FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

They sound pretty good to me.

Not V10's or V8's but look at our opinions when the 10's left and the 8 cylinders came in, we were all heaved yet we learnt to love them. Now, we miss the 8's and here are the turbos. They certainly don't sound crap in person!

LIVE STREAM

[MIKA27]

Alonso: Strategic errors could be very costly this season

Many times in recent years Fernando Alonso and Ferrari have pulled the proverbial ‘rabbit out the hat’ and scored great results due to excellent race craft and shrewd strategy, which the Spaniard believes the reds can use in their favour once again this season while also warning that “errors will be punished”.

Speaking ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Alonso told members of the media, “It’s difficult to say what position we can end up with. What we do know is that with such complex cars there are many elements of strategy to get right.”

“If we manage it in the best way I believe a good result, points or even a podium will arrive almost inevitably. Having said that, strategic errors could be very costly this season. So we must stay 100 per cent concentrated from Friday morning to Sunday evening.”

On the all new V6 turbo generation Formula 1, Alonso explains, “What has changed is the sensation that you have at the wheel of the car. There’s an engine that supplies the power in a different way, which is impressive and has obliged us to adapt our driving style.”

“Race strategy will change, with many more parameters to keep under control, and there are more instruments that we can use on the car. But once the race starts, without doubt there will still be adrenaline, passing, tactics and tyre management, all more or less the same as before,” predicted Alonso.

In Melbourne this weekend the 32 year old Spaniard will be starting his 217th grand prix and looking to add to his 32 Formula 1 victories.

[MIKA27]

Mixed feelings as Formula 1 revolution dawns with Melbourne season opener

Formula 1 is staring into the unknown as the sport’s revolutionary new era finally begins in earnest this weekend at the season opening Australian Grand Prix, in Melbourne.

“We can be neither too pessimistic nor too optimistic,” said Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, “because it is likely that Australia will be a race in the dark for everyone, in terms of performance.”

The Spaniard was quoted by Italy’s La Repubblica as saying “good points and even the podium” are realistic possibilities for Ferrari at Albert Park, but he is not sure even that the apparent dominance of Mercedes can be trusted.

“Mercedes looks strong,” he conceded, “but it was only testing. Now we will see the reality.

“It is the same for Red Bull. Many people talk about their problems, but maybe we will get to the first race and find them in front. Everything is yet to be discovered,” added Alonso.

Formula 1′s all-new look has divided opinions.

Former driver Patrick Tambay told France’s RMC that he thinks 2014 could be a “world championship for engines, a world championship for engineers, with the drivers in the background”.

But the taciturn Kimi Raikkonen insisted: “In the end, I think the races will be quite similar to before.

“Over the years, from time to time we’ve always had to be saving something rather than just driving flat out from start to finish,” he told Finland’s Turun Sanomat.

“So it’s nothing new really,” he added, referring to the new fuel restrictions.

“I don’t care to guess where we are or what will happen,” added Raikkonen. “Let’s see what happens on Friday and go from there.”

Expecting more drama than that, however, is the veteran British commentator Martin Brundle, who thinks 2014 could be “the wildest season I have ever seen”.

“Some teams look like they will struggle to get their car to the start of the race, let alone the finish,” he told the Daily Mail.

Indeed, Auto Motor und Sport has even been moved to ask FIA race director Charlie Whiting what will happen if not a single car reaches the chequered flag on Sunday.

“The winner will be the driver who failed last,” the Briton explained, adding that a two-lap countback may then apply. So it could be that the winner is actually not the last survivor.”

The bizarre situation of a feasibly zero per cent reliability rate could make it wise for teams to repair technical failures and put their cars back into the race, several laps down.

“It might be worth changing an electronic box or a rear wing,” confirmed Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder.

[MIKA27]

Teams could sit out Saturday Free Practice in Melbourne

It has emerged that television and trackside viewers face a questionable spectacle on the Saturday morning of the Australian Grand Prix weekend at Albert Park.

As ever, an hour of practice is scheduled to finish just two hours before the all-important qualifying hour. Some teams, however, may not bother to send their cars out at all on Saturday morning.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed to reporters in Melbourne: “I’ve heard teams say that they’d skip P3 to make sure they have a car for qualifying.”

That’s because the newly V6-powered cars have not only proved worryingly unreliable in winter testing, but because repairing them now takes much longer than in the past.

“Sometimes hours pass before a diagnosis [of a problem] is even made,” said Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt.

