Australian Grand Prix Review

The rule changes for 2008 certainly played their part. Perhaps the effect of the removal of traction control through the standard ECU had been underestimated. The cars were much more spectacular, moving around on corner entry and exit, and starts are no longer predictable with the elimination of launch control. And whereas the extensive winter testing meant that there had been little change in the overall hierarchy, perhaps it had also led to a complacency that also contributed to the Melbourne drama.

By that I mean, the constant testing may have lulled drivers and teams into thinking that they were fully on top of the new season, but there is nothing like the white-hot pressure of qualifying and a race, and the number of operational and driving errors were astounding. Not to mention the lack of reliability, especially amongst gearboxes that are meant to last four races, but engine and differential issues were also encountered. The unseasonal heat didn't help, but the number of problems was unexpected nonetheless.

The other major rule change was the revision of the third segment of qualifying, and as predicted, there were the two major schools of thought in terms of strategy - either fuel light and go for grid position, or trade in grid places for a longer first stint. As a result, there was a 1.3s gap between 5th and 6th on the grid. Sebastian Vettel, of course, didn't even run in Q3, apparently due to a genuine problem, but many suspected fuel-saving tactics. There is a loophole there and the FIA should be looking at closing it. No team exemplified the post-testing complacency and race-rust better than Ferrari. They led Friday morning practice as anticipated, only to let themselves lose their way on set-up. It was obvious that the Ferraris were not handling as well as the McLarens, going by the amount of steering-wheel input needed by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Massa's pace in qualifying suggested that Raikkonen would have struggled to get on the front row even had it not been for his fuel pressure problems in Q2.

Although the Brazilian put on a few decisive moves against Nelson Piquet Jr, Kazuki Nakajima and Takuma Sato, and although his clash with David Coulthard was mainly not his fault, it had been a ragged race by Felipe reminiscent of his earlier Sauber days - gone was the smooth driving style that he had started to develop in the last two years. It was the kind of showing that doesn't convince the doubters like ourselves, and adds fuel to the suggestion that the loss of traction control will hurt him more than others.

But Massa's performance was not as scruffy as Raikkonen's. He had been fortunate to avoid penalty after lazily blocking Robert Kubica in Q1, and after his Q2 problems started from 16th, only to blast up to 8th by the end of the first lap. Having started on softs and finally cleared Rubens Barrichello's Honda, his one-stop strategy should have put him right back into contention, but it was a serious blunder on Ferrari's part not to pit him during the second safety car period.

Kimi almost entered the pit lane when he was told that the pits were closed, but when they were opened he wasn't called in at all. Had he refuelled to the end immediately, he would have been ahead of the Kubica-Fernando Alonso squabble, and possibly ahead of Bourdais as well. In terms of net position it would put him behind Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld, Kovalainen and Hamilton, all with a stop to make. The Finn would have had a clear shot of certainly a podium, even if not the win.

Instead, having not come in, he found himself having to battle Kovalainen on the track, knowing that he would pit earlier than the McLarens and be at a disadvantage. The Iceman cracked under the pressure. His errors firstly as he tried to pass Kovalainen, and later when he battled Timo Glock on his fight-back, were amateurish. Kimi is not a fitness freak - did the heat get to him? At any rate, for a performance most unbecoming of the reigning champ, we give him 2008's first 'Reject of the Race' award.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Kimi Raikkonen
Amateurish start to the season

Last season, McLaren conceded an advantage in Melbourne but was back on level terms by Malaysia. This year, whatever deficit they had to Ferrari in early off-season testing, they have erased it already. The MP4-23 is more reliable than Ferrari, it is as quick if not quicker over a single lap and over long runs, and with Spygate slowly dissipating, their pride seriously hurt after 2007, and Ron Dennis staying on, there are danger signs for the rest of the field. This head-start over Ferrari after Melbourne could prove vital.

