F1 Top 8 for Melbourne

[Ed- the MG fan]

I was wondering what are other peoples prediction for next weeks race.

Although I really Believe that Coulthad will be at his best next week, I think Schmaker will still win.

1. MS
2. Barichello
4. Coulthad
4. R Scuhmaker
5. Kimi Rakioen
6. Fisi
7. Panis
8. Trulli

-Both BAR's will breake down as usual
-Montoya will damage his car
-

[John]

Well in theory the Williams should be faster than the Ferrari and Mac (as they are the only ones with a new car) but it might therefore break down.

Hate to be boring but I think MS will win and RB will probably therefore be second (BUT I REALLY HOPE IM WRONG!!)

Barring mechanical failures/crashes I think the top 8 will be Ferraris, McLarens, Williams' and Renaults, but I reckon theres gonna be a tonne of mechanical failures and a few driver errors, so I hope its as unpredictable as last years race!!

Wont go as far as predicting a Minardi 1-2 though! ;)

[Paul Rayner]

1) Michael Schumacher
2) Rubens Barrichello
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3) Juan Pablo Montoya
4) Ralf Schumacher
5) Kimi Raikkonen
6) David Coulthard
7) Jarno Trulli
8) Jenson Button

Actually, having said that, the first race is normally very unpredictable.

[Claw]

MS
Coulthard
Raikkonen
Trulli!!!!
Alonso
Button
Panis
Verstappen

[Ann]

We often see an interesting finish in Oz with teams working through initial teething troubles - just look at Mark Webber last year - how many people would have had him in their pre-race predictions?!

I have no doubt that the Ferraris will continue to be up there although they must be due some mechanical problems at some point, surely?!

I hope the test times from McLaren do carry through to race times although this so often doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm not going to stick my neck out with anything too radical:

1. M Schumacher
2. K Raikkonen
3. R Barrichello
4. D Coulthard
5. R Schumacher
6. J Trulli

(But I'd spend the wee small hours of next Sunday being so much happier if DC won!! :p )

[thommo_fan]

m.schumacher
coulthard
barrichello
raikkonen
panis
montoya
trulli
wilson

[Ed- the MG fan]

oh, I forget to put Hiedfeld in my top eight!

[The Stig]

My Melbourne top 8

Shuntmaker (M)
Montoya
Shuntmaker (R)
Raikkonen
Barrichello
Frentzen
Panis
Hiedfeld

This years surprise ? Sauber
This years disappointment ? Coulthard
This years hope ? Button blows away Villeneuve

Hope I'm wrong regarding DC
Very best of luck to all the Brits, especially Ralph Firman and Justin Wilson

[Carl Breeze fan]

1 - Michael Schumacher (Has to be)
2 - Ralf Schumacher
3 - David Coulthard
4 - Nick Heidfeld
5 - Giancarlo Fisichella
6 - Antonio Pizzonia
7 - Jenson Button
8 - Ralph Firman

[AussieV8]

They all are going to fall over on the last lap and Mark Webber will do a Steven Bradbury and take gold.
(Oh wrong sport I can dream):p

[The Stig]

This has nothing to do whatsoever with motorsport, so don't read on if you don't want to. Steven Bradbury gave me one of my funniest sporting moments ever. Just thought I'd mention that. Think Mark Webber is a better driver than he is given credit
for. Maybe this season Jaguar will put in performances worthy of the name. Webber is fit and has talent. Think he's only 26 so might he be headed for greatness later, given the right wheels ?

[AussieV8]

Stig.
I hope so as Mark is very talented and with a decent set of wheels he could actual get some points by earning them in the race.

[thommo_fan]

webber has gone well in private testing, he was second, less then a tenth of a second behind trulli.

[AussieV8]

Mark did alright in first qualifiing today 15th. Not bad...:p

[Ann]

Originally posted by Ann
(But I'd spend the wee small hours of next Sunday being so much happier if DC won!! :p )

So none of us got it right then!

Much happier that the above happened than my actual result prediction though!! :D :D

[John]

Yep - everyone said MS and we were all wrong! Not that I'm complaining mind!! So remember for the next round - everyone say MS will win and hopefully we'll be wrong again!! ;)

Hadnt realised the Ferrari have been on the podium ever race since 99 at some point!! Thats an amazing stat - unfortunately no longer the case though!! Awww!! :p

[thommo_fan]

lets hope that sunday wasn't a one off and the balance of power is swinging away from ferrari.
i can't wait til the new mclaren comes out.

[Frank Rizzo]

Thommo - although it's hard to pinpoint exactly how the race ended up as it did, and most of the top drivers had problems of some sort, it's still pretty clear that Ferrari have a considerable advantage.

MS would have walked it if his barge boards hadn't come loose (imo), and unbelievably, even without them, he was on the same pace as the four in front of him!

Frankly, I think it does not bode well, but it's excellent news that he is not starting the season with a lead, and that so much excitement can be found in GP racing again.

Don't like him really, but have to say that the worst luck was with Ralf - disastrous pit stop, and then possibly the best reactions of the weekend avoiding a spinning Heidfeld and thereby taking himself through the gravel trap.

Roll on round 2.

[John]

Im not so sure about MS 'walking it' he had an advantage I agree but he had to stop anyway when he got the black and orange to top up the fuel, so effectively was on a 3stopper. In that case his performance relative to Kimi earlier on when Kimi was on a 1stop load was pretty poor - he was not able to overtake and put in the times he needed to take advantage of the strategy.

Also others had their problems too - MS started off pole but Kimi started in the pits and had a drive through later in the race, DC was way behind after a couple of laps due to his early stop, Monty spun and lost a fair bit of time.

Its clear than ferarri had an advantage but its clearly not as big as it was last year, and I think they would have been beaten on track if no-one had any problems due to their pit stop strategy, and obviously the safety cars didnt help them either.

No-where near the walk over it was during last season though :)

[Les]

How could MS 'walk it' when DC came from the back to win??

The new rules real upset it which was nice.

What needs sorting out now is the pit stops and safety car.

[Frank Rizzo]

Fair comment - 'walk it' was clearly the wrong phrase. I do think that MS would have won the race if the rules were as last year, which clearly indicates that the rule changes were a great success.

Not sure what you mean by sorting out the safety car and pit stops though Les? The safety car is kind of essential, and given the race distance (fuel) and factors of change during that time (weather), so are the pit stops. What kind of changes do you suggest?

You could spice up qualifying even further by giving drivers a maximum of say, 3 hot laps (5 in total), so that they have a choice to come in and conserve fuel after 1 hot lap, or stay out to try and improve their time and grid position, potentially compromising their race strategy. You could take it further and be particularly nasty by making them decide before they go out how many they will take.

[Claw]

When was MSs last podium. ITV say Hockenhiem 2001 (where he retired), but Ceefax say Italy 2001.
Did he finish 4th at Italy in 2001, when he was off form for other reasons?

[John]

Presume you mean the last time he wasnt on the podium as his last podium was the last race of 2002!

According to my records you are right about Italy, JPM won, RB was 2nd, Ralf 3rd and MS 4th.