A full engine change can now take a whopping six hours, but Force India Technical Director Andy Green added: “If we have to piece it together with individual parts, it can be 18 hours.”

MIKA: Nooooooooooo!

[MIKA27]

Stewards to be lenient on 107 percent qualifying rule

Formula 1 stewards are likely to make allowances for any driver who fails to qualify for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix due to problems with the new engines, race director Charlie Whiting said on Thursday.

Under the regulations, to qualify for the race drivers must clock a time within 107 percent of that set by the driver on pole position.

However, the sport is coming to terms with a new V6 turbo power unit with complicated energy recovery systems that have proved tricky, and time-consuming to work on, in pre-season testing.

Some teams have arrived in Melbourne without having completed a full race simulation, or even practice starts, with their new cars.

Whiting told reporters at Albert Park that it was unlikely the 107 percent rule would be strictly enforced due to the situation.

“I think the 107 percent rule was introduced to make sure that teams that weren’t capable of producing a good car that was of the required performance wouldn’t actually get into the races,” he said.

“What we have out here at the moment are 11 teams that we know are capable. They may be suffering a temporary performance loss but I’m sure the stewards will look very sympathetically on any team that doesn’t make the 107 percent.”

He cautioned, however, that stewards may be less lenient on teams who failed to complete any timed laps in practice or qualifying.

With only two hours between final practice and qualifying on Saturday, and an engine change potentially taking hours, Whiting recognised some teams might sacrifice track time.

“I’ve heard even teams say that they’d skip P3 (third practice) to make sure they have a car for qualifying,” he said.

“Everyone’s got their own way of going about things. Some teams tell me it’ll take them seven hours to change an engine, some say it’ll take three, some an hour-and-a-half.”

Whiting emphasised that there would be no leeway on anyone exceeding the new limit of 100 kilogrammes of fuel from start to flag, including formation and slowing down laps.

Should reliability be so bad that there were no cars still running on track before the scheduled end of the race, the event would then be red-flagged and the result based on the last completed lap.

“I think a lot of these Doomsday scenarios are quite unlikely, knowing Formula One teams and how efficient they actually are,” said Whiting.

“But if it came to the situation where no cars were actually running, we’d simply stop the race – because there wouldn’t be much of one, would there?”

[MIKA27]

Button targeting wins this year with McLaren

Jenson Button starts his fifteenth season as a grand prix driver when he climbs into his McLaren for the start of the first free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, and is adamant he will return to the top step of the podium this year.

Speaking to media on the eve of the season opener in Melbourne, Button said, “There were two teams that were really fast in testing – and we weren’t one of them. But we have brought upgrades to Australia that hopefully will take us close to the front. We are definitely expecting to win races this year.”

Button endured a well below par season in 2013, one fo the worst in McLaren’s illustrious history and the 2009 World Champion admits that a repeat of last year will not go down well.

“I would be very disappointed if we find out we are in the same situation as last year. There is a much better feeling in the team and the car itself feels like a pretty good race car, so things look promising.”

“Whether we are quick enough to win here [in Melbourne] I don’t know,” added Button who has twice won the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

[MIKA27]

Massa to display Schumacher tribute

Felipe Massa will display a message of support for Michael Schumacher at the Aussie GP, the first race since a skiing accident left the German legend fighting for his life.

The Brazilian driver has said he will drive with the initials "MS" emblazoned on his helmet for the season opener in Melbourne.

Seven-time world champion Schumacher remains in a medically induced coma since hitting his head on a rock while skiing at the French resort of Meribel on December 29.

The 45-year-old is showing "small, encouraging signs" of recovery, his family said on Wednesday, while acknowledging that he faces a long battle ahead.

On Thursday Massa, who was a team-mate of Schumacher's during the German's glory years at Ferrari in the early noughties, paid an emotional tribute to his friend on Twitter.

"Michael is always with me !! Be very strong Brother !! Love !! #19," he tweeted, signing off with his car number.

"I always think about him every day. I'm praying for him every day," Massa told an official media conference Thursday.

"So I hope everything can go back and he'll be okay.

"For sure it was a shame to see what has happened, but I keep thinking about him.

"He's on my helmet and I'll keep praying and hope that things can be okay for him and he's coming back."

Schumacher's precarious condition has cast a dark cloud over the build up to the new F1 season with drivers and officials alike praying for the German's successful recovery.

