.:: 2009 Australian GP Thread ::.

2009 AUSTRALIAN GP

Welcome to the 2009 Australian GP thread. cjek will update the thread with the latest times as they happen.

RANDOM FACT

Nick Heidfeld comes to Australia holding the record for the most consecutive race finishes in F1 history. He has currently been c_lassified in the past 28 races, with his last DNF in the 2007 United States GP.

POINTS OF DISCUSSION

1. At last, it's back! Formula One enters a new era - what is the aspect you love most about the 2009 season?
2. Where do you stand on the points system? Do you believe the FIA were right to keep the current system, or do you feel that the winner should indeed take all?
3. Sebastien Buemi joins the F1 field as 2009's only rookie - how do you see his year unfolding?
4. McLaren have seemingly struggled vastly during Winter Testing - without in-season testing, how well do you see the Woking team doing this year, and can they keep up with the top teams?
5. Speaking of top teams, a surprising title challenger appears to be Brawn GP - given the winter they have had, how surprised are you with the pace the team have set so far?
6. And lastly - who will win the season opener?

SCHEDULE FOR WEEKEND:

Friday 27
First practice: 1230-1400 (0130-0300 GMT)
Second practice: 1630-1800 (0530-0700 GMT)

Saturday 28
Third practice: 1400-1500 (0300-0400 GMT)
Qualifying: 1700 (0600 GMT)

Sunday 29
Race: 1700 (0700 BST)

WEEKEND WEATHER:

FRIDAY: Sunny Intervals, max. 18 deg. cent.
SATURDAY: Sunny, max. 23 deg. cent.
SUNDAY: Sunny, max. 28 deg. cent.

PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY: Jenson Button (Brawn GP), Robert Kubica (BMW-Sauber), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull). Scheduled for 3PM (4AM GMT)

FRIDAY: Fernando Alonso (Renault), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull). Scheduled for 6:30PM (7:30AM GMT)

BBC PRESENTS THE AUSTRALIAN GP

PREVIOUS SESSIONS

Friday Practice 1
Friday Practice 2
Qualifying
Race

THE RED LIGHT

Welcome to the new feature for the F1PU, where I give my verdict of what to expect for the GP weekend.

First though - the contenders of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship:

VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES MP4-24
Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen

SCUDERIA FERRARI F60
Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen

PETRONAS BMW-SAUBER F1.09
Robert Kubica, Nick Heidfeld

ING RENAULT R29
Fernando Alonso, Nelson Piquet Jnr.

PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING TF109
Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO STR4
Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastien Buemi

RED BULL RACING RB5
Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel

WILLIAMS F1 FW31
Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima

BRAWN GP BGP 001
Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello

FORCE INDIA VJM02
Adrian Sutil, Giancarlo Fisichella

Instantly, the one thing that stands out from winter testing is the sheer pace of Brawn GP.

As stunning as it seems for a team which has seen 4 and a half months of the winter with no testing at all to jump out of the blocks straight away, it isn't really. Brawn GP, formerly known as Honda, were the first to start work on their 2009 car - all the way back in 2007. As the next closest team to start are BMW all the way into 2008, Ross Brawn's team has actually had a fair head start over the other teams, so whilst being at the front isn't so surprising, the scale of which they are is.

Over a long run, Brawn GP's nearest competitor, based on times from Barcelona, is Toyota - who are 4 tenths slower. Ferrari are on average 7 tenths slower, but McLaren are almost two seconds down. This doesn't take into account the improvements that they made in Jerez, however. The short stints is where Brawn GP really boasts though - they hold an impressive 8 tenths advantage over Williams, with Ferrari actually the tiniest bit slower than McLaren, both being 1.2 down on the Brawn cars. To top it all off, Brawn GP are the most conservative on tyres right now as well - quick and consistent is a deadly mix, and the other teams are all playing catch-up.

Here's where it gets interesting though - Brawn GP, now being a much smaller outfit, may struggle to keep up development in comparison to Ferrari, BMW or McLaren. Therefore, the new boys need to get as many points in the bag and create as big a gap as they possibly can, on the off-chance that the rest of the field do start to catch them. If Ross Brawn's ominous words are anything to go by mind, then the Brackley boys may not be in a rush to panic just yet.

KERS will be an interesting factor too - as of writing, Ferrari and Renault have confirmed the use of the new system in Melbourne, but no other teams have said they will - they have either rejected the Melbourne debut or not spoken out. Comparison between these two teams and the rest of the field will be interesting to take a look at.

Coming out the blocks fast but all of a sudden falling quiet are BMW and Red Bull. Promising title challengers straight away and yet now they seemed to have drifted into 2008 positions for the time being - don't get me wrong, a good push can see BMW fight for the title, but after initial good pace from the Red Bull boys I'm wondering where they've gone to.

