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The *Official* Australian Grand Prix Thread



T

Turkey

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2003
15,584
*If you don't bloody like it - bugger off :salute: *

New season - Excited about the first race! Hopefully it won't be another borefest of a season! First Practice times....

LIUZZI MAKES DAZZLING START

Vitantonio Liuzzi got his Formula 1 career off to a dream start by topping the timesheets in the first practice session of the new season at Melbourne.

The reigning F3000 champion, who is serving as Red Bull’s third driver this season, looked confident and assured throughout his 19 laps and outpaced the much more experienced Pedro de la Rosa by more than half a second.

With teams restricted to just two sets of tyres over the whole weekend, and engines having to last two full GP meetings, few of the established front-runners ran more than a few exploratory laps.

Among the notable absentees were Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and the two Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella, who completed only installation laps and did not record a time.

The third drivers took full advantage to steal the show on a dry and warm Albert Park circuit, claiming the top three places on the charts.

The trio was rounded out by Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta, while McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya was fastest of the race drivers in fourth place – albeit some 1.5s behind the flying Liuzzi after a mere five laps of running for his new team.

Next up was the man Montoya replaced at McLaren, David Coulthard, now happily ensconced in his new home at Red Bull Racing. Felipe Massa was sixth fastest for Sauber, just ahead of crowd favourite Mark Webber in the leading Williams.

Jarno Trulli was the faster of the Toyotas in eighth place, with BAR's Jenson Button ninth and Christian Klien ensuring that all three Red Bull cars made the top 10.

Few would have predicted that outcome a few months ago, when – in its former guise of Jaguar Racing – the financially stricken team appeared destined to join the scrapheap of F1 history. All right, it's only first practice, but for the folks at Milton Keynes it will come as a real shot in the arm.


Friday first practice times from Melbourne

1. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m25.967s

2. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m26.480s

3. ZONTA Toyota 1m27.265s

4. MONTOYA McLaren 1m27.425s

5. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m27.573s

6. MASSA Sauber 1m27.971s

7. WEBBER Williams 1m28.269s

8. TRULLI Toyota 1m28.366s

9. BUTTON BAR 1m28.632s

10. KLIEN Red Bull 1m28.634s

11. HEIDFELD Williams 1m29.172s

12. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m29.227s

13. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m29.285s

14. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m29.332s

15. DOORNBOS Jordan 1m29.370s

16. SATO BAR 1m31.364s

17. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m32.346s

18. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 1m38.175s

19. RAIKKONEN McLaren no time

20. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari no time

21. FISICHELLA Renault no time

22. ALONSO Renault no time

23. FRIESACHER Minardi no time

24. ALBERS Minardi no time

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T

Turkey

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2003
15,584
CLOCK TICKING FOR MINARDI

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has said he expects to hear from Ferrari imminently whether or not it will clear the way for his cars to compete in the Australian Grand Prix.

Shortly after emerging from a meeting with Ferrari boss Jean Todt, Stoddart claimed he still didn’t know which way the decision would go because Ferrari is currently in discussions with its lawyers.

“The position is that Ferrari have not signed the document [allowing Minardi to compete with its 2004-spec cars],” said Stoddart.

“They are consulting their lawyers in New York – what time it is in New York I don’t know – and apparently we can expect a letter saying that if, and only if, they are the only team still objecting then they will consent to our participation. But that doesn’t help my drivers here and now."

The matter is now urgent because Minardi faces an 11 a.m. deadline to officially enter its cars in the Australian GP.

Earlier in the day, Stoddart managed to convince Red Bull boss Christian Horner to withdraw his objection to Minardi's participation by agreeing that if a Minardi finished in the points ahead of a Red Bull car in Sunday's race, it would give up its position and points to the Milton Keynes outfit.

Asked what he thought was the reason for Ferrari’s stance, Stoddart replied: “I think that’s pretty obvious. I think everyone knows it is payback for me being the spokesman for the other teams against the deal that Ferrari made with Bernie and the FIA.

“If anybody thinks that’s not the case, then they haven’t been following Formula 1 very closely over the winter.”

Stoddart launched another scathing attack on what he sees as a vindictive move by Ferrari to sabotage his team’s participation in what is effectively a home race. In particular, he claimed that Ferrari could have raised the issue at an earlier juncture rather than on the eve of the grand prix weekend.

The Australian said: “The saddest thing is that this is the 10th anniversary of what is probably the greatest grand prix in the world. There was plenty of time for this to happen, it did not have to happen now – the issue is not new.”
 






Icy Gull

Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
For the good of F1 I just hope the other teams have closed the gap on Ferrari. I'd love to see Button or Montoya win, but I'd settle for anyone except Schumacher or Barrichello.

