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2015 Australia Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: Last year, everyone was worried about reliability at the season opener with the new engine rules. For this year's season opener, one team was gone, five cars didn't even make it to the grid, Lotus was out in the first lap, and Sauber almost didn't make it out of court.

EVENT: The fans didn't get to cheer on their local hero to a podium, but they also didn't have their local hero excluded.

QUALIFYING: The wonderful thing about racing is the stopwatch doesn't lie. Once you get past the testing with its sandbagging and practice sessions with their setup work and into qualifying, you get the cold, hard truth of the stopwatch. What the stopwatch told us in Australia is Mercedes is still dominant, The McLaren-Honda, so far, is an unmitigated, colossal disaster, and the junior team is just as fast as the senior team.

RACE: As with last year, the fun will be watching everyone behind Mercedes.

TRACK: Albert Park is never a good indicator of the season to come, but we get the feeling this year it is a good predictor.

START: Hamilton never looked back, Nasr looked strong, and the obligatory midpack wheel banging.

HAMILTON: We got a kick out of Lewis enjoying seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger more than actually winning the race.

ROSBERG: How much longer can Nico's confidence hold up?

MERCEDES: They certainly didn't sit on their laurels.

VETTEL: A fine debut with the Prancing Horse. Maybe Alonso really did wear out his welcome.

RAIKKONEN: Better than last year, but Kimi's bad luck still plagues him.

FERRARI: They appear to be much improved ... yet, they were 34+ seconds behind Mercedes, the same as last year's season opener.

MASSA: Appears his in-lap cost him a podium.

BOTTAS: Back injuries, especially for race drivers, suck. Hopefully, this is not a recurring problem for Valtteri.

WILLIAMS: Like Ferrari, they too made strides. It will be very interesting watching these teams fight for position.

NASR: A ride buyer? Yes. But so was Lauda at one time. There are ride buyers and then there are ride buyers. Felipe, ride buyer or not, appears to be the real deal.

ERICSSON: Marcus, on the other hand, appears to be the other type of ride buyer, but he did do well in his maiden Sauber effort.

SAUBER: Speaking of the Swiss team ... wow. After all that went down, they obviously have a very good car, and could play spoiler for a few well established teams this year.

KALTENBORN: Is Monisha the worst team manager in history? Or, is she the worst contract lawyer in history? Or, both?

RICCIARDO: How long will the smile stay on Daniel's face this year?

RED BULL: Waaaaaaaahhhhhh! Waaaaaaaahhhhhh! Waaaaaaaahhhhhh! Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!

SAINZ: Carlos ended up grabbing the young driver headlines for his team.

VERSTAPPEN: But that was because Max's engine failed him. Otherwise, a nice debut.

TORO ROSSO: Wouldn't that be a kick in the bull's backside if the toro takes top energy drink billing this year?

BUTTON: Jenson's patience will never be tested as it will this year.

MAGNUSSEN: When it rains, it doesn't pour ... it hails.

ALONSO: Maybe Fernando should start claiming an ingrained toenail. Anything to avoid this career killer.

HONDA: Has the Japanese lost their magic?

MALDONADO: Even when it's not his fault, Pastor ends up in the wall.

LOTUS: They showed some promise after last year's lackluster performance ... and then the first lap came...

FORCE INDIA: This may be a very long season for them.

MANOR: They were this close...

CATERHAM: It was nice knowing you...

GERMAN GP: A goner?

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Repeat.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 17 years, 166 days -- With the new FIA rules, it appears Max Verstappen's record of the youngest driver in F1 will never be broken.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: It is amazing to think that Felipe Nasr made the greatest debut for a Brazilian driver in F1 history. In fact, he is the only Brazilian to ever score points in his first race. That includes Ayrton Senna (retired in Brazil with Toleman in 1984), Emerson Fittipaldi (8th, British GP, Lotus, 1970), Nelson Piquet (retired, German GP, Ensign, 1978), Rubens Barrichello (retired, South African GP, Jordan, 1993), Felipe Massa (retired, Australia, Sauber, 2002), and Carlos Pace (17th, South Africa, Williams, 1972).

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Toto Wolff said what everyone who follows F1 wanted to say about the Red Bull crybaby act, "I think just get your fucking head down, work hard and try to sort it out."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Nico Hulkenberg echoing what many drivers felt over the Sauber affair, "Geido wants what he was promised, what he signed for and, I think, also paid for. It's his right. It's not a way to do business and to screw people like this."

SCHEDULE: With Honda having heat issues and the hottest, muggiest race of the year coming up in Malaysia, will the team even see double digit laps? For the whole weekend? The two cars combined?

Copyright © 2015 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 58
2. Rosberg 58
3. Vettel 58
4. Massa 58
5. Nasr(R) 58
6. Ricciardo 57
7. Hulkenberg 57
8. Ericsson 57
9. Sainz(R) 57
10. Perez 57
11. Button 56
NC Raikkonen 40
NC Verstappen(R) 32
NC Grosjean 0
NC Maldonado 0
NC Kvyat DNS
NC Magnussen DNS
NC Bottas DNS
  Stevens(R) DNQ
  Merhi(R) DNQ

Time of Race
1:31:54.067

Margin of Victory
1.360 sec.

Safety Car
1 for 3 laps

Lead Changes
2 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg

Fastest Race Lap
Lewis Hamilton

Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 25
2. Rosberg 18
3. Vettel 15
4. Massa 12
5. Nasr(R) 10
6. Ricciardo 8
7. Hulkenberg 6
8. Ericsson 4
9. Sainz(R) 2
10. Perez 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 43
2. Ferrari 15
3. Sauber 14
4. Williams 12
5. Red Bull 8
6. Force India 7
7. Toro Rosso 2
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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