[Official] Rate the race: Australian Grand Prix

[Born Racer]

What do you think of the first race of this new era of Grand Prix racing?

[Razor]

A decent start but that sound of the power-plants, my vacuum cleaner sounds better. Slept through a race in the first time in 20 years. A three from me

[FordCosworthPanoz]

8/10 good racing except for P1.

Bottas bumped it up from a 7.

[jsTrecu]

Better than I expected, an 8.
Can't give more with Seb and Lewis out so early and Merc's domination...

[dsg]

In his new era I have no idea if that race was good or bad but it certainly held my attention for the duration.

I'll say 7 so I have some wiggle room for latter races.

[marcel82]

I gave it a 4. It had been a while since I watched F1, but it all seems so sterile and bland nowadays. it seems like where the previous decade we all debated if it was 50% car, 50% driver, it's now become 50% car, 40% engineering and 10% driver.

eg, Magnussen's last laps: "use overtake button", "now use yellow G6", "now yellow G3"

let the boys drive, ffs!

[Knowlesy]

A solid 7 from me. Loss of a contender early on hurt things and it did evolve into a typical first-race-under-new-regs thing.

Some great racing and standout drives. I enjoyed it a lot, but there will be so much more this season!

[aki13]

Originally Posted by marcel82

I gave it a 4. It had been a while since I watched F1, but it all seems so sterile and bland nowadays. it seems like where the previous decade we all debated if it was 50% car, 50% driver, it's now become 50% car, 40% engineering and 10% driver.

eg, Magnussen's last laps: "use overtake button", "now use yellow G6", "now yellow G3"

let the boys drive, ffs!

I do agree with this a bit actually.

Anyway I gave it 7. I was hoping for a point for Marussia or Caterham with only 10 cars or less finishing, but the teams sorted it out well.

Generally a decent race, I was slightly surprised at how static the train was behind Hulkenberg in the mid race laps, and Ricciardo, Magnussen and Button towards the end seem to never close on each other, but generally we had some got battling and some passing.

Still hate DRS.

I am also surprised that after all the drivers running off all weekend they rarely do it in the race.

[marc sproule]

sorry, but what little excitement there was was ruined by having to listen to leigh diffey and will buxton prattle on.

it's nice to live in the usa, but having to listen to those two w*kers is a serious drawback.

i sure hope the "power unit" issues don't last for many races.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by marc sproule

sorry, but what little excitement there was was ruined by having to listen to leigh diffey and will buxton prattle on.

it's nice to live in the usa, but having to listen to those two w*kers is a serious drawback.

i sure hope the "power unit" issues don't last for many races.

Beat this:

Ted Kravitz, Sky's "Technical" Guru claims that Formula One cars "don't have sparking plugs any more as they have gone over to using direct injection". [Flavio Galtieri]


7 Way better than expected, good to see cars moving around again!

Go Jan!

[Another Bob]

wnut,

I know, I yelled at the TV that they should have sacked him on the spot!!!

Goodness gracious, what a blunder.

7 from me, keep me glued, but you could tell they were all on tender hooks making sure they made it to the end.

Suprised so many made it to the end, I was predicting only 10 finishing.

Good start to the season.

[TheNo1F1Fan]

10/10. Magnussen just scored his first podium on his first race.

[Teretonga]

I gave it seven though I fear it may not get much better than this.
Yes, it is sterile.
Maybe 30% car, but maybe 30% engineer and 40% driver but the drivers are still significant.
I enjoyed it but a lot of my interest stemmed from particular drivers and teams I wanted to see do well and get a good result.
The opening laps were good.
The actual racing for the middle part of the race wasn't really there, apart from interest in Botttas climbing back through the field.
The closing laps weren't that tense as separation between Ricciardo and Magnussen meant he was unable to really challenge over the last two laps so a bit uneventful.

I don't know if McLaren are that competitive but the final answer is not yet in.
Red Bull have a great car. Just get the Renault running well.
Mercedes have a cracker car that we haven't seen the best of.
STR is a good car as is the Force India but Ferrari have a lot of work to do.

I hate DRS but without it I am not sure they would be able to pass....

[henners88]

A 6 maybe a 7 for me. Better than expected.

[Marbot]

8. Much better than expected. The reduced decibels let you hear so much more that is going on with the cars. The cars are also much more difficult to control; you could see them moving around a lot more.

[NPP]

6 perhaps. Not an exciting race per se, in particular the middle part, and the train behind Hülkenberg was boring.

I don't mind the sound of the cars though, and like to watch them moving around.

[GT6]

A 7 from me had a few boring bits but overall much better than the expected race

[Aysedasi]

7. I wasn't bored - I was just waiting to see if anything else would happen. A debutant on the podium after an inch-perfect race and some really good drives. And Vettel nowhere. I call it intriguing. I just hope it stays that way. And I prefer the enjoy noise - by far.

[Bononi]

7. A good start for the season.

[stripedcat]

I'll give it a 5. Good at the start - but the lose of two front runners for the title was a bit disappointing. Then most of the action did become static.

I know that might be a little bit harsh, as it is the 1st race of the season, but still.

[IceMan_PJN]

I generally liked the race, and it offered several talking points, but I still feel bummed about Lewis getting screwed by misfortune yet again. God must really hate Lewis Hamilton. "But Vettel also got screwed!" Yes, but this doesn't happen to him nearly as often and it's probably just a matter of time before Newey has him winning most races again so he still need not worry. I'd feel a lot happier right now had it been Hamilton and Rosberg on the top two steps of the podium rather than Nico on top and Lewis at the bar.

[bjohnsonsmith]

As the season opener, with the new cars and engines, it was better than I was expecting. It had its moments, with the incident at the start, a caution period after Bottas hit the wall and some good drives. A solid 7.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by stripedcat

I'll give it a 5. Good at the start - but the lose of two front runners for the title was a bit disappointing. Then most of the action did become static.

Who are they then?

Perhaps we shouldn't be carrying over quite so many assumptions this season. I certainly hope there's a good shake up in the order. So, no loss at all for me.

[andy666]

7 , Got up to watch the race this morning and really enjoyed it . Rosberg's start , Bottas and his charge and K Mag what a drive . Disappointed for Felipe and impressed with Daniel R , he may have a DSQ but still a great weekend for him .

[steve_r]

The cars sound terrible.

The racing was decent though, and bodes well for the season.