F1 qualifying and Race details (contains spoilers)

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Well Button starts the Australian F1 from pole position while Barrachello starts from 16 place in exactly the same car. Button has been on the pace much of the year while Barrachello has been anywhere but. The Honda test driver Anthony Davis has been fastest through all the practice sessions, all the testing both at official F1 weekends and on the many test sessions throughout winter, mostly outpacing Button.

I understand that Barrachello has come form a different team with a car that handles differently but even at Ferrari Schumacher regularly out paced him and he was left out of the points on many occasions while Schumy was taking poles and F1 wins. How long do you think it will take for Honda to seriously look at the situation, I firmly believe that Davidson should be given the drive for a full F1 weekend to see what he can do in the race. If Honda really want to win races, and more importantly for them the constructor’s title, then they need two cars at the top or at least in the points every race weekend.


Starting grid for the Australian GP

1. BUTTON Honda
2. FISICHELLA Renault
3. ALONSO Renault
4. RAIKKONEN McLaren
5. MONTOYA McLaren
6. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota
7. WEBBER Williams
8. HEIDFELD BMW Sauber
9. TRULLI Toyota
10. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari
11. COULTHARD Red Bull
12. LIUZZI Toro Rosso
13. KLIEN Red Bull
14. ROSBERG Williams
15. MASSA Ferrari
16. BARRICHELLO Honda
17. ALBERS Midland
18. SPEED Toro Rosso
19. VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber*
20. MONTEIRO Midland
21. SATO Super Aguri
22. IDE Super Aguri

* demoted due to engine change
 
I like Barrichello, but you may have a point. I read somewhere this morning, teletext or ITV site, that Button has said cars are built / set up for his style of driving so it will take Rubens a while to get the car sorted to his liking. Perhaps Davidson has similar driving style and likes to Jenson. I can't help but think Rubens has a bit of bad luck, but he also seems to lack a certain edge. Coulthard has been like this for most of his F1 career, I feel, He gained that 'edge' after he was in a helicopter crash where the pilot died several years back. Then he slipped back again. Last year he was getting that 'edge' back again, not sure about this year as yet.
I hope JB gets his first win of many tomorrow.
Don't think MS and the Ferrari team will be too happy with the crew member that left the brake cover on the car when it went out to qualify.:D
 
IDE is a bloody joke, he spun his car 3 times on the same lap, caused a red flag because he couldnt find reverse gear, and then was allowed to carry on to act as a moving road block
 
I think thats half the problem, Barrichello is such a nice guy and liked by almost everyone. He is always smiling, never heard complaining even when everything is going against him (which he has had his fair share of too) and generally just gets on with the job. I think he gets a fair bit of space due to this but when other people are proving that the car is capible of much more when a different driver is in the seat, there has to come a time when the team begins to question that?
 
I'd like to see Davidson given a chance too. Problem is some test drivers then seem to under perform when they get into a race. I'd like to see Davidson prove himself but one weekend may not be enough. Rubens has the ability to drive an F1 car but sometimes more than the ability to drive is needed, alot of the time that just isn't enough. Perhaps being no.2 to MS for so long hasn't done Rubens any favours. I do wonder about BAR Hondas ability to build two good successful reliable cars.
Massa is fast but way too unpredictable. He should be finding a cars limits on testing not when racing matters.
 
Thing is with Davidson, he bangs in the fast laps time and time again during testing, often covering more than race distances. As you say, it would be interesting to see if he could do that in race conditions with the added pressure and other drivers racing against him. He definately deserves a chance IMO
 
Do you think Button will come good tomorrow. It's gotta come soon surely. Alonso does think he could have taken pole but was baulked by traffic in qualifying.

It's a shame BAR Honda can't run three cars in a race weekend much as I think Davidson deserves his chance as you already said Rubens is a nice guy and I wouldn't want to take away his drive.:)
 
See I am not sure that Button will come good to the extent of winning if it is a struggle. Hes a good driver but seems to miss that edge when in a close battle and is leading, if he is chasing though he seems to manage that all the way to the finish.

He will certainly need a good start tomorrow and to come out of the first lap ahead of everyone else if he has a chance, I hate to say it though, but I think he will lose at least one spot on the start (to a Renault) and then have a battle with possibly the other Renault and the two Mclaren's. After the first lot of pit stops I would not be suprised to see him sitting at about 4th place but hopefully I will be completely wrong and he will get his first win.
 
i think montoya could have put it on pole had he not spun and lost his rhythm 2 laps from the end, he certainly had the car underneath him and the outright pace. and probably would have poled it had he not made 2 errors coming upto the line after the chequers had been thrown.

i look forwards to seeing him show some good pace during the early stint of the race!
 
