PastyHusty

Minardi - are they, aren't they .. will they, won't they ..

They won't. After taking legal action, against the Australian race stewards, to get his cars eligable for Qualification, Paul Stoddart has dropped it. He says that he has proven a point - that F1 simply need better governance.

The Minardi cars will now qualify and race with a version of their 2004 car, which has been updated to the new regulations for this season, but with no time to test them out. In other words, the Minardi cars will be even slower than usual this weekend..


A touch of overnight rain made Saturday's practice session quite interesting! The times were pretty spread out, but like pre-season testing has been, McLaren and Renault were dominant:

1. K.Raikkonen. 1:27.297
2. F.Alonso. 1:27.409
3. J.P.Montoya. 1:28.256
4. G.Fisichella. 1:28.571

I hope we see Raikkonen and Alonso battling it out for pole position and then the race win!

5. J.Button. 1:29.577
7. M.Schumacher. 1:30.533
9. D.Coulthard. 1:30.645
10. R.Barrichello. 1:30.715

I doubt Ferrari will be that slow once the serious sessions begin.. but just how fast will they be!?

A good idea.

I don't believe you need to follow a sport that intensely to take part in a PL anyway. I take part in many Football PL's from around Europe, yet only follow the English Premiership & Division 1 closely. It's just a matter of reading a little, knowing who's doing well and what the form guide is!

PastyHusty

Saturday's Qualifying Session:
1. G.Fisichella. 1:33.171
2. J.Trulli. 1:35.270.
3. M.Webber. 1:36.717
4. J.Villeneuve. 1:36.984
5. C.Klien. 1:37.486
6. D.Coulthard. 1:38.320
7. N.Heidfeld. 1:39.717
8. J.Button. 1:41.512
9. N.Karthikeyan. 1:44.357
10. K.Raikkonen. 1:44.997
11. J.P.Montoya. 1:45.325
12. R.Barrichello. 1:45.481
13. T.Monteiro. 1:46.846
14. F.Alonso. 1:47.708
15. C.Albers. 1:49.230
16. P.Friesacher. 1:50.864
17. R.Schumacher. 1:51.495
18. M.Schumacher. 1:57.931
19. F.Massa. No Time
20. T.Sato. Spun on 1st lap

That's what happens when you combine one flying lap qualifying with mixed weather! The track was wet at the beginning of the session and was drying up until Massa started his flying lap - then the heavens opened and the track was socked within minutes. Who was out next? Schumacher! It's a sign. Sato also had his lap totally screwed up as a result of a spin due to the wet weather. This caused a small suspension of the session. The rest of the drivers (R.Schumacher, Alonso, Barrichello, Raikkonen and Montoya) did their runs with a wet track.

As the gird position for a driver is worked out by the average time of his two flying laps over this session and the one in 19 hours, Fischella is looking very strong for pole position. M.Schumacher will be starting this race from a low position, and as a result anyone who predicted him to be on poll there will get -3 points! I'll probably end up with the same score too. So, anyone who didn't predict for qualifying is in pole position.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Not a great day for Ferrari.

EliteHorse

True, but seeing as I now have a job I really don't have the time to go through and read everything. You also see how you being in Europe gives you an edge with the Europian football thing? You probably get coverage of those leagues, whereas I do not. Nor do we get heavy coverage on F1.

PastyHusty

True, I don't habe a job (just yet!), but it happens to be a passion of mine now, so I think I'd end up making time for it!

1 live Italian match per week .. 1 highlights program for the whole of Europe .. that's all I get. I just need the league table and form guide/latest results.

I've decided to stay up and watch the race live tonight. I was 50/50 on it, but now the weather has made the grid so unpredictable for tommorow's race, I really want to see what happens live! Otherwise I'd be waiting until 3PM on Sunday afternoon.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

I will catch the race tomorrow with the highlights, Come on Ferrari.

DrTagnian

My Top 8
1. M Schumacher
2. K Raikkonen
3. JP Montoya
4. R Barrichello
5. M Webber
6. G Fisichella
7. J Button
8. N Heidfeld

3 to retire:
- P Friesacher
- T Monteiro
- C Albers

Fastest Lap:
M Schumacher

PastyHusty

Grid for Australian Grand Prix
1. G.Fisichella.
2. J.Trulli.
3. M.Webber.
4. J.Villeneuve.
5. D.Coulthard.
6. C.Klien.
7. N.Heidfeld.
8. J.Button.
9. J.P.Montoya.
10. K.Raikkonen.
11. R.Barrichello.
12. N.Karthikeyan.
13. F.Alonso.
14. T.Monteiro.
15. R.Schumacher.
16. P.Friesacher.
17. C.Albers.
18. F.Massa.
19. M.Schumacher.
20. T.Sato.

What a crazy grid that is! The good weather today made qualifying very predictable, as a lot of the drivers were seperated by margins that couldn't be overcome. The most significant movement came in the middle of the pack. Coulthard managed to jump above his teammate Klien, but apart from that the top 8 remains the same as it was after the first qualifying session.

PastyHusty

Prediction League
The first qualifying session of the season has proven to be very surprising! so as a result, anyone who didn't predict is in pole position.

Pole - G.Fisichella

Points Lost -

Gert-Jan, Lizzy, Neil and Mikaldo - 3 lost.

Table after Melbourne Qualifying
1. Chris. 0.
=. Jeremy. 0.
3. Gert-Jan. -3.
=. Lizzy. -3.
=. Mikaldo. -3.
=. Neil. -3.

I doubt Chris and Jeremy will be here to predict for the race, so unless something very amazing/dramatic happens, they'll be bottom by the end of the race.. but which one of the rest of us will start off the best!?

ElectronicWorm

Lizzy's top 8
1. J.Trulli
2. G. Fisichella
3. J . Button
4. J.P. Montoya
5. K. Raikonnen
6. J. Villeneuve
7. M. Schumacher
8. D. Coulthard

3 poor guys to retire
- C. Albers
- T. Sato
- P. Friesacher

Fastest lap
G. Fisichella