F1 – BAD DAY FOR THE BIG BOYS
- 27 May 2013
The Grand Prix season finally got under way today at Albert Park and to most people’s surprise, the big four teams all struggled to break into the top ten in either of the practice sessions. The worst of the lot was McLaren who ended the second session in 17th (Kovalainen) and 18th (Hamilton) place. BMW-Sauber were not much better and Renault lived up (down?) to its testing performance while Ferrari also struggled. Williams were the stand-out of the first day while home-star Mark Webber was the quickest of the “legal” drivers.
McLaren were playing down their prospects after suffering rear down-force problems in testing but no-one expected suck a lackluster performance with both drivers complaining that they had no grip and no feeling. Both Nick Heidfleld (14th) and Robert Kubica (15th) suffered from a similar problem and the way both drivers were sawing away at the steering wheel on their quickest laps suggests a fundamental balance drama. Renault has always looked slow during testing and didn’t look any better today. Both drivers had several spins on the way to 12th (Alonso) and 19th (Piquet). At least both Ferraris made it into the top ten in the first session but only Felipe Massa snuck into that list with the 10th best time in the second session. Kimi Raikkonen spent a considerable time at the bottom of the list before leaping up to 11th near the end of the session. Massa survived the most lurid slide of the day which would have surely put a driver of lesser car control into the wall after a huge “tank-slapper” approaching the second last turn. Proving the size of his genitalia he then put in his quickest lap of the day.
Harking back to the mid nineties, was the pace of the Williams team which saw Nico Rosberg topping the time-sheets of both sessions with Kazuki Nakajima backing him up well finishing 2nd (session 1) and 7th in the FW31. The Brawn-Mercedes and Toyotas also featured at the top of the times in both sessions but these three teams are all racing under protest due to the configuration of their rear diffusers. Williams and Toyota have used a loophole in the technical regs and have a centre section that is higher than those regulations require. Brawn has used a double-decker diffuser design which meets the regs in that the lower part of the diffuser is lower that the regs require but the upper element is above them. All have been declared legal by the scrutineers however this has been appealed to the FIA International Court of Appeal. This will probably not be heard until after the Malaysian Grand Prix due to be held next week.
Australia’s home-grown hero Mark Webber was the only driver of a “legal” car to break up the top three teams with a stunning forth fastest time of the day after suffering hydraulic dramas in the first session and exhaust problems in the second. Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel also had a troubled day stopping with similar hydraulic problems in session one and spinning while trying to match Webber’s pace in the second.
Rubens Barrichello proved that Ross Brawn’s faith was well placed by beating team-mate Button in both sessions and ending the day second fastest. It is believed that Sir Richard Branson will announce that Virgin will become the title sponsor of the Brawn team later today.
FINAL TIMES
SESSION 1
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 2010. Alonso Renault (B) 1:28.123 + 1.436 1611. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:28.137 + 1.450 2012. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:28.142 + 1.455 2113. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:28.511 + 1.824 2214. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:28.603 + 1.916 1615. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:28.785 + 2.098 2716. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:29.042 + 2.355 1817. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:29.081 + 2.394 718. Piquet Renault (B) 1:29.461 + 2.774 2519. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:29.499 + 2.812 2120. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:32.784 + 6.097 4 SESSION 2 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 2910. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:27.064 + 1.011 3511. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:27.204 + 1.151 3212. Alonso Renault (B) 1:27.232 + 1.179 2813. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:27.282 + 1.229 3214. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:27.317 + 1.264 3415. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:27.398 + 1.345 3616. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:27.479 + 1.426 3617. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:27.802 + 1.749 3518. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:27.813 + 1.760 3119. Piquet Renault (B) 1:27.828 + 1.775 3520. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:28.076 + 2.023 33