1. Australia

[Bibs]

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[Advantage]

Chandhok has a whoopsie on his first lap out.

[Bibs]

That doesn't look right? He's admitted driver error but that's a funny way to spin off...

[Advantage]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9DBlGpnzqY

[neill1607]

I always thought Mika Hakkinen had a good sense of humour.

I know on every weekend teams are limted by the number of sets of tyres they have, but are they limited to the number of laps they're allowed to run in the practice sessions?

It seems a number of teams haven't done many.

I'd have thought with any new car/track combination teams should be out testing setup's as much as they can.

Edited March 25, 2011 by Neill1607

[USAndretti42]

There used to be set limits to the number of laps a car could run in each session but these no longer apply. However, the team has only so many engines per car per year during the race season so they will not want to put more miles on an engine than they need to. Another issue at a temporary track like Melbourne's is that the track characteristics change drastically as more rubber is deposited from the cars thrashing round so there may not be too much useful information to be gained early on a Friday until some other teams have rubbered the track in so everyone waits for some other cars to lay down that rubber.

[ramjet]

Second practice and Liuzzi's car went into false neutral and engine completely stopped. Commentators then went on to say that the ECU in the car is a collaboration between Microsoft and someone else whose name escapes me now.

All I could think of was the 'blue screen of death'.

I wonder if 'Ctrl' + 'Alt' + 'Del' translates to the car as 'Pit Lmt' + 'Brk Bias; + 'Eng Stp'?

Should have used Apple only when you hook it up to the computer, it would always want to sync your onboard music.

[Bibs]

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[molemot]

"Team Lotus" Malaysia didn't seem to be doing much good though....after all the stuff coming out during the winter and the new Renault engine and Red Bull gearbox, and how they would be fighting in mid field, I had expected rather more. Perhaps their Renault engines are, er, not quite as good as the "other" Lotus Renault team? I also note that there has been no reference to "Lotus Renault" that I have seen....just "Renault"...and quite right too, as all "Lotus" contribute is money from the Malaysian taxpayer, as far as I can see...no engineering expertise at all. How can intelligent people get into such a sad state.....

[AntonyPeacock]

"Team Lotus" Malaysia didn't seem to be doing much good though....after all the stuff coming out during the winter and the new Renault engine and Red Bull gearbox, and how they would be fighting in mid field, I had expected rather more.

don't read too much into the performance of any of the teams, it is only the first race and with the ban on testing cars aren't always the best they can be at first. McLaren is a good example of this.

I also note that there has been no reference to "Lotus Renault" that I have seen....just "Renault"...and quite right too, as all "Lotus" contribute is money from the Malaysian taxpayer, as far as I can see...no engineering expertise at all. How can intelligent people get into such a sad state.....

Like you say, all they have done is give Genii Capital money to sponsor that Renault car, they haven't had any involvement in the production of the car. That is why it is just "Renault" on the tv, as they just refer to manufacturer, although this year they are putting the engine supplier on the graphics. Red Bull Racing Renault is on hell of a squeeze in that box

[The Real Stig]

Looking at last years Team Lotus performance the gap to the prime teams has increased to now 5,8 sec. This might cause som concerns at the management. The powerplant package cannot be blamed nor the drivers as their performances are identical. What remain is handling and aerodynamics. What's next Team Lotus?

It looked better for Lotus Renault. Petrov showed the cars performance, while Heidfeld got stuck with KERS problems and traffic. The KERS better work tomorrow - hopefully.

[AntonyPeacock]

They were having problems with keeping the tyres up to temperature, a few other teams are having issues with this too as the temperature is a lot lower than it usually is at Melbourne, meaning that the track temperature is lower, that is what contributed to Massa's spin in qualifying, aswell as the DRS (Drag Reduction System or Moveable Rear Wing) isn't working properly, and the problem they had with the steering is back. This is something that happens when you have limited testing time. Even the Renault team are having problems, the KERS system on Heidfeld's car

[nolotusyet]

Nice one Heidfeld - 3 Lotus badged cars line astern. Why did they pick Heidfeld to replace Kubica? Surely they would have been better off trying to sign up Hulkenberg - I assume they could not for contractual reasons.

