F1 - 2019 Australian Grand Prix

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted by Garak
was hoping for Verstappen to do a mad charge and take himself and Lewis out.


Funny. My wife said exactly the same thing. In fact the last couple of laps I could have sworn she was sitting on the couch gently rocking while repeating "hit him, hit him, hit him".

Anyway, there were more overtakes this year and it looks like we'll have a bit more spice in the mid field. I really feel sorry for Williams though. They're seriously in a hole.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by Brad_C
I really feel sorry for Williams though. They're seriously in a hole.


It doesn't help the team that it appears Robert Kubica is afraid to drive fast. I don't think he's crossed the finish line from last week's race yet.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted by Patman

It doesn't help the team that it appears Robert Kubica is afraid to drive fast.


I dunno. The last quick driver that tried to make a poorly performing/handling Williams go fast was Senna and that didn't go well. Sort the car out and speed will come.

 

[Garak]

If Kimi or Seb would have been ahead of Max, Max would have been in there like Maldonado. He didn't bother trying with Hamilton, which is unfortunate.

Realistically, maybe he's learned something.

Kubica was significantly slower than Russell was in qualifying and the race. Of course, this is one weekend, but if there's a gap that big between the two of them all season, either Russell's got way more talent than we ever expected and he's going to eclipse Verstappen by a long shot in the right machinery, or Kubica is simply finished.

Kubica was a lap back of Russell and had an average race speed of 4 km/h less.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted by Garak


Kubica was a lap back of Russell and had an average race speed of 4 km/h less.


He also had a severely compromised car and was already a lap down from losing his front wing just after the start, so he was on a hiding to nothing in the race. Let's not write him off just yet.

 

[Garak]

Was he that far down from losing the wing? That may very well be in the case. In any case, I'm certainly not writing anyone off. I don't want to see a bad trend, is all, and am quite happy seeing a driver of the pedigree of Kubica in a Williams. Set aside the fact that it doesn't seem to matter if you were to have a car designed by Adrian Newey, Paddy Lowe, and Rob Smedley, with works funding, and Senna and Alonso and Hamilton as the driver lineup and reserve, nothing seems to help right now.

As a Williams fan, this is a rather painful period. I just wonder how many times Bottas realizes the bullet he dodged.

 

[Garak]

Another thing I noticed this weekend, is it just me or did they not have a single piece of footage of Toto Wolff without Esteban Ocon being less than a foot away from him? Is he the Mercedes reserve driver or Wolff's personal assistant/paid chum?

I suppose that's the best way to find out one's chances for next year and the mood in Mercedes. Don't let Wolff even go to the bathroom alone.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted by Garak
Another thing I noticed this weekend, is it just me or did they not have a single piece of footage of Toto Wolff without Esteban Ocon being less than a foot away from him? Is he the Mercedes reserve driver or Wolff's personal assistant/paid chum?

I suppose that's the best way to find out one's chances for next year and the mood in Mercedes. Don't let Wolff even go to the bathroom alone.


I think F1 TV was doing that in the hope you'd see him grin when Bottas put a foot wrong. Gotta bring the drama somehow.

 

[newbe46]

Do you prefer Ted Kravitz or Karun Chandhok as the track side reporter?

 

[Garak]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm used to both of them in some respects. I'm used to Ted Kravitz in that role. I'm used to Karun's style enough, too, from his role in Williams TV.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted by Garak
Kubica was a lap back of Russell and had an average race speed of 4 km/h less.


Just to add to this :
Williams lack spare parts in Bahrain but see light at end of tunnel

The knock-on effect was that parts had to be rushed through to be put on the car, but there was not enough time to build up a pool of spares in case of accidents, failures or breakages. As a result, Kubica had to drive differently in Australia to minimise the risk of damaging the car and says he will have to do so again this weekend in Bahrain
...
It's putting the driver in a difficult position knowing tomorrow the situation is like you cannot go over the kerbs or you can go over the kerbs but the risk is that the car will fall apart and then you have no parts to fit them.

 

[gofast182]

Woah, sorry guys! I meant to put the Bahrain thread up and then it slipped my mind. I'll have China for you in less than two weeks!

 

[Garak]

Yes, after your mention, I came across a couple articles, one of which mentioned the floor problem with Kubica's car.

gofast182: Don't worry about it. It's a weekend I'd rather forget.