The Official 2014 Australian GP Chat and Predictions

Plumbed for Rosberg, think he's adjusted to the new cars better than Hamilton.

If they are sensible and on for a 1-2 I expect team orders, which at the end of the day should be followed. The drivers aren't going to win anything without at least a top 2 car so they should respect their teams.

As the season goes on I think several cars will become 'equal' and I also expect Hamilton to perform better, possibly regularly beating Rosberg after taking a beating himself for the first 6 races

 

Mercedes still owe Rosberg after Malaysia, just saying

 

If they find themselves in 3rd and 4th place together they can sort it out then.

 

Decided on Rosberg.

 

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Nice subtle variation on the Martini theme, but hope the actual colours scheme is a bit more bold than that. Some swooshes on the sidepods would look good.

 

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/18-hour-shifts-to-end-red-bull-crisis-marko/

'18 hour shifts' to end Red Bull crisis - Marko

Mar.6 (GMM) Red Bull is "slaving around the clock" to solve its problems ahead of next weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
It is emerging that, amid the reigning world champions' obvious problems with engine partner Renault and the new turbo V6 'power unit', the actual basic design of the Adrian Newey-penned RB10 is sound.

Lewis Hamilton calls the car "stunning", and McLaren's Jenson Button thinks it is also fast.

"I was with (Daniel) Ricciardo for several laps and he couldn't pass me on the straights," said the Briton at the end of pre-season testing in Bahrain. "He passed me on the outside of turn 11, which is high speed -- I've never seen anything like that before," Button is quoted by Spain's Marca sports newspaper.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said the team's normal development processes are also working well ahead of the new season."Our measurements have shown that the new parts we were bringing worked as desired, making the car better," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Bild."The fact that it did not look good on the track was due to the engine software," he revealed.

Marko said Red Bull and Renault are working hard together in the remaining days until Melbourne.
"We have so much to do," he told Bild newspaper, "especially the guys responsible for the software who will now slave around the clock on 18 hour shifts."But whoever can win together, can also work hard together," Marko added.

Mercedes is the clear early-season title favourite, but the German squad's Toto Wolff is not writing off Red Bull.
"I am sure they will come back," he is quoted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "The only question is when."In our view, hopefully as late as possible," Wolff is also quoted by APA news agency.

Those on the outside, however, are less sure Red Bull can recover quickly.
"I think a Mercedes will win the title," former F1 driver Timo Glock told T-online.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is not unhappy his friend Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are struggling, telling Bild newspaper the fans need a new winner to make the sport "exciting" again.He added: "Red Bull are not going to run away just because they don't win everything again."

 

I wonder if they are taking on part time staff....

 

http://www.formel1.de/news/news/2014-03-06/vettel-bin-kein-typ-der-weglaeuft

Seb saying he will not run away from Red Bull.



Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel remains despite the disappointing verlaufenen pre-season of his Red Bull team left and also does not think about switching to Ferrari or Mercedes to. "I'm not a guy who runs away when it is difficult," the 26-year-old said in an interview with the Special Edition Formula 1 from 'Sport Bild': "This is in the private and in the vocational way."

Red Bull accompany him "now a very long time", and "of course there is always the ghosts who want to tell you that the grass is elsewhere greener. Nevertheless, such values ​​as loyalty, honesty and handshake Quality should not be lost. This should apply also and especially in times when things are not going that way. "

Vettel seeks to blame for the many setbacks in testing in recent weeks, not only for engine supplier Renault. "I chippings Renault and Red Bull in the evaluation of the pre-season reluctant," he says: "Everyone has done in the past times mistakes, but we are a team and stick together in the last few years we had together much success, by now living. we just sometimes have a difficult time. "
Vettel will not speak from a disastrous start to the season also. "The first race is still only at the door. Making panic or to bury our heads in the sand, yields since no sense," notes the Heppenheim clear. All teams had more or less at the moment major problems: "But I'm sure we'll be there by us fight together My motto is always:... One can work out his happiness is what we will try again"

At the moment it is difficult, however, to formulate expectations, so he'll go well with no specific aim in the new season. "We learned a lot in testing and will go with a revised interior of the car to Australia," said Vettel. Once there, they wanted to first of all do the best job and finish the race. "Then we'll see and adjust our goals accordingly. If we are competitive, of course I want to win again., But at the moment it makes no sense even to talk about the title," says the four-time world champion.

 

Im voting Vettel all the time again. its win-win

If he wins I get a point and if he doesn't then I enjoy the race.

 

I just hope that the software engineers who are working 18hr shifts don't make any errors. Anyone working 18hr shifts is going to make more errors that a normal well rested person.

 

With a Everyman sleeping pattern they will be fine for a 24hr period as you would only need a nap of 2-3 hours twice a day It's what gamers use when a new MMORPG comes out and they want to be the first guy to top level. I heard you only need to hit a certain point in sleep to get the benefit and the rest is useless.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep

 

I've had to work shifts coding through the night to the point of hallucination, and I can say that not only does your thinking slow down, but you're more prone to error and corner cutting than you normally would be. Sometimes it has to be done, but it's certainly not ideal.

 

what's the rule in voting 'other'? Do I have to name my choice?

 

I've gone for Hamilton out of hope more than anything... and in doing so, I have probably jinxed him. ;p

 

Yes come on you should know by now.

 

I went for Rosberg, same reasons as BLS. He's seems more settled in to this years car than Hamilton so far, but I'm sure Lewis will work it out quickly. With a new braking system, hopefully this year Lewis will feel more comfortable under braking.

The Mercedes seems to be one of the few cars that can comfortably make the race distance. Looks like its going to be a case of 'To finish first, first you have to finish'. Caterham and Marussia could have a good weekend!

 

Rosberg 4/1 for a win. Not bad.

Massa is same as Alonso 8/1 !

 

One week until Melbourne Practice. My word I remember when there were 109 days until the beginning of 2014.
I can not believe how quickly the time has passed.
Bring it on!

Voted Lewis.

 

The last 2 years or so have seen the top teams doing 305-315kph through the speed traps. Will be interesting to see what we have this time round

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[TH="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Driver[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Time[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]28.427 - 2013[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Jenson Button[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]28.329 - 2012
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]28.088 - 2011[/TD]
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[TH="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Time[/TH]
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[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]23.312 - 2013[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Nico Rosberg[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]22.607 - 2012[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]22.320 - 2011[/TD]
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[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]35.299 - 2013[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Romain Grosjean[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]33.907 - 2012[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]33.045 - 2011[/TD]
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