Just re-read the post about Minardi, unbelievable stance by Ferrari especially as it is Stoddart's home GP :angry:
 
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nail-Z

nail-Z

Well-known member
Jul 10, 2003
2,972
North Somerset
NSC Fantasy F1 Mini League entry list:

Code: 
Pos  Flag  Team  Latest  Total  
1  The Mighty Stripes  0  0 
2  80s Slowcoach  0  0 
3  LFP Seagulls  0  0 
4  super seagulls  0  0 
5  refereesnevermakemistakes  0  0 
6  mejona racing  0  0 
7  The Joy Riders  0  0 
8  Gin Java China  0  0 
9  Wear a helmet if u want Falmer  0  0 
10  Hiltons WINNERS  0  0 
11  Mansells Moustache  0  0 
12  Badger F1  0  0


Can't be arsed to find the original thread - so if you want to play go HERE and enter. Click on View Team and Join under the mini league heading. MiniLeague Number is 125792 and password ALBION
 










K

Kneon Light

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2003
1,851
Falkland Islands
I think (and hope) it will be a lot more competitive this year.
I think that as well as teams such as McLaren and Renault closing the gap on Ferrari, Toyota will also suprise people this year.
 




zefarelly

zefarelly

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
22,800
Sussex, by the sea
I hope Ferrari get trounced, although I dobt it somehow, if anyone gets close they just start cheating, they always have and I can't see them changing.

I'd expect McLaren to be quick BAR close, I hope DC and the redbull team are competitive, and if Stoddart doesnt get a start for Minardi then thats disgraceful, people have been running last years cars for decades, the FiA and ferrari need seperating at the hip if F1 is going to maintain any credibility at all, not that it has much IMHO
 










T

Turkey

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2003
15,584
1. Raikkonen
2. Montoya
3. Schumacher, M

MCLAREN SHOWS ITS HAND

McLaren delivered on its winter testing promise during Friday’s second practice session in Melbourne, with all three of its cars finishing among the top five.

The Woking squad’s third driver Pedro de la Rosa upstaged his superstar team-mates Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya in the waning moments to set the day’s fastest time.

Raikkonen and Montoya spent much of the session trading the top spot, with JPM setting an early benchmark of 1m27.752 after 15 minutes.

Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella enjoyed a brief taste of glory before being demoted by a 1m26.692s lap from Raikkonen. Montoya then upped the ante to 1m26.227s, which remained beyond reach until Michael Schumacher threatened to spoil the McLaren party with a 1m26.081s lap.

After a leisurely start to the day, Ferrari had been gradually picking up the pace and Schumacher slipped in his quick lap almost unnoticed.

Whatever the potential of McLaren and Renault’s 2005 challengers, Maranello’s modified 2004 car – complete with its bizarre-looking “baby wing” – clearly remains a highly potent machine. The message from the world champions was clear: Underestimate us at your peril.

McLaren did have an answer, however, as de la Rosa eclipsed Schumacher’s mark by a full 0.7s courtesy of a clean and tidy lap with around four minutes remaining.

Raikkonen staked a final claim to the Friday honours but came up exactly 0.3s short and had to settle for the second-best time.

Schumacher was relegated to fourth place by an outstanding late effort from Nick Heidfeld, who coaxed his Williams around in 1m25.940s. Montoya, meanwhile, watched the last few minutes of the session from the pits and was shuffled back to fifth.

Felipe Massa was an encouraging sixth fastest for Sauber, some 1.1s and 10 places ahead of team-mate Jacques Villeneuve.

The Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Fisichella ended up seventh and 10th respectively and so far have not managed to reproduce their stunning testing form, although they certainly appear to be competitive.

Fisichella was one of a host of drivers to spin at the tricky Clark chicane midway round the lap, which also caught out Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Jordan’s third driver Robert Doornbos.

The morning session had been virtually incident-free, but there were spins aplenty in the afternoon as the tempo rose and drivers began to explore the limit around the high-speed, low-grip parkland circuit.

Barrichello had a number of off-course excursions en route to the ninth quickest time, just behind BAR’s Jenson Button, who kept it on the island but was not especially quick.

Ricardo Zonta was the fastest of the Toyotas in 11th place, just ahead of race drivers Schumacher (13th) and Jarno Trulli (14th).

After a glorious first practice sortie Red Bull Racing came down to earth this afternoon. David Coulthard posted the 12th-best time, but his young team-mates Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi blotted their copybooks with spins that embedded them in the kitty litter.

Once again, Minardi played no part in the proceedings and it looks increasingly unlikely that F1’s minnows will be granted the permission they need to campaign their 2004-spec chassis.


Friday second practice times from Melbourne

1. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m25.376s

2. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m25.676s

3. HEIDFELD Williams 1m25.940s

4. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m26.081s

5. MONTOYA McLaren 1m26.227s

6. MASSA Sauber 1m26.357s

7. ALONSO Renault 1m26.562s

8. BUTTON BAR 1m26.611s

9. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m26.639s

10. FISICHELLA Renault 1m26.667s

11. ZONTA Toyota 1m26.808s

12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m27.017s

13. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m27.162s

14. TRULLI Toyota 1m27.195s

15. WEBBER Williams 1m27.329s

16. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m27.513s

17. KLIEN Red Bull 1m27.544s

18. SATO BAR 1m27.891s

19. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 1m28.168s

20. DOORNBOS Jordan 1m28.620s

21. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m28.926s

22. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m29.671s

23. FRIESACHER Minardi no time
24. ALBERS Minardi no time

32125_2.jpg
 


T

Turkey

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2003
15,584
I just want an action packed, exciting, race for once! Wish I had Spa 98 on video! Fingers crossed. However boring it gets you cant help hoping the next season will be better!
 


T

TheWhiteRose_LUFC

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
511
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Rubens Barrichello

Easy.
 




Easy 10

Easy 10

Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Jul 5, 2003
62,429
Location Location
I'm after a good value bet on a dark horse to finish in the points or on the podium. This is the ONLY WAY I will stay awake throughout the race.

Any recommendations ?
 




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