Gary Anderson thinks Mclaren have gambled on too many design changes that have not paid off http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21821853 I think he is also suggesting the Front wing is the major area of fault
I'm gonna be a bit PC now but there's no need to call her a slag, bad form. And anyway, I think the picture speaks for itself
Enjoy the race then, folks? I certainly did. Congratulations to a most deserving winner. Kimi Räikkönen really showed his class yesterday and that car is right up there at the front. If Lotus can keep pace with the inevitable development of their rival's cars, I see no reason why it should not present a realistic challenge for the Constructors' title.- - -o0o- - - Disclaimer: I've not read anything said here since the race, save that of Bando's comment above. Whilst not disagreeing with Gary Anderson, I would suggest that the front suspension is equally responsible for McLaren's disastrous imbalance. This self-inflicted problem has essentially been caused through an ambition not properly understood as part of a whole. In my opinion, the design team have applied a somewhat idealised thinking to their new concept without a deep enough understanding of it. Such is the nature of all things new, but it certainly questions the wisdom of taking this route â which will require enormous development just to get back on terms with their competitors â all for the sake of one year!
Yes it was worth the (extended) wait. How was your experiance of the weekend? With the weather and all? I agree the Suspension and Front wing problems are inter-connected. The wing is not at optimal as its trying to ease the problems with the pull rod suspension idea copied from Ferrari...Who also had problems with it. This maybe a right off year for them but is the timing right for this? I mean they will be changng engine suppliers and team personel soon too which will cause more disruption. I can see why they are calling them the next williams.
With the new regs, maybe McLaren are taking a year to understand pull-rod suspension so they can be sure it can be incorporated onto the new 2014 car as a known concept and not something else that's entirely new? Realistically, there doesn't seem to be much advantage to pull-rod. If there were, Ferrari would now be streets ahead with the experience they have and every other team would have switched to it. McLaren gambled big when they didn;t need to, and with lower resources for next year unless they can get a mega-bucks deal to replace Vodafone, are they heading backwards at completely the wrong time?
Weather: I felt really sorry for the fans. Although the F1 race was eventually well worth waiting for, the qualifying debacle was less than ideal (to put it mildly!). I personally do not agree that qualifying should have been suspended in the way that it was. I fully understand the thinking of those drawing comparisons between today's McLaren and yesterday's Williams. I hope they are wrong but McLaren certainly need to turn things around very quickly in order to continue to nourish the faith, particularly of those with a vested interest…
Very good post, ASC. Bang on, in my opinion. For some reason I seem to have lost the icons to 'thank', 'like' and 'dislike' a post.
Ferrari have gone backwards Seriously? How stupid is this guy? Anyway, I came on here to post this quote from Domenicali after the race: "I believe the fastest car - if you take away the effects of traffic, overtaking moves, etc - was Alonso's" I can't wait for Malaysia!
Well my opinion was they were stalling for time and hiding up the fact they had no control of the DRS and Flag light system on the cars. Therefore being too dangerous in wet conditions. But they didnt mention much about it at all.
Thats weird.... I have the same problem. They come back when refreshing the page. I will mention to the admins
Not arguing with that... however, on his 3 stop strategy he was able take more life out his tyres than Kimi, I'm sure had Kimi been on a 3 stopper too, he'd have lower average lap times as well. The Ferrari does look good in race conditions and should we have a dry race in Malaysia, then Alonso is going to start as one of 3 possible winners (along with Vettel and Kimi) That is unless the track conditions were a one off for the RBs and they make their tyre's work better in Malaysia, in which case they may drive off into the distance and everyones worst fears for 2013 come true!
We rate the drivers after the Australian GP Vettel: 7 Webber: 6 Alonso: 8 Massa: 7 Button: 8 Perez: 7 Kimi: 9 Grosjean: 5 Rosberg: 7 Hamilton: 8 Hulk: 7 (?) Gutierrez: 6 di Resta: 8 Sutil: 8 Maldonado: 3 Bottas: 7 Vergne: 6 Ricciardo: 4 Pic: 6 Vab der Garde: 6 Bianchi: 8 Chilton: 7 (Had to do that by hand )