Kovalainen, though, showed that he could threaten Hamilton. For a first effort in his new team, being around 0.3s off Lewis for much of the weekend was respectable, but he demonstrated especially on Sunday that he could occasionally match his team-mate even if he couldn't sustain that kind of pace, and indeed he walked away with the fastest lap. He cleared Kubica at the first stop and was in a net 2nd place, and showed canny racecraft to suck Raikkonen into out-braking himself after the second safety car.

Heikki was going to make his second stop later than Lewis which may have given him the chance to challenge for the win, but his afternoon was thwarted by the third safety car. As last year showed, pitting just prior to a safety car period is a major advantage. That left the Finn in his ironic battle against Alonso's Renault towards the end. Having made it past the Spaniard with that great move into turn 14, he deserved to finish 4th but for his freakish error of hitting his pit speed limiter, allowing Alonso back past.

BMW proved that they had hidden their hand throughout testing, and even in Friday practice. However, they exploded into life come Saturday with blistering single-lap pace. But for running wide at turn 12 on this Q3 quick lap, Kubica should have started from the front of the grid and generated endless ÒPole on poleÓ headlines. However, Kubica's race was disappointing. He couldn't keep Hamilton's pace, his early first stop dropped him right back, and late in the race his speed on the soft tyres was simply awful.

Admittedly there weren't quite the expected fireworks from Williams and Rosberg. They were hit by uncharacteristic mechanical problems on the Friday which lost them track time, but overall their speed was good but not surprising. Nico also lost more than he gained in the race, being passed by Heidfeld in the pits at the first stops, and by Alonso on the track shortly afterwards, before landing in a net 3rd place for his first podium somewhat by default after Kovalainen lost out in the third safety car period.

With BMW clearly back on best-of-the-rest form, Williams have a fight on their hands to take 3rd in the constructors' title, especially with Nakajima in the second car. Kazuki is undoubtedly quick, but he is also a liability. Being caught up in the melee between Vettel and Jenson Button at the first corner was one thing, but hitting Kubica behind the safety car is quite another, and he will be rightly punished for that come Malaysia. Williams need him to produce consistency, not one-lap specials.

Alonso will consider himself fortunate to finish 4th, not only because of Kovalainen's last lap oops, but simply because Renault are off the pace. He never threatened all weekend and didn't make Q3 despite Raikkonen and Mark Webber being out of contention. Had both of them set times during Q2, then Fernando may have qualified no higher than 14th with no extenuating circumstances. In the race he seemed to struggle with understeer, running wide on corner exit more times than you could count.

Not only that but the former champ suffered in terms of tactics. Running a very long first stint like Raikkonen, Renault pitted him under the second safety car. Had they been prepared to gamble, they could have switched him to a one-stop strategy in which case he would have had terrific track position. Instead they stayed with what we like to call a 'half three-quarter' tactic (long first stint to half distance, two short stints to the flag) which ultimately cost Fernando, like Kovalainen, when the third safety car appeared.

Still, after the tongue-lashing Flavio Briatore gave Kovalainen in the press after the Finn's less-than-stellar debut last year, it was a surprise to hear the boss come out in the press and say that there is no pressure on Piquet to perform. No doubt the conspiracy theorists will say that this is because it is in Renault and Briatore's interests that Piquet remain well off the pace in a year when they won't be battling for the constructors' title. That way the attention can remain on a happy, unchallenged Alonso.

Toyota proved to be a pleasant surprise. Both cars qualified in the top 10, which points to some genuinely competitive pace from the TF108, even if it's not quite the best-of-the-rest material that Jarno Trulli was promising. The Italian's qualifying prowess is only enhanced by the loss of traction control, and though once again subdued in the race he was comfortably holding his own and up to 5th when his battery problem forced him out of the race.

