F1 predictions 2009: Melbourne

[MrRooney]

Kimi
Rubens
Nico

[expat]

[quote]Massa crashes into everything in sight, Kimi

[Mictheslik]

here we go....maybe entering the first race might help me edge past craig this year

Rosberg
Barichello
Hamilton (there's always hope )

Maybe I'll have to switch my token british racer to Button this season....

.mic

[TSC.]

Gonna go for:

1) Button
2) Rosberg
3) Massa

TSC.

[Craig.]

Qualifying really will be key.
If Williams/ Toyota do have the single lap pace then thats their best chance, neither of those teams werre close to Ferrari and brawn gp on long runs. Its still BGP with an advantage, but looking at the long run times, its only about 2 tenths over ferrari.

[Mitch.]

Is it too late to join this competition. :-/

[The Ruptured Duck]

... And Ross Brawn is overcome with emotion

To quote Steve Matchett

[C]

What a session!

Interesting interview with Richard Branson afterwards - I suspect over the next months or years we'll see just how much input he's had in the resurrection of the ex-Honda outfit. Reading a BBC article it seems that officially the car will now be known as the "Virgin BGP001" - although I was surprised they didn't mention it during qualifying - maybe they'll wait till the next GP due to the timing captions etc.

[Craig.]

entertaining I can see another 2004 on the cards but it'll be good to see Brawn back in the winning routine. He's done so much to get that team to the point of where they are.

BBC's coverage. Not bad, Eddie Jordan might need some help, he was so far up Bransons backside it must have been hard for him to breathe up there. Humphries is doing okay, and DC needs to relax a little.
Martin saved the commentary without a doubt, Legard is awful, he is trying to bring the radio style to tv and it just doesn't work.

Toyota are the first victims of the reg's and have been DQ'd from quali for extreme flexing in the rear wing.

[expat]

A new rule this year that I was not aware of, the FIA release the fuel loads after qualifying. It would seem that the rear wing controversy is pretty much thrown out by this. Starting fuel, shows that Felipe Massa has only 18 laps of fuel in his car and yet he was 0.8s off Button who has 22 laps of fuel (Barrichello has 23) giving him a 0.3s of a weight disadvantage and then a 0.3 second supposed advantage due to the rear wing. So his fuel canceled out the wing and the car was still way faster. Or as usual I am I seeing things in a too simplistic non lawyer type view?

Matt

[The Ruptured Duck]

Its gonna be nuts with the Toyotas rocketing towards the front

[expat]

Martin Brundell, "Those front wings are so ugly they need brown paper bags over them"

Matt

[Mushroom_Farmer]

So who else is watching this, um, event?

[The Ruptured Duck]

wow what a race!  Crazy crash between Kubica and Vettel, Piquet once again shows why he shouldn't be driving, Brawn looks almost bulletproof until RBR gets a new diffuser, and WTF Ferrari?  

[Mictheslik]

If only Hamilton had got up to 3rd.....

.mic