And of course, who can forget the McLaren story? Poor, poor Hamilton - his championship defence begins in a car that has been - so far - reminiscent of Macca's 2004 attempt. And boy, was that bad. For his sakes, and a good Championship's sakes, that this statement turns out to be completely false, but the Woking team for now starts on the backfoot.

This is all very exciting. I've never been as clueless as I am now to which teams are really the fastest. The new rules have torn the form book to shreads, and re-assembled it in such a way that the world champion will almost certainly not win the first race, and a brand new team potentially could.

I made a quick test graphic for this season's results.. with a subtle 'prediction' in the results which should please certain people around here:

Niiiiiice :D

Anywhoos, some video links:

Q&A: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) & Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

Q&A: Fernando Alonso (Renault)

Australia is here YAAAYYYYY

2009, as mentioned, as thrown the form book through the shredder. This will be, in my opinion, the most exciting part of the 2009 season watching teams try to get back to where they were / want to be.

Thankfully, there's nothing new in the points system until 2010 with teams checking the rule book and then promptly chucking it at Bernie's head, seems he can't go making a rule after November and expect teams to run with it in the coming season unless there was unanimous agreement amongst teams.

I expect Buemi to do 2008 Bourdais, but maybe a little worse, he's not really proven himself in other formulae, maybe he'll prove me wrong, but I think there were / are better drivers to have had that seat.

I see McLaren chilling behind Brawn GP Ferrari, Toyota, Williams, BMW and possibly Alonso's Renault. We shall see what the diffuser debarcle throws into the mix.

Brawn GP - biggest suprise so many people, myself included, were writing them off completely and look where they are. Miles ahead of the field, being designed without KERS in mind they have managed are far better weight distrubution and the car can get the most out of the tyres. (not to mention their fancy diffuser :lol: )

Who will win? I'm going to put my money on Barrichello.

KERS RUNNERS:

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
Fernando Alonso (Renault)
Nelson Piquet (Renault)

NON-KERS RUNNERS:

Robert Kubica (BMW)
Nico Rosberg (Williams)
Kazuki Nakajima (Williams)
Adrian Sutil (Force India)
Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India)
Jenson Button (Brawn GP)
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP)

UNKNOWN:

Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
Timo Glock (Toyota)
Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso)
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)
Mark Webber (Red Bull)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

EDIT: Top post includes schedules for drivers' conferences. They're doing two days now.

THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

DRIVERS: Jenson BUTTON (Brawn GP), Robert KUBICA (BMW Sauber), Felipe MASSA (Ferrari), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull) PRESS CONFERENCE

Jenson BUTTON: I have not slept that much this week, I must say. It is great to be here to start with for me. It is great to be here in Melbourne for the first race. That was the first goal. It is nice to be here and secondly we are in a much better position than most people thought, so it is nice to be here starting the season on a positive note.

JB: I think a bottle of red normally does it. My father does talk a lot. He is very excited at the moment. I don't know, it is difficult. For everyone else they have been testing for quite a bit of the winter, but for us it has been condensed down to the last two weeks. We have been flat out with testing and simulator work, so it has all been quite busy the last couple of weeks.

As I said it is good to be here and it is good to see the team with a very positive attitude. We have gone through a very hard time this winter but they have stayed strong and we've proved it with the reliability in testing and getting the car out.

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, a slightly new team. Obviously looking forward to the season. We had quite a strong winter, I'd say with a lot of work going on. I think our car looks very nice but we have to prove it is one of the best on the circuit still, but let's see. Right now for everyone it is the same situation as you don't know exactly where you are, it is a bit of guessing right now, but we focus on ourselves. I think we are in a good position, so we will see but definitely looking forward.

Felipe MASSA: Well, it depends. We finished the business last year with one point behind but we finished. Now we need to start another one from zero. I hope with a very competitive car like we had last year, but maybe slightly more reliable and a very efficient team. That was what we were doing in the winter, trying to work 100 per cent in every detail, not to lose any point, so I hope.

FM: What happened in last year's championship is finished. Everybody starts from zero now. We have 20 drivers fighting, so until the point that you see maybe you have two, three, five or more fighting for the championship. Now everybody is in the same position. For sure, some people are a bit more competitive. Some people are not, depends. But everybody starts from zero. We need to take everything we learned in the past, but we need to work very hard because we know the championship is long and everybody is in the same boat now.

Robert KUBICA: As always the winter has been very important to try and analyze and to get knowledge about the new components on the car as the regulation change has been quite big. There was a lot to understand, tyres, aerodynamics, KERS. Yeah, looking forward. Finally we will get a clearer picture where we are compared to our competitors and we will see.

RK: Yes, as always. It is a new season and like I said it is always good after a six month break to start again. Testing is important but the races are what we like.

SV: Regarding the wide front wing we will see in turn one on Sunday. Other than that I think the biggest change was going to slick tyres and reducing the aerodynamics. Obviously driving is still very similar. If you look at the outside shape of the car you are surprised that it is that closed from the inside from a feeling's point of view, so not a lot has changed turning left.

