Albert Park- Melbourne

[Elmo T]

Thoughts after practice?

New look on the cars - Meh. There are noticeable differences for now.

Sound of the new engines - What sound?!? The voice-over of the announcers pretty much blots out the engines noises you normally hear. Lower engine notes can be heard if you listen hard enough.

I will be far more interested in changes on race day.

[WickerBill]

Love the turbo whistle -- and the fact that they can keep the turbos spooled up at low speed with the ERS. However... the low revs make for a pretty dull engine note.

Reduce boost and increase revs for 2015 to get the sound better. Commentators said these engines are already capable of 22-23k RPM if they were allowed. THAT would sound amazing.

[DagoFast]

I'm hoping to see the pecking order changed up a bit. And hopefully not anymore walkovers by RedBull & Vettle. 5 straight years of that would be about the end of my rope.

[stroker]

I'm assuming the race is on at some ungodly hour of the night. What cable channel?

[cameraman]

All NBCSports

All times Eastern

Practice 1 - 9:30 PM -Thursday - March 13
Practice 2 - 1:30 AM -Friday - March 14
Qualifying - 2:00 AM -Saturday - March 15
Qualifying (Re-Air) - 6:00 AM -Saturday - March 15
Pre Race - 1:00 AM -Sunday - March 16
Race - 1:30 AM -Sunday - March 16
F1 Extra - 4:00 AM -Sunday - March 16
Race (Re-Air) - 6:30 AM -Sunday - March 16

Countdown to F1 Show -
9:00 PM - Thursday - March 13
5:00 PM - Friday - March 14 - Re-Air With Practice Updates
1:30 AM -Saturday - March 15 - Re-Air

Mobil 1 The Grid
Qualifying - 1:00 AM -Saturday - March 15

[opinionated ow]

They sounds like vaccuum cleaners, only just better than GP3. Not impressed. If a Lotus spins and has a head on head accident with any other car the result is going to be X-rated!

[Pilgrims Drop]

I'm hoping to see the pecking order changed up a bit. And hopefully not anymore walkovers by RedBull & Vettle. 5 straight years of that would be about the end of my rope.
And there's a difference if it's a walkover by Merc cars??

[cameraman]

Yeah Vettel is hating life but there is still a Red Bull on the front row. The Mercs won't be walking over anyone.

[Insomniac]

I think they need to adjust the sound levels of the broadcast given how "quiet" the engines are. It doesn't really sound like racing now. I'm looking forward to seeing them racing though.

I agree on upping the revs and making them louder. I can see why people were concerned. I was thinking, CART sounded great, F1 will too. :) But, in the garage and out on the street sound very different.

My goodness, nearly every nose looks so horrible. At least so far, Red Bull has a new wunderkind.

[WickerBill]

They sounds like vaccuum cleaners

What type of vacuum cleaners do they have down where you are?! They sound like quieter NASCAR to me...throaty and low-rev.

[Opposite Lock]

They sounds like vaccuum cleaners

I think they sound like a synchronized marching drill squad using leaf blowers*, (*known to some as Mexican jet packs :D), blowing the last leaf of the year across Max Mosley's driveway, with as little enthusiasm as possible.

Lost are traditional phrases such as "At Full Song". And "Driven In Anger"? These "power units" sound more like "driven in malaise".

[opinionated ow]

What type of vacuum cleaners do they have down where you are?! They sound like quieter NASCAR to me...throaty and low-rev.

Powerful ones. We've got full fat 240V electricity ;-)

[WickerBill]

I found myself really enjoying the race. Lots to keep track of, and the tires were a non-issue. New faces, drivers dealing with torque, the unknown of reliability....

[muskoka fan]

I found myself really enjoying the race. Lots to keep track of, and the tires were a non-issue. New faces, drivers dealing with torque, the unknown of reliability....

I enjoyed it as well, especially because the tires weren't the star of the show for a nice change.

I lost track, though. Was it Toro Rosso or Force India playing the part of Dirk Diggler?

[Mary]

I didn't like the sound of the cars, but I suspect I'll get used to it. I set my alarm to wake me up for the race at 2:00 am EDT, but alarms can only wake one up so much. I dozed on and off during this one and it had nothing to do with the quality of the racing. I'm just not young anymore. I wasn't so sleepy however, that I was unable to see how unbelievably ugly these cars are.

Mary

[RichK]

It's the weirdest thing - I was watching the F1 race in Melbourne, but every time I stepped out of the living room, I could hear that my TV changed to an old Indy Lights race....

[TedN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS4Dh_EAfJI

[cameraman]

It sounds like a 1985 F1 race.

fqBoOz1-ibo


Because you know F1 with Senna, Prost, Lauda, Mansell etc was sooo terrible

[Insomniac]

What's the difference between CART?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W2iAiP0OVE

Is it the size or RPM?

[opinionated ow]

What's the difference between CART?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W2iAiP0OVE

Is it the size or RPM?

Given how much energy F1 is taking out of the exhaust (turbo and gru-h) I'd hazard a guess that the flow of gasses through the pipe is nowhere near as fast hence the reduced noise. but that's speculation. cart engines didn't have flow restriction and similar nonsense though, right?

[Andrew Longman]

CART wasn't rev limited and had 33% more cylinder ignitions per revolution. IIRC they were turning about 15 grand at the hight of the Honda and Toyota engine wars. It makes a big difference.

[Mary]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS4Dh_EAfJI


They're not "screaming" anymore.

Mary