The 2018 Australian GP Thread

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Australia '18 - Driver of the Day

Sebastian Vettel
0
No votes
Lewis Hamilton
0
No votes
Kimi Raikkonen
0
No votes
Daniel Ricciardo
2
67%
Fernando Alonso
1
33%
Other
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

cmlean
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The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:32 pm

This is the place to discuss everything related to the first round of the 2018 season taking place in Australia between the 23rd and 25th of March.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for Australia click here, to register in the competition click here

Picks for Australia close at the start of Saturday practice.

The event timetable for the Australian Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 12:00 local time - 01:00 GMT
2nd Practice 16:00 local time - 05:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 14:00 local time - 03:00 GMT
Qualifying 17:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 16:00 local time - 05:00 GMT

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 19, 2018 6:48 pm

This weekend sees the 2018 return of the F1 circus to Melbourne, Australia.

Following the much hyped but freezing cold preseason tests at Catalunya, it has become clear that the Mercedes and Ferrari teams are still the teams to beat. Winning the constructors title will come done to the best second driver in each team's performances throughout the season.

Red Bull seem to be the next best but the midfield has grown both in number and quality. McLaren's move to the Renault power unit is already showing signs of promise for the much maligned team. Renault, Haas, Force India and even Toro Rosso are all looking to pick up valuable points.

My thoughts are with Williams who, with their paid driver lineup, look destined to a season of underachievement. Sauber, read Alfa Romeo, will probably prop up the field however their performances in testing have been above expectations.

So, these are my thoughts. What say you?

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by Tim » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:18 am

So far 10 'n' Pole players are picking Hamilton for the Win and Pole at 62.5% and 67% respectively. He is the hot favourite!

Vettel is the most picked so far for second at 37.5% while Bottas is picked for 3rd at 25%

It will be interesting to see how this changes once practice starts ...

Popoular picks page for Australia 18

What is interesting is that last year's popular picks where almost exactly the same!

Join the 10 'n' Pole competition and see if you can pick the winners - Register here

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:07 pm

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	01:24.026	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
2	01:24.577	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
3	01:24.771	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
4	01:24.875	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
5	01:24.995	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
6	01:25.063	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
7	01:25.730	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
8	01:25.896	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
9	01:25.922	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
10	01:26.482	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
11	01:26.494	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
12	01:26.536	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
13	01:26.583	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
14	01:26.605	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
15	01:26.636	Lance Stroll	  Williams
16	01:26.767	Sergio Perez	  Force India
17	01:27.035	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
18	01:27.745	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
19	01:27.964	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
20	01:28.853	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:12 pm

FP2 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	01:23.931	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
2	01:24.058	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing 
3	01:24.159	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	01:24.214	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
5	01:24.451	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
6	01:24.648	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
7	01:24.721	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
8	01:25.200	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
9	01:25.246	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
10	01:25.285	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
11	01:25.390	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
12	01:25.413	Sergio Perez	  Force India
13	01:25.463	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
14	01:25.543	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	01:25.888	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
16	01:25.925	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
17	01:25.945	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
18	01:25.974	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
19	01:26.814	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
20	01:26.815	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by Tim » Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:49 pm

Looks close!

And with rain expected, this will make for an interesting start to 2018

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:25 am

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver	  	  Team
1	01:26.067	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
2	01:28.499	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	01:28.890	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
4	01:31.680	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing 
5	01:33.172	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
6	01:34.043	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
7	01:34.174	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
8	01:34.225	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
9	01:34.233	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
10	01:34.298	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren 
11	01:34.990	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso 
12	01:35.438	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso 
13	01:35.589	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
14	01:35.828	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	01:36.171	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
16	01:36.448	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
17	01:36.807	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
18	01:38.482	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
19			Esteban Ocon	  Force India
20			Sergio Perez	  Force India 

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:34 am

Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Qual		Driver		  Team
1	01:21.164	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
2	01:21.828	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	01:21.838	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
4	01:21.879	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
5	01:22.152	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
6	01:23.187	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
7	01:23.339	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
8	01:23.532	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
9	01:23.577	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
10	No Time		Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
			
11	01:23.692	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
12	01:23.853	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
13	01:24.005	Sergio Perez	  Force India
14	01:24.230	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	01:24.786	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
			
16	01:24.532	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
17	01:24.556	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
18	01:24.636	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
19	01:24.922	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
20	01:25.295	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:40 am

Grid

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	01:21.164	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
2	01:21.828	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	01:21.838	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
4	01:21.879	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
5	01:23.187	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas 
6	01:23.339	Romain Grosjean	  Haas 
7	01:23.532	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
8	01:22.152	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
9	01:23.577	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
10	01:23.692	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
11	01:23.853	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
12	01:24.005	Sergio Perez	  Force India
13	01:24.230	Lance Stroll	  Williams
14	01:24.786	Esteban Ocon	  Force India 
15	No Time		Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
16	01:24.532	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
17	01:24.556	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
18	01:24.636	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
19	01:24.922	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
20	01:25.295	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso 
Ricciardo penalised three grid places for speeding under red flags in practice 2.
Bottas penalised five places for an unscheduled gearbox change.

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:49 am

Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
2	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
3	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
4	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
5	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
6	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
7	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
8	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
9	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
10	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
11	Sergio Perez	  Force India
12	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
13	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
14	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
DNF	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
DNF	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
DNF	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
DNF	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
DNF	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
Fastest Lap

Code: Select all

Time		Driver		  Team
01:25.945	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing

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Re: The 2018 Australian GP Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:42 pm

Well, the first race for the season is now in the books.

With Bottas crashing out in Q3 and Ricciardo copping a 3 place penalty for not slowing down sufficiently when the red flag was displayed in FP2, the grid was skewed a little to provide a little more interest.
Melbourne has always been a difficult circuit to make a pass and, with the turbulence created by the lead car, the DRS zones aren't quite long enough. That said. Ricciardo gets my vote for Driver of the Day and an honourable mention to Fernando Alonso for making up 5 places from his 10th grid spot starting position.

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