That was a setup issue. Let's see what fixes the team will come up for the rest of the weekend.
They put on a lot of parts on the car today, they should be able to find the best package for tomorrow and the race. I know that all the teams will try to improve as well...lets wait and see.

You need to see KOVA's time in the context of the set times in FP1.

Info you received? From where? Pls stop this bs! To suggest we are faster than Toyota in the long runs shows you are deluded. I followed the stints and Toyota and Wiliams were the only teams runining 12+ laps stints the others were runing 5 - 6 and Mclarens pace was nowhere near them.

That maybe so but don't forget that Mclaren are running KERS which will be of immense benefit at start.
We may end up with a situation where the "Diffuser" cars will be behind the KERS cars and will not be able to overtake.

No offense, but you should be forbidden to use the term "reality" in your posts for at least the next 6 months...

There is nothing, absolutely nothing to gain by burying your head in the sandbag. It's as bad as it ever looked during testing and the only way is up.

The only thing I'm sure of is that McLaren WILL eventually go up again.

Sector 3 seemed to show up a lack of downforce - the MP4-24 being visibly slower apparently. There was a lot of input on the steering wheel too - a real handful.

Did anyone see the rear bodywork? It looked to me as if the floor was new and the waist more pinched in - but maybe I just haven't been paying attention.

Tomorrow I would expect Ferrari to move up a little, FI to move back, but I don't see Mclaren moving anywhere for a few races. Still, if the car is reliable and the guys can keep it on the island, then a couple of points aren't out of the question on Sunday with the anticipated attrition rate.

A box of parts arrived at McLaren 26 minutes before the first session started. They are sorting out issues every minute of the day

http://twitter.com/LeeMcK

Lewis began his long run with 8 laps already done and came into the pits on lap 17 because as he put it, the car was bottoming out.

KOVA had a much longer stint than that. He was in the pit twice in FP2 and did a total of 35 laps I believe. Do your maths again.

I read that too during the FPs. I think Radio 5 live announced that twice if I am not mistaken.

I think there was some new shaping on rear sides of pods. I didnt see it very well, but maybe some shapes formed in similar technique as in the pods of force india car.

All the KERS cars seem to be on the rear half of the grid, should be interesting on sunday to see how effective they are at overtaking. Probably not enough to get anywere near the front though.

Mclaren never ran more than 8 laps per stint. I love how you twist stuff and say Lewis came into the pitts because he was bottoming out. You know this because? Come on! Stop making up half truths. I followed the laps and stints and noticed McLaren never ran more than 8 laps a stint. Toyota and Willains were doing over 12 laps and on S1 alone were always half a second faster. Make what you like but come tommrrow you'd see. I'd eat my words and admit I was wrong if they are fast but there is no way in hell they are. Time you admit some home truths too and stopmaking up stuff

I think if a car running KERS were to qualify between 5th and 6th it will have a very good chance. Additional 80HP and associated torque delivered to the wheels from standing still for 3 - 4 secs should be real helpful and if the cars in front decides to block them, I see some serious pile-up even before the 1st corner come Sunday morning. The KERS cars will also have an advantage if and when the safety car leaves the track.

Haug answers some questions after practice:
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/20...s_09032713.html

I noticed those from the scrutiny photos released yesterday. They could have been there before though.

Well, he said on the radio that he can`t see in the braking zones because the car was too low.

Haug says that in Q they should be somewhere between 13-20, but he thinks (from what he has seen today) that their race pace is better.
Thinks Brawn is very strong, Williams is quick and good but he doesn`t see them at the very top. 2 or 3 teams (Ferrari&RBR) should be quicker than them.

so basically teams with the Überfuser are running things.


Mclaren needs to join the Justice League asap else it might get embarrassing :\

It looked like Hamilton and Kovalainen were running different rear ends in FP1. Hamilton seemed to have the more pinched rear end. Only from looking at the Beeb feed but Kova looked from a distance to be more in Jerez spec. Kova certainly looked more at home with the car - Hamilton looked all at sea to me (lacking any confidence in the rear end).

I know he said it on the radio - but he never said 'guys i am coming in because the car was bottoming out'. There is a big difference between speculating and real facts. LH came in after he ran 8 stints just like Heiki did. Right now, i think the only option is to fill the car light and get in Q3. And fill the car light for the race and try and get a good start with kers and pray for the SC to come after they have pitted or just before they are about to pit

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_me...ges/timing.aspx

Looking at the re-runs Hamilton didn't look too shabby early on in FP2 comparative to others on hards at the time, perhaps there is a reason to be not too gloomy once they have sorted the set-up.

I knew things were bad. Just not quite this bad. This race is gonna hurt.
Should be entertaining though with a 'backwards' grid.

Your predictions don't work,
Your links don't work . . .


http://www.fia.com/public/f1_media/aus09_session2_times.pdf

What makes you think they even have a chance of getting in Q3? At the moment it looks like getting into Q2 would be a good result.

look at Button's times lap 12-19

Indeed I just posted in the BRawn thread Button was comfortably in the mid 1:26's for 4 laps! no-one even come close to His and Ruben's times.

I wonder what KERS and adjustable wing will do to help the car behind.

Well i admit things couod improve tommorrow, anyway here's what Lewis had to say after the FP


"My day was not too bad," Hamilton told Autosport. "We're not as quick as we would love to be, but we are working very hard.

