I doubt it, not exactly going to be a BrawnGP style come back anyway.
 
I expect Fernando Alonso to get away and run with it...
I don't care about the others. A good performance by Piquet would help Renault bid for WCC. Toma!
 
This will be a looooong week!

I think Brawn GP might finish in the top three, not counting on it though. Massa for the win!
 
Unfortunately, its looking like the diffusers row is going to be a potential season-ruiner if you're a Toyota, Brawn or Williams fan. Red Bull have said they consider them illegal, though apparently they had attempted a similar design earlier, but Newey said it barely benefitted their car - sounds like they are just annoyed they can't use it rather than it being a breach of regs.

So currently, the list of teams who potentially will lodge a complaint with the stewards are:
Renault (Flavio mostly, Pat seems to think the diffusers are clever but perhaps not illegal)
Ferrari
Red Bull

Max is being a bit vague on what the FIA thinks, pretty much left to a stewards decision. I doubt we will see the race results changed, but it will significantly damage the 3 teams if they have to do a lot of development work to re-design their cars around a "standard" diffuser. This will certainly test FOTA's unity, one side or the other is going to be unhappy with the decisions taken - it will be interesting to see if said teams will still co-operate as well with the rest of FOTA.
 
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