Anyone watched it? What a start!!! Ralph really did a number. Did you all see the on board camera when Ralph went airborne? I bet he probably was saying "OH s&*t!! What the ....." I know I would and more, like wet my pants.

The commentator mentioned at the end of the race that the McLauren Mercedes has the weakest engine among all cars. I thought they have a brand new car for this season. I really do not have much faith that they will be doing well this year. DC did not even have one lap in, and Kimi was no match with the Williams BMW. It going to be another uphill battle for MB this season. I want Meka back!!!

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95 R129
04 Infiniti G35.5 BS
10 X204

First lap and no restart? Not allowing them to go to backup cars was bogus. The Ferrari was supposed to be down on power to BMW's. Schumacher on the bridgestones looked awesome but it was a tight track.

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Darryl, Hill
2005 SL55 AMG Kleemanized
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DC's problem I think was when he thought his tires were warm. This is what happens when you switch tires. You know what's amazing, is Ferrari was using last year's cars! I think Kimi did quite well for his first start at McLaren. But you can't judge how they're going to do by the first race. They go to Malaysia next, no going home before then!

Kuan

Yep.....I saw it....went to an F1 party surrounded by West-McLaren-Mercedes fans

I'm gonna miss Sam Posey's commentary. Glad they kept David Hobbs, though.

I believe that the McLaren team will do well this year. Yes, it will be tough, but the odds aren't that bad. DC and Kimi are excellent drivers and assuming they can get any car/tire issues sorted early in the season, they will have a lot of podium finishes.

One things for sure.....I'll be glued to the set every race!

Oh man what a start for sure!

I really do hope McLaren finds its way back @ the top.

Last year we had Newey nearly leaving.
Paul Morgan's death so that put a huge burden on Mario Illen.
Bridgestone tailoring to ferrari more.
Ferrari getting the exotic material that Illmor used in its engine.
Mika not pushing even if it was a losing battle.

-Ren

Yes, what a race! One of the most exciting starts I have seen in quite awhile. There should have been a restart for sure, not sure what the Officials where drinking to make that call???

I agree with the Ren's assessment oon Illmor, I think the loss of Paul Morgan may have emotionally setback the "drive" they have had in the past with the engines they produce. Not sure if there is any fact to that but that is my personal feeling. One of the commentators said the BMW engine is around 875 hp or so, then later they mentioned that Mercedes was down 40-50 hp from that if my memory serves me!

Boys, back to the drawing boards, am fast I say!

What a situation with the Tire War as well, should provide plenty of excitement the whole race season.

Go McLaren / Mercedes...

Just received this e-mail from McLaren..

"Dear McLaren supporter,

The 2002 Formula One racing season has started.

After months of hard work, development, testing and fine tuning of the new West McLaren Mercedes racing car, the team is approaching the 2002 World Championship challenge with a new vigour, determination, and optimism. We are highly focused on winning and the Australian Grand Prix provided a good start by achieving the fastest race lap and the podium result.

You can follow the Team throughout the season on http://www.mclaren.com

To enable our supporters to get closer to the Team, we have launched the 2002 Team McLaren membership with an exciting new Members pack which includes a special rucksack, exclusive T-Shirt and race planner as well as our 60 page monthly magazine, Racing Line. In addition, we hope you will be impressed by our new 2002 Official Collection of exclusive VIP, Active and Team clothing and accessories. Please spare a few minutes to look at the new webstore on http://www.mclaren.com

The 2002 World Championship promises to be exhilarating and challenging. We look forward to a successful season and hope you will be joining us in celebrating numerous West McLaren Mercedes victories.

We really appreciate your support.

Team McLaren"



True......Kimi DID set the fastest race lap...

Not much hope for the MB this year as I said before after the second round. Both cars were out of commission. What a way to start the season, and definitely a blow to the fans. Wish Meka is back.

Anybody know what happened to DC's car? He was so furstrasted he drove the car right into the garage and done for the day.

The way things go, Toyota will be right up there with the big boys soon. Guess this will give the flamers more reasons to complain how bad MB qualities have become.

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95 R129
04 Infiniti G35.5 BS
10 X204

I read something that DC had a cylinder go out and instead of letting the car expire on the track they had him come in and park it. Must hurt!

