FORUMula1.com

[Frosty]

*Sigh*

Hamilton starting from the back of the grid after a gearbox change. Starting behind a Toro Rosso, two Force Indias and Nelson Piquet. There is going to be a collision.

LH and Piquet are going to hit the KERS button at the start of the race and go straight into the back of someone!

[JAKE THE F1 MAN!!]

To be honest did we really expect Hamilton to do well this weekend?

But Mclaren is probably the best team to have troubles because they have the funds and support to get new parts etc.. Like 20mins before Saturday practice they were having new parts delivered! But we can be sure to see Hamilton pushing it tomorrow to make for a great race.

One Hamilton quote was quite interesting! "Ill be one who will be letting Jenson lap me" Will Hamilton help Jenson in the race?

[cap-dude]

Looks like both Ferrari and McLaren are crap for now. Don't know if the defusers on those Brawn, Williams and Toyoota cars will be allowed and if they will get away with it after Malayasia but if they are legal why dont both Ferrari and McLaren just use them as well. Judging by todays times if Ferrari had had them they could of easily been on pole now, or close to it?

They are developing rear diffusers according to paddock talk. Actually they've been developing them for the last few weeks. But it takes time to develop seeing as the rear diffuser needs to flow with the rest of the car. Right now the teams really just want clarity on the rules, with the exception of Red Bull and possibily Renault. Then they'll be bringing in their own designs to gain an advantage.

Red Bull on the other hand are apparently not so fortunate. Because of the way their car is designed they aren't able to adapt to new diffuser. So you can understand why they badly want the design out-lawed.

[Frosty]

To be honest did we really expect Hamilton to do well this weekend?

But Mclaren is probably the best team to have troubles because they have the funds and support to get new parts etc.. Like 20mins before Saturday practice they were having new parts delivered! But we can be sure to see Hamilton pushing it tomorrow to make for a great race.

One Hamilton quote was quite interesting! "Ill be one who will be letting Jenson lap me" Will Hamilton help Jenson in the race?

I think Hamilton may have been commenting on the irony of it considering Lewis lapped JB nearly every race for the last 2 seasons I may be reading that wrong though. I came here expecting that McLaren would not get out of Q1 and be at the back of the grid.

[JAKE THE F1 MAN!!]

To be honest did we really expect Hamilton to do well this weekend?

But Mclaren is probably the best team to have troubles because they have the funds and support to get new parts etc.. Like 20mins before Saturday practice they were having new parts delivered! But we can be sure to see Hamilton pushing it tomorrow to make for a great race.

One Hamilton quote was quite interesting! "Ill be one who will be letting Jenson lap me" Will Hamilton help Jenson in the race?

I think Hamilton may have been commenting on the irony of it considering Lewis lapped JB nearly every race for the last 2 seasons I may be reading that wrong though. I came here expecting that McLaren would not get out of Q1 and be at the back of the grid.

Within the next few weeks they will sort it out!

[Frosty]

May take a while i think they need a new Front wing new under tray with a 2 deck diffuser and a decent rear wing.

[Frosty]

Sorry for Double post but I thought this one needed a post of its own

"The Toyota team has been excluded from the final results of the qualifying session in Australia following the cars's general post-session inspection in Parc Fermé. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have been stripped of their respectible sixth and eighth positions due to the flexibility of the car's rear wing elements, and will join Lewis Hamilton at the back of the grid."

source f1.gpupdate.net



"Toyota's Timo Glock of Germany and Italian Jarno Trulli qualified sixth and eighth but will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid.

Officials said the cars had rear wings that were too flexible.

Williams are also launching a protest against the rear wings on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars.

Flexible rear wings are banned in Formula 1 because they can bring performance advantages.

Because of this, the F1 technical regulations have strict stipulations about how much a wing can flex.

This is because a wing can be designed to flex in such a way as to improve the car's straight-line performance without harming its cornering capability.

In such instances, the aerodynamic drag on the car reduces as the wing flexes.

The wing then snaps back to their original shape as the driver slows for a corner, increasing his grip.

The FIA's decision promotes world champion Lewis Hamilton to 18th - he had dropped from 15th to last place because of a gearbox change.

More to follow."

source BBC sport

[McLaren Fan]

"The Toyota team has been excluded from the final results of the qualifying session in Australia following the cars's general post-session inspection in Parc Fermé. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have been stripped of their respectible sixth and eighth positions due to the flexibility of the car's rear wing elements, and will join Lewis Hamilton at the back of the grid."

source f1.gpupdate.net

Well, at least Hamilton won't be last now. Everything is going wrong for McLaren; the car is not fast or reliable enough. The team will get it sorted out sooner or later, however. I'm a little disappointed with Williams; I thought they would have made it onto the second row at least. Vettel exceeded expectations, for he has fewer laps under his belt and the car isn't the revolution it was expected to be. Even we get the fuel loads, I expect Brawn will be the fastest. Reliability permitting, tomorrow should be similar to the 1998 Australian Grand Prix, of course with a different team winning ( ). As somebody stated, running KERS seems to be a disadvantage. The only consolation is that when it's made compulsory next season, McLaren, Ferrari and Renault will have more experience of dealing with it.

[8-ball]

An qualifying that went to the form book. Brawn dominates.

As for Toyota...

[EwanM]

Williams protests Ferrari and Red Bull

By Jonathan Noble Saturday, March 28th 2009, 11:27 GMT


The Williams team has protested the legality of the Ferrari and Red Bull cars following qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

AUTOSPORT understands that Williams's concerns are related to the aerodynamics of the Ferrari F60 and the Red Bull RB5.

Toyota's drivers Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have already been disqualified from qualifying after their car was deemed to contravene the regulations over the rigidity of ist rear wing. They will start the race from the back of the grid.

More details will follow shortly.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74012

[EwanM]

What the hell is happening out there?

[McLaren Fan]

Only in Formula One.

[JAKE THE F1 MAN!!]

Lol. Very comicle!

[EwanM]

It appears they are protesting the "winglets" on those 2 cars. That's the latest.

[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

Post-qualifying car weights - Australia

Saturday, March 28th 2009, 11:22 GMT

From the 2009 season, the FIA is making public the weights of the cars, with their fuel load included, following Saturday's qualifying session.

Below is the weight of each car following qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, sorted by grid position.

Pos. Driver Car weight
1. Jenson Button 664.5kg
2. Rubens Barrichello 666.5kg
3. Sebastien Vettel 657kg
4. Robert Kubica 650kg
5. Nico Rosberg 657kg
6. Felipe Massa 654kg
7. Kimi Raikkonen 655.5kg
8. Mark Webber 662kg
9. Nick Heidfeld 691.5kg
10. Fernando Alonso 680.7kg
11. Kazuki Nakajima 680.5kg *
12. Heikki Kovalainen 690.6kg
13. Sebastien Buemi 675.5kg
14. Nelson Piquet 694.1kg
15. Giancarlo Fisichella 689kg
16. Adrian Sutil 684.5kg
17. Sebastien Bourdais 662.5kg
18. Lewis Hamilton 655kg
19. Jarno Trulli 660kg
20. Timo Glock 670kg
* Weight to be altered as it was published incorrectly by FIA