News 2018 Australian Grand Prix Melbourne, 23-25 March

[Notebook]

Lewis Hamilton on pole in Australian Grand Prix as Valtteri Bottas crashes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43525115

N.

 

[LadyCroussette]

I totally forgot to watch the qualifications, somehow.
I will have to wait tomorrow to see the new cars on the track !

 

[ADSWNJ]

I totally forgot to watch the qualifications, somehow.
I will have to wait tomorrow to see the new cars on the track !

They look pretty much the same, except for the new "halo" crash protection, with a central pillar in front of the driver, and a loop around the top. Looks weird but we will get over it!

Bottas had a big shunt in Q3, so he will be starting from pit lane with a rebuilt car. The final 10 were both cars from each of: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, and Haas. After the Bottas incident, the others were pretty close until the final laps, then Hamilton did his usual stunning lap and ended up 6/10ths ahead.

Plus ca change?

 

[tl8]

There was a support race after qually. They just happen to be my motorsport preference.

It was a reasonable race, but it rained with 6 laps to go. Some opted for wets, but others stayed out on slicks. It was quite fun, and the slicks people won, just.

Oh, on F1: F1 2018 = F1 2017 + Halo + New Graphics + Alonso not last

 

[BenSisko]

Amazing Q3 lap for Hamilton. For those of you in the States, what do you think of ESPN's coverage vs. NBCSN? I'm a bit disappointed. FP1, FP2, & FP3 were on ESPN3 which is only online.

 

[ADSWNJ]

Amazing Q3 lap for Hamilton. For those of you in the States, what do you think of ESPN's coverage vs. NBCSN? I'm a bit disappointed. FP1, FP2, & FP3 were on ESPN3 which is only online.

I miss the NBC crew, but it was an OK broadcast. New F1 graphics are good ... need a bit of tuning, but overall I think are better.

 

[tl8]

And we are go.

Couple of the cars are now out and Hami is in front.

In other news, the rest of the country is in a state of shock and disappointment when our Cricket team cheated in South Africa...

---------- Post added at 03:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

Lots of waving arms in the Haas pitstops and 2 Haas cars stopped on track right after that. VSC let Vettel in front. Hami not happy.

Now a full SC and the tractor is out to pick up the cars.

Local hero now in 4th with a chance.

 

[Notebook]

Well, that's a turn-up for the books!

Sebastian Vettel leapfrogs Lewis Hamilton to take Australian GP win

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43525895

Results:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/2018/australian-grand-prix/results

N.

 

[BenSisko]

I miss the NBC crew, but it was an OK broadcast. New F1 graphics are good ... need a bit of tuning, but overall I think are better.

I’m not impressed at all. ESPN does a bad job of repackaging the SKY live feed. They instantly cut away from a session with no summation of the results or preview of the next session or race. The race coverage ended abruptly and cut directly to an ESPN 30-30 segment on basketball. No mention of Bahrain. Really shabby compared to NBCSN.

 

[ADSWNJ]

I’m not impressed at all. ESPN does a bad job of repackaging the SKY live feed. They instantly cut away from a session with no summation of the results or preview of the next session or race. The race coverage ended abruptly and cut directly to an ESPN 30-30 segment on basketball. No mention of Bahrain. Really shabby compared to NBCSN.

Mixed opinion here from the race itself. Liked the added technical depth that Brundle brings. Really missed the Diffey/Hobbs/Matchett banter. What was atrocious though was the mid-sentence cuts to the split screen with the endless Mothers car polish commercials (I swear I will refuse to ever buy that stuff after that advert-assault).

For the Brits - over here, they take your live Sky feed, and just randomly (mid-sentence) cut to commercials for what feels like 3-5 mins at a time, split screen (so at least you can see what you are missing), and then drop back into the Sky feed mid-sentence, with no summarization of what was missed, and no cut-guy to smooth it over. Pathetic really.

---------- Post added at 12:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------

Oh and "driver of the day" being the Virtual Safety Car ... i.e. the only car that could beat Hamilton all weekend ... pathetic really.

 

[Notebook]

Not good presentation.
In the UK at the moment, you have to pay to watch it live. There is a highlights compilation later on one of the free channels.

N.

 

[GLS]

Not good presentation.

But, but, but... the new graphics (the "LASTNAME vs LASTNAME", the steering wheels that rotated the wrong way, the barely readable font), the "Action Zone"/"Danger Zone", the new logo, the new music, the 10 delay in the start, the grid kids instead of grid girls???
Are you saying that these are all bad?! :lol:

 

[tl8]

But, but, but... the new graphics (the "LASTNAME vs LASTNAME", the steering wheels that rotated the wrong way, the barely readable font), the "Action Zone"/"Danger Zone", the new logo, the new music, the 10 delay in the start, the grid kids instead of grid girls???
Are you saying that these are all bad?! :lol:

The worst thing is knowing the new trend for our anthem is now duets...

The knife edge pass by the C-17 was pretty cool though.