Not a good start for sure. Illmor needs to find some power for the Team or it will be one sad season.

Ferrari is using last year's car and they're still crushing the competition. BMW has apparently 600 rpm on everyone else. Sauber is using last year's Ferrari engine and seems to be very competitive. I think the reliability problems should take care of themselves as the season progresses. The cars are competitive, well, as competitive as last year, and DC was fastest in practice on Friday. They should get a little better, with the launch control problems behind them, they can concentrate on the race.

Kuan

After watching the chaos at the start of the first round without a restart and the second round with Montoya getting a stop/go penalty for his 'interference' with M. Schumi, it makes me wonder about the powers that run the show.

Not that I'm for the Williams/BMW but if that was Kimmi, would the
powers also do the same to him in future races? Almost like NASCAR with the decisions made too quickly and thought about later. This kind of decision really has an effect at seasons end and looks to favor Ferrari......nnoooo? Was it not obvious that Schumi stuck his left front wheel into Pablo's right side pod, sort of an Earnhardt intimidator manuever?

Anyone else's thoughts on this behavior.....speak up

TobiasMB
4 MBs

No doubt about it, F1 is VERY political the way it is run! The race stewards (rule interpreters) have absolute power during the race, they can and do make calls that come into question all the time, often directly influencing the outcome ot the race and ultimaltely the points for the Championship. I am not sure if they are the same bunch that travel from track to track, but from my impression of the drivers comments on this issue, it seems that they are not the same group at every race. Malaysia has a different potential outcome than down under, and so on.

You hit the nail on the Head Tobias, Montoya is a little arrogant or short on patience with the F1 governing body, I'm not sure which one yet. He will get the bad calls until "they" the FIA has no choice but to accept his position as the season Leader in points, if that happens. European Politics in the FIA is a bit strange but also interesting to watch, sort of a polished "GOB Network" or Good Ol' Boy establishment with a aristocratic flare.

Schuey is the F1 Golden Child and the moment and is does seem that whenever a penalty is issued it is the "other" persons (Teams) fault most of the time, this is true for Ferrari as well. They are very influential at this time, not sure why? What is apparent is that he is used to getting his way, even if it seems unfair. That move of cutting across traffic at the start is a classic move of his, Montoya even said so in the press conferance and said he expected it. Montoya was fair in saying the Shuey should have braked earlier, but he didn't and understeered into Montoya? Both said that's "racing" and it is, problem is the Stewards didn't see it that way!

I think Schuey was wrong for pushing so deep, and he paid the price. Is it impossible to think Schuey could have intended to do that little stunt on purpose, putting Montoya out of the race? Who knows. The Stewards call was wrong, it's really hard to tell and the camera angle from above would have answered the question more clearly, but Malaysian TV didn't deliver???

My thoughts for the rest of the season, I think Williams/BMW is going to wax everyone elses ass. Williams has a top three chassis and the engine is unbeatable as the reliabilty is there already. They have a reported 35-40 hp on the next closest team which is Ferrari, just watch them full them on the back straights. It there is any question about this during this last race, remember that the BMW's where doing a 1 stop strategy, thus carrying much more fuel early on and still catching the Ferraris.

One other interesting issue that will develop as the season continues, it was reported the Mercedes would get the spotlight from Michelin in Delevopment as they where potential winners this season. Since this does not appear to be the case, I think Michelin as already shifted to Williams as being the Primary Team this season. Any thoughts on this?

Will Michelin beat Bridgestone, Will Williams/M Power mop up? These are the questions that will be answered as the season plays out, stay tuned! There is no Love loss between Schuey and Montoya and that is going to make this anothe exciting season to watch.

I certainly hope not

As an optimist, I'm not yet ready to write-off the McLaren team after just two races

I am a McLaren / Mercedes Loyalist to the extreme, but somehow I don't think we are going to be strong until later in the season.

Mercedes seems to run their program that way, not sure why?? What is unsettling is that Illmor has had the last 3-4 months, probably much longer to develop the current engine and they are very weak in power at this point.

Points wise, they will be playing catchup all season which is hard to do with Ferrari and even more difficult now that Williams has a Great package which will only get better.

Go Kimi and DC.....!

Agreed! They definitely have their work cut out for them...