The car still turns left, so that is important. But I think there is a bit less grip all around, a bit less stability, so you just have less grip, less stability. But I think everyone gets used to it quite quickly. As regards the slick tyres I would say we all have some knowledge, some fresher and some maybe a bit longer ago but it should not be a problem. They seemed to be quite easy to handle but it is always the tyres. They make the contact to the ground, so we will see.

JB: For me it has been the tyres. I really like the way the tyres work compared to the grooves, especially the front of the car, as obviously the surface area is more affected at the front than the rear going from grooves to slicks. I am enjoying driving the tyres. As soon as I drove them last year I found a benefit that suits my style a bit more, so I am happy with that change. Aerodynamically it is obviously different but we have gained so much grip having slick tyres in a way it balances itself out.

RK: As Jenson and Sebastian mentioned, tyres and aerodynamics. I found the grip level quite balanced. Of course through some mid-speed range corners you get more from the slick tyres and in the other corners you are a bit slower because of the aerodynamic loss. But all in all I think lap time is quite similar and as Jenson mentioned the front tyres are quite powerful. KERS was a big topic during the winter and we will see.

RK: I think the front wing we didn't play with at all, very little during the winter. Of course it depends from car to car as you can adjust one flap, so it will have a bigger or smaller influence depending on the cars. That's not a big topic to really discuss.

FM: For sure it is a big change compared to last year. We have so many things to work on the car. The KERS and the front wing which it is not necessary to change, just when you are following somebody, so you can change whenever you like once a lap, so you can use it for set up as well. For sure the tyres were a big difference, aerodynamically we lost a lot of downforce compared to last year. At least we lost at Ferrari, I don't know about the other teams.

My car is like that. I feel a big difference to drive especially with the old tyres. With the new tyres you have the grip, so you can be aggressive, you can brake strong and try to bring the car, as we were doing last year. In terms of turning you can be aggressive but with the old tyres the car is sliding much more. It is a little bit different to drive and you need to be smoother than last year, at least in my car.

JB: First of all there was not really an option not to believe. When I found out last November it was obviously a big shock. You can get as down as you like but it doesn't change anything, so I was keeping in contact with the team all the way through the winter. Some days were good, some days weren't. But finally we have had a good outcome.

JB: It is as good as you can imagine. But when I went there in November, the day after I found out that we might not be racing this year, the atmosphere was already good. I walked into the factory feeling a little bit down, but chatting to all the different departments expecting a few upset people and no positivity, but there was. They were all going about their business like they had been before the announcement and they knew they were building something that was good. They have done a great job and that pleases me no end. It is great to be a part of that as they have put their heart and soul into producing a car for this year.

SV: It is a different team, yes. We have the same parent, that is quite special, but still the team is different. I think every team has its own way and its own philosophy. It was basically the same when I came from BMW to Toro Rosso. Of course it is different and you have to adapt. Some things you like and some things you don't like. When you don't like something then you just open your mouth and tell them what you don't like. You talk about it and then you see where you go.

I had enough time already at the end of last year, so basically the Monday after Brazil I was already a Red Bull driver. I did all the winter tests and I got a bit more time as Mark had his accident last November. That all helped me in a way to get well known in the factory and to the car and the working procedures of the team. Hopefully we used all our tests at the beginning of this year and this winter with the new car to prepare for this season as in the season there will be no more testing, so that's it for this year testing-wise.

FM: Difficult. The picture from the winter, at least, is that Brawn is better than anybody, so maybe we need to fight each other (BMW and Ferrari) for third place. I hope not.

RK: I think we have been kept waiting for an answer for quite a long time already. We've been asked the same question since February, so let's keep waiting for another two days and we will see.

(Continued on next post)

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

JB: Well, first of all, it's not something that I have any control over personally, and secondly, I think the best person to speak to about that is Ross.

JB: You've said it yourself. It doesn't change anything for me. I can't do anything about it. It's down to Ross and whoever else is involved.

SV: I don't know. Let's see. It's difficult to say. Obviously it's only my second full season in Formula One but I remember that at the beginning of last year people were going crazy: now, without traction control, the cars will spin off and there will be much more overtaking. I think it was more interesting than the years before. We saw the cars sliding a bit more here and there but in the end, overtaking was still difficult and I think you have to understand, at least that's my feeling, it's already difficult to pass another car in Formula Three because of the downforce.

Well, in Formula One I think the cars have a bit more downforce than in Formula Three. Obviously, I think we made some steps to help overtaking but we have to prove it on the circuit and not prove it in winter testing, just following another car for half a lap and 'do I get a feeling now or not?' We have to prove it in racing, so we still have to wait and see. In testing, it's not the case that you follow another car and you feel nothing anymore and if you're faster you just pass.

