March 12, 2012
![](/images/australia2012-car2.jpg)
And such it is today as the 2012 season cranks into life! It's back, baby! Let's take a look at the trackmap for the traditional first race on the calendar, the Australian Grand Prix!
![](/images/australia2012.jpg)
There's not a lot that I can say about the Melbourne circuit that I've not mentioned in the past. While it's technically a street circuit, being run on the public roads and parking lots that go through Albert Park just south of the center of the city, it races much more like a standard road circuit. Or, to put it another way, it's less like Singapore and more like Silverstone. This is a good thing. Drivers universally praise the circuit, believing it to be easy to get used to, but not so easy as to be boring. There's a distinct sense of "going someplace" when you race in Melbourne, courtesy of the splendid scenery provided by... well, Albert Park isn't called a "park" because you leave your car there while you go to work.
![](/images/australia2012-park.jpg)
Other than the usual bits about the circuit having not so much runoff area, fencing ridiculously near the track, and lots of painted lines on the racing surface that can play hob with grip, the big news for this year is that there'll be two DRS zones, as opposed to the last year's one. Undoubtedly one will be on the front straight. The location of the second is anybody's guess... I'm thinking the run from Turn 2 to Turn 3. There really isn't any other place for it, unless you put it on the "straight" from Turn 10 to 11, which is actually a curve that needs the traction provided by the rear wing. Then again, nothing like multi-million dollar cars careening through a catchfence and ending up in the lake to make the race go away, am I right?
It's all moot for this year, however... there WILL be a race, and the good cobbers at SPEED will be bringing us all the coverage with their usual aplomb and bonhomie. Here's the schedule, which begins on Thursday:
Thursday: 830p - 10p P1 streaming
Friday: 1230a - 210a P2 live
10p - 11p P3 streaming
Saturday: 1a - 230a Quals plausibly live
Sunday: 1230a - 3a Grand Prix of Australia live
1p - 330p GP of Australia replay
Now for a bit of Wonderduck scheduling. There's pretty much no way I'll be able to provide coverage of P2, as there's an event at Duck U Friday night. I'll be there from 815a to approximately 10p, give or take a half hour. By the time I get back to Pond Central, it'll be 1030p and I'll be staring Quals dead in the face. The good news is that I'll be trying to liveblog P1 right here at The Pond... nothing like starting the season off right, right?
F1's back, folks... let's see if we can't make it a good'un... and yes, I said "we." I welcome, nay, nigh on require, all your questions and comments, educated or neophyte. It makes it a lot easier if y'all participate! Fair dinkum? Fosters for everybody and I'll throw a few pounds of prawns on the barbie... mind the wallabies and the sugar gliders!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:26 PM
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Post contains 685 words, total size 5 kb.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at March 12, 2012 08:46 PM (pWQz4)
Posted by: David at March 12, 2012 10:21 PM (Kn54v)
![](http://smilies.mee.nu/light/15_yellow/icon_smile.gif)
Posted by: Tom Tjarks at March 13, 2012 05:54 PM (T5fuR)
I'm looking at the course on Google Earth. Looks like from turn 9 all the way to turn 13 is really pretty straight. That's "top gear floor it" territory, right? It doesn't look like turns 11 and 12 really are going to slow them down.
If they hadn't added that hook at turn 9, it probably would have been like that starting from turn 6.
Why does Ecclestone hate it? Because it wasn't designed by Wilcke? (or whatever his name is?)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 13, 2012 06:50 PM (+rSRq)
No, he hates it because it doesn't make him enough money and it DOES make him bad publicity when the anti-racers go on their annual rampage.
At standard road-car speeds, yeah, the "back straight" is nothing. At 160mph, with a car that is always on the ragged edge of adhesion, any downforce is welcome, and voluntarily taking some of it away while you're in a turn, albeit a gentle one... well. It'll be interesting if the run from 10 to 11 is where they stick the second DRS zone... interesting and ugly.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 13, 2012 08:25 PM (QD1qx)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 14, 2012 01:19 AM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at March 14, 2012 03:55 AM (GJQTS)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 14, 2012 06:29 AM (QD1qx)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 14, 2012 06:32 AM (QD1qx)
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at March 14, 2012 04:20 PM (pWQz4)
From http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2012/3/13098.html
Posted by: flatdarkmars at March 14, 2012 09:49 PM (I55Es)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 14, 2012 10:14 PM (Ao5ht)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 14, 2012 11:12 PM (+rSRq)
(I'll probably stay up for quals anyway, so the question is moot)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 15, 2012 06:26 AM (PHdMw)
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