[Mark]

f*cking hell, couldn't have been a better start for Hamilton fans.

Kubica, what a man too, never thought the BMW would've been that much of a threat. Scary really, cause its beaten a decent performing Mclaren and a decent performing Ferrari.

[Stefan.]

QUOTE (Mark @ Mar 16 2008, 08:01)

never thought the BMW would've been that much of a threat.

Who do you think provided the ol' Williams team with engines? That's right.

I don't feel sorry at all for Mark. Sure, a lot of his retirements come from mechanical failures, yet the drivers make a lot of mechanical decisions on their car, so partially it is his fault. Also, he could have prevented that spin-off from actually turning the wheel more, but then again he had little time.

Even if he was at a Ferrari/McLaren, I doubt he would be as good as Kimi/Felipe/Lewis, but he simply is not a good driver. He just gets reasonable results.

@Jayzamann: Bourdais? Didn't he qualify 18th? Yep, that's supreme driving style there. Then again, I did support Nick when he was racing at Jordan back in '03.

[Eeshan]

Bmw is a very good team, they are mixed with young talent(kubica) and experience. Kubica can be very good driver and the well teams may look forward to him. As for young Hamilton he is definitely a star. No wonder team Mclaren has signed him, getting his first season on a Mclaren is very rare.
Ferrari are lucky to be champ, the real losers of formula 1 are the team toyota. After a excellent form in 2005 the team has gone to zero.
I think that Red Bull and BMW SAUbER has a great future in formula 1.

[Azazel]

The loss of traction control and brake assists sure had a great impact on a lot of drivers. Or maybe all the crashes were just related to season-start nervousness? I doubt it.

I'm disappointed in Raikkonen. Silly goose, going off twice and apparently busting an exhaust manifold in the progress.

[Yatesyz]

Unbelievable race at Melbourne.
Fantastic start of the season for Hamilton who wins the first race of the season who dominated the race. Nick Heidfeld took second place and Nico Rosberg taking third.

From the first lap there were several accidents including Fisichella who was forced to retire on his first lap which brought out the safety car. Mark Webber continued his unlucky streak by having to retire from the race on his opening lap.

David Coulthard crashed due to Massa overtaking him on the corner and had to retire from the race on lap 26. DC blamed Massa for the crash stating that Massa rammed into his car. Later on in the race Massa's engine blew forcing him to retire.

Kimi Raikkonen made a great start to the race by gaining lots of places after the chaos on the first corner but only managed to get one point at the end of the race and didn't finish. This was because he wanted a new engine for his car and didn't want to loose grid position in the next race.

Rubens Barrichello got disqualified from the race near the end and didn't get any points because of an incident in the pits.

Heikki Kovalainen had a good race but on the last lap he managed to overtake Alonso but on the next straight Alonso overtook him again.

Overall, the McLaren team have had a great first race and it's been a very disappointing first race from Ferrari. With Hamliton on top form, we can expect another great race from him in Malaysia.

[Maverick.]

QUOTE (Yatesyz @ Mar 16 2008, 17:57)

David Coulthard crashed due to Massa overtaking him on the corner and had to retire from the race on lap 26. DC blamed Massa for the crash stating that Massa rammed into his car. Later on in the race Massa's engine blew forcing him to retire.

DC's comments were hilarious! Definately earned some brownie points in my eyes.

Asked whether or not Massa will apologise, DC's response was something like, "if he doesn't, I'm gonna beat the sh*t out of that little bastard".

[Seddo]

Yay, great result and what a start for Hamilton, he basically owned the whole race, and only 8 cars finished aswell. No Ferrari's passed the finishing line aswell.

Lets hope Hamilton will have another fantastic race in Malaysia.

[Stefan.]

QUOTE (Seddo @ Mar 16 2008, 23:23)

Lets hope Hamilton will have another fantastic race in Malaysia.

Let's not.

God, this heat is unbearable? I know out in the suburbs (about 15km from the track itself) it is more inland, yet still bloody hot; to put it into perspective, it's 23:37 now, and the temperature outside is 29 degrees. I think on track it reached 51 degrees.

It's funny; despite Mark having no influence in the race whatsoever, after the race he still got more journalists than Nick Heidfeld. God, he can really be a crap driver sometimes (more like most of the time).

Oh, and I forgot to mention; Heidfeld came second!!! I think his best ever position in a race, and despite having only 8 competitors finishing, he still managed to nearly match Hamilton, which is an achievement in itself.

[flicko]

Nice job with the tables/updates Yatesyz. I'd add a DNF into the slots of drivers who didn't finish, just to give people unaware of the race outcome an idea.

