16 cars on the grid

It's going to be a long season for anyone not named Mercedes. Nice race by Seb. 11 cars finish.

Indeed. You may hate Hammy, but he put on a masterclass of a race. Rosberg never even had a chance. Great at driving by Seb to get Ferrari on the podium.

I'm hoping Kimi gets it together this year. The sport is better when Kimi is fighting at the front.

There should be no doubt at this point that Nico is just a guy. Put several other drivers in that seat and they get better results. The mercs are just in another class.

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There should be no doubt at this point that Nico is just a guy. Put several other drivers in that seat and they get better results. The mercs are just in another class.

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I think Nico is a great driver. But he's not at Ham, Alonso, Vettel, Kimi level. I think this more shows that Ham truly is one of the elites.

That's just it though. Outside of those guys most drivers are interchangeable. I think ricciardo may be on his way to elit status, and maybe bottles too.

I can't help but root for Hamilton. I think he may be the best pure driver on the circuit. And he showed a lot of grit last year.

I gotcha. I assumed you were another Hammy detractor. I agree on Ricciardo though let's see what he does in his sophomore season with first seat pressure on him. Last year the focus at RBR was all on Seb and how he wasn't comfortable with the car.

Hamilton's shock when Arnold came out was hilarious. He was starstruck!

After all of the Hamilton/Rosberg drama last year, it was nice to see Nico actually compliment Lewis on the podium. It even sounded sincere.

I think Ricciardo has a lot of potential to be a great driver; he has shown he has what it takes to get there. I also like that it appears he doesn't take himself too seriously.

As for Ferrari, it would be a great story if Vettel and the Iceman were able to turn that team around into true competition for Mercedes.

Wasn't expecting to see Ferrari up there on the podium. I'm not a Vettel fan at all, but it is good for the sport for Ferrari to be competitive, so it was good to see. Now, if McLaren can just regain their form, it would be nice as well.

Red Bull is certainly struggling, and apparently Helmut Marko is again threatening to quit F1 because of the new engine rules and the imbalance that it has caused. Funny how when Red Bull was dominant (obviously not to the point that the Mercs are now), Marko and Horner and the rest of the whiners weren't complaining for regulations to be changed to help their rivals out...

I would, though, like to see some competition for the Mercs to develop.

Glad to see this thread! I did a lot of business travelling in Europe and Asia in years past and got some peripheral exposure to F1 and Schumacher as a result. But never have really followed the sport.

Lo and behold, my son suggested that we watch Rush Saturday night. Great movie and finished itright around 11:30. Doing some research after, we realized that the 2015 season was starting and ended up staying up for the race. Hell of a coincidence. But now the son and I have the bug and will be following the rest of the season. Hopefully this thread will help me understand a bit of the nuances and history that are coming into play with these races...

I actually got into F1 when Ayrton Senna died. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I became an instant fan of the sport.

Petro,

I highly recommend watching the documentary Senna. It is incredible.

Senna is riveting. There's a long documentary out there too. Can't remember the name but it goes back to the roots of f1 and shows how it has evolved.

"1" is the doc they showed on NBC Sports. It's really good. Also terrifying.

Forgot about that one. Yes it is a bit terrifying.

so what do we all think about Red Bull's complaining and threatening to quit? sour grapes is certainly part of it.

but, what do you think the underlying motivation is? Red Bull seeing world economies declining and threatening the balance sheet. Or, is it because the teams are failing and Bernie is in a bad position at the moment? Basically, if RBR walked that is 4 cars off the grid. There is no way they find teams to not only fill those spots but to also not end up as backmarkers.

Man I dunno but it does seem like sour grapes. I can understand them being frustrated with Renault, but it's really disingenuous to say Mercedes needs to be reigned in specifically. Its formula 1. Build a better car. Constantly tinkering with the rules is a bad idea.

Also I haven't heard but has everyone adopted the Mercedes split turbo?

I can't wrap my head around the politics of F1, so I don't even try anymore.

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Man I dunno but it does seem like sour grapes. I can understand them being frustrated with Renault, but it's really disingenuous to say Mercedes needs to be reigned in specifically. Its formula 1. Build a better car. Constantly tinkering with the rules is a bad idea.

Also I haven't heard but has everyone adopted the Mercedes split turbo?