[Advantage]

I'm sitting in Bibbo's front room watching the re-run of Quali and from a purely asthetic point of view, the branding on the Lotus Renault is pretty good. Ignoring the black and gold paint scheme, when the camera is following the car, all you can see is a fappin' great big LOTUS script on the rear wing. You might catch a glimpse of the Genii logos but the overall the television image is definitely Lotus.

Well worth the sponsorship fee just for that appeal to the armchair fans.

[neill1607]

Agreed.

If I didn't know any better, I'd probably assume the reason why Petrov has done so much better in qualifying than last year, is because Lotus have helped out with some technical aspects of the car, hence the name on the wing.

Bit dissapointed in the Team Lotus places though, I was expecting better considering the new engine/gearbox & develpoment time they've had this year as opposed to last.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Neill1607

[ramjet]

You're right about the Lotus banner on the Lotus / Renault (or is it Renault / Lotus?) car Pilko. The commentators over here even said Lotus when they cut to Petrov's car I think and then he quickly corrected himself to Renault.

The word across the wing was all you could see.

Edited March 26, 2011 by ramjet

[jollyroger]

... on the Lotus / Renault (or is it Renault / Lotus?) ...

It's actually Renault/Renault... I still cannot believe how shameless the Lotus sponsoring is on that car, I mean come on.

Can you imagine Porsche sponsoring Mc Laren like that with no technical involvement at all? Lamborghini with Williams? The examples are unlimited, I am sorry but it's so sad...

[Advantage]

Or Vodafone!

Shocking sponsoring behaviour.

[jollyroger]

Or Vodafone!

Shocking sponsoring behaviour.

If this is sarcasm it is very inappropriate, I really don't think I need to explain why comparing the Lotus sponsorship with the Vodafone one is not wise...

[esprit s2]

[AntonyPeacock]

It's actually Renault/Renault... I still cannot believe how shameless the Lotus sponsoring is on that car, I mean come on.

Can you imagine Porsche sponsoring Mc Laren like that with no technical involvement at all? Lamborghini with Williams? The examples are unlimited, I am sorry but it's so sad...

Blatant act of trying to pretend it is a Lotus when it isn't, just like they do with the KV Racing Technology car in Indycar.

Or Vodafone!

Shocking sponsoring behaviour.

If this is sarcasm it is very inappropriate, I really don't think I need to explain why comparing the Lotus sponsorship with the Vodafone one is not wise...

Vodafone don't put their badges where the constructors do though

[Iconic Ride]

Some sponsers have all the fun!

Though it's early in the season (couldn't be any earlier, actually), I sense a growing (gnawing?) feeling that a shift in loyalties is bound to occur among many of the Lotus faithful. The [faux Lotus] Renault entry seems to have a leg up for now, while Team Lotus (with whom my racing heart of hearts is currently aligned, owing to a more "pure" effort) seems to have its leg up for purposes of pissing into the wind. Chandrok's practise escapade didn't help matters, though any thinking person realises that "these things happen." Like many, I had assumed that the new engine and gearbox would work potential miracles in the bid for mid field. Time will tell. But if the initial relative performance positions remain unchanged as the season progresses, I see the possibillity (probability?) of some of us going over to the dark side as human nature inevitably takes over, and the desire to be associated with a winner overcomes underdog affinities. I've been told that Brits tend to root for underdogs by nature, whereas most colonials shamelessly gravitate toward frontrunners, as if their actions in their armchairs were the proximate cause of victory. I'm hoping that Tony and his fine crew find their way, if not immediately, then as things unfold (insert wing analogy here), much as they did last season. I would dearly love to see Team Lotus trounce "Ersatz Lotus" a time or two this year.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Iconic Ride

[Advantage]

Vodafone don't put their badges where the constructors do though

[Iconic Ride]

Who the hell is "VODA NE" ?

You would think that with the amounts of money being spent on sponsership that you could find a sign painter who could spell.

[AntonyPeacock]

I meant the mandatory constructor logo on the nose, not the rear wing