Round 1 – The Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)

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    The much awaited new era in Formula 1 got underway in Australia on the 14th with Practice sessions followed by qualifying on the 15th and the race on the 16th of March 2014. As expected, it was mixed bag of excitement and dullness along with a controversial ending.

    Apart from the Aussie GP being the first of the season, the main cause of excitement was the fact that it was the first of a new era in Formula 1. The performance of the new V6 turbo powered engines and the technology of the Energy Recovery Systems were closely monitored by F1 fans. Almost all teams (perhaps a part from Mercedes and McLaren) went into the first race with doubts. Teams as Redbull and Lotus went in to the race with limited pre-season testing done and Lotus suffered the most with both cars giving away half way through the race. Lotus did not manage to get their cars in running condition even for the qualifying sessions on Saturday where Pastor Maldonado had to sit out.

    For a full race Analysis click here

    http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2014/3/15585.html

     

    As feared by all F1 fans, the race was missing the sounds of the powerful F1 engines produced prior to the V6 engines used for 2014 season. Though the whistling of the turbo is something new to F1, all fans including drivers and team members were not too pleased with less noise pollution. Force India owner Vijay Mallaya quite clearly expressed his displeasure during the practice sessions. In addition, the Australian GP organizers have officially informed F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone their displeasure and considered it as breach of agreement

    (Read http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/9218290/Aus-organisers-claim-breach-of-contract)

    It was also noted by the fans on track that the Aussie V8 cars race which was held just before the F1 started produced more noise than the F1 race. However, the cars had not lost much speed as lap times indicate and is expected to get faster as the season unfolds.

    With all the issues World Champions Redbull had, it was great to see Danial Ricciardo coming second in the race. However, starting the season with controversy, the FIA has disqualified RedBull and Dan for breaching Fuel flow regulations set for 2014. The regulation indicated that a car can carry only 100kg of Fuel for a race and all cars are provided with a unit that calculates the fuel that was pumped in to the engines. This unit is provided by the FIA and it the same for all cars. At the end of each race, this unit is checked for fuel consumption and Dan’s Bull was considered to have over consumed.

    Though the Redbull team was quick to hit back saying that the unit provided was faulty and have appealed against the ruling, the FIA had given a full report on how it was concluded that they had breached the regulations.

    FIA report explained here – http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/9217066/FIA-explanation-for-Riccardo-exclusion

     

    With the conclusion of Aussie GP, few things we could look forward to over the next few races would be,

    1.       Who would be the first to catch up to the Mercs

    2.       Vettal’s and Redbull’s resurgence

    3.       Williams to show their actual pace

    4.       McLaren team mates fighting it out.

    5.       Lotus improvements

    6.       Ferrari improvements

     

    What is your point of view? Let’s discuss. Feel free to add comments and questions below.

    Let’s get ready for Malaysia.