1 Week left...

[pino]

Are you Guys excited and ready for the show ? I am very much and as usually I will follow all races "live", and for the first time in HD with my new Sony Bravia 46 :D

[leopard]

3 weeks to go would make it no longer new, it may have problem before the race starts. :) :p

[ShiftingGears]

I'm pumped! Fingers crossed for Webber!

[janneppi]

I thought it was more than three weeks, good job. :)

[waitey]

17 days

[Rusty Spanner]

Are you Guys excited and ready for the show ?

Its that strange point of the year where excitement is mixed with fear.

Excited that the long quiet winter is almost over and it time to go racing again.

Fear that one team will turn up in Oz and disappear off into the distance, making it all a bit of an anticlimax.

[Tazio]

Its that strange point of the year where excitement is mixed with fear.

Excited that the long quiet winter is almost over and it time to go racing again.

Fear that one team will turn up in Oz and disappear off into the distance, making it all a bit of an anticlimax.
Your fear is well founded!
If Ferrari do not come out of the box with a clear advantage,
they will haved developed one by the time they reach the European events IMHO!

[Lalo]

I'm eager to see Alonso back at Renault. I'm a big fan of Fernando, and I'm sure he's glad to be "back home". He said he believed the car wouldn't get to finish in the top 3 in Australia, but ok, we'll see what the situation is with the other competitors. At least, he has twice Hamilton's salary, so he wouldn't complain much haha.

Also, the new front wing in the BMW Sauber's is more like a fear factor for me rather than an exitement one. I just don't feel that good about that developement. Some years ago, in 2004 (I believe), Montoya and Ralph drove half a season with a new revolutionary nose in their Williams and it sucked, the car was just undrivable and it brought more problems than improvements. Due to their competitiveness situation (Alonso says they're "Almost in a par with McLaren", which is pretty true:http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080225094948.shtml ) It's a thing to keep an eye on. It would be a hell of a mess if that nose-job blew all they've seeded in 2006 and 2007.

Kova in McLaren.. Well, we all know he's a very talented driver with lots of skills (and we know that even from the time he testdrove for Renault), but can he keep up in the Silver Arrow? And more important, are the damn team orders gonna prevent him from showing what he's really got? Some days ago, a Brasilian reporter asked Piquet Jr. how his relationship with Alonso was. He said "We're good.. For now". In Renault would be different as Briatore supports Fernando 110%, not benefitting him over Nelsinho but giving him the chance of racing honestly, but in McLaren it's a different story. Remember: British driver in a British team. Are last year's problems at the Ron Dennis team gonna come up once again? Remember, Heikki was McLaren's "third choice" for this year (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080224162549.shtml).

Last year's Formula One championship was one of the most interestings in recent years, but it wasn't all because of what happened inside the tracks during the racing weekends. The media came up with tons of issues (McLaren-Ferrari spy case, other teams shalowly involved, Alonso vs. Hamilton..). I hope this year can get to be even more exiting than last year, but I hope it can be due to the competitiveness during races, specially now that there's less assistance from computers when it comes the time to drive. 2008 season has all the ingredients for a juicy and yummi battle for the championship, and I believe we can expect some surprises as we've seen on the test's timings.

[N. Jones]

Three weeks has me worried.....
*walking away, mumbling to himself* I'll have to make an announcement sometime soon. :(

[woody2goody]

The 2008 season has me genuinely excited as to what is going to transpire this year.

At the front, Ferrari are looking good, but it appears that this year will be one of the best seasons ever in my opinion; because it seems that we finally have a competitive grid from one end to the other, apart from Super Aguri sadly who now have Honda's abysmal effort at a 2007 F1 car to compound their perilous financial situation.

It will be interesting to see who will come out on top within the different teams. Will McLaren let Kovy truly race Hamilton? I hope so, as Heikki seems like a genuinely nice guy with tons of talent to boot. And can Felipe Massa get the better of his World Champion team-mate?

There will be some new faces, and a couple of familiar ones returning. The only true rookies in the class of 2008 are Brazil's Nelson Piquet, Jr, and Sebastien Bourdais. Many will feel that Piquet can give Alonso a run for his considerable money this year, but I expect the Spaniard to defeat this particular rookie comfortably. Bourdais, a multiple time CART champion, is a different proposition for F1's latest wonderkid Sebastian Vettel. Expect a closely fought battle down at STR.

A rookie, but not in the traditional sense, Timo Glock is back for 2008, after four years out of F1, and grabbing the 2007 GP2 title. He is a good fit for the German-based Toyota team, and their new car seems to be solid.

Williams and Red Bull look to have improved pace this year, and I think we should expect them to do well with two solid cars and good driver pairings.

BMW will be wanting to upset the established order, and claim victories in 2008. I think they can do it this time, and with Poland's finest, Robert Kubica, and 'Quick' Nick Heidfeld, they will be challenging all the way to the final race of the season.

Throw in a rejuvenated Honda and Force India (come on Jenson and Fisi), and I think it's going to be a brilliant year!

[jens]

I'm not quite as excited as in previous years and feel more indifference. Maybe I'm already getting old and seen so many winter breaks in F1 that it's becoming ordinary... or that the ranking of teams seems about similar to last year's, which doesn't create so much excitement - usually the most interesting thing in the first GP has been seeing that how much have the competitevesses of different teams changed. But if nothing has changed, then it doesn't look so exciting to witness the same order that existed during the whole of the previous season.

The transition from 2007 to 2008 seems a bit similar to 1994->1995, when then also weren't significant changes in teams' strengths... Ben & Wil continued to fight for the title, Ferrari and McLaren stayed in their positions (with the former getting a bit stronger and the latter a bit weaker) and Jordan, Ligier & Sauber fought for 5th...

[AJP]

Im very excited...just booked my flights to go