The Official 2017 Australian Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**
Discussion
It's the start of another Formula 1 season and less than a week until the first race. Get your predictions in - perhaps a slightly trickier task this time around.
Dates: Friday 24 – Sunday 26 March 2017
Race weekend timings (local time)
Practice 1 | Fri | 1200 – 1330 |
Practice 2 | Fri | 1600 – 1730 |
Practice 3 | Sat | 1400 – 1500 |
Qualifying | Sat | 1700 – 1800 |
Race | Sun | 1600 – 1800 |
UK timings
These are timings when the session starts, so if you want to catch the build up, tune in a little earlier than the times below. Note that the clocks go forward on Sunday morning so the 05:00 GMT race start becomes 06:00 BST.
Sky F1 (Live):
Practice 1 | Fri | 0100 |
Practice 2 | Fri | 0500 |
Practice 3 | Sat | 0300 |
Qualifying | Sat | 0600 |
Race | Sun | 0600 |
Channel 4 (Highlights show only):
Qualifying | Sat | 1300 - 1450 |
Race | Sun | 1400 - 1640 |
Circuit:
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
No. of laps | 58 |
Length of a lap | 5.303 km |
Race distance | 307.574 km |
Race lap record | 1:24.125 (L29; M. Schumacher, 2004) |
2016 race stats:
P1 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes AMG F1 | 1:48:15.565 |
P2 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes AMG F1 | +8.060 |
P3 | S. Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | +9.643 |
Pole: 1:23.837 (L. Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1)
Fastest race lap: 1:28.997 (L49; D. Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer)
Weather forecast here
Due to this place having a lake, it is said that this circuit has its own microclimate, so take the forecast with caution.
Friday: Partly sunny and pleasant (26C/17C)
Saturday: Some sun with a shower (26C/17C)
Sunday: Mostly sunny (26C/18C)
Live timing for all sessions are available here
Tyre choices available: Ultrasoft, supersoft, soft.
2017 Season Changes
https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/inside-f1...
Key car changes are:
- Tyres
- Front wing
- Rear wing and rear diffuser
- Annoying fins (not Finns)
- Sidepods
- Weight
Wet-weather standing starts
If a safety car is deemed to be required for the beginning of a race due to wet weather, unlike previously a normal standing start will occur once the track is deemed safe to race. The process will see the safety car return to the pit lane and the cars assemble on the grid for the start.
Helmet livery
Drivers must continue to use essentially the same helmet design at all races for easy recognition of the driver in the car. However, each driver is now allowed to use a special livery at one event of his choosing, such as a home race for example. Drivers will also be allowed to change their helmet liveries if changing teams during the season.
Enjoy!
ps. Thanks to Dr Z for all the work put in previously.
Edited by TheInternet on Sunday 19th March 14:54
Great effort on the op, op. I am optimistically predicting -
1st. Raikkonen
2nd. Vettel
3rd. Bottas
Renault to qualify both cars in the top 10, McLaren qualify 19th and 20th.
Stroll to crash.
Sauber to get points.
Kvyat to have a first corner tangle.
Jenson Button thanking his lucky stars he decided for a year off / retire from F1.
Not much passing, but I hope I am wrong - Melbourne has always been a tricky place to pass even when it was easier.
1st. Raikkonen
2nd. Vettel
3rd. Bottas
Renault to qualify both cars in the top 10, McLaren qualify 19th and 20th.
Stroll to crash.
Sauber to get points.
Kvyat to have a first corner tangle.
Jenson Button thanking his lucky stars he decided for a year off / retire from F1.
Not much passing, but I hope I am wrong - Melbourne has always been a tricky place to pass even when it was easier.
Thanks for the OP. Really looking forward to seeing how the pecking order shakes out in the first few races. The cars look fantastic and above all, I'm impressed by the work done by Pirelli. I'm betting that we'll come close to the 2004 cars in terms of race pace, which will be a huge achievement for the 1st year of these regulations. Possible that we might see the lap record broken here in Melbourne, but I'm not sure if fuel saving will have that much of an impact as predicted.
I'm just really glad that we've got some strong tyres that drivers can really push on, so we will have drivers likely pushing for a greater % of the race to gain positions on track or via strategy. Although there's less chance for strategy to play a big role in determining the race as there's likely many 1-stop races, the action will have to be on track. Will be interesting to see what RB bring to Melbourne as they had a very quiet preseason test.
I'm just really glad that we've got some strong tyres that drivers can really push on, so we will have drivers likely pushing for a greater % of the race to gain positions on track or via strategy. Although there's less chance for strategy to play a big role in determining the race as there's likely many 1-stop races, the action will have to be on track. Will be interesting to see what RB bring to Melbourne as they had a very quiet preseason test.
After not really watching any F1 for the last 2 years, I am actually quite looking forward to this season.
Optimistic predictions:
1. KR
2. VB
3. KM
Oh, and Honda to have worked their ass off for the last couple of weeks and actually produce an engine with a decent amount of power that won't vibrate itself to death....
Optimistic predictions:
1. KR
2. VB
3. KM
Oh, and Honda to have worked their ass off for the last couple of weeks and actually produce an engine with a decent amount of power that won't vibrate itself to death....
Woody said:
Optimistic predictions:
Oh, and Honda to have worked their ass off for the last couple of weeks and actually produce an engine with a decent amount of power that won't vibrate itself to death....
And I'm looking forward to the formation of flying pigs heralding the start of this miraculous recovery Oh, and Honda to have worked their ass off for the last couple of weeks and actually produce an engine with a decent amount of power that won't vibrate itself to death....
(actually as a long-standing Mclaren fan, I'm both troubled and saddened by the Honda debacle)
Woody said:
Honda to have worked their ass off for the last couple of weeks and actually produce an engine with a decent amount of power that won't vibrate itself to death.
Interesting prediction.May I suggest a sweepstake for the number of laps the new McLaren will complete? Winner gets the bottle of beer in the OP.
Given their current best is 11 in one go I'll choose 12 because I'm an optimist like that.
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