Formula One 2009

[TheArsenal]

Actually, it's Glock and Trulli who have been demoted as a result of the rear wings, and Williams who have launched the complaint - which is also against Red Bull & Ferrari. So, if those four cars get demoted too, then the grid will actually look like this...

Just realised my mistake and was coming in here to fix it.

[GA!]

Mirror Universe Formula 1. I approve!

[Katsuya]

Oooh, they released the weights. And worryingly for everyone else, the two Brawn cars were second and third heaviest, with only Glock heavier than them (which isn't good for Ferrari, especially since they've got KERS to add to their weight). Heidfeld and Kovalainen are the heaviest of the people who are "competitive", as it were.

[jrhodes]

I can't decide whether to stay up all night to watch the race (I normally get to sleep at 3am) or try and go to sleep early...losing an hour is making me lean towards the first option.

It'll be nice to watch Button with the top car, but to be honest I prefer Rubens. I'd love to see him win a drivers title before he retires.

[sahyder1]

Staying up to watch the race. I haven't watched an F1 race in atleast 5 years for one reason or another but looking forward to getting back into it this year. On yeah.... It is 2 AM here right now.

[maninblack]

Bah, unlikely that Hamilton is going to score points here.

On the other hand, I love how it looks like Brawn GP are going to be a new power in F1. Nice to shake things up for this year.

EDIT: Holy fuck, Kubica crashed into Vettel while trying to overtake for 2nd place, and now both are out of the race!

Damn, they could've scored podiums. But Reubens gets 2nd place as a result of their double elimination, while Hamilton gets 4th place.

Edited March 29, 2009 by maninblack

[YI]

HOLY FUCK!!

Best Grand Prix since that Monaco one where like 4 people finished and Olivier Panis won...not as good as that one, but fuck, it was great.

Edited March 29, 2009 by YI

[sahyder1]

Loved that race. Love the new cars. Was filled with action right from the start. Some of the pit stops were insanely long though.

[Katsuya]

Amazing race, really. So much on-track overtaking, and action throughout.

Jenson didn't put a foot wrong throughout the race, and handled the first safety car period brilliantly, I thought - and then kept his head together when the fuel didn't go in (albeit why they were even bothering to fuel him, I don't know, as he seemed to fuel long enough at the first stop to get through, even without a saftey car to conserve fuel. Rubens did rather brilliantly, too, and the fact that he "fixed" the front wing by breaking off the damaged bit when he hit the Ferrari was rather hilarious.

Lewis has been promoted to 3rd thanks to Trulli receiving a penalty, as he apparently went off the track behind the safety car, meaning that Lewis couldn't do anything but overtake him (which is why the BBC crew got confused), and Trulli then took the place back.

Kubica/Vettel was unfortunate, and probably could have been avoided, but I think that the two of them could prove to be the big blocks in Brawn's path if they're not careful. Vettel was more or less keeping up with Jenson the entire race, and he was holding off Massa for a good period after the SC. Oh, and a big shame for Rosberg, who just seemed to completely lose it after that bad pit stop...but he's 6th now, I think, so...yeah.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

Won't have time to watch it due to going to work in a mo, si I just thought I'd come in here and say JENSEN~!!!!!

[jrhodes]

Awesome race!

I watched it live and I've just watched the repeat, I normally enjoy the Australian GP anyway but this one in particular was packed with excitement. Congratulations to Button and the whole Brawn team, but Hamilton really impressed me today more than any other driver. He drove like a world champion and to snatch a podium (no matter the circumstances) in a woeful looking McLaren showed that he's no flash in the pan.

[TheArsenal]

Won't have time to watch it due to going to work in a mo, si I just thought I'd come in here and say JENSEN~!!!!!

Next time, come in here and say Jenson.

Anyway, Vettel has been given a 10 place grid penalty for Malaysia.

[EddieG]

So.. put 200 euros on Lewis Hamilton to finish on the podium ...

How much do I get back? 6800 ^_^ Drinks on me tonight (Y)

[GA!]

Anyway, Vettel has been given a 10 place grid penalty for Malaysia.

But he had the race line?

[J-Rod]

Maybe it was due to the fact that he continued to race on with damage to the car as well as making race conditions more difficult by spreading debris all over the track. Can't really blame him entirely for the crash though, it was 50/50 and there wasn't alot either driver could do about it.

[GA!]

Maybe it was due to the fact that he continued to race on with damage to the car as well as making race conditions more difficult by spreading debris all over the track. Can't really blame him entirely for the crash though, it was 50/50 and there wasn't alot either driver could do about it.

Red Bull got fined for telling him to continue, and that's that.

[Adam]

A dream win for Brawn, the first time a 'debuting' team has won their first Grand Prix since 1954 with Fangio at Mercedes, which is just awesome. Button drove superbly and got away with his only mistake (in the second pit stop-which he admitted to himself) and it was a fantastic drive. He and Hamilton were the drivers of the day for me. I can't stand Hamilton, and he was very lucky to get a podium, but credit where it's due, he drove superbly and said luck was down to the faults of others. What were Toyota playing at here this weekend?

I'm annoyed at Vettel & Kubica as that podium as it was shaping up to be would have been an absolute dream, and I don't know why Vettel bothered trying to keep that second when it was clear that Kubica had him. The fortunes of Red Bull & BMW ran parallel this weekend if you factor in the first corner collision involving Heidfeld & Webber as well. I was not surprised to see Piquet & Nakajima both crash out to their own errors, as I feel they're the two weakest drivers on the grid. Ferrari had a poor weekend, in the end it was worse than McLaren's, which was brilliantly shaping up to be dismal until Hamilton's great drive.

It was a superb race though, very entertaining and full of action. Roll on Malaysia next week!

[Katsuya]

Vettel's penalty was for disobeying rules saying that substantial damage to your car means you pull over there and then. It makes sense, but you've got to give credit to the guy for managing to drive a good lap and a half on three wheels (and he would have finished in 7th given his position under the safety car: nobody could pass him until they were over the line. He'd have been disqualified, but still...).

Oh, and it's not the first win for a debuting team since Fangio: Wolfe won their first race too in the 70s.

[Summers]

First debut 1-2 since Mercedes, I think,

[TheTruth]

Did Webber crash again?