Formula One Season Starts This Weekend

[SteveB]

Australian Grand Prix Qualifying
Race at 05:00 Sunday morning Irish Time
• Lewis Hamilton in pole position tomorrow
• Mercedes have locked out the front row at the last nine consecutive races
• Both McLarens on back of the grid.
Provisional Grid for Tommorrow:=
• 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m26.327s
• 2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m26.921s
• 3. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1m27.718s
• 4. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1m27.757s
• 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1m27.790s
• 6. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 1m28.087s
• 7. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1m28.329s
• 8. Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso) 1m28.510s
• 9. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1m28.560s
• 10. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) 1m29.480s
• 11. Felipe Nasr (Sauber) 1m28.800s (eliminated Q2)
• 12. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) 1m28.868s (eliminated Q2)
• 13. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) 1m29.070s (eliminated Q2)
• 14. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1m29.208s (eliminated Q2)
• 15. Sergio Perez (Force India) 1m29.209s (eliminated Q2)
• 16. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1m31.376s (eliminated Q3)
• 17. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1m31.422s (eliminated Q3)
• 18. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1m32.037s (eliminated Q3)
• 19 Will Stevens (Manor) Did not take part. Will not race tomorrow.
• 20 Roberto Merhi (Manor) Did not take part. Will not race tomorrow

[peregine]

Mc Laren big surprise. Both at back of grid. Mercedes as one would suppose on front. Both Ferraris did well.

[SteveB]

2015 FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
How they finished

1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes 1:31:54.

2 Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes +1.36s

3 Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari +34.523s

4 Felipe Massa BRA Williams +38.196s

5 Felipe Nasr BRA Sauber +95.149s

6 Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull +1 lap

7 Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India +1 lap

8 Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber +1 lap

9 Carlos Sainz ESP Toro Rosso +1 lap

10 Sergio Perez MEX Force India +1 lap

11 Jenson Button GBR McLaren +2 laps

Retired Kimi Räikkönen FIN Ferrari Did NotFinish
Retired Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso DidNotFinish
Retired Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus DidNotFinish
Retired Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus DidNotFinish
DNS Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull DidNotFinish
DNS Kevin Magnussen DEN McLaren DidNotFinish

[SteveB]

Points after one race

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 18
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 15
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 12
5 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 10
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 8
7 Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 6
8 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 4
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 2
10 Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1

Only 11 cars finished in Australia. This means every car that finished received points, with the exception of Jensen Button who finished 11th.

Manor Marussia, did not run at all throughout the weekend, so that meant just 15 cars took the start.
Three more cars didn’t start. Williams's Valtteri Bottas was ordered not to race by the official doctor after suffering an injured disc in his back in qualifying and spending the night in hospital.
McLaren-Honda's Kevin Magnussen stopped in a cloud of blue smoke between Turns Five and Six, as he headed around to take his place on the grid.
Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat stopped shortly afterwards, with gearbox trouble.
So just 15 cars took the start.
Lotus's Pastor Maldonado was hit by Felipe Nasr's Sauber at the first corner and had to retire.
Romain Grosjean joined Maldonado in retirement on the opening lap with an engine power loss.
Kimi Raikkonen was forced to stop after a wheel was not properly fitted after a pit stop
Max Verstappen, the youngest driver in F1 history, driving the second Toro Rosso, retired from sixth place shortly after half distance, when his engine started to smoke.

[SteveB]

Malaysian GP: Qualifying
How they will line up tomorrow=:
1) Hamilton
2) Vettel
3) Rosberg
4) Ricciardo
5) Kvyat
6) Verstappen
7) Massa
8) Grosjean
9) Bottas
10) Ericsson
11) Raikkonen
12) Maldonado
13) Hulkenberg
14) Perez
15) Sainz
16) Nasr
17) Button
18) Alonso

[SteveB]

17-year-old Max Verstappen doesn’t have a full driving licence to drive a road car in his native Belgium, but he has secured the highest qualifying position by a teenage driver since Ricardo Rodriguez started on the front row for Ferrari at the 1961 Italian GP.

19 year old Ricardo Rodríguez was given a guest drive by Ferrari for the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, qualifying a surprise second and becoming the youngest driver in history to start from the front row.

This is just his second race. Max Verstappen is certainly a driver to watch.

[nonpareil]

Max Verstappen

son of

Jos Verstappen.

His sixth position on the starting grid has equalled his father's best ever starting position in Formula 1.

Seemingly , according to Wikipedia, his mother, grandfather, granduncle and uncle also had driving/karting careers.

[diggerbuckley]

What a sport to follow.it has everything.love f1

[Tgrant]

I'm so glad to see the vast array of topics covered on the forum! It may turn into my new home.

Love watching F1 and hope to get to a couple of races over the next year or two with a good friend.

Despite anyones opinion on Lewis, he's a top class driver and likely to be on top or in contention for some time to come!

[SteveB]

Mexican Grand Prix Qualifying. Race Today (Sunday at 19:00)

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m 19.480s
2. Lewis Hamilton( Mercedes) 1m 19.668s
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1m 19.850s
4. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) 1m 20.398s
5. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1m 20.399s
6. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 1m 20.448s
7. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1m 20.567s
8. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) 1m 20.710s
9. Sergio Perez (Force India) 1m 20.716s
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1m 20.788s
11. Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso) 1m 20.942s
12. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1m 21.038s
13. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) 1m 21.261s
14. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1m 21.544s
15. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1m 22.494s [plus grid penalty]
16. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1m 21.779s [plus grid penalty]
17. Felipe Nasr (Sauber) 1m 21.788s
18. Alexander Rossi (Manor Marussia) 1m 24.136s
19. Will Stevens (Manor Marussia) 1m 24.386s

Jenson Button (McLaren), did not run in qualifying and also receives a grid penalty