President of the Federation International de l'Automobile Jean Todt, who was the principal of Ferrari during Schumacher's time with the Italian team, said he has visiting his former charge almost weekly.

"I am monitoring the situation every day," Todt told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

"I can tell you that we still have big hopes for Michael.

"He is a great guy, a great Champion, a great human being, and I only hope that he can be back with us."

[MIKA27]

Renault permitted to run 'maximum power'

Renault-powered teams will not have to turn down their engines in Australia as the French company believes they have solved some of their issues.

This year's pre-season proved to be a disaster for the Renault runners especially reigning World Champions Red Bull and Lotus.

Both teams were blighted by reliability issues that were blamed largely on their Renault engines.

Therefore in order to do any running the teams were not able to run at full power meaning they never reach their potential.

However, this weekend in Melbourne they will be able to do just that says Remi Taffin, Renault's head of trackside operations.

He told Autosport: "We were behind schedule on some of the items we wanted to have on the car, which prevented us to run to full potential.

"But I think we are now sorted and we will be able to see how it will go with maximum power."

He added: "It's getting better, but until we win it's not done. It's not because we are ahead of schedule that we have [had] to review our plan and lower our targets.

"We will not be happy until we win a race."

He is, however, confident that any software changes Renault made between the final test and Australia will not have a negative impact on reliability.

"The main issues we had with power units was due to the nature of how we control the engine and the boost pressure, and how we manage knock basically - which is the step to gain some more performance from this kind of engine," he explained.

"It is fair to say that when you are late, you are late on everything. So we maybe suffered a bit of lack of experience in how to deal with this situation.

"We had to be very cautious. We did not have at that time the proper software to prevent this kind of thing.

"But I am not worried about that one now. It is basically giving us some reliability confidence and also some performance confidence."

As for concerns that none of the Renault runners practiced starts during pre-season, Taffin believes the cars will have no issues leaving the grid.

"We will be OK to do some starts [from the grid].

"We've seen some good [practice] ones [in testing], it's consistency we need.

"If you look back at the start of the V8s, you had some very bad starts from some of the teams at the start of the year, so bad starts are related to the car system itself, which the power unit is part of.

"There are plenty of configurations. Eventually, we will find one that works."

[MIKA27]

Montezemolo urges FIA to prevent rules “trickery”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has urged Formula One’s governing body to ensure teams do not exploit any “grey areas” in the new rules.

Writing in a letter to his team’s fans ahead of the new season, Montezemolo said: “Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption…”

“In these I am fully expecting the FIA to be vigilant – as I’m sure they will be – to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport.”

Montezemolo added he expects the new season “a difficult championship for the spectators to follow”.

“The drivers will have to take care that they do not wear out the tyres and save fuel,” he said.

“I have already said that I hope they don’t turn into taxi drivers and I say that with the greatest respect to taxi drivers, but they obviously do a different job. I, like all of you, love an extreme Formula One where technology and drivers are always on the limit.”

The Ferrari president said the team have “an intense plan of development” for the year ahead. “The data from the wind tunnel have been confirmed by the track comparisons, something that has not happened in recent years,” he added.

Ahead of the first race of the season Montezemolo said: “I have asked for the highest commitment from Domenicali and his team and I know that they are all doing their best.”

“We have a strong team, the best driver pairing – who are experienced and very talented – and everyone knows what they have to do.”

[MIKA27]

Variable weather conditions for first race weekend

Wet weather played havoc with last year’s Australian Grand Prix, forcing a rare postponement to qualifying. Q2 and Q3 had to be run on Sunday morning before the race.

The teams will be anxious for as much dry running as possible in order to maximise their opportunity to conduct more testing with their new cars. On Friday at least, they should be spared any rain.

The two 90-minute practice sessions should see very warm conditions, with temperatures almost reaching 30C. It will be overcast to begin with but the sun should break through the clouds in time for second practice.

Saturday is looking a bit trickier. The temperatures will remain high but the wind will pick up, reaching up to 45kph, and is likely to bring some showers with it. At present the indication is these will not fall during qualifying, but as that’s still almost two days away that is certainly subject to change.

Race day is expected to bring another change with considerably lower temperatures – only just making it above 20C. This will come as a relief to anyone concerned about cooling problems with the new V6 turbos during the 58-lap race.

[MIKA27]

Lotus announce Gastaldi as deputy team principal

Lotus have announced that Federico Gastaldi has been appointed as deputy team principal immediately ahead of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

The Argentinian has been promoted from director of business development, a position he took up in 2010 upon joining the Enstone outfit.

