Finally this moment has come, after the cold empty weeks of the winter off-season - although the concept of winter has not actually left this part of the world - the north is a frozen wasteland. As ice and snow plague the lands outside Blog HQ, but I do enjoy the cold more than the heat of summer - whatever that is. Anyway the wait is over, it has been so long since the safety car brought the Brazilian GP to a close, following Di Resta's season ending accident - at least he finally has a friend for the incoming season. Over the break, I've designed a whole field of cars, to pretend I have some form of friends when it comes to filming day, and I've carefully crafted and developed the graceful chariot for the season christened 'Myria' all that was missing was some actual on track action.
This weekend the final component falls into place, over there on the other side of the world, in the realm of kangaroos, koalas and cork hats - as we come striding out of the winter into the bright Australian sun. Whatever sun is anyway, I'm sure there are historical records of such an object. However there are some initial reports coming out of Melbourne claiming that there might be some rain over the course of the weekend. Start where we left off last season in that case - and if we get a race that is entertaining as it was in Sau Paolo then things are going to be epic, a prospect that is not dampened by the rumours and thoughts bubbling to the surface throughout testing. It has been a long time since the start of a new season has been so widely anticipated.
The Track
There was a time when Bahrain opened the season, where everyone turned up from winter testing and arrived in the middle of nowhere, taking all that energy and anticipation and cast it into the wilderness of the desert. Fortunately those times did not last too long and normality was resumed, hosting the first race in the vibrancy and energy of the city of Melbourne - holding the race in the centre of that just adds to the atmosphere and stokes up the anticipation. Few tracks would be more of a fitting venue than the Albert Park Circuit.
Albert park is a temporary circuit, which is only put into place for the grand prix weekend which also plays host to a myriad of support events, including the brilliant V8 Supercar series which started its calendar on the streets of Adelaide two weeks ago. It lacks the insane run-off areas that those generic Tilke abominations are cursed with everywhere - instead there are walls, lots and lots of walls, walls which for some reason over the past few years have been painted green. I am going to assume the organisers decided not enough people had crashed so took it upon themselves to disguise them to taunt more drivers into the barriers. Not that in reality we need to give the likes of Grosjean and Maldonado any more encouragement to crash and generally smash things up - after all neither of them finished this race in 2012.
The layout is a simple one, no complex and over-engineered corners and no monolithic trackside architecture - this is the very essence of competition without the fabricated overtaking zones a certain designer is all to fond of. Yet no-one seems to learn from this, and the likes of Korea and Abu-Dhabi continue to pepper the calendar. Albert Park harnesses a fine balance through the nature of the corner, from the fast chicane through turns 11 and 12, and the kink under the trees and shadows of turn 6. To add to that this season there are two DRS sections, perhaps milking the life out of the concept a little too much, after limiting is usage to the designated areas in practice in qualifying. Add into that the tyres of questionable durability which no-one has any idea about once more, and madness is going to ensue.
Now to the highlight of the event, as it is time to unleash the first track video of 2013, from Albert Park - well a virtual version thereof, where Myria was escorted to Australia not only for a tour of the grand prix venue... As there is a little extra feature to the videos this season... for now... where me and Myria investigate where else the event could go if Bernie ever got bored of Melbourne.
What to expect
Last season we threw the form book out the window, and there is no reason to let it back in, so many conflicting opinions and reports have been circulating in the run up to this event, because there are very few certainties. The only thing that seems to be emerging is that there is a three division structure as it had done in 2011 - but this time the divisions are constructed a little differently, and with a much narrower margin in between.
- Division 1: Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Lotus - all five of these teams have been tipped for wins this season on a regular basis. With some untested driver combinations in that mix like Hamilton vs Rosberg, and One-Stop Perez vs Button make the development of this group very interesting.
- Division 2: The Sauber Empire, Williams, Force India, Torro Rosso - if the first group had some unknowns in it then this batch is the very definition of a mystery - with Gutierrez and Bottas being complete rookies to the sport in quick cars there is a risk of some opening lap carnage in the middle of the pack. The suggestion is that Force India and Torro Rosso are the weaker teams but that only seems to mean that they are less likely to get involved with division one
- Division 3: Also know as the zone of utter hopelessness, these teams have had to sell of their key drivers in source of money - it is a sad state of affairs when Charles Pic is the most experienced driver back here for Caterham. This season the dominance of the green cars looks to be over, as Bianchi's Marussia could be a threat, Chiltons on the other hand... nothing much is expected there other than incompetence having used family money to buy his way up every rung on the development ladder
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