"We got through quite a programme and made some decent steps for us. We don't know what anyone else is doing on track, but we're happy with what we have done today."

A lack of grip proved to be Hamilton's main downfall as his MP4-24 battled to stay stuck to the tarmac.

"In general, it's just a general lack of grip everywhere, it is not one particular area of the corners," he explained. "We cannot carry the speed through corners we would like.

"We are working very, very hard. We've made some steps forward, the gap to the others is not as big as it was at Barcelona. But there is no quick fix, it is going to take time."

those practice times look all over the place

im pretty certain a number of cars wont finish the race

Very insightful...

thanks...its hard not to appreciate such powerful analysis

There might be some pit stops too...

Really, if the cars handle like this we will see many spin outs and contacts.

Only if Piquet qualifies

its also looking like the fastest car in q3 will start at the front of the grid

back to the mp4-24

The car really didn't look to work much, the thing that really stood out for me is the way Lewis lost the back of the car on his final run, it was a complete lack of downforce at the rear of the car, once he loaded it up, it gave up on him and he did damn well to keep it on the track.

Massa had a big moment there too actually, but Lewis lost the back before he even reached the apex of the corner. And it wasn't progressive, it just was there, then it wasn't.

Maybe copying the uber-fuser will help a lot in this regard though. Unlike some of the other teams McLaren doesn't have a lot to lose by trying it. So they may well make up a lot of ground relative to the BMWs and Ferraris who have a relatively working concept already.

Dont laugh but Piquet seems to be better than Alonso in the long stints - what he lacks is that single quick lap

2009 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE ANALYSIS

Today’s run programme targeted the following objectives: aero and mechanical set-up work, prime and option tyre evaluation, tyre degradation analysis over a long stint.

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

P1 programme

“Although the track was very green and slippery, the car felt good from the start of the session,” said Heikki. “Our balance was good, particularly in the high-speed corners, and KERS deployed well, working smoothly throughout both sessions.”

Heikki quickly felt comfortable with the car and the operating window of the tyres, setting a 1m27.982s best – which placed him near the top of the P1 timesheets. He followed it up with a six-lap run (1m27.495s) as the track continued to evolve.

P2 programme

Focus shifted from set-up work to tyre evaluation over longer runs. Heikki completed four runs (four laps/1m28.148s; three laps/1m28.757s (cut short by flat-spotting a tyre at Turn Two); 11 laps/1m28.064s (the first on options); nine laps/1m27.802s).

The time differential between the two compounds didn’t appear to be too marked – and both held up well over the course of a stint.

“A reasonable first day – even if the times don’t properly reflect that,” Heikki said, after finishing 17th on a 1m27.802s. “We saw some decent pace and made some progress which was pleasing for the new guys on my car this year.”


LEWIS HAMILTON

P1 programme

Lewis started with a five-lap run (best time 1m30.105s) to form a baseline for the day’s programme. A later four-lap run saw Lewis visibly working his tyres on his first flying lap, yielded a 1m29.042s. A two-lap, final run of the session produced a best of 1m31.747s.

“The first session didn’t prove too productive for us,” said Lewis. “We worked hard to get the prime tyres to operate effectively, but the track conditions and our set-up made it difficult to get them to work, and it didn’t give me the confidence to push hard.”

P2 programme

Some set-up work between the sessions made Lewis more comfortable. He completed runs of six laps (1m27.958s best), seven laps (1m28.431s), seven laps (1m27.813s) and a shorter, three-lap stint (1m29.438s) to evaluate set-up changes.

“The changes we made after P1 made the car feel much better,” said Lewis. “We’re still working to refine the balance – and we have a number of issues still to address – but we are heading in the right direction.”

While the focus of the run programme precluded the setting of low-fuel fast laps, MP4-24’s speed over a long run looks better than testing indicated, although it is too early to accurately predict overall. Lewis finished the day with a 1m27.813s best, 18th fastest.

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“We arrived in Australia fully aware that we’d be facing a tough start to the season. But we adhered to a disciplined programme today, focusing on tyre durability work, and weren’t swayed by a desire to post flattering times. Equally, we’re now focusing on implementing the performance steps we’ve planned for the next few races. Overall, then, we’ve made good progress recently but are well aware that we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“After the winter tests, we knew that we would have a difficult start into the season. While our car has improved since the Barcelona test, we still have a lot of work to do.”

That`s quite, well ... detailed.

Tis a sad day indeed. The last shred of hope im holding on to now is that in FP1 Hamiltons car looked completely different to Kova's at the rear but even then Kova was still 1.8 sec of the fastest time set over both sessions . In FP2 both cars looked doggy to drive but even if this was just being used to test new parts it hardly looked productive in terms of finding speed. Haven't felt this low during all winter testing. Hate to sound all doomsday but it tough to see the team ya love lag behind like a wounded animal.

MEDIC!

Competition for Q3 will be intense. IMO, both McLarens, both Renaults and possibly a Ferrari or two will fail to make it.

Any evidence to back up your reality?

try http://www.fia.com/public/f1_media/aus09_session2_times.pdf

i think race pace this season will be less consistent than the past seasons cos of the tires.

100% agree with you. Looking at the performance of those softs, nearly all the drivers seem to having a hard time after 4-6 laps on them.

Take a look at Button's times, no drop off to speak of over 8 laps.

Thats just one 1h30mins session, perhaps they even were on different programs, ...

That on the Hard compound?

Looks like Kovaleinen might beat Hamilton this season.