Ron Denis believes that both McLaren's are also very heavily fueled for the race comparred to the other teams infront. Also they (McLaren) are running the full areo package this weekend without the need to hack holes in the bodywork to allow for cooling like they were forced to do in Malaysia. They could be very strong indeed and Kimi deserves a bit of better luck.
 
What time does the race start in the morning?

Would be nice to see Button do well in the race
 
oh, that early, might have to set the alarm
 
I think it is re-run in the afternoon though...on ITV in full.

In Germany they are re-running it at 09.30 so its a reasonible time for me :)
 
I'm going to have to tape it, I start work at 6:30 am and don't finish till 2:30 so I'll miss the start of the rerun too.
I think Button has 90% of the edge to be a winner but has been let down by machinery or luck in the past. As has been said many times on TV, He just needs to break that duck and He should see many more. As to whether BAR Honda can supply him with a World Championship is another matter.
 
www.itv-f1.com is your friend for UK TV schedule. :)

More than Button winning, I'd like to see Alonso not finishing in the points so at least there could be a contention for the championship this year. If Alonso wins or finishes near the top again, his lead will increase.
Kimi! I want Kimi to win. :) He's had tremendous bad luck!
 
id far rather alonso won the championship than kimi, atleast alonso has some sort of personality, clearly kimi buggered off to a strip club when they were dishing out personas

they say you make your own luck, so really im not bothered by kimis inability to have a faultless race weekend
 
I agree with the comments about Davidson. He really is rather good.

My fantasy F1 team this weekend consists of Raikkonen, Fisichella and Barrichello. Will be interesting to see. By the way the fantasy league I'm with is the one here: http://www.motorsportfantasyleagues.com

It's run be a mate of my Dad's. You may see some of my F1 pictures used on that site at some point in the near future....
 
Fisichella seems to be driving better this year.
I'd like to see Alonso win the championship again.
I think Button will be a future champion just not with the current team, though I would like to see me proved wrong on that.
Davidson does deserve the chance to race, but I wish Rubens could find within himself just that little bit more, I'm sure it is in there somewhere.
Kimi was full of so much promise but seems to be lacking in something other than his personality.
Montoya is still full of promise but is too erratic.

My predictions for the podium (not in order) are Alonso, Fisichella and Button. I'd like to see Button on the top step, just hope he makes good on the start, keeps his cool out in front, and isn't let down by the car.
 
It's only the third race of a long season, one driver having many points at this stage is not really that much to worry over. Most of the teams are still searching for reliability as much as speed, especially since the change over to the V8's. Out of all the teams, I would say that BAR Honda actually have what seems like a reliable car from the showings so far, wether it has got the pace to ultimately win races is an all together different question.

Then we will have the big boys gaining reliability and extra speed throughout the season, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and Williams should all be strong as the year progresses and don't forget the BMW team as well. They are well funded and have big aims, for such a young team they are showing promise.

I disagree with the comments about Kimi though, throughout last year he was constantly let down by the car and the team, last race he had suspension failure during qualifying and then was hit from behind during the early stages of the race, none of that is his fault and any reflection on his ability. Give him a decent car and no bad luck and he has proved that he can come from the very back of the grid to a points position when Montoya in the same car and starting higher up seem to lack pace. I actually like Montoya, he's a true racer but once he gets a bit down he seems to drop his head and just not try. He's not a team player ;)
 
missed quali today, been at chessington getting some piccies(!!!)instead

looking forward to the race, though i wont see it till late in the day as im off up to london for the day (science museum...technology....hmmmm)

Would like to see Fisi put some kind of winning run together, but being British you got to want Button to get his first win.

I think barichello really needs to get his head round the car, hes a good racer but suffering this year. Wurz and Davidson are both better racers than half the field, expect to see wurz next season in a Williams racing, he made some comment that pointed to him having a race contract next year!
 
i was expecting a bit more from nico rosberg (especially after the last 2 races) but he has said he never got to grips with some of the slightly unsighted corners on the flat circuit. i hope he does well in the race and gets a points position, ready to show up some more of the established drivers at san marino
 
good race, emotions ranging from Doh! to DOH!!!!!!! all the way through, good stuff, shame about the outcome!
 
Montoya raised a smile on my face during the warm up lap :laugh1:
 
Steve said:
Montoya raised a smile on my face during the warm up lap :laugh1:
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Louise Goodman interviewed him during the race and asked about his mishap on the perade lap and even Montoya had to laugh.
If the safety car had spent much more time on the track, I think he might have finished in the points:D .
Feel sorry for Button, at least he won't have a 10 place penalty on the grid next race. But after such a brilliant first start holding his ground only to lose it with a rolling start and then suffer the same humiliation a second time too. Alonso was certainly class of the field. I'm not so sure of his decision to move to McLaren next year. Renault certainly seems to be best car out there.
 