You still feel that you lose grip all around, some cars maybe more at the front, some cars more at the rear. It depends on the car, but you still lose downforce, so you still lose grip and that makes it tough to overtake. How tough? That needs to be answered in the next races.

JB: On the two circuits that we've tested on, there's never been any overtaking anyway really. Barcelona and Jerez are very difficult for overtaking. I probably followed two cars in testing at Barcelona. I didn't try and overtake... you're on different strategies and what-have-you so... you're not going to take the risk in practice either. I felt that I could follow a little bit closer but it wasn't enough to make a move around Barcelona. Hopefully it's going to be different at somewhere like this and when we go onto the next few races where there are opportunities to overtake. Hopefully there will be more of them.

RK: I think KERS can have a big influence, if you have it on board or not, so I think this is the main key. I'm not expecting more overtaking due to the aerodynamic changes, just maybe if some cars in front of you are not using KERS and you have additional power, then it might be a bit easier, but it's still quite difficult, I think.

FM: I think the same, same feeling. As Robert said, if you have KERS and you are a couple of tenths behind the guy in front, then KERS can be a help but I don't know how it's going to improve the situation compared to last year. If it improves five or ten percent, that's already a big improvement.

JB: One of the bigger problems is if you don't have KERS and you are behind a car that does have KERS, you're not going to be able to get past, that's one weakness of not having KERS.

JB: There's still going to be light left, isn't there? I'm hoping. We have got a bright car. For us it doesn't really make any difference. Dinner reservations are going to be difficult but apart from that, there's no real difference. For us we can get up later on Sunday morning which is nice. I don't know what difference it makes for you guys but for us it doesn't change anything. As long as there's still some temperature, that's it.

FM: As long as I will have visibility it's OK.

JB: It's not a pressure, definitely not, it's a nice feeling. We've done seven days of testing, I've driven the car for three days which normally wouldn't be enough. We've been reliable-ish, so we've been able to get quite a bit done in that time. I feel comfortable in the car, I feel that I've made it quite personal to myself which is good, but we're coming here with an open mind, for sure.

Testing is one thing and for sure we've been reasonably reliable and we've done some good lap times, but in 2006 we had a quick car in testing and we got to the first race and we got blown away by the Ferraris, so you never know until you turn a wheel here. I have a feeling we're not going to be slow but how quick, we have to wait and see for that one.

RK: I think it's already official that I don't run KERS here. Nick will run it here. The team will decide race-by-race in the future and driver-by-driver, so we will see.

JB: For sure. Yup. I've said all I have to say on the subject.

JB: I understand what you're saying, for sure. We should be the underdogs, for sure, being a private team with a customer engine, but looking at the testing times, we're not, but the testing that we had - seven days - it was so valuable to us. We're not going to plod around slowly. We have to see what the car can do and we have to get the maximum out of it, push the car to the limit, so we can find the limit. So we don't really have a choice in the matter.

I don't know if we are the favourites or what but it's nice knowing that we have a competitive car and as I said, we don't know how competitive it is but for me, all I know is that it's great to drive and I feel that I can really work with it and the changes that I make, make a difference, good or bad, so I'm happy with what we have.

FM: I have no idea, so you need to ask them. I work for Ferrari, I don't work for McLaren. For sure, it is strange to see McLaren at the back. The only thing I can think for myself is that they are a respected team, so we need to respect them for what they did in the past. That's the only idea I have, so I have no idea where they are going to be. I have no idea where I am going to be on the grid, so that's why I cannot answer for McLaren.

JB: I knew it was going in the right direction, for sure. I spent a lot of time with the team at the end of the year, and obviously we started focusing on our car reasonably early, as you could see from our performances towards the end of last season. That's one of the reasons why I was hanging on in there, hoping that the car would be raced in 2009, because for me it was strong and I think some of this is the reason why everyone's kept their head strong and kept focused on the job in hand because they knew that they were going in the right direction and they knew that they had a good car or the makings of a good car.

JB: It's all guesswork, for sure, and we really don't know what's going to happen even in qualifying and the race on Sunday. That's something that I hope happens, that we can sustain our performance, whatever it's going to be. Yeah, that's got to be the aim. We're here this weekend, hoping that we can do the whole season. We haven't come to Melbourne to just do the first two or three races, we're here for the championship, so we've got to hope that we can complete it.

JB: Mine's actually quite easy. I think I did about seven...

FM: I read it somewhere but I have no idea where.

JB: I did about 1800 kilometres.

FM: Well, I drove alongside Michael. I drive alongside Kimi, so... I heard for many years already that Fernando will come. He's just another one, so I don't care. Valentino Rossi as well. Maybe my father will drive for Ferrari next year. We don't know.

SOURCE: Autosport

*Vomits at the sight of Button's new helmet*

I wonder if the Beeb's players will work in the USA. Only a matter of time to see.XSamFisherX

Irritatingly, there's only half an hour until FP1 starts, yet the Beeb have STILL yet to post a link to the live feed!

the only link to Formula 1 I can find on iPlayer is to a Radio 5 Live interview, and no links to the practice coverage.

