Australian GP review

in F1 2010 RACE REVIEWS by admin — April 10, 2010 at 2:08 pm | 0 comments

The clarity of hindsight – Melbourne 2010 review

Huddled on the sofa in the early hours of the morning, watching the Australian Grand Prix, a song lyric kept dancing around the outer recesses of my brain. ‘I’m only happy when it rains, I’m only happy when it’s complicated…’

While Shirley Manson and co. were unlikely to be thinking of Formula 1 when they penned the lyrics, the song could be an anthem for the 2010 season. After the much derided season-opener at Bahrain, something needed to happen in Melbourne to stop the F1 obituary writers. And happen it did, in the form of a heaven-sent shower.

Before the F1 circus had finished packing up in Bahrain, fans and media alike were writing off the 2010 season as a boring disappointment that would only get worse as time progressed. The new regulations had sounded the death knell of overtaking, and all fans had to look forward to was 18 more Sunday afternoon processions.

Drivers and team principals joined in the widespread condemnation, and it was left to Bernie Ecclestone to stand as the voice of reason, reminding all and sundry that one dull race does not a season make. The Formula 1 supremo warned against knee-jerk reactions, and suggested that judgement on the new rules should be postponed until at least Shanghai.

And after the classic race served up in Melbourne, Bernie looks to have been right. For now.

While pessimists have said that all of Melbourne’s thrills and spills can be attributed to to the rain, it’s not quite so simple. Formula 1 is a complex beast, and weather is but one factor in the drama. Another is the track itself, and Albert Park has historically delivered good racing.

Each F1 circuit has its own characteristics, and Albert Park is known for near-guaranteed safety cars. In the unlikely event that the safety car doesn’t come out, there will still be crashes and bits of flying carbon fibre to help shake up the qualifying order.

Throughout the race weekend there were signs that Sunday in Melbourne would offer more drama than Bahrain. Michael Schumacher’s performances in free practice hinted at a possible return to form for the erstwhile champion. Robert Kubica, who had been complaining of poor grip on the greasy track, also pulled out a fastest time in free practice, while the two McLaren drivers spent so much time topping the leaderboards that it seemed the weekend might be theirs to lose.

And then qualifying happened. Lewis Hamilton was out in Q2, and F1 fans knew they would be in for a spectacular race. In 2009 Hamilton tore through the field in Melbourne when he qualified at the back of the grid, and 2010 was sure to offer more of the same. Not only would Hamilton want to outperform his teammate, but he would be the first of the drivers on fresh rubber, and in the perfect position to make up places from the start.

While Sunday’s rain put paid to the prospect of a fresh-tyre battle in Melbourne, it did give us the first real tyre strategies of the season. Whereas dry races mandate the use of two tyre compounds, an artificial attempt to keep tyres in the race coverage in the wake of F1’s tyre wars, wet races mean the rulebook goes out the window and real strategising comes into play.

Were it not for his tyre choice – and Sebastian Vettel’s retirement – it is unlikely that Jenson Button would have won the Australian Grand Prix. The smooth driver had managed to destroy his inters in the first few laps, and so pitted for new tyres on lap 6. Initially the decision looked to be lunacy – the reigning world champion slid off the track on turn 3 shortly after making the tyre swap – but anything was better than the backwards slide down the grid that had been his lot.

That anything turned out to be a race victory, McLaren’s first of the season.

But despite Button’s success, Melbourne’s thrills had little to do with the Frome Flyer. Rather, it was the men behind him in the field that provided fans with the racing they’d longed to see.

Due to a first lap collision, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher found themselves at the back of the grid. Both men fought their way back up into the points, and between them the two drivers were responsible for more overtaking manoeuvres than the entire field in Bahrain.

Schumacher’s battle with Jaime Alguersuari, which lasted a number of laps, saw the Toro Rosso keep the Mercedes behind him in a drawn-out clean fight for on-track supremacy before the German legend overtook the young Spaniard on turn 13, securing a 10th-place finish in the process. Thanks to the collision and a pitstop for a new nosecone, Schumacher battled with a number of backmarkers, including the Virgin of Lucas di Grassi.

Alonso, who didn’t need to pit after his first-lap collision, had an even more impressive race than former rival Schumacher. The Spaniard span on track and was pointing in the wrong direction before turning his car around and storming up the field to an eventual fourth-place finish.

Lewis Hamilton was another contender for man of the match. Despite his inauspicious qualifying result, the young driver was running in third place and looking at a possible 1-2 finish for McLaren when the powers that be on the pit wall decided to call him in for new tyres. While the decision brought Hamilton’s podium dreams to an end, some good did come of it.

We are now in no doubt that the promised battles between old and new tyres will not materialise this season. Under the new regulations, the theory went, teams and drivers would have to choose between maintaining track position while preserving old rubber, or pitting for new tyres before tearing back up the field. We now know there is no choice to be made – track position is as important as it ever was.

Initially, it looked like Hamilton might be able to take advantage of his fresh tyres, and the young McLaren driver overtook a number of slower cars on his way back up the field. But as soon as he was behind a comparable car, the Briton’s race was over: Hamilton’s charge ended when he hit the dirty air of Alonso’s Ferrari.

Both Alonso and teammate Felipe Massa were on knackered tyres and had visibly been losing traction for several laps. On fresh rubber, it should only have been a matter of time before Lewis overtook one – or both – of them. But try as he might, Hamilton just couldn’t get past. There was no grip in the dirty air, and every passing attempt put further stress on his tyres.

Melbourne offered more than just spectacular racing. Its greatest contribution to the 2010 season was the way in which it pushed the reset button on our inflated expectations. Thanks to a combination of weather, collisions, and qualifying, the on-track action was glorious to watch. But even the thrills and spills of Melbourne couldn’t furnish fans with consistent overtaking between evenly matched cars. Now we know, we can’t be disappointed.

Kate Walker