Lewis Hamilton warned fans not to expect much from McLaren at the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and after Friday’s practice performance they will need no more convincing.
Hamilton finished 16th out of 20 drivers in the opening practice, and then it got even worse as he slumped to 18th after the second session, above only rookie Sebastien Buemi and the struggling Nelson Piquet Jr.
The poor showing confirmed the worst fears from offseason testing that the McLaren car was well off the pace of its rivals…Â Details
It was 17 degrees this morning when my wife and I went on a morning jog and throughout the run I couldn’t help but think about Melbourne and Formula One where things are really heating up.
The early broadside was fired by the AT&T Williams team which ran in the fastest time, with Nico Rosberg’s 1:26.53 in the second session. Rubens Barrichello was second with a 1:26.157 for BrawnGP, his team mate Jensen Button was fifth with a 1:26.374, Jarno Truli was third fastest for Toyota and local hero Mark Webber was fourth for the Red Bull team, with a 1:26.370… Details
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Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is philosophical about his second poor start to a season since returning to Renault. In his second year back, he qualified 12th on the grid for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso started from 11th on the grid here last year before finishing in 5th out of seven finishers. The Spaniard went on to finish the season strongly and ended 2008 in fifth place on the drivers’Â standings.
“I feel optimistic. Last year (early in season) the car was undriveable and there was no room to improve,” … Detail
The iconic wings fixed to the back of Formula One cars made them look as sexy and fast as fighter jets. It turns out they were also making the races a bit of a snooze.
The wings were designed to catch the wind and thereby increase downforce on the tires. Downforce helps the tires grip the pavement, which allows the cars to take tight corners without skidding out. But the wings also had a serious side effect: They created a wake of air so turbulent that any car following behind lost up to 33% of its downforce. As a result, cars in F1 had to slow down before sharp turns to stay out of the turbulence created by the car in front — which made it very hard for F1 drivers to pass each other. Nascar, by comparison, has an average of 3,000 changes of position every race.
In 2005, a survey conducted by F1’s governing body found that 94% of fans wanted …Â Details