I wonder if this is because it is only via the red button? I can view the listings for regular BBC channels, but no mention of red button interactive content

If you can't find a live feed then there is a text version on the BBC website that gets constantly updated. It started updating at 1am (about 15 minutes ago) and refreshes automatically as new stuff gets posted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7967177.stm

Coverage has begun!! :D

GO GO GO!

Great news is BBC Radio 5 Live provides commentary throughout the practice sessions. Bad news XSFX is that there's no video/audio for non-UK users.

From the side profile the cars look quite similar to last year, but from the front they look quite different - as if the front and rear wings have swapped places. Odd to see such a wide front wing (several different designs) and such a high narrow rear wing behind the driver

On a side note - is Anthony Davidson now reduced to just being a commentator now?

haha :lol:

"Toyota - oh what a feeling!"

Is Anthony Davidson now reduced to just being a commentator now?Avenger1324

He's still a reserve driver for Brawn GP, but I doubt he'll get used at all this year. And not just reduced to being a commentator, he's been reduced to a 5 Live commentator! :P

First Practice Results

Pos  Driver       Team                      Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B) 1:26.687           19
 2.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B) 1:26.736 + 0.049   21
 3.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B) 1:26.750 + 0.063   24
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B) 1:27.226 + 0.539   21
 5.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B) 1:27.453 + 0.766   15
 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B) 1:27.467 + 0.780   12
 7.  Massa        Ferrari               (B) 1:27.642 + 0.955   24
 8.  Glock        Toyota                (B) 1:27.710 + 1.023   24
 9.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B) 1:27.993 + 1.306   20
10.  Alonso       Renault               (B) 1:28.123 + 1.436   16
11.  Heidfeld     BMW Sauber            (B) 1:28.137 + 1.450   20
12.  Trulli       Toyota                (B) 1:28.142 + 1.455   21
13.  Kubica       BMW Sauber            (B) 1:28.511 + 1.824   22
14.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B) 1:28.603 + 1.916   16
15.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B) 1:28.785 + 2.098   27
16.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B) 1:29.042 + 2.355   18
17.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B) 1:29.081 + 2.394    7
18.  Piquet       Renault               (B) 1:29.461 + 2.774   25
19.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B) 1:29.499 + 2.812   21
20.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B) 1:32.784 + 6.097    4

Second Practice Results

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:26.053            36
 2.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:26.157  + 0.104   38
 3.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:26.350  + 0.297   42
 4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:26.370  + 0.317   30
 5.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:26.374  + 0.321   38
 6.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:26.443  + 0.390   42
 7.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:26.560  + 0.507   33
 8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:26.740  + 0.687   19
 9.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:27.040  + 0.987   29
10.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:27.064  + 1.011   35
11.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:27.204  + 1.151   32
12.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:27.232  + 1.179   28
13.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:27.282  + 1.229   32
14.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:27.317  + 1.264   34
15.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:27.398  + 1.345   36
16.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:27.479  + 1.426   36
17.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:27.802  + 1.749   35
18.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:27.813  + 1.760   31
19.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:27.828  + 1.775   35
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:28.076  + 2.023   33

We all expected the technical changes to shake up the order of teams, but I don't think anyone expected results to change quite so much.

While it is just a practice session, and they can run whatever strategies or testing they like, you wouldn't expect both drivers from the top 4 teams of last season to all finish outside of the top 8.

Man this at the very least is going to be an interesting season! 6 of the top 7 are the cars that are under protest, mad props to Webber for getting up there in 4th! The whole diffuser issue isn't gonna go away anytime soon.....

Althought Peter Windsor (for those who don't know him, he's the guy who would do the post race interviews) during the SpeedTV broadcast brought up a good point, why didn't the other teams (aside from Brawn, Toyota, Williams) work on a package that was similiar to those three teams, diffuser wise.

He also said thing are going well with the US F1 team, they are currently working through FIA paper work and deciding what to do engine wise.

...Althought Peter Windsor (for those who don't know him, he's the guy who would do the post race interviews) during the SpeedTV broadcast brought up a good point, why didn't the other teams (aside from Brawn, Toyota, Williams) work on a package that was similiar to those three teams, diffuser wise...SchumiF1

During the first practice session early on, one of the commentators mentioned seeing Mclaren unloading large crates. He asked if they were new diffusers and was given an answer like "what do you think", so I'll be interested to see any comparison shots of the back of the Mclaren to see if anything does/has changed.

If the diffuser they are complaining about gives such an advantage and had already been given the approval by the stewards they would have been crazy not to be atleast developing their own version.