His appointment comes after former team principal Eric Boullier departed for McLaren, putting co-chairman Gerard Lopez in charge.

Speaking about Gastaldi's promotion, he said: "We are pleased to announce our new deputy team principal. Federico Gastaldi has been a valued friend of the Genii and Enstone families for quite some time. His Enstone history dates back to the Benetton days. He also works with Genii on a number of projects in South America.

"For Lotus F1 Team, Federico was instrumental in nurturing our relationship with PDVSA and he continues to be a vital link for us with Venezuela. In the paddock, Federico’s contact base is exceptional. As a figurehead, no-one better embodies the Lotus F1 Team spirit. His understanding of the sport as a whole is impressive.

"Federico will work closely with myself and the rest of the Genii and Enstone family and we’re confident of a very positive future for all."

Q&A with Federico Gastaldi

How are you approaching your new role?

It’s a great honour and I’m looking forward to it. I have a long history with Enstone with my previous role of Director of Business Development and then before that in the Benetton days. The team is an exceptional place to be and the depth of talent is amazing. My approach will be to ensure we get the most out of every aspect of Enstone and harness every talent housed there.

What qualities do you bring to the party?

I have worked in many roles in the motorsport arena, from an introduction as a friend and associate of the Benetton family to promoting the Argentinean Grand Prix, to working with drivers to working with Bernie on different projects. I like working with people in and around the paddock as it’s a challenging and rewarding place to be.

What do you consider to be the main strengths of Lotus F1 team?

Our people. They are our main strength and our biggest asset. We have tremendous depth of talent with fantastically experienced workers at all levels who are 100 percent committed to the team.

What do you see as your immediate challenges?

We need to ensure rapid progress with our car for this season. It’s no secret that pre-season preparations have not been as smooth as we’d like but we have confidence that we can turn this situation around very quickly. We need to work as closely as possible with Renault to fulfil our potential. We know it is a big challenge, especially because there is so much technology that is new to everyone, but we know the team can deliver good cars and we will do this in 2014 with Renault.

[OZCUBAN]

Teams could sit out Saturday Free Practice in Melbourne

It has emerged that television and trackside viewers face a questionable spectacle on the Saturday morning of the Australian Grand Prix weekend at Albert Park.

As ever, an hour of practice is scheduled to finish just two hours before the all-important qualifying hour. Some teams, however, may not bother to send their cars out at all on Saturday morning.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed to reporters in Melbourne: “I’ve heard teams say that they’d skip P3 to make sure they have a car for qualifying.”

That’s because the newly V6-powered cars have not only proved worryingly unreliable in winter testing, but because repairing them now takes much longer than in the past.

“Sometimes hours pass before a diagnosis [of a problem] is even made,” said Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt.

A full engine change can now take a whopping six hours, but Force India Technical Director Andy Green added: “If we have to piece it together with individual parts, it can be 18 hours.”

MIKA: Nooooooooooo!

Apparently last year cars it took the mechanics about an hour to change engine(power plant) as compared to 6 hours on this years cars mainly because they are a lot more finicky and complex

[MIKA27]

Apparently last year cars it took the mechanics about an hour to change engine(power plant) as compared to 6 hours on this years cars mainly because they are a lot more finicky and complex

Well with great power comes great responsibility....

[MIKA27]

Melbourne Free Practice 1: Alonso strikes first but some not ready for season opener

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso kicked off his 2014 season topped the time sheets at the end of the first free practice of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, as reliability problems saw the new Formula 1 season open with a whimper rather than a bang.

The twice world champion Spaniard posted a lap of one minute 31.840 seconds with half an hour left in the 90 minute session and held his half-a-second lead over McLaren’s second-placed Jenson Button in brilliant sunshine at Albert Park.

After a winter testing in which teams struggled to come to terms with the new turbocharged hybrid engines, drivers spent much of the session cooling their heels in the garages, while technicians tinkered.

The biggest surprise of the session was trouble for Mercedes, who arrived Down Under optimistic after a promising winter testing.

Having batted away the favourites to win the season-opener tag, Lewis Hamilton was left fuming when his car stopped at turn nine of his installation lap just five minutes into the session.

With the vehicle hauled off by a tow-truck, the 29-year-old Briton walked back to the paddock without taking his helmet off and suffered the indignity of being stopped by security before retreating into his team’s tent.

