2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix

[afrodude41 0]

Pre Season Preview

The long nights of winter are over and the sport is heading back down under for the first round of the 2015 championship. Mercedes, looking dominant as ever having amassed the most kilometres throughout the winter testing program. Red Bull will be looking to capitalise on their package in order to challenge the Silver Arrows, having being the only team other than Mercedes to win in 2014. Ferrari, having their first win-less season since 1993, have made massive strides over the winter through the shake up of internal staffing. It now seems they may be a contender to challenge for the win. New recruit Sebastian Vettel will be looking to follow in Michael Schumacher's footsteps as he looks to emulate his championship record.

Will McLaren have sorted out their pre-season issues with the struggling Honda power unit? Having already lost Fernando Alonso for the opening round, will Kevin Magnussen pull a stunning performance to prove why McLaren may have made the wrong decision regarding their lineup for 2015? Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen will be looking to prove the critics wrong by being the youngest driver to start a Grand Prix in Melbourne. Lotus may be a team to look out for this season, now utilising the powerful Mercedes power unit, and are already looking better for pre-season form than in 2014. Big surprise has to be Manor F1 team, having defied all odds to make it on to the entry list for this season. Will they pull off an even bigger surprise during the race weekend?

Race Details



Race Start (Local/GMT) - 4:00pm/5:00am
Tire Allocations - Softs/Mediums

2014 Results:
Pole - Lewis Hamilton | 1:44.231 (Wet)
Podium - Nico Rosberg
                 Kevin Magnussen
                 Jenson Button

Interesting Facts:

• Last race a team other than Mercedes or Red Bull won a race - 2013 Spanish Grand Prix (Alonso - Ferrari)
• Last time there wasn't a car with #1 on it - 1994 Season
• Last win for a Ferrari turbo engine - 1988 Italian Grand Prix (Berger)

[onetwothree 0]

I think my favourite part about Australian GP time is that other people look up the weather for me.

[f1since08 60]

Not looking forward to a 5AM start, but I've waited far to long for the new season to let that put me off!

[AMSKRR 3]

5am is stupid. I thought it was like 6am last year?

[f1since08 60]

AMS97KRR said:

5am is stupid. I thought it was like 6am last year?

Yeah it was, but after the Bianchi crash they've moved some races forwards an hour.

[AMSKRR 3]

fIsince08 said:

AMS97KRR said:

5am is stupid. I thought it was like 6am last year?

Yeah it was, but after the Bianchi crash they've moved some races forwards an hour.

Oh yeah. Wow, that is a joke. 5am? Really... The race is finished by 6:30 and by that time I can't really go back to bed, but it just makes it a really long day :/

[f1since08 60]

AMS97KRR said:

fIsince08 said:

AMS97KRR said:

5am is stupid. I thought it was like 6am last year?

Yeah it was, but after the Bianchi crash they've moved some races forwards an hour.

Oh yeah. Wow, that is a joke. 5am? Really... The race is finished by 6:30 and by that time I can't really go back to bed, but it just makes it a really long day :/

Go to bed an hour earlier :p

[JensonBottom 1]

What was wrong with just calling the thread 'Australian GP'. :tongue: 

[MBKF1 91]

JensonBottom said:

What was wrong with just calling the thread 'Australian GP'. :tongue: 

Maybe afro dud is Ron Dennis in disguise!

[Lukedfrt 91]

I used to love an early race, not anymore though :/ 

[Liam12d 0]

Never mind the race, if you plan on watching the build up you may as well not sleep. 

[Lukedfrt 91]

Just put £2 on Grosjean to get on the podium, get £82 back if it happens  :#

[afrodude41 0]

First weather forecast for the race weekend and it's actually looking okay

[Jiggy 5]

JensonBottom said:

What was wrong with just calling the thread 'Australian GP'. :tongue: 

Rolex doesn't pay to sponsor this thread for nothing, you know.

[VetteIfan 0]

I don't understand why they've decided to move some race forward an hour when that panel basically concluded that Bianchi was driving too fast. Surely that conclusion had no relevance to how late in the day the race was. 

Anyway luckily enough, like every student, my sleep pattern is broken, so I'm actually quite accustomed to being awake at that time. Sleep is for the weak anyway. 

[couger1981 89]

VetteIfan said:

I don't understand why they've decided to move some race forward an hour when that panel basically concluded that Bianchi was driving too fast. Surely that conclusion had no relevance to how late in the day the race was. 

Anyway luckily enough, like every student, my sleep pattern is broken, so I'm actually quite accustomed to being awake at that time. Sleep is for the weak anyway. 

I thought they did it because some races finish close to sunset?

[MBKF1 91]

Normally I quite like a wet race and in previous years would have wanted it to be wet, but I'm looking forward to a couple of dry races just to see what the real pecking order is this year.

In terms of sleeping/watching the race, here's my plan. I've got work unfortunately on Sunday from 09:00-16:30, so I would be getting up earlier anyway. The race starts at 05:00 but I think I'll get up at 05:00 so I can watch an hour of build up, the race at 06:00 and then get ready for work while watching the debrief at around 08:00. I can't go to work without having watched it so I'll have to get up early :P

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

My plan is if I get woken up by one of my kitties around race time, I'll watch it live. If not, I'll just watch the BBC highlights. There used to be a time I'd stay up all night or wake up early for it, but with old age I like my sleep patterns as they are ;)

[GoldenColt 1]

Say what you all want but I love early races. Means once the race is done there's still enough time for me to do other stuff. Furthermore it brings back some nostalgia from a time where my dad had to wake me up at 3 in the morning to watch the season opener in the early 2000's.

[LowKeyRacer 0]

All this talk about waking up early for the poor euro's each year is a bit odd. The standard response is welcome to what australians have to do for 85% of the races... but then 5am or 6am start isn't early really.. half the day is over by then. :) Do all you guys only get up at 9am or something?

[MBKF1 91]

On Sunday's I usually wake up at about 11am, love it!

[Jiggy 5]

I remember the old days, waking up around 3AM, race starts at 4, go back to bed at 6. Then wake up around 9, turn on the Playstation and play some Crash Team Racing.

My life was awesome.

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

Sunday is a wake up at 10, get out of bed at 12 day for me :)

[GoldenColt 1]

RevolvingPrawn said:

Sunday is a wake up at 10, get out of bed at 12 day for me :)

What are you doing between 10 and 12?

Wait, I don't even want to know.

[onetwothree 0]

I love early sport. Give me a 5 am Champions League game over a half-seven one any day of the week. Helps that I'm a bit of a morning person too.