As usual, the Australian Grand Prix seldom reveal the true pecking order in Formula One. Not only it is a street circuit, making it less technical than purposely built circuits, but also because there exist wheather variance that did not occur on other circuits, which all of them located on the northern hemisphere, except for Sao Paolo and Albert Park of course.
Last year we saw what would probably be the bushiest trimmed grass for any circuit at Albert Park, that might be the cause for few accidents last year (but nobody even bother blaming the untrimmed grass). This year, besides the much cooler temperature, the twilight condition was also brought up by few drivers. Who knew that it will get dark so soon in Australia besides the Australian themselves?
Starting the race, Barichello reportedly have issues with his anti-stall system. It has left him to lose a few places. As expected, those with 'holes' in the rear diffuser - no pun intended - command the race, bar the Williams, sadly. Nico Rosberg did not fulfill his topping three practice time expectations, and so does Nakajima.
Surprisingly, the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and the BMW of Robert Kubica do have the pace to keep up with Jenson Button, although they don't even have neither KERS nor double rear diffusers on their respective cars. Although they eventually got out of contention, this might prove a crucial point. Given the right condition, a good driver can cope without KERS or hole in their rear diffusers. On a very technical circuit, say Sepang, KERS might be a big advantage. But maybe, not the rear diffusers.
Noticably, Fernando Alonso is already comfortable with the KERS. although his R29 is lacking the pace, he managed to deter Timo Glock from getting a clean overtake. So, KERS actually can nullify the threat from elevated, double rear diffuser. Alonso knows that very well.
Although Lewis Hamilton claims every driver use the KERS on every lap, Kimi Raikkonen candidly said he only used it for the first few laps. Maybe some driver finds it hard to add new routine to his driving, but those who can adapt faster is certainly a step ahead.
Tyre wear is something different this season. Bridgestone had promised to have a wider difference from the option and the prime tyres. Instead of providing medium and soft compound, they provided the teams with medium and super-soft tyres at Albert Park. That means tyre wear will get two fold on the option. Massa and Raikkonen learned this first hand as they are forced to pit earlier due to graining on the slicks.
As we all know, Trulli was initially denied the second runner-up, but later was reinstated by the Sepang stewards. Shockingly, this is because they gain new evidence that Lewis Hamilton had misled the stewards at Albert Park to think that Trulli had overtake him under Yellow Flag (Safety Car), while the truth remains , he was instructed to let the Toyota passed by. The consequence could be that he will disqualified altogether from this season's championship. In our lifetime, this could be the first time a driver caught lying to the stewards red handed. In laymen word, he lied to the stewards. This might left a deeper scar in his career, more than Jerez 1997 hurts Schumacher's image. And we all now how lucky Hamilton was with his first world title - he rammed into the back of Raikkonen's F2008, late brake at Fuji's first corner, dangerous overtaking manouvres, illegally overtook Raikkonen at Spa-Francorchamps, and the list goes on... If you put it into perspective, you might lean to think he was attacking Raikkonen all year long!
He really need to have a senior teaching him.
Let's go back to Albert Park.
Judging from the lap chart, the Brawns were the consistent ones, and the Toyotas were the biggest gainers. As usual at Albert Park, Safety Car period made it quite a chaos pecking order-wise. Even Lewis Hamilton who started at the back of the field made it to fourth, although later disqualified.
Qualifying proves the Brawns are not running light. Although the rear diffuser comes under protest, it doesn't explain why the other two cars with such diffusers are not as fast as the Brawns. Most probably the air intake design that gave it the speed. The other teams seems to adopt the intake design and principals from the previous seasons, while the Brawns brought in something from the 90's.
There's also a wide performance difference from the two Red Bulls and BMWs. The slicks and lower downforce has left the season to be dominated by drivers that have braver driving style. Kubica and Vettel are known to be harder on the kerbs and adventurous at braking. Vettel is also exceptional in the wet, although this season might prove different with new cars.
The Brawns dominated both the qualifying and the race with classy 1-2. Other than those running with controversial rear diffusers, it seems Red Bull, BMW and Ferari are the teams who can challenge for the win, if the status quo remains.
If the FIA decided the diffusers are legal, then we will see more of the teams using it in Barcelona. Maybe Bahrain at the earliest.
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