Mercedes later issued a statement clarifying that his car had come to an automatic halt triggered by an oil pressure alarm, but said they needed to investigate the fault further.

Mercedes-powered Williams fared better, with Valtteri Bottas posting the third-fasted time and his new team mate Felipe Massa shrugging off a radio malfunction to be fourth quickest.

Red Bull, who endured a dismal winter testing, had an encouraging first session, with new driver Daniel Ricciardo finishing fifth ahead of reigning quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel in seventh.

Hamilton’s team mate Nico Rosberg was sixth for Mercedes, while Kimi Raikkonen, taking his first run for Ferrari since returning to Maranello, was ninth after eighth-placed McLaren debutant Kevin Magnussen.

Lotus waited until 20 minutes left in the session before making an appearance, with driver Pastor Maldonado rolling out of the garage, but he managed only an installation lap before taking a skid through some gravel and coming to a halt in pit-lane.

He and team mate Romain Grosjean were among five drivers that failed to post a lap time, suggesting plenty of work to be done before the second practice session later on Friday.

[MIKA27]

F1 GETS UP TO RUNNING SPEED ONCE AGAIN

It won’t just be F1’s cars that get their first competitive run-out of 2014 at Albert Park this weekend. The Australian Grand Prix will also mark the start of the fifth season for Run That Track, the informal F1 running club that raises money for the Make a Wish Foundation by pounding out timed laps of grand prix circuits the world over.

The new running season kicks off on Saturday at 21:45 local time in Melbourne with team personnel, media and paddock folk of all stripes all breaking out new-season trainers for a blast around Albert Park. Last year they were joined at a number of events by F1 drivers such as Jenson Button, who ran in Canada, and Heikki Kovalainen, who took part in the run around Japan’s awesome Suzuka circuit.

With the help of Run That Track charity partner UBS, the project has raised a total of US$862,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation over the past few seasons. This year the hope is to reach a cumulative US$1 million with the help of everyone in the F1 paddock.

The system works like this: runners complete one timed lap at each track covered by the F1 championship, either in their own time over the race weekend, or in a group at one of six designated Group Runs across the season.

Runners then register online via the official website and upload their lap times in order to validate a $100 charitable donation from UBS, which accrues over the season.

Last year, paddock runners logged over 28,000km of the world’s F1 circuits, with Max Chilton’s trainer Sam Village taking the title of 2013 Run That Track champion.

[MIKA27]

MONTEZEMOLO WRITES TO THE FERRARI FANS.. AND SENDS A MESSAGE TO F1′S ORGANISERS

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has written an open letter to the Ferrari fans, or tifosi as they are known in Italy, asking them to stick with the team in what promises to be a challenging season, but also challenging the FIA and the organisers to be careful on a couple of levels.

One of the most interesting passages is where he says, “Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption… In these I am fully expecting the FIA to be vigilant – as I’m sure they will be – to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport.”

The FIA has a very complex job in policing the new rules and there are many things for them to check at the races; with more sophistication in technology comes more ways to circumvent the rules, is his message and there are bound to be some controversial moments where teams get around regulations. There is also the elephant in the room of engine homologation and whether manufacturers will be allowed to do anything to their power units now that they are homologated, beyond fixes for reliability issues. If it turns out that the Mercedes unit is a long way ahead, will the rules be bent to encourage competition? Renault are pushing hard for changes, in light of their difficulties. But they were allowed to do updates in the early V8 days (around 2008/9) and they won most of the world championships since then.

Another familiar Montezemolo message is the fear that drivers become like “taxi drivers” because they are carefully nursing their cars around, rather than racing to the limit in the “extreme F1″ which he and many fans want to see.

This will resonate with the fan base, as will his fears that the sport is becoming too complex for mass market appeal. It’s an exciting moment for the sport, with the new technology changing the order and sending out a new message, but F1 must be very careful not to become so complicated that fans cannot follow it. An FIA briefing for media in Melbourne on Thursday was mind blowing in its complexity; even for journalists who have been living this sport for over 20 years.

Here is the text of Montezemolo’s letter:

Dear tifosi,

“It seems incredible but another season is about to begin and I, like you, am anxious and in a state of strong trepidation – as happens to me every year, even though I have gone through so many championships as President and, before, as sporting director. There are more unknowns and uncertainties about this season than in the past. The rule changes are profound and numerous. It’s not just a matter of the new six-cylinder turbo engine, but also systems with integrated electric engines, control units with innovative and complex software, a new package of aerodynamics… In essence it’s a complicated car that will also require a different driving style.

