What's Up Down Under!

Personal commentary (Australian GP 2015 - FP1, FP2, FP3 and Qualifying) 

Hello fellow zombies (not meant to be rude, just a title I came up with for the F1 fans who have either been staying up late or waking up at odd hours for the sessions)! Welcome back to F1 weekends! Is it just me or has the week gone by really quickly? BECAUSE… THE 2015 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX IS ACTUALLY STARTING IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. THE RACE; THE FIRST RACE OFF THE 2015 F1 CALENDAR. IT’S HAPPENING GUYS, IT’S FINALLY ABOUT TO HAPPEN. *internal screaming* 

I think I say this on behalf of everyone and honestly, Sauber did have all of our attention at the beginning of the week. Unfortunately up to now, they still do.

This morning, Giedo van der Garde posted a Facebook status update with these words.

I would say it is a very mature decision made by the Dutchman, you have to give him praise for this. It must have been hard to leave Albert Park without the “possibility” of a point. I am looking at this matter in a third person F1 fan perspective and one can see that he has been through a lot from Sauber; he has no job, no money and he was treated like a total stranger and junk ever since he was ditched by the team for two other drivers with higher values of money. There is no reason why he should be called a bastard or team wrecker. He is truthfully a victim in this web of broken promises. Then again, it is really sad to see that he will be the one who is going to “tear” one of the Sauber driver (most likely Marcus Ericsson) apart from a F1 drive in such an instant. It does not sound pleasant at all to have been given the opportunity to take part in the testing and even race in the Australian GP only to have that ripped apart when you are already so committed to the team. In my opinion, van der Garde should have applied for a court hearing against Sauber BEFORE the season started. It is just wrong to see how he is going to replace someone now. Ultimately, it is the team’s fault for not starting right; for not thinking straight before actually signing on the drivers for the 2015 season. All I am hoping now is van der Garde and Ericsson will not be bitter towards each other. 

Well, enough of this off-track talk.

Let’s see. What have we got so far in the new season?

·      Mercedes tops the timesheets in every single session. ✓

·      Kimi Raikkonen smiled. ✓

·      Daniel Ricciardo smiled and still is (most likely) smiling. ✓

·      A 17-year-old is driving a F1 car. ✓

·      The first two fastest drivers happen to be less than a second apart from each other. ✓

·      McLaren and Honda finally found a solution to their 2015 contender. X

·      Fernando Alonso has taken an Australian GP crowd selfie. X

·      Sebastian Vettel has a helmet change. X

As you can see, there have been some changes from the previous year. The Mercedes cars do not only have the other Mercedes powered counterparts breathing down their necks, they have the emergence of the prancing horse getting close to them by the second. In two out of the three practice sessions, we see a Ferrari wedged in between or just behind the Mercedes drivers. The man who was able to do so is the newly recruited Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, clearly hungry and ready to continue on his list of WDC wins in a team he has so much admiration for. His teammate, though inconsistent, has had better records as compared to the previous year. It seems like Ferrari are about to unveil their resurgence sometime soon. That just brings the competitive level one notch higher in the 2015 F1 season. 

While back at Vettel’s former team Red Bull, especially local boy Daniel Ricciardo, did not seem to be doing too good. The honey badger had to sit out for the entire FP2, completing only nine laps on the first day. Trouble hit again, to both Dans this morning in the final free practice. Ricciardo’s car stopped at the pitlane exit while Kvyat had an equally messed up car. With the new engine rule change from five to four in 2015, Ricciardo is left with three more engine changes before a penalty will be given. However, all hope was not lost when the Aussie headed into qualifying. He finished ahead of his teammate, passing Q3 to finish with seventh.  

The restored Manor Marussia has not made an appearance on the Albert Park circuit at all this entire week and they are also not planning to do so tomorrow. The team is said to be working very hard on rebuilding their electronic systems that are essential in running their cars. Last I read, they have also been summoned to the FIA stewards on them missing out qualifying. There is yet no news on what will befall on the team but I do hope they will be safe from it. They have been working so hard to pull everything together in such a short period of time. To be able to make it to Australia with a car is already a massive achievement. Keep working at it guys! We are all behind your back. I believe you guys will be mentally and physically ready before the Malaysian GP! 

Adding to their load of woes on their shoulders, both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen did not make it through Q2. Despite the team’s amazing records on this circuit (five poles), they were instantly knocked out in Q1 along with Ericsson. It is the first time they have been unable to proceed onto Q2 since the 2009 Brazilian GP.  It seems like the duo had expected it all along with Button saying, “This level of performance wasn't a surprise for us: we knew from winter testing that the pace wasn't there, so we knew we weren't going to be competitive here.” I agree, getting a new engine company together with a car is an entirely new process and this is going to take an immense amount of time before they can see themselves racing again with the big leagues. All I am hoping for them is to finish tomorrow’s race. It does not matter where they end up with, seeing them finishing is the best fulfillment at the moment. At least the team will be assured they have found the key to fixing the car in a reliable direction.

The rookies at Toro Rosso have displayed a fine set of lap times in their very first session. Carlos Sainz Jr had pushed the STR10 into Q3 whereas Max Verstappen had made some careless slips during qualifying, as a result he will start from 12^th.

The Lotus who had their new partnership with Mercedes this year sees both drivers getting through Q3, outperforming Force India.

It is already 0235 AEST. It will not be long before we will be in front of our television screen, watching the very first year of the year. It seems like first races tend to be very special no matter where it starts. Thank goodness it starts from the Australian GP instead of the other more boring races though. Boring tracks would have given us a different vibe.

Lewis Hamilton went ahead of his teammate to win pole today. Will their positions stay the same throughout the race? This is neither Sochi nor Yas Marina, it will be in any driver’s fate tomorrow. 

Australian GP Qualifying: 

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.327s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.921s 0.594s
3 Felipe Massa Williams 1:27.718s 1.391s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:27.757s 1.430s
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:27.790s 1.463s
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:28.087s 1.760s
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:2;8.329s 2.002s
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:28.510s 2.183s
9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:28.560s 2.233s
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:29.480s 3.153s
11 Felipe NasrSauber 1:28.800s 
12 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:28.868s 
13 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:29.070s 
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:29.208s 
15 Sergio Perez Force India 1:29.209s 
16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:31.376s 
17 Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.422s 
18 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:32.037s