As for team-mate Glock, the German remains off Trulli's pace, although he put in a combative lap to get himself into Q3, only to become the first victim of the four-race gearbox rule, dropping five spots on the grid before another five-position penalty for blocking Webber in qualifying. However, Timo gives the impression that he has to extend himself just to hold on to Jarno and the rest of the field; his spectacular exit may be emblematic of the fact that he found himself having to push too hard to keep up.

Even more of a pleasant surprise in relative terms was Honda. Everyone who predicted yet another dire season, including ourselves, had to eat humble pie because it is clear they are on the rebound. They found an extra second at a private test in the final week, and both Barrichello and Button almost made Q3, although Webber and Raikkonen weren't there. Jenson's race ended on the first lap so there was little to gauge, but from qualifying and the race it seems as though Barrichello has been given a new lease of life.

All this gives a team like Red Bull some serious headaches. Their pace is there, as shown by Webber in free practice and Coulthard in qualifying, but while their reliability has improved a little, it is still behind the rest of the field. They just can't afford to have problems like DC had on Friday, and like Webber had in qualifying when it really matters. Webber's appalling luck continued into the race, forced onto the grass when Button hit Vettel, and then punted by Anthony Davidson later on the first lap.

It was the second year in a row that Coulthard had gone out of the Australian GP in a collision, and in giving the Brazilian a less-than-family-friendly character reference, he once again simply succeeded in making himself sound like an old fogey. Yes, at the point of contact the Ferrari was only halfway alongside, but that was because Felipe was trying to avoid an accident having seen that DC was slamming the door. The truth is that Massa had, under braking, got at least three-quarters alongside. The corner was his.

What this weekend showed, however, is that there is really no such thing as a midfield in F1 any more, because everyone outside of McLaren, Ferrari and perhaps BMW are all astoundingly close, especially while Toro Rosso, Force India and even Super Aguri are competitive with older cars. That means there are six or seven teams fighting for two or three points positions. Red Bull need more than inherent pace; they need momentum, and that can't be achieved with nagging reliability issues.

Just how useful an older car can be at the season opener was clearly demonstrated by Toro Rosso. Bourdais joined the club of drivers who scored on their debuts, eventually classified 7th when he deserved to finish 4th. The lack of traction control will suit the four-time Champ Car champion, and he made no mistakes and benefited from Toro Rosso's usual innovative strategies under safety car periods. Remember also that safety cars are Bourdais' bread and butter after his years in the US.

Force India were so buoyed by Giancarlo Fisichella's free practice efforts that they were talking about making Q3, let alone Q2, and frankly that did not seem too outrageous. As it turned out the Italian just missed the Q1 cut, but there was a sense in which that could be put down to 'well, someone had to'. He showed that the new regulations suit his smooth driving style, and Fisi could also be someone to look out for in the next few races before the VJM01 starts getting too long in the tooth.

Giancarlo will set a testing benchmark for Adrian Sutil, who had an anonymous weekend. As the cars get more hairy to drive this year, one wonders how the German will cope, having done more damage than anyone else last year in cars that were hallmarks of stability. This weekend suggested that the raggedness hasn't disappeared yet from the German's game, and unless he improves drastically in this area he will find himself at the end of a thrashing from his team-mate.

And finally, Super Aguri did arrive in Melbourne, with a buyer in Martin Leach's Magma Group. Rumours suggest that that spells the end of Daniele Audetto's involvement in the team, whilst Aguri Suzuki may be relegated to a figurehead role, Honda may only be an engine supplier instead of being the team's financial lifeline, and even the name of the team might change. Some might argue that the character of the team has just gone, with Japanese fighting spirit replaced by clinical European professionalism.

But there was still a lot of fighting spirit on the track, as Sato amazingly out-qualified Piquet despite his underdone machinery, and spent much of the race running 11th or 12th until his retirement. It was reminiscent of his drive at Albert Park in Super Aguri's debut year two seasons ago, when again the odds were stacked against him. Surely he has to feature in Magma's future plans, although Davidson's role can't be so sure after being last all weekend and then retiring on lap one from an avoidable collision.