cntchds

I'm surprised no one has talked about the 2013 season yet especially with how good the season was last year. I have to say I am really pulling for Ferrari this year. I am enamored with Alonso, and hope that he can grab a title this year. Massa is really good as well, but Alonso just has that charisma.


Ok, to the ***spoilers***

Melbourne was wet during qualifications 1-3, and I could not be happier with that. Finally some wet tire practice time under the drivers' belts. Couple spins, but no injuries made for a very interesting first round of qualification.

2nd and 3rd were exciting to see, especially interesting in 3rd where the track dried enough for the drivers to migrate to the SuperSoft Pirellis instead of the Intermediates they started the session on. Button, I believe, threw down the first impressive lap time on the SS tires, but was quickly bumped down the ladder.

At the end of qualifications we saw two Red Bulls leading the pack followed by Alonso in his Ferrari, Hamilton in his Mercedes AMG (Glad to see him make the jump), and Massa in his Ferrari.

Amazingly little drama happened at the first corner in Melbourne, and the cars all kept it fairly tidy through the entire race with retiring occurring only for mechanical/electrical faults and none from collisions. A great way to start the season. I don't mind spins like we saw in Q1, but I am not a fan of the big crashes.

I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed with how NBC chose to display the race. I wasn't even aware that Raikkonen had taken first place until during commercials the order flashed on screen after Alonso had come out of the pits. Up until that point I believed that Alonso had kept the lead, and I was pretty surprised that by that point Kimi already had a substantial lead.

There was a lot of passing in the second DRS zone between turns two and three which was extremely fun to watch. Alonso keeping Vettel behind him was awesome.

Another shock to me was Sutil doing so well keeping the tires together for ten laps longer than the other front runners. Those SuperSofts should just be banned. Tires that look that tattered after 8 laps on his Force India shouldn't even be provided on race day.

The finishing positions were a bit surprising to me, especially because I hadn't really seen Kimi all race (started in 9th after a very slow Q3), but finishing 10 seconds ahead of Alonso is an impressive feat (If only the Caterhams would have just moved out of his way). I'm really not sure what I don't like about Vettel, but he just isn't impressive to me. He seems like a decent guy in the interviews, so I don't dislike him like I do Maldonado(Don't get me started... I was so glad to see him slide off turn 1 and get stuck, I was practically giddy), but I just can't like the guy. Anyway, him getting 3rd behind Fernando and Kimi just made my day.

Anybody else watch the race or am I the only nut here?

I believe it is playing again tomorrow at 1:00 on NBC Sports if you didn't catch it tonight (I don't blame you).

Evil_Capri

Just finished watching the race and very nice to see Kimi atop the podium! Kimi started 7th not 9th, by the way.

I thought Force India was great and Mclaren was disappointing. Will Weber ever learn how to start a race properly? Would like to see Perez win a race this season. And Estaban Gutierrez has the best name since Vitantonio Liuzzi!

I thought NBC did a very nice job with their first race. Should be a great season.

cntchds

Honestly I didn't even pay attention to where Kimi started. He was ninth in Q3 when I looked for him. He didn't even hit the track until about the 6 minute mark, and there was a lot of mobility at the top of the board which was more interesting. Seeing him on top of the podium was a big surprise, and I was happy to see him strutting his stuff. I could not believe how fast his Lotus pulled away from the Force India car right after the pass. Looks like they are going to have a good season if that performance is repeatable.

I'm not sure if the McLaren's are disappointing, or if the drivers are lackluster. Checo qualifying 15th when Button held the top spot for a while just shows the difference in talent levels there. Unfortunately that didn't change the race finish, 9th and 11th is not where McLaren's should be.

Mercedes is starting to scare me. I wanted to root for Hamilton this season, but despite his ability it just looked like the car let him down when it came to power. His team mate (Rosberg) having to retire during turn 4 was painful to watch(explaining to my girlfriend that "retiring" did not mean he was quitting the team at 1 in the morning was also no easy task). I hope that they get whatever that was sorted out. They were saying gearbox trouble, but that was a lot of smoke for a broken gearbox. I hope Hamilton can keep this up and prove he didn't just make the move for the money, but because he believed being a bigger part of development was more important than just driving.

StangMahn

I didn't watch it, but I like the results. I just don't want another season where Vettel wins everything. Good for Kimi!

I think Mercedes will win once, maybe twice this year, but remember, they're focusing their efforts and resources more on the car for next year.

I'm liking what I'm seeing from NBC so far, they've had lots of coverage, and I love the reshowing of the race later on in the day.

2013kAB

i'm an alonso/massa/ferrari fan. however i've been in awe of hamilton's and vettle's dominance streaks. hat's off to redbull too although they cheat (hahaha). i can't wait to watch this season unfold and 2nd place finish is good a good start!

mrp5150

I'm a huge Alonso/Ferrari fan. I agree with what Alonso said after the race, "fantastic." Much better than last year already. He is by far the best driver in the field. He deserves another title and hopefully he gets it this year.

Zastava_101

My favorite team was McLaren since Mika Hakkinen days. Currently, I like Kimi Raikkonen the most, I'm glad he won today.

Evil_Capri

Adrian Newey is pure genius.

cdynaco

Can't believe I missed it. And naturally, I don't get nbc sports.

cntchds

Find somewhere to watch next week's race! Any predictions? Lots of chances to pass with the two very long DRS zones.

EDIT: http://www.gptoday.com/details/view/...d#.UUh-0Fs9ywI

Nevermind, looks like there will still just be the one along the pit stretch.

StangMahn

which is really odd, since Sepang has two really long straights!

cntchds

Yeah, but think of the advantage someone would have getting two DRS zones in a row like that. It could make a close 1-2 into an easy pass and great gain.

Although the DRS zones are meant for passing I don't think they should give an advantage beyond that. After the pass it should be up to the driver to make a lead.

cntchds

**spoilers**

And consider me extremely disappointed. I had high hopes for Alonso today. Good bye front wing. Good bye race 2.

StangMahn

*spoiler alert*


same here, hated to see Alonso's result


also, I was really hoping the Red Bulls would take each other out, I'm so tired of Vettel finishing at the top every race.

Evil_Capri

Great race . . . and team orders rear their proverbial ugly head again!!

Tony Alonso

Did you see the post-finish shot in the green room before the Red Bull drivers went out on the podium?

Evil_Capri

I did!! It's the first time I have watched all of the post-race coverage in a long time!

Tony Alonso

That interchange between Webber and Vettel was the story of the race, even though there were few words. The looks alone told the story. I thought Webber should have won.

StangMahn

Now that most people will have seen it, that was ridiculous, and makes me dislike Vettel even more. They tell both drivers to throttle back and coast to victory, and Vettel gives a big FU to Weber, who has stayed behind him when he was faster. By the time Weber realized what was going on, there was nothing he could do (needed to save fuel, on the harder tires). This will be interesting to see play out for the rest of the season.

Also, the exchange between Hamilton and Rosberg was interesting. Seeing the post race comments Lewis made, I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull over for Rosberg in the same situation later on in the year. He knew he was slower, and it was almost as if he wasn't aware Nico was told to stay behind and felt bad about it.

2013kAB

Well is this something new, the depth of which has escaped me? The tension between vet and web?