That was really gutting for Button, really thought he was going to make it over the line
 
Apparently had enough pace to coast over the line but was told to stop by his race engineer, they decided that losing the 3 points from this race was worth not having a 10 place grid penalty in the next for having to change the engine.
 
poor button, what a shocker!

what really annoyed me is that in the itv west news 2 mins before the start of the re-run they told me the result without any warning! muppets, how stupid can you get! grrrrrr i want f1 back on bbc, the music was better too.
 
Just to add to this, despite Toyota having their best result of the season last weekend it seem that Mike Gascoyne is no longer with the Team..

Mike Gascoyne has left his post as technical director for the Toyota Formula 1 team.

The Englishman’s exit is thought to be part of a major shake-up in the management and technical departments at the team, according to sources close to ITV-F1.com.

The nature of Gascoyne’s departure remains undisclosed.

He is believed to have been at odds with some of Toyota’s more senior decision-makers and was not expected to remain with the team beyond the end of his contract, which would have ended this year anyway.

But the big-budget Cologne-based squad's shown poor form in 2006, relieved only by Ralf Schumacher’s third place in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, can not have helped matters.

When asked for a quote by grandprix.com (which broke the story on Tuesday) Gascoyne would not comment.

Toyota was also unavailable to make a statement on the story.

It is unclear what the future holds for Gascoyne who remained UK-based throughout his tenure with the Japanese manufacturer.

But after a successful career that has seen him turn around the fortunes of Jordan, Renault and to a lesser extent Toyota in the last ten years, Gascoyne, who has never overseen a world championship-winning campaign will likely consider F1 unfinished business.
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Big company, big budget and poor results...I guess the writing was on the wall?
 
More news about Mike Gascoyne..

Toyota has formally “suspended” its technical director Mike Gascoyne, a team spokesman confirmed to ITV-F1.com.

“Due to a fundamental difference of opinion with regard to the technical operations of its Formula 1 team, Toyota Motorsport has suspended its Technical Director Chassis, Mike Gascoyne, until further notice,” said a team statement.

“Toyota Motorsport will not make any additional comments on this matter at this time.”

News of Gascoyne’s departure from Toyota broke on Tuesday afternoon.

The team had endured a difficult start to the season, with Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli stuck in the midfield in Bahrain.

But it appeared that Toyota had already turned the corner, with Schumacher finishing a competitive third in Melbourne.

Gascoyne joined Toyota from Renault at the end of 2003.

Many held him responsible for the progress that Toyota has made in recent seasons, particularly last year, when the big budget squad scored its first podium finishes and leapt from eighth to fourth in the constructors’ championship.

His efforts with Jordan and Renault in recent years earned Gascoyne a reputation as a man who could turn around the fortunes of struggling teams.

He has never seen a project through to world championship winning success, however.

It is understood that tensions had grown between Gascoyne and Toyota’s senior management, and that he was unlikely to renew his contract when it expired at the end of 2006.

Toyota has given no indication as to the identity of Gascoyne’s replacement.
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But its a team sport not a one man sport. It can't be down to just Mike.
 
Dave Richards has a new team in the pot brewing, nice opening for him there....
 
Matty said:
Dave Richards has a new team in the pot brewing, nice opening for him there....
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Wonder if he needs a team tog at an affordable price :whistle2:
 
heh, Minardi coming back too apparently, could be interesting!
 
There are only two free opening spots in F1, and currently 12 teams trying to get in. Paul Stoddard is one and Dave Richards another as well as Eddie Jordan and even Eddie Irvin is rumoured to be part of another proposed team. Toyota will be going nowhere though, they have invested too much to pull out now.
 
Looks like we will have to wait a little longer...

The FIA’s planned meeting with the 22 teams who have applied to be part of Formula 1 from 2008 has been cancelled, according to reports on autosport.com.

The meeting was due to take place in London on Monday 10 April, but as this falls during a three-week gap between grands prix, it clashed with holidays that some team representatives had already planned.

"The meeting has been cancelled because some of the teams that were invited couldn't make it, due to holidays planned for the April season break,” an FIA spokesman told autosport.com.

“It has not been rescheduled at the moment, but that doesn't mean it won't be."

It was announced last week that 22 teams had applied to be part of the new look F1 World Championship from 2008.

Since then there has been feverish speculation regarding the identity of the newcomers, and many were looking forward to finding out more details via the now cancelled meeting.

The list is known to include all 12 current Formula 1 teams, plus David Richards’ Prodrive organisation, ex-team bosses Eddie Jordan and Paul Stoddart, and Japanese company Direxiv.
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