“So the first target is reliability, as we clearly saw in the test sessions.

Everyone has issues; we have lined ours up and we are in the process of resolving them. We’re also putting into practice an intense plan of development, which can count on the fact that the data from the wind tunnel have been confirmed by the track comparisons, something that has not happened in recent years.

“It will also be a difficult championship for the spectators to follow. The drivers will have to take care that they do not wear out the tyres and save fuel. I have already said that I hope they don’t turn into taxi drivers and I say that with the greatest respect to taxi drivers, but they obviously do a different job. I, like all of you, love an extreme Formula 1 where technology and drivers are always on the limit.

“Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption… In these I am fully expecting the FIA to be vigilant – as I’m sure they will be – to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport.

“So what should we expect from tomorrow? I have asked for the highest commitment from Domenicali and his team and I know that they are all doing their best. We have a strong team, the best driver pairing – who are experienced and very talented – and everyone knows what they have to do.

“We can count on an important factor that only we have: the immense affection from you, our tifosi, all over the world. I ask you for your usual great support: let’s not go overboard in the good moments and let’s not give up in harder ones. The championship is long and the objective is clear.

“Forza Ferrari!”

[MIKA27]

Signs of strain between Mercedes duo Hamilton and Rosberg starting to emerge

The relationship between this year’s likely Formula 1 world title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg may already be showing signs of strain.

The Mercedes duo’s friendship and rivalry dates back to their boyhood days in the junior categories, but it could be tested to the limit in 2014 as the Brackley team looks set to dominate the 2014 title battle. And the strain could already be showing.

“Nico often spends much more time with the engineers than I do,” Briton Hamilton is quoted by the German newspaper Bild, “but we come to the same findings in the end.”

Hamilton bristled at the suggestion Rosberg has a better chance of taming the highly-complex 2014 rules due to his more “technical” approach to racing.

“It’s a strange perception that one driver (Rosberg) is massively technical and another is not,” the 2008 world champion said. ”I didn’t win the championship in 2008 from sheer luck.”

Rosberg insisted the comments, particularly the ones about wasting time with engineers, will not affect their relationship.

“It’s no big deal for me,” he said, “as two different approaches is a good thing.”

However, it has emerged that even though the pair both live in Monaco, Hamilton has not been invited to Rosberg’s forthcoming wedding.

“I don’t mind,” Hamilton said. “I try to avoid weddings anyway.”

Meanwhile, members of the British media have criticised Hamilton for making “strange”, “bizarre” and “insensitive” comments about the gravely injured Michael Schumacher.

Referring to the Formula 1 legend’s 11-week coma after a skiing fall, the 2008 world champion said in Melbourne: “I feel like all things happen for a reason.

“I think this is an experience that will really show his character and depth even more so than any other experiences he’s had.”

[ayedfy]

They sound pretty good to me.

Not V10's or V8's but look at our opinions when the 10's left and the 8 cylinders came in, we were all heaved yet we learnt to love them. Now, we miss the 8's and here are the turbos. They certainly don't sound crap in person!

LIVE STREAM

Agreed, I've loved the sounds from the videos in testing. The turbo spool with the lower rumble of the V6 sounds fantastic. Not necessarily better or worse, too different to compare. Looking forward to hearing how they sound trackside on Sunday.

[ucla695]

Watching P1 and still can't get used to the sound of the engines. I miss the loud roars of the 8's. The cars have looked better. Hopefully the new engines will mix up the grid and return excitement to the sport!

[MatthewB]

_{This race will be very interesting indeed. Go Daniel!}

[ptrthgr8]

Definitely not a fan of the new motor sounds. Reminds me of Indycar now. And that's unfortunate.

Still looking forward to tomorrow and still glad to see Martini back.

Cheers,

Greg

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[rckymtn22]

I am going to be a bit surprise if any cars finish the race. Then what are they going to do? Will be a bit of an embarrassment for F1 if that does happen. Going to have to stay up to watch the race.

[Bartolomeo]

Dont care for the sound now that I have heard it live but glad F1 is back

Forza Ferrari!

[OZCUBAN]

Well with great power comes great responsibility....

Due to the complex nature of these new engines /power plants I think it would be a good idea to reintroduce the T car or spare car ,so that drivers don't miss out on anything if an engine change is required i.e. between FP3 to Qualifying

Just a thought

[Bartolomeo]

What a start!