Rate the 2017 Australian GP

[Manfred Cubenoggin]

Bottom post of the previous page:

6

At least 2 of the 6 I register comes from the fact that it wasn't a Merc on the top step.

[Everso Biggyballies]

it gives me (false) hope for the season.

Fixed .

I gave it a six.

Some stuff happened (a couple of passes, some break downs, a non-Merc win), but nothing amazing.

Merc still faster, but rooted themselves in the arse. But Fezza is thereabouts.

Have you renewed your membership for the Vettel Hate Club this year? As far as perksngo, I don't really see this win as good value for money.

Don't need to renew with a life membership .

Feel sort of torn. Dislike Hamilton (but don't outright 'hate' him), and hate Merc's dominance. Pretty close to hate Vettel (but not MS levels of hate), and he drives for Ferrari (the hate runs deep).

Umm, go Sauber!

Can someone remind me (well Monte really) whose engines Sauber use.....

I just wanted John to be happy . But point taken!

That wont work.... The man is a self confessed Future Champion™ Born Grump (with inbuilt traces of Irony)

[DoubleFart]

One of the best F1 races in months.

5 seems fair. Very average.

Well, it was the best race of the last 3 months...

[MiÑardi]

I'm amazed by some of the ratings. Was it just because Mercedes didn't win, or was I watching something completely different? Literally no meaningful overtakes in the entire top 10, and cars that could barely even get into DRS range. It reminded me of a race from 2004, but even more strung out.

I really wanted to see a Ferrari win, but it was still a terrible race.

[kals]

Good result, awful race. The move that won the race was straight out of the early to mid-2000's playbook, jumping someone at the pit stops. The top 6 order at the end of the last lap was the same as the end of the first, bar the switch between Lewis and Seb.

[XcraigX]

I'm amazed by some of the ratings. Was it just because Mercedes didn't win, or was I watching something completely different? Literally no meaningful overtakes in the entire top 10, and cars that could barely even get into DRS range. It reminded me of a race from 2004, but even more strung out.

I really wanted to see a Ferrari win, but it was still a terrible race.

This.

I was really disappointed with the lack of on-track overtaking. Our fears from when they announced the rule changes came true. Cars are faster, but the changes have made overtaking harder.

Hamilton was over 2 seconds faster on track than Verstappen after his pitstop, but could not overtake him.

I was kind of hoping he and Vettel could have battled on the track, but instead we got overtaking by pitstop and backmarker.

I gave it a 4. There was some good, but mostly a boring race where all the cars were spread out. Nice race for 10th though...

[Circuitmaster]

I enjoyed it despite the lack of incident. It felt like formula one, more so than recent seasons. The drivers looked to be pushing, the cars looked awesome.

I think I would rather have an interesting season consisting of less interesting races, than a boring season packed with whacky races. If that makes any sense at all.

[Greg]

it gives me (false) hope for the season.

Fixed .

I gave it a six.

Some stuff happened (a couple of passes, some break downs, a non-Merc win), but nothing amazing.

Merc still faster, but rooted themselves in the arse. But Fezza is thereabouts.

How you holding up Monte after messy Oz GP?

[Matt]

Good result and promising that Ferrari obviously have a good car that they will hopefully not then screw up the development of, but it was an extremely poor race. There were a few times during the Grand Prix where a much quicker car came up behind a slower one, but then could do absolutely nothing. Melbourne never throws up particularly brilliant races unless it rains or lots of drivers have first-day brain fades, but still.

Wouldn't it be a shame if the first time in years we have the potential of two equally competitive teams fighting at the front, all the races are decided by pit stops and traffic. I'll give it a few more races before forming a lasting opinion, but yeah - today's race was nothing special. 4 or 5 from me. Not sure which.

EDIT: oh, and to add - the cars did look a bit quicker, but to me the difference wasn't particularly startling. Additionally, they seemed to move around a whole lot less. Will be interesting to see if they look any better at... oh, we're going to China next. Oh well .

[Picci]

I'm amazed by some of the ratings. Was it just because Mercedes didn't win, or was I watching something completely different? Literally no meaningful overtakes in the entire top 10, and cars that could barely even get into DRS range. It reminded me of a race from 2004, but even more strung out.

I really wanted to see a Ferrari win, but it was still a terrible race.

This.

I was really disappointed with the lack of on-track overtaking. Our fears from when they announced the rule changes came true. Cars are faster, but the changes have made overtaking harder.

Hamilton was over 2 seconds faster on track than Verstappen after his pitstop, but could not overtake him.

I was kind of hoping he and Vettel could have battled on the track, but instead we got overtaking by pitstop and backmarker.

I gave it a 4. There was some good, but mostly a boring race where all the cars were spread out. Nice race for 10th though...

Agree with both. Let's face it, this was a terrible race, only mitigated slightly by the fact that it was the season-opener and that we have a different winning car for the first time in an age.

The regulation changes to the aero designs of the cars appear at first glance to be a complete flop. We hardly even got them that faster. They are only 1-2 seconds quicker. Was it worth it? Happy with the new tyres though.

Also, once again, the track looks empty. We are down to 20 cars, out of which 19 started and there was relatively high attrition. Not an acceptable number of runners in my view.

[LaraCroft2016]

The fact that Vettel wins, make it interesting.

[Kai-Star]

Gone with a 5 too. I think the first post summed it up well. Melbourne is a different beast to other circuits. We'll know a lot more after China.

[roo]

6 here.
it was better than I expected but still quite dull. Merc didn't run away with it. Red Bull looked stronger than expected. Glad there is a least a challenger to Merc.
I am hopeful for a good season but we will see in the coming races on 'racetracks' if Australia was a one off.

[PTRACER]

I'm amazed by some of the ratings. Was it just because Mercedes didn't win, or was I watching something completely different? Literally no meaningful overtakes in the entire top 10, and cars that could barely even get into DRS range. It reminded me of a race from 2004, but even more strung out.

I really wanted to see a Ferrari win, but it was still a terrible race.

The first race always gets high ratings. The excitement of F1 being back I guess.

I kind of agree with Sandeep (?) who said the race was kind of old skool. Strung out cars, race won on strategy, retirements through breakdowns. It was like watching a race from 2001.

[Cheeveer]

It was a bit old skool. Schumacher-esque win by Vettel. In no ways a disaster of a race, just a bit tedious after the pit stops.

[strad]

well they are considerably faster thru the corners
and thankfully there is a ton less clag to the point that you can actually drive offline.
We can see that they are actually pushing rather than just driving around.
I think this first race afforded a glimpse of better racing than we've had for years.
Try giving it a chance.