Anyway it's the first race so we are bound to see a variety of designs. As the season progresses the cars will look more similar to each other

Wow that is very interesting with Mclaren unloading crates. I want to see too if they changes to the rear of their car for Saturday practice. As well as the rest of the cars on the field that don't have as the season goes on. Yup now begins the copy cat game lol.SchumiF1

Well McLaren have nothing to lose, they have zero pace and need to use this weekend as a test weekend. Test new parts, don't push the engines too far. That could be the case for several Grands Prix for McLaren, but with their experience and resources they could push into the points in a few races, or months. Then again, if things don't show signs of improvement before the end of the season, it's very likely that they'll lose Lewis. That will hurt the team, judging by his skill and 2008 pace.

I'll try be online, but with my uni work and lack of pay TV im having to find a live stream somewhere which won't be easy...

McLaren already redesigned the diffuser with the last couple of days testing in Jerez, it resembeled the Brawn diffuser in shape, however the upper section was not open like the Brawn one - possibly scared that it was illegal to begin with. I'll see what I can find and try keep you guys posted.

JONATHON LEGARD: "Will we see a new order in Formula Lon... Formula One."

Welcome to the job!

Wow!  What a result!  Button and Barichello definately deserve a championship shot.

One thing that does worry me a little though is Button's comment in the press conference about the car not liking low fuel runs.  That could hurt them in Q2 in future GP's if they don't find the problem.

I'm watching the quali again now - like Eddie Jordan said - its a fairytale story!

Well not much to say about that really, other than WOW. The Brawns really are as fast as many suspected, and we have all the ingredients for a memorable race tomorrow.

Hamilton will now start from the back after a penalty for changing gear box. I believe that is his worst ever grid position in his F1 career so far.

BREAKING NEWS: Toyota excluded from qualifying for running 'flexible wings'

Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have been stripped of their grid positions for the Australian Grand Prix for a flexible wing infringement.

Glock had qualified sixth on the grid, with Jarno Trulli two places further behind, for their Toyota team at Albert Park.

However, following post-qualifying technical inspections by the FIA, it was found that the team's rear wing elements were in breach of the rules.

A statement issued by the FIA said: "The Stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that the upper rear wing elements of cars No. 9 and 10 are showing extreme flexibility in contravention of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

"The Stewards have heard the explanation from a representative of Panasonic Toyota Racing and have examined the cars in question.

"The Stewards concur with the opinion of the Technical Delegate and find the cars contravene the requirements of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

"It is the Stewards decision that cars number 9 and 10 be excluded from the Qualifying Session Official ****fication."

Article 3.15 of the technical regulations states that wings must not have 'any degree of freedom' and 'remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.'

The results mean that Trulli and Glock will start the race from the back of the grid.

Toyota said it will not appeal the decision.

AUTOSPORT

Post-qualifying press conference

Q. Jenson, on pole for the first time since Melbourne in 2006. Everyone was tipping you to be on pole or the front row, I guess it was easy.

Jenson BUTTON: I wish. The last five or six months for both of us have been so tough because of going from not having a drive or any future in racing to putting it on pole here is just amazing, it really is and I have got to give all credit to the team and Ross (Brawn) and Nick (Fry) for making this happen. This is where we deserve to be after the tough times we have had.

Q. What were your thoughts when you came into qualifying as obviously you had been quick but other cars had been close?

JB: This morning the pace seemed to be pretty good on both tyres and I was reasonably happy. We didn't know what other people's pace was and you don't until you get to qualifying. They seemed to be a little bit closer than I thought actually in Q1 and Q2, they were one or two tenths behind but I was struggling on low fuel for some reason. I just could not get the car working right, but when we put fuel in it, it felt a bit more normal and in a way that is a good thing as it should help us out in the race.

Q. And as a race driver with the year you have had, you come here with a car this competitive. Talk about that transformation and the lap you drove.

JB: It has been a long time since we had a car that has been competitive. It is 2006 since I put it on pole here. It has been very tough and there are a lot of people who stand by you which is fantastic, but there are obviously a few people that don't and they forget and they don't believe. The important thing is that the people within team believe and that is all we care about. We have proven it with this car and I think both of us have done a good job this weekend so far considering the amount of mileage we have had in the car so far. You can say it is a very good car but you still need to get the laps in and make it your own. This is a great moment, but obviously not the most important moment of the weekend but it is a good start.

Q. Rubens, fastest lap of qualifying in Q2. Talk us through Q3 and that battle with your teammate?

Rubens BARRICHELLO: First of all, I just want to emphasis what Jenson said that it has been a critical three or four months back home waiting for news. I am really happy to be here and I need to congratulate Ross and Nick for doing an outstanding job and everyone who has touched this car needs a credit because it is a really good car, so well done to the boys back in England as well. My car was fantastic on low fuel, it was really, really good and as you could see I put that fastest lap but then in Q3 for some reason I developed some understeer on the car and we tried to move the wings a little bit more to add a little bit more front wing but that car kept going to understeer, so I was very limited but it was difficult although I think the first row for both is a credit and we must be happy.

