2008 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix

[AJTWWE]

Great race full of entertainment. Only thing i don't like is the safety car rule if your going to run out of fuel

[phil1993]

the thing with the safety car is that lapped drivers can drive around at full speed, so whats the point?. also i agree, the fuel rule caught out heikki who should've finished p2

[HakhaXs]

is it monsoon season in maylaysia??

[iceman1]

Kyllönen: "Kimi is driving like Heikki last year!" osweat:


Nakajima penalised for Kubica incident

Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, Melbourne 2008Williams rookie Kazuki Nakajima will take a 10-place grid penalty in Malaysia for colliding with Robert Kubica's BMW in the final safety car period during the Australian Grand Prix.

The Japanese driver scored his first world championship points for finishing sixth, but only after having his nosecone replaced following the incident on lap 47. Kubica was less fortunate and was forced to retire from the race.

[formulaonemadman]

that was a great race and well done to seb for getting points on his debut!
shame for kubica as nakajima's clumsyness spoiles it for others again
i don't many of us are going to get great predictions scores this week-i might about 5 if im lucky -just hope that the following rounds are going to be just as eventful

[WDC]

what an amazing race... it was really something special!
bernie, if you are listening, thats what a grand prix should be like, keep it in australia past 2010!

interested to know everyones opinion on the coulthard massa crash... i think coulthard turned invery aggressively, hesaid he knew massa was there, so why did he turn in?
i think racing incident but it was very spectacular!
...as was glocks crash!

shame hamilton won... would have liked to see kovalainen wn on debut at mclaren. he would have come close if the safety car didnt screw up his pit stops. raikkonen would have had a real chanc had he not made the mistake when trying to pass kovalainen.

nevermind!

i really enjoyed it, depressed now that the race is over for another year.

really looking forward to malaysia now!

[Baboy]

My opinions on this race:

PILOTS
Raikkonen: On used soft tyres with loads of fuel he was really fast - that's quite something. He was very good, apart from the 2 mistakes, and even then he was very unlucky overall, especially with the 2nd SC and with Kovalainen's aggressive behaviour.
Massa: 1 mistake, 2 crashes, retirement, fantastic overtakings in the back. That one mistake was big, but otherwise he was good.
Hamilton: He wasn't troubled, and SCs helped him. Very lucky, but he was the fastest for the most of the race.
Kovalainen: Good debut on McLaren, the 2nd SC gave him the chance for the victory, but the 3rd erased it completely. Nice overtaking on Alonso, amateur mistake with the speed limiter.
Kubica: Great start, good speed overall, but SCs ruined his placement. He could have been 2nd, and even when it looked like all the retirements will help him, he retired too.
Heidfeld: Decent race, helped by the timing of the SCs. Not as good as Kubica this weekend though.
Alonso: Stayed out of trouble, made some great move and had a great pace with a bad car. Showed that Piquet is no challenge for him, and that Renault is going in the good direction maybe.
Piquet: Disastrous, hardly he did anything remarkable this weekend. Kovalainen had a bad debut with this car aswell last year, and look at where he is now. Do not underestimate Nelsinho.
Glock: So unlucky, just like in 2006, the difference of height between road and grass made its victim. Great debut with a decent car, looking forward to see him next week.
Trulli: Crazy way for retiring, but seeing the car going fairly well, points were possible. He retired too early to judge really.
Rosberg: Williams made a step forward, and so did Rosberg. Made a consistent race, then the last-moment SC and retirements helped him with the podium.
Nakajima: One bad mistake, but a decent race.
Vettel: Retired instantly from a promising position, too bad.
Bourdais: Got 2 points, but he would have won a lot more than that. One hell of a debut with a car that seems to get better from race to race.
Fisichella: He got kamikaze'd, no fault. Points were possible given the madness of the race.
Sutil: Another short racer, no time to show if he was good or not.
Coulthard: Great fight with Raikkonen, bad mistake with Massa. At least he should admit his mistake, but overall his race was consistent.
Webber: Troubled race, no particular comments.
Button: Retired early, no comments about him.
Barrichello: A bad mistake 1st by the team, then by him ruined a great race. At least it's good for Raikkonen. Great step forward with the car.
Sato: Troubled Super Aguri, no real chance to shine.
Davidson: Same as Sato really.

