March 13, 2008

F1 Practice: Australia 2008!

The F1 Circus has returned!  Today was the first day of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, and the howl of engines at 19000 rpm echoed thru Albert Park, Melbourne once again.

As it was practice, we couldn't really learn anything of true substance, but there are a few conclusions we can draw from the day's activities:

1) Some Things Never Change.  Ferrari and McLaren were, for the most part, fastest on track... just like last year.  For example, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in session 2, almost a full second ahead of everybody else.  Expect to see the Big Two repeat their dominance this season.

2) Some Things DO Change.  The fight in the midpack looks like it's going to be wild.  Mark Webber's Red Bull was second quickest today, and while we can't be sure that it wasn't just a low fuel speed run, the fact that David Coulthard's Chin was fifth seems to indicate that it's no fluke.  The Williams (by the way, it isn't dark blue... it's black!)looked solid, and Toyota looked like they'd be high-midpack too.  Renault, though, blew chunks;  HWMNBN could only muster 13th best.  What a shame, huh?  Surprise of the day, though, has to go to Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India... they managed 9th fastest (and the car looks even better than I originally thought).

3) The Race Is Gonna Be Ugly.  The removal of traction control led to an incredible amount of skids, slides, twitches and spins.  It might as well have been "2 Fast 2 Furious: Melbourne Drift" out there.  Hamilton took one turn practically sideways, yet you never thought he was out of control... his opinion may vary, however.  EVERYBODY went off at one time or another, with Jarno Trulli (and his all-new, still lousy, hairstyle) beaching his Toyota near the end of the session.  The first couple of laps are going to be true adventures.

4) The Legendary Announce Team Is Already In Midseason Form.  Who else would bring you the news that David Coulthard's Chin a) buys 40 pair of a particular Australian brand of underwear when he comes to Melbourne, and b) he wears size small.  We were also informed that Flavio Briatore, team principal of Renault, is going to marry his girlfriend in about six months... "She's a lingerie model.  Flavor Flav, however, is not."
Thanks for the clarification, guys.

This is gonna be fun.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:32 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Has the "legal" case against McLaren been settled? Are they disqualified?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 14, 2008 01:35 AM (+rSRq)

2 I believe there's still proceedings against them in Italian courts, but that's a civil matter, brought by Ferrari against McLaren.  The situation with the FIA has been resolved, and the team is clear to race.

Posted by: Wonderduck at March 14, 2008 06:46 AM (DcSb+)

3

I had missed the news about Chinny's small undies and Flavio's finacee.  The Legendary Announce Team are way better than TMZ. 

:-)

 

Posted by: Mallory at March 14, 2008 07:08 AM (YwBI6)

4 I'm loving the lack of traction control! You actually get to see the drivers drive!

And why is it news that Flavio's "boinking" another supermodel? The real story would be what kind of witchcraft he uses to catch them in the first place! Flav's the man!

Posted by: madmike at March 14, 2008 10:50 AM (o+iiH)

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