Bob Barnard Track Engineering

We were treated to a very good race today in Melbourne, much better than most of us expected. All the cars started, albeit three from pit lane, and some got only as far as the first corner thanks to Kobayashi. We can only surmise where Massa would have finished if not taken out after the showing of his young team mate Bottas. Indeed where Bottas may have finished if he had not fallen victim to that wide exit I have spoken of and kissed the wall and broken a wheel. Recovering to finish 7th was a great effort and must give Williams cause for hope. Hamilton and Vettel both demonstrated what a fine line there is between winning and not really starting with this complex car, and Ricciardo after a stellar performance has also found out the hard way. I hope the Stewards get out of Australia OK.

I am glad I waited to write this blog as it took 5 hours for them to decide to exclude him from the results due to exceeding the fuel flow rate. This was not hard as the race finished at 4 am my time, so back to sleep. This fuel flow rule is so complex it does not bear thinking about. How do you have a maximum flow rate of 100kg an hour when you only have 100kg for a whole race? Mercedes are reported as exceeding it in practice, but then the rule was "clarified?" Red Bull are adamant that they did not exceed it, so wait for the appeal. Whatever the outcome Daniel showed he is well worthy to succeed Mark and we can only look forward to more of the same. A very cool drive under a lot of pressure.

Magnussen the younger also showed what we can look forward to, with Jan now being referred to as "Kevin's Dad" by the Corvette team. McLaren have to be well pleased, especially if the Red Bull exclusion holds up.

Mercedes confirmed what we all expected and dominated the race. You had the feeling that Rosberg could have won this by a lot more, but did not need to. He was pulling away from Ricciardo at a second a lap at one point, and even after the safety car closed it all back up just drove off into the sunset, even with the clouds. Hamilton must be gutted, but there again looking forward to the future with positive expectations.

So winners and losers. Clearly Mercedes with Red Bull, Mclaren and Williams all there abouts, Force India with good pace, Toro Rosso not so bad. Ferrari finished both cars in the points, but struggled to really challenge. apparently both cars had electrical issues, but managed them, and Kimi clearly not happy with brake by wire. Still, something to be confident about for the future. Lotus did get both cars to start and ran for more than half the race, with Grosjean getting within 12 laps of finishing. They were ecstatic just to be out there. Marrussia had both cars finish 13th and 14th, but Bianchi lost a lot of laps. Sauber did not look good, but Sutil did the race on one stop, so still tire friendly. Caterham had a race to forget with that first corner brain fade of Kobayashi, for which he escaped punishment, and Ericson stopping with a power problem.

What no commentator, either on TV or in print has mentioned is the sheer fact that the race was run succesfully at a very good pace, and no cars ran out of fuel, despite having 33% less! So the real winner will be us. Can you imagine the impact on our fuel usage globally if we can improve efficiency by 33%! That is huge, and I'm sure that if not racing our vehicles can achieve even more. It now points the way for the foreseeable future that vehicles will be powered by multi-system power plants. Not just electric, we barely have enough of that now let alone powering all those cars, but a mix of carbon based fuels with waste energy being recovered in the form of heat and kinetic energy recovery through braking. Congratulations to the powers that be that forced this change. I must admit to being a doubter, but we have better racing and a strong path forward. Wait till Honda come on board. Congratulations too to the engine manufacturers who have unravelled this complex specification and made cars we will still enjoy to watch. And at the same time giving us purists cars that again require drivers to drive, and be seen to be doing it. 

Also not mentioned was that tires were not an issue for anyone, and there was a considerable reduction in the marbles, which allows more overtaking by itself. DRS did not seem a big factor in most overtaking, and perhaps we can do away with this gimmick.

I cannot finish without mentioning the wonderful NBC coverage. I watch Sky on the computer, but have the TV on just in case the streaming stops, which it does now and again. I do not listen to the NBC commentators of course, and if I relied on seeing the race on NBC I would probably not watch. There must be a sense in the US that viewers cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes, so we have to have lots of ad breaks, and in between cameo pieces about Ricciardo racing a jet on take off, or photos of the new noses etc, etc. Absolute nonsense.

While Lewis Hamilton took the pole on a last gasp run it was Daniel Ricciardo who won the hearts of the Australian crowd, and the plaudits of most viewers with his well deserved 2nd place on the grid. He out performed his world champion team mate, and got between the two Mercedes who seemed unstoppable. Both Nico and Lewis made it through Q1 with ease only using the slower of the two tire choices.

The Rookies also put on a great show with Magnussen and Kvyat both putting in very sure performances, especially in the really difficult wet Q2 & 3 sessions, Magnussen out performing his world champion team mate Jenson Button. Kvyat made an amazing turn around from Friday where all he seemed to do was get in the way, but today we saw why he has the ride. Both Toro Rosso's made it into Q3, while their "parent" Red Bull could not, with Vettel struggling. 

Lotus continued their terrible form, with Maldonado not even getting in a lap, and Grosjean failing to get out of Q1. Both drivers very unhappy and saying so. What contributes to the problems of all the teams is the time it now takes to fix an issue. It is said it takes 6 hours to change an engine, and a lot, lot more to change the whole power system. Lots of teams are breaking the curfew out of shear necessity. We will see who can make it to the grid. With the time between practices and qualifying a problem can cost you a day, and time is something no amount of money or resources can fix.

It appears that all the cars will be able to start having done enough to avoid 107% rule problems. The start should be interesting as there are comments that some cars are better than others in getting off the line, so be sure to watch. Rain tommorrow will make it even more interesting.

Along with most commentators I was pleasantly surprised at how well the cars performed in the wet, some actually looking better. This can often be the case if they are down on power or have a softer set up, but with the torque available I expected a lot more problems. Williams was the only team that really looked uncomfortable in the wet, especially Massa who had some lurid moments even in a straight line. All the drivers were really having to perform, no running on rails with these cars, which is great to see. There were problems with the white lines and painted out lines on the track, which should just not happen in this day and age. The technology exists and is used in places like Singapore to remove the lines before a race, and non-slip paint is readily available and should be standard issue even for everyday use on a street track.

There were a couple of casualties in the wet. Raikkonen hit the wall on the exit of turn 3 and admitted he was fiddling with his steering wheel. Why are there no tires on the inside of the exit of that corner? It is a pretty popular spot to hit. Kvyat lost it on the back of the circuit and collected the wall on a sweeper which is not a spot you'd expect. Lines again. Both cars should be OK.

Even in the dry Martin Brundle made the comment that instead of losing cars from unreliability he is now concerned how many will be lost to accidents. The brake by wire continues to cause drivers to miss their braking points and apexes, and running wide at entry and exit is proving to be a risk all on its own.

So, the most interesting Grand Prix for some time awaits us tomorrow. Mercedes look the goods, but in the dry had issues with tire wear. Whoever wins this is going to need all the skill, experience, intelligence and all the luck he can call on. One not to miss. 

Sebring 12 hours is on today, and we are certainly not going to see much of it. Lots of good drivers, but without the LMP1 cars not what it used to be. Big crash yesterday in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge when Marc Miller was spun into the wall protecting the bridge abutment. This was an accident waiting to happen, and I am surprised it took so long. Why when you started with a wide open airfield did you have to build a bridge to the infield that was narrower than the track and verges leading up to it? Again in this day and age not good enough. A classic case of making the track fit the obstacles instead of the other way around.