TEAMS
Ferrari: Unreliable with an impressive pace. So much potential wasted for 1 point only.
McLaren: Fast and reliable. Last year it wasn't enough, will it be now?
Renault: Unclear is Alonso was God, or Piquet was bad, so I can't really say how fast the car is.
BMW: Unlucky but fast - still the 3rd fastest car on the grid, but closer now.
Toyota: Big improvement with 2 good drivers - they could bring home some nice points next time.
Williams: Big step forward, and Rosberg is very good. A bit lucky today, but the car was there.
Red Bull: Pretty much like last year.
Toro Rosso: They could have scored more, but still they're stronger than ever.
Force India: Good step forward, but too early retirements to judge.
Honda: Big step forward, some bad mistakes prevented them from scoring.
Super Aguri: Troubles, troubles, troubles. Possibly the worst car on the grid right now.

[akhurstf1]

What a brilliant race today. It really showed us who the best drivers are with removing the traction control here are my predicitions for the next race:

Malaysia

1) Lewis Hamilton
2) Heikki Kovalainen
3) Felipe Massa
4) Robert Kubica
5) Nico Rosberg

Let me know if u think any different

[iceman1]

what an amazing race... it was really something special!
bernie, if you are listening, thats what a grand prix should be like, keep it in australia past 2010!

interested to know everyones opinion on the coulthard massa crash... i think coulthard turned invery aggressively, hesaid he knew massa was there, so why did he turn in?
i think racing incident but it was very spectacular!
...as was glocks crash!

shame hamilton won... would have liked to see kovalainen wn on debut at mclaren. he would have come close if the safety car didnt screw up his pit stops. raikkonen would have had a real chanc had he not made the mistake when trying to pass kovalainen.

nevermind!

i really enjoyed it, depressed now that the race is over for another year.

really looking forward to malaysia now!

were you there Matey ?

[aldev2006]

Don't forget that Alonso is always good at Sepang

[tomayw]

yeeaah - great race...

my opinion:

Hamilton - very lucky...
Kovalainen - good debiut
Heidfeld - lucky 2 place (SC...)
Kubica - good start, good speed, unlucky hit from behind (2 place for me)
Rosberg - good race...
Alonso - (Team not good, but Fernado done i't)
Nakajima - very very lucky, but hit Kubica's car on SC is not look good ...
Bourdais - good debiut
Raikkonen -good speed, but too many errors

[tomayw]

What a brilliant race today. It really showed us who the best drivers are with removing the traction control here are my predicitions for the next race:

Malaysia

1) Lewis Hamilton
2) Heikki Kovalainen
3) Felipe Massa
4) Robert Kubica
5) Nico Rosberg

Let me know if u think any different

maybe your'e right, but Massa's mistake in Australian GP - on 1 corner not qualify him for "the best drivers are with removing the traction control" ...

my 5:
1) Lewis Hamilton
2) Robert Kubica
3) Nico Rosberg
4) Kimi Raikkonen
5) Nick Heidfeld

[alin]

hamilton - very good drive in the schumacher style, not letting nobody near him and not distroying the car
heidfeld - more luck that kubica, but yesterday robert beat him good
rosberg - he and williams deserved that podium and he was really happy to get it.
alonso - renault better get that new car ready decause this was pure luck; i'm sorry for the alonso fans, but this is how i feel
kovalainen - he knows how to drive and made good quali yesterday; we know now that he had fuel for 3 more laps than hamilton and 5 more than kubica.
barrichello - he finished a race and the new honda is almost good too bad for the problems caused by the cheif mechanic and for disqualification
nakajima - most of the incidents were caused by him
bourdais - he felt like champcar with those safety car periods
raikkonen - did he had his head with him today?! he is a world champion, he should have patience

ps: i loved the way the three podium finishers enjoyed the podium.

[alin]

I loved this one - briatore saying what good driver is alonso and reffering to the move in the final lap on kovalainen

In particular, his overtaking of the McLaren in the closing stages was spectacular.

he should have known that this kind of overtaking is possible only if the driver in front misses one gear or something like that. kovalainen said he hit the speed limiter for the pit lane when the tried to clean his visor...

[donald29]

Great race full of entertainment. Only thing i don't like is the safety car rule if your going to run out of fuel

yes the fuel is stupid, and i don't understand the logic behind it, it was much better in the days where everyone pitted under sc straight away

also i kept thinking the ferrairs were force india's osweat: as the sponsor Eithiad on the back of the Ferrari sponsored Spyker last year