Q. Sebastian, a difficult day yesterday but a great recovery for you?

Sebastian VETTEL: Difficult two days up until qualifying. Yesterday I only had the pleasure of one lap in first practice and then in the second one I did a mistake and then unfortunately we could not run through our programme and also this morning we had a failure which cost us some track time so anything but ideal but nevertheless I think we put everything together. We were looking very deeply in the data and trying to prepare qualifying. I think we succeeded, so thanks to everyone as it has been a tough winter.

We had some more time than you guys on the track but still you see it is not easy, so I am surprised how close actually the feeling in the car is with all the regulation changes coming here and having last year in mind, so it is pretty impressive what all the people have done. It looks very, very tight not just in the front but also throughout the whole of the midfield and at some points we were fearing not to make it to Q2. Now we are in third, second row, so I am looking forward to tomorrow. This is for sure a good starting point but points we will only get tomorrow, so we have to work hard.

Q. Jenson, shadows and light are going to be an issue tomorrow. Describe that from a driver's point of view and being the first team to be on pole since 1970.

JB: It is difficult here with the shade and the low sun because it is not a normal circuit, it is in a park, so you have got a lot of trees here and the sun shining through the trees makes it very difficult as Sebastian will tell you from yesterday. Turn three was very difficult. SB: You can put on some lights as you are fast enough.

It is tough, but it is obviously easier form the front than it is from the back. Regards to what it is for the team to be here on the front row. It is fantastic and it is very difficult to know the words to use really. The team as a unit have been fantastic, they have really stuck together over the tough winter, better than I have, but they have proven that they have stuck together.

They have produced a car that is good at the moment but I am sure we can make it a lot better. As we have both said, we will keep going on about, it is well deserved and all credit to the team. There will be a lot of happy faces but not just in the team, I think. A lot of people have travelled this journey with us, so it is good to be here.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Jenson, did you ever imagine this could be possible and think after testing we are actually quite good?

JB: I mean testing was good and only having three days in the car and feeling that comfortable with it is quite unusual. But you don't want to get too excited, people always tell you maybe you shouldn't be thinking about going out for the pole or for the win, but why shouldn't you, it doesn't change anything. I think it is good to go into the weekend positive.

You don't need to let anyone else know what you are thinking. I came into this weekend positive and I am sure Rubens was the same because we have got a good car and we have got a team that can help us put it on the front row. It has been a good weekend so far. Other teams have been more competitive than I thought they were, so it has been a little bit harder than I expected but you need the competition and it is great to be here on pole position. The last time was three years ago.

Q. This must be a favourite circuit for you?

JB: It isn't really. Qualifying has gone reasonably well for me before, I have just got to hope that it is better than back in 2006. I am expecting it will be. But it is great to be back here and going past the garage just after we weighed and seeing all the guys' faces and the smiles on their faces. I didn't think it still existed because you know it has been two years since we have been in a position where we have come out of the race and thought 'wow that was fantastic.'

All credit to them and I need to thank them for all the hard work over the difficult months and roll on the season. I am so excited about this year. It is amazing what you can achieve when you have the package and a team you can believe in.

Q. What is going to be the big issue tomorrow - the tyres or the brakes even?

JB: I have been struggling a little bit with both. The brakes are a little bit of an issue here as it is quite bumpy. I have had a few issues with the pedal going long, but it will be fine, I can cope with it. The tyres are obviously pretty tough, especially in the cooler conditions and it is difficult to get the prime - I call them prime, the harder tyre working - and it is difficult to stop the softer tyre from graining. It is going to be very tough tomorrow and I think tyre management is going to be a big part of the race and that is something we have worked on with this car overnight to manage the tyres a bit better.

Q. Rubens, you just must be so delighted especially as we might call you the veteran of the field?

RB: Well, I feel younger than most of them. I think I have shown there is nothing that is veteran on myself. I speed up, I am always very excited and grateful to have a good car. It has been tough the last few seasons and so it is good to be back in a great car.

Q. And confidence for the race?

RB: Very. I was very confident I could get pole position. On the first two qualifiers it was very, very nice but for some reason I got this odd understeer that slowed me down in Q3. Beside that if anybody a month ago asked me 'would you give $1,000 to be second in Melbourne' I would have given a little bit more. I have got to be happy for sure.

Q. And again your feelings about the difference in tyres?

RB: Same. We experienced the same feelings during the Friday practice and during this morning, so it is going to be a good first few laps tomorrow plus it is going to be hard to judge when to push hard on the softer tyres as the grain is going to come and everyone is experiencing that and that is a little bit because the track is still not gripping up as much and 5 o'clock is not helping that much either as the temperature of the track is dropping, so everyone is sliding around that much, so there is a problem for everyone in that matter.

