looks like Mclaren's most recent changes are doing them good.
and what about Vettel...wowza
Schumi...continues to show, that he does not do well against good competition.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel got his title defence off to a perfect start with a pole-to-flag victory in the Australian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton finished second to seal McLaren’s turnaround in form but team-mate Jenson Button was sixth after being penalised for cutting a corner.
A brilliant start from Russian Vitaly Petrov propelled him to his first podium with third for Renault.
Scot Paul di Resta finished with 12th for Force India on his debut.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso jumped Mark Webber’s Red Bull in his final pit stop to take fourth place from the Australian, who could only equal his career-best finish at his home race.
There was more frustration for Mercedes as both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg retired from the race.
McLaren are definitely up there and they’ve got an excellent car/driver outfit contesting so I’m expecting good challenges from them.
Vettel though is on a whole new level. The man has led every lap of the last three grand prix races! His performance was even more phenomenal because he did not even use KERS!
Haha Schumi is suffering because there are younger and better drivers out there now and the Mercedes car needs a lot of work. Plenty of issues plaguing them.
An excellent race though and a brilliant start to the new season! I’m a Ferrarista though! But no driver is good enough to challenge Vettel by the looks of it!
I'm surprised that McLaren managed to close the gap in the last moment with a few changes that they didn't even properly test.
I wonder why Ferrari struggled so badly...
Haha yeah McLaren really turned around from their pre-season form. But then again, McLaren are an incredible operation, their race engineering should never be discounted.
As far as Ferrari goes, they had definite downforce issues and tyre issues with the new Pirellis. A lot of observers have blamed Ferrari's conservative design approach ( with the F150 as compared with RBR (Routing exhaust gases to the front) and McLaren (The new side pods). Personally I am sure they'll bounce back, Ferrari has an great base.
I dont know how Formula 1 works but isnt India hosting Indian grand prix this year?
i hope they finish stadium on time :/
Well its subject to circuit approval but its definitely on the calendar, provisionally. I hope they get it done. It will be amazing to see F1 on South Asian soil. Hopefully get more people involved in F1. There are already plenty of South Asians involved with the racing teams and we have an Indian driver too so its just natural.
Fernando Alonso - Ferrari (20 seconds penalty for unsafe overtaking attempt. No change in position.)
Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes (20 seconds penalty for more than one change of direction while defending. Demoted to 8th.)
Michael Schumacher - Mercedes
Paul di Resta - Force India-Mercedes
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel made it look so easy as he scored his second victory of the season and extended his world championship points tally to 50 on Sunday afternoon in Malaysia. The German took the lead at the start, nursed his tyres through three pits stops, avoided using his problematic KERS from the 29th lap after instruction from his team, yet was still 6.1s ahead of a charging Jenson Button in the McLaren with a lap to go.
Button did the impossible by running 19 laps on a set of Pirelli’s prime tyres where previously nobody had managed more than 16, but the 3.2s gap at the chequered flag reflected the side-by-side weaving that Vettel did in triumph as he reached the finish line.
Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren had been in the fight all afternoon, once he had overtaken super-fast starting Nick Heidfeld’s Renault in the first stops, but unlike his team mate the Briton lost pace on the primes, fell behind Button after the third stops, and needed a fourth to make it to the flag in seventh after running off the track.
Heidfeld likewise kept in play throughout to beat Mark Webber’s Red Bull to the final podium slot, after the KERS-less Australian fought back from a terrible opening lap and four pit stops.
vettel is doing very well, and people can say its the car, but that would then not explain mark webber's woeful performance. the car does have a part as we saw with webber last season but in the end talent took over.
the whinging in ferrari camp is increasing day by day.
Race Date: 17 Apr 2011
Circuit Name: Shanghai International Circuit
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.451 km
Race Distance: 305.066 km
Lap Record: 1:32.238 - M Schumacher (2004)
Lewis Hamilton scored a fabulous victory for McLaren in a Chinese race of excellent drives, catching and passing Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on the 52nd of the 56 laps as the reigning world champion’s gamble on a two-stop strategy - and a 25-lap run on Pirelli’s hard rubber - just failed to pay off.
Behind them, Mark Webber drove a brilliant race from 18th to third in the second Red Bull, only seven seconds behind Hamilton, after catching and despatching Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, then doing the same to Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg in the second Mercedes and McLaren’s Jenson Button in the closing stages.
It was an odd race, that began with Button and Hamilton leading from Vettel, before Vettel repassed them as the first pit stops were made. He jumped Hamilton just before his stop on Lap 13, but admitted he was somewhat bemused when leader Button initially drove into the Red Bull pit before frantically being waved through to McLaren next door!
Rosberg had stopped on Lap 12 and then had a spell in the lead for Mercedes from Lap 17 until he stopped again on Lap 25. That put Vettel back in the lead until he stopped for the second and last time on Lap 31, whereupon Massa had a spell in front. The Brazilian was right back on form, comfortably outpacing team mate Fernando Alonso this day.
Such are the characteristics of the Pirellis that the form of races is not established until the final stints, and by Lap 40 Vettel was out front, 3.6s ahead of Massa with Rosberg third from Hamilton, who had overtaken Button. Steadily Massa reeled in Vettel, but it was the McLarens that were on the move. Hamilton took Rosberg on Lap 42, Massa on 44, and then slashed a 3.7s deficit to Vettel before forcing his way by in Turn Seven on the 52nd lap.
For a while it seemed that Button might follow suit, but Webber had the freshest tyres. He ran the primes until Lap 10, then switched to the softer options and, having made his final stop on Lap 40, was flying. As Button began to move in on Vettel, having passed Massa and Rosberg, Webber was stalking him and dived by on the penultimate lap to make the podium after a superb effort.
His performance was even more phenomenal because he did not even use KERS!