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good question. i have not heard either. but, i did hear an interesting comment in the last race. Williams apparently has the best straight line speed, but the Mercs are absolutely dominant in the mid to high speed turns just like Sebs old RBR cars.

i'm guessing the Merc is still making more overall power but that allowed them to add more down force for faster turns.

Looks like it's not that simple. They are limited on what changes they can make until 2020. This may be part of what red bull is *****ing about.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/01/20/making-sense-f1s-engine-rules-2015/

Sounds like Honda has a turbo setup similar to Merc.

I don't recall RBR complaining when they dominated the field for a few years....

Part of what made Ricciardo on the podium so exciting last year was knowing he had moved up and made the podium in an inferior car (compared to RBR the year before) while Vettel struggled.

It's interesting how quickly RBR blames the rules instead of being innovative and adapting to the rules. I'm not a Vettel or RBR hater; I think Vettel is a great driver and I think RBR built a fantastic car in the past. Vettel's decision to move to Ferrari shows that he is willing to change to give himself a chance to be the best. RBR should look at his example.

I really like F1, but sitting here watching Sebring reminds me how much I love sports car/endurance racing. Great stuff.

Check out the article on PlanetF1, "Bernie's Failure".

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Check out the article on PlanetF1, "Bernie's Failure".

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Good article. The fact that there won't be a German GP this year, and that there hasn't been a French GP in years, is a travesty. Bernie has been a problem for quite a while. He moans about rising costs, but continues to basically extort tracks for races.

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Check out the article on PlanetF1, "Bernie's Failure".

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Good article. The fact that there won't be a German GP this year, and that there hasn't been a French GP in years, is a travesty. Bernie has been a problem for quite a while. He moans about rising costs, but continues to basically extort tracks for races.

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yep. he's a miserable old pos that needs to go away.

on other news, the Renault v RBR fight might wind as one of the more entertaining issues during this season.

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Renault have hit back at Red Bull, accusing the former world champions of "lying" and denying their engine is solely to blame for the team's poor start to the season

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http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12475/9775197/renault-hit-back-at-red-bull-as-engine-row-rumbles-on

Also, who's your 1 - 2 - 3 for Sepang.

1) Hammy
2) Rosberg
3) Bottas

Good Lord. I want to see punches thrown in the paddock.

I think both the Ferraris finish in front of Williams this weekend

Sepang:

1) Lewis
2) Nico
3) Kimi

Lewis with engine problems in FP1, limiting his laps, but he was still the fastest in FP2 when he finally got out there. Kimi 2nd and Nico 3rd. Ferrari looking quick this weekend, with Kimi 2nd in both sessions and Vettel 3rd in FP1.

Alonso feels like the McLarens have gained up to 1.5s over their Aussie pace, and Manor got in on the action with their first running of the season.

Also, looks like the FIA is going to bump the engine allotment for the season up to 5.

My podium picks are the finishing order from Melbourne. Same as it ever was.

I really need to stay away from this thread this weekend. Recording everything. Won't get to watch until probably Sunday evening.

Seb! Great drive.

Good to see a competitive race, that's for sure. Nice drive by Seb, and perfect strategy calls by Ferrari. Great drive from Kimi to get 4th. Lewis and Nico both drove well, but were done in by the call to pit early during the safety car. Also not sure why Merc sent Lewis out on hards for the last stint. He still probably wouldn't have been able to catch and pass Seb on mediums, but he had no chance on the hards.

The Mercs are still ahead, but the gap is closing.

It was a well executed race by Ferrari and a questionable call by MB for Louis. He was whining about it and, frankly, I don't blame him. Agree that he probably wasn't going to be able to catch and pass Seb, but you never know.
Don't you find it rather unseemly that Horner and the RB brass are openly complaining about the Renault engines? No mention of the four consecutive constructors/drivers championships. Both Torro's beat both RB's. Maybe there's more to it than power units.
And wasn't RB behind the push for a more "sustainable" power unit?
Let them push their cars around the track.

Damn that was fun. I'm not much of a seb fan but he's a beast, and it's great to see someone pressure the mercs. What a drive by Kimi too. Clearly the Ferraris are a force to contend with.

I think Mercedes strategy assumed they still had a second per lap on everyone else, and they were wrong. When it became clear it wouldn't be easy to run d. Wn vettel they responded with some terrible strategy.

The mercs are still faster but they can't just show up and expect to win anymore