Q. The track temperature at 5.45 pm according to the monitors was 30 degrees. What is the ideal temperature for those softer tyres?

RB: Hotter. We needed some hotter temperatures. The tyres seemed to perform better in the 2 o'clock practice this afternoon, better than the evening one. Plus I think it is difficult. The visibility is incredibly difficult at 5 o'clock. It is such a change from the early testing from when you hit the track at 5 o'clock. The first lap feels odd because the shades, the tress and the sun is right in your face, so I think it is going to be a difficult race on that side to.

Q. Sebastian, was that a factor yesterday when you went off?

SV: No, it was my mistake. Yes, it was tricky as Rubens explained. For instance you go down the main straight and the sun is very low and you cannot see the white line when you exit the pits, so you just keep right and hope you are far enough right and the same when you go through turn three with the trees. It is quite tricky as you have a lot of shadows there.

You try to get as close to the outside and to get a good run into turn three. Obviously I was a little bit too optimistic and went on the grass spun and unfortunately the engine switched off, so I could not continue yesterday. Overall I am a bit surprised by now that we managed to do so well in qualifying. We have been struggling yesterday, so we had anything but a good day.

In the P1 session the failure and in the second practice I went off and also this morning we were trying to get some mileage as obviously here it is important to set up the car but also for a driver you need to get the rhythm and you need to feel the track and therefore we didn't know what to expect. I was looking at more laps than the computer and looking at laps there than on the circuit. Obviously it seemed to help, so I think we can be very happy. It has been a tough winter but I think we have put a good car on the track and it seems to work.

Q. Were you surprised how close the times were, particularly in Q2?

SV: Yes, I was, but we expected it. Coming from the winter, we all came here and two days ago I sat here and we all said 'we don't know who is going to be in front.' Probably Brawn will be there but other than that, it's difficult to predict anything. It's obviously good that we are the power after Brawn right now but we have to keep our feet on the ground, it's a long, long season and there's still a long way to go here. Of course, starting in P3 on the second row is good for us but we get the points tomorrow, so the most important day is tomorrow.

Q. Is reliability a worry?

SV: Shouldn't be. I think we came here and (thought) we had sorted everything out and then we were surprised by two or three minor things and we were a bit unlucky. In the first session we had to stop the car as a precaution and unfortunately I stopped some 200 metres too late otherwise they could have brought the car back but that's the problem when you have a lake in between the two sides of the circuit but I think we should be fine.

CAR WEIGHTS AFTER AUSTRALIAN QUALIFYING:

Pos. Driver Car weight
1. Jenson Button 664.5kg
2. Rubens Barrichello 666.5kg
3. Sebastien Vettel 657kg
4. Robert Kubica 650kg
5. Nico Rosberg 657kg
6. Felipe Massa 654kg
7. Kimi Raikkonen 655.5kg
8. Mark Webber 662kg
9. Nick Heidfeld 691.5kg
10. Fernando Alonso 680.7kg
11. Kazuki Nakajima 685.3kg
12. Heikki Kovalainen 690.6kg
13. Sebastien Buemi 675.5kg
14. Nelson Piquet 694.1kg
15. Giancarlo Fisichella 689kg
16. Adrian Sutil 684.5kg
17. Sebastien Bourdais 662.5kg
18. Lewis Hamilton 655kg
19. Jarno Trulli 660kg
20. Timo Glock 670kg

SOURCE: Autosport

ED: That's scary stuff from Brawn GP. With exceptions to Glock, these guys have more fuel than anyone in the Q3 session.

BREAKING NEWS: Toyota excluded from qualifying for running 'flexible wings'

Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have been stripped of their grid positions for the Australian Grand Prix for a flexible wing infringement.

Glock had qualified sixth on the grid, with Jarno Trulli two places further behind, for their Toyota team at Albert Park.

However, following post-qualifying technical inspections by the FIA, it was found that the team's rear wing elements were in breach of the rules.

A statement issued by the FIA said: "The Stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that the upper rear wing elements of cars No. 9 and 10 are showing extreme flexibility in contravention of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

"The Stewards have heard the explanation from a representative of Panasonic Toyota Racing and have examined the cars in question.

"The Stewards concur with the opinion of the Technical Delegate and find the cars contravene the requirements of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

"It is the Stewards decision that cars number 9 and 10 be excluded from the Qualifying Session Official ****fication."

Article 3.15 of the technical regulations states that wings must not have 'any degree of freedom' and 'remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.'

The results mean that Trulli and Glock will start the race from the back of the grid.

Toyota said it will not appeal the decision.

AUTOSPORT

 

 

cjek

Hmm, I am supprised that Toyata have done this. It seems either A) they are pushing their luck or B) The FIA rules are not clear, as seen with the problem Toyota, Williams, and Brawn GP have had.

The rules have always been clear on flexible wings - it's not accepted.

Anywhoos, the first post now has the full qualifying session added... however the repeat is on BBC One right now.