New F1 season kicks off this weekend (Page 30 of 33)

I heard about it from Caveman's post. He's a huge F1 fan. Praying for Schumi.
Rick

reporting better news today but still too early. Sad memories of Natasha Richardson with this accident.

Nothing too much to be learned yet Lynn methinks.

Yes, Ron D has worked a real number on Martin Whitmarsh. Looks liek there has been 'stuff' going on behind the scenes for some time. Ron gave it up, but couldn't give it up really. The decision to depart from the 2012 cars success did for MW. Last season was a disaster. Ron, control freak that he is couldn't let that go. Boullier is a good appointment. Mclaren can't do worse, or can they?

Red Bull wiil get on top of their difficulties, provising Renault can.
I don't hold with Caterham having the ugliest car ever. Basically if they can get a point with it this year it will have been successful. I hope so. If fernandes walks away, thats another team all over........

The cars generally look awful, but if the racing is good we won't care after a while.

We'll get used to the engines and they will be as quick as ever. I miss the flat 12's and the V10's but I got over them.

The double points think is a horrible joke but i guess we'll get used to these jokes as well. Shame Bernie is so healthy really, but I suppose we even miss him when he's gone.

As regards drivers, I think Rosberg has a tough job this year. In a way, it has to be now, or never. With Hamilton we know he has the flair and talent already and is a world champion. Rosberg has to achieve more this year. I hope the car gives him the chance to do well.

It'll be the usual suspects at the sharp end again this year. I hope Force India does a good job as I would like to see Hulkenburg able to mix it with them sometimes. Can he see off Perez? I think so.

Magnussen? Massive step up for him. Engine Merc might the unit to have early doors. If Jenson is on top of the thing it will be hard for Magnussen to shine, but I fancy he might do well.

The Ferrari question is the best of all. I think they might just crack it this year. I think the advantage will ebb and flow which might eat at Alonso a bit more than Kimi, especially if he feels points are being lost. They are both very strong mentally. I wouldn't mind if they dominated the season and were allowed to race. It would be almost the best F1 outcome in a way.

And Vettel? In an odd way, I'm not sure we have seen the best of him yet. If the car isn't quite there I think he will really shine. Whether he is world champ at the end of season or not I fancy he could lay the crtics (including me sometimes) to rest this year.

We'll just have to see. Won't be long now until the first questions are answered.

Erm, yes they do look a bit like that.  There'll be pe*is envy all over the paddock now.

Think it's a prequisite for a Ferrari driver.

Well, its underway and practice is done. Vettel, Button and Raikkonen missed the pole shoot out, so maybe we should be happy about that. Not sure. Rain threw a spanner in the works and a couple of offs meant several drivers couldn't really show their form.

Lot of wait and see comments abounding. Ferrari says it takes twice as long to fix problems on these cars now, but surely that is a learning phase. Kobayashi commented in Bahrain a GP2 car would be quicker than his Caterham, but again, that is a matter of time. There is a big gap between the quickest and slowest at the moment which always happens at the start of a new design period. However there are concerns over the fuel saving necessity, which will cause drivers to lift and coast suddenly,possibly 100 meters before their normal braking points.

We'll see who is the first to rear end someone and hopefully get away with it before that is arule that must change. Energy efficiency is all very well, but couldn't they have waited a year to bring that in? Get the engines right and adopt new fuel efficiency rules. F1 seems determined to cut its own throat sometimes.

What we seem to know is that Mercedes are quick and relatively reliable. Red Bull is also quick, but might be susceptible to system maladies. Sutil says qualifying isn't important any more so we'll see where he ends up then! 2 rookies in the top 10. The start should be interesting. I'll be up for it. I hope my interest is held for more than the first 25 minutes at least.

The sound of the cars is certainly muted. I know what you mean about the Indy comparison, but actually think the Indycars sound better! We'll get used to it, but some drama has been lost.

Mixed fortunes for Mercedes. Hamilton was hobbled from the very off but Nico did well and the car held up. I hear now that Ricciardo has been disqualified and that is so unfortunate. His home race. 2 nd on the grid, second in the race and he loses the position through no fault of his. These cars are sooo complicated. Its cutting edge no question, but the general F1 fan won't follow this sort of thing at all.

Magnififcent performance by Magnussen. He has eclipsed his Dad's time in F1 in is first race! Now Button gets the 3rd spot too so a day for McLaren. Ron will be happy! Hamilton apart the Mercedes runners certainly seemed to be better placed performance wise. Very early days. A very hot and humid Malaysia will present a very different proposition for these engines and new systems.

Very good race by Bottas. He had about everything in it. Shame Massa got in Kobayashi's way right at the start, as Massa could have had a good run. Points for both Toro Rosso's. Interesting start. Not much for Ferrari to crow about, but they got to the end. That has to be the litmus test at the moment. I see Chilton managed it too. That must have been like a win for Marussia.

I always look forward to the first race of the season with an equal mix of excitment and trepidation.  This season was always going to be particularly unpredictable because of the new tyres, new fuel regs, the return of turbos and upgraded energy recovery processes.  For me, it was always going to be about the sound and listening to 22 cars rev up on the grid last Sunday, I think a hive of bees may have been louder.  Usually we end up straining to hear some of the commentary as another beautiful (but obviously not very environmentally friendly) V12 screamed past, but last weekend the grid sounded strangely quiet!  And strange to hear the whisper of the turbos too.

That aside, how great it was to see a different podium to the ones we got used to throughout the past couple of seasons, with some young and exciting guns ready to make their mark on the sport.  How sad though for Daniel Ricciardo.  The guy has the biggest smile you'll ever see and it was a pleasure to see him, Rosberg and Magnussen on the podium.  But with the FIA finding that Red Bull had fitted an "unapproved" fuel flow sensor to their car disqualification was the result.  But it promoted Button up to third which is a great result for McLaren after, quite frankly, a couple of lacklustre and very disappointing years.

Melbourne will be a test session for many of the teams who didn't perform well and maybe by the the next race in Malaysia things will be getting back on track for them.