The best possible result for Hamilton, a first place and with ferrari's failing to finish. This proves that Hamilton has carried on his class from last season, and, judging from this race, improved even more. Obviously you can't say that for sure, but he's looking good after the first race. Which will hopefully give him the confidence to go into the next race and perform as well as he did this time round. I hope he can keep a cool head and take each race one at a time, and not jump the gun. If he can do that, and remain confident, then hopefully he can eventually win the title.

Anybody remember when Alonso came third? Yeah, me neither. T'was a long time ago, shame he isn't up there with Hamilton.

Great start to the season, what an eventful race, truly entertaining.

This post has been edited by flicko on Sunday, Mar 16 2008, 16:51

[pizza guy]

QUOTE (Yatesyz @ Mar 16 2008, 06:57)

Rubens Barrichello got disqualified from the race near the end and didn't get any points because of an incident in the pits.

Actually, it was because he went into the pits before the safety car had gone past the pit straight with the cars behind, apparently rules stipulate that you must wait. He didn't as he knew he'd run out of fuel.

Also he ran over the refueling guy, so I suppose he got his punishment for both

[Yatesyz]

QUOTE (pizza guy @ Mar 16 2008, 17:42)

QUOTE (Yatesyz @ Mar 16 2008, 06:57) Rubens Barrichello got disqualified from the race near the end and didn't get any points because of an incident in the pits. Also he ran over the refueling guy, so I suppose he got his punishment for both

That wasn't really his fault, it was the man holding the sign in-front of him moved too early and the guy was still refuelling at the back of the car.

It was kinda funny to watch though.

[ElSaxo]

http://english.gazzetta.it/Motor_sports/Pr...atofereng.shtml

“Certainly it’s not great not to finish a race – said Raikkonen – but nevertheless winning a point (thanks to Barrichello’s disqualification; ed.) is always better than nothing, even though obviously it’s not what we wanted. I don’t know what happened to the engine. We have to check it.”

[Phil112]

Timo Glock:
Insane stunt bonus!
360 degree rotation
6ft elevation.

[Stefan.]

What an accident. Nice to the eye, not to the body.

Stupid Channel 10; didn't show the driver's interviews. Does anyone know where I can watch the driver's interviews somewhere on the 'net?

[Mark]

QUOTE (Phil112 @ Mar 17 2008, 00:32)

Timo Glock: Insane stunt bonus! 360 degree rotation 6ft elevation.

Haha, cheers for that, brought a giggle to my Monday morning .

I mean the BMWs from a point that during early testing they weren't really on the pace. Sandbagging with extra fuel I guess.

The loss of TCS really does make a difference, one that's absolutely awesome. Racings back with a vengeance. Was a hell of a hard race on the drivers and cars granted, which made for a lot of retirees, but I'm sure once in the euro part of the season with more tolerable temperatures, the numbers finishing will certainly rise a little, with the TCS just adding to the overtaking fun. And hell, it's been a while since we've seen a 1st corner smash...it's kinda needed .

[Stefan.]

QUOTE (Mark @ Mar 17 2008, 23:25)

it's been a while since we've seen a 1st corner smash...it's kinda needed .

I remember when I went in 2002, and 9 cars crashed out at the first corner. What a day.

QUOTE

I mean the BMWs from a point that during early testing they weren't really on the pace. Sandbagging with extra fuel I guess.

I guess you're right; I was just giving you a bit of crap. Even in the Friday sessions, they weren't exactly that quick. For memory, Kubica finished around 13th and Heidfeld finished around 17th. Yet, to turn it around and come second is not to bad.

[Sgt. Cortez]

Sweet f*ck, if the Ferrari engine failures are heat-provoked then in Malaysia it's going to be the very same.

And the race is next week so there's no time to fix it up.

[Sgt. Cortez]

QUOTE (Stefan. @ Mar 17 2008, 00:58)

What an accident. Nice to the eye, not to the body. Stupid Channel 10; didn't show the driver's interviews. Does anyone know where I can watch the driver's interviews somewhere on the 'net?

Official site maybe? (at least written) I'm not sure though.

[compo11]

Ok race, I think more fans will start watching if they have a couple of driver deaths, I got into F1 in 94 when senna and ratty got mangled, it was a great race.

[Jayt001]

That was great start to the season, you've gotta hand it to Hamilton, he performed very well. And then to run up those stairs after, you'd think he'd be knackered but apparently not lol.

I think the new rules are going to make this season very interesting. It's definately more down to the drivers talent now and it's showing. I don't know what was up with Raikkonen but it seemed like the pressure got to him or something, he made some really stupid and costly mistakes.

I think Hamilton has the upper hand though with the new rules. He's only really just come out of GP2, so he's used to not having all of these fancy driver aides, I think that will help him alot this season.

It was a very action packed race, looking forward to malaysia next week.