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Well that was rather dull in the end. The number of finishers on the lead lap was a bit disappointing, as were the early retirements. Dan being lapped wasn’t great for the casuals either.
On the tram heading in for race day now. Been a great Grand Prix weekend so far. It feels busier (the Riccardo effect no doubt) which is a great thing for the sport down here. Especially given we’ve also lost half the season to pay TV.
@theoddkiwi’s COTD about engine noise was spot on, they’re not the cars of yesteryear but they’re a good volume.I have heard some commentators suggesting Dan has inherited Webber’s bad luck on the back of RBRs PU issues. I really hope he puts together a strong recovery drive, because I don’t want that getting back into the Australian psyche.
I’ve been impressed with Ericsson, Nasr, Verstappen & Sainz the most so far. Ericsson looked surprisingly handy. I thought he’d get through to Q2 with Nasr. Verstappen looked good when he was running, but it was Sainz’s commitment that blew me away.
I watched FP2 from turn 6, watching the cars head on as they turned in. You could hear that Sainz was absolutely testing the limit very early on. His radio messages about causing the yellow flag in sector 3 wasn’t a surprise. The Saubers were pushing it there too. So was Magnussen, he just pushed it too far. I was reaching into my pocket for my camera when he binned it, someone was bound to. They all showed it far more respect from then on.
The rest backed off, but Sainz carried that same commitment through to qualifying, really attacking corners. He was one of very few drivers fully using the curbing on the exit of 12. He should be fun to watch this season, I’m keen to see his race craft.
All that said, Hamilton was phenomenal. His Q2 lap or Q3 banker (can’t remember which one) where he threw up 3 purple sectors was the best I’ve ever seen. Watching the run from 12 to 13, his Merc was on rails! His pole lap wasn’t as tidy and I was surprised it was faster. He must have made his time elsewhere.
Disappointed about Bottas’ injury (he was on for a podium last year until he hit the wall) and was surprised by how well Massa was driving; but can he make it through the first corner?
Hamilton’s a sure thing, but I cannot wait to see what else today brings.
commentary takes a lot of effort to make it sound good, if they get it wrong it’ll sound like this
@Ratboy – “You’re right there Murray.”
I’ll be there. Looking forward to that awkward feeling again of walking up to strangers and asking them if they’re fanatics. Thanks to DS’ article last year, there are a few more names I can match to faces which should make it easier, so hopefully we’ll get everyone together in one big group this time rather than two.
(Heidfeld had a great start but suffered a fair bit of damage…)
Glad to hear there may have been a reason for his lack of pace. As a fan, I was bitterly disappointed to see him lapped but his teammate, which from memory may have been as early as lap 45(?).
Discussions of this caliber are why I love F1F and I think Curly’s made some excellent points.
Statistics need to be free of subjective bias and follow clear and simple parameters; otherwise year to year comparisons become very difficult, particularly if you attempt to make allowances for rule changes each year.
I disagree that first lap overtakes are not a demonstration of skill, but understand that they would misrepresent the statistic across an entire race distance.
For that reason, I would measure (similar to the position change at end of lap one chart) position changes through the first, or first two sectors and then measure passing moves from that point (using the same point on each track for consistency). That way, we can measure overtakes between races or between drivers, without it being skewed by – but also identifying – which tracks are essentially over after the first sector.
Position changes resulting from pit stops, crashes, mechanical failures & blue flags should not count as passes.
The Oxford definition of overtake (yes, someone had to do it) is to “catch up with and pass while travelling in the same direction.” This implies a speed differential that you should maintain out of the corner. So, Curly’s concept of the pass needing to ‘stick’ has real merit. I.e. If you dive into a corner, severely affecting your exit speed, and are re-passed on the run to the following corner, I would consider that a pass that did not stick.
Icthyes, are you kidding!?! Two years I’ve been following the live blogs for two if not three sessions a weekend, all the while cursing the small window, and have never noticed the full screen button. You’ve made my day!
The only problem I’ve found is that since the introduction of avatar images, the live blogs started to ‘not responded’ mid way though the session while it ‘catches-up’ on new comments. But that could be co-incidental timing and just due to increased traffic, or because I’m running IE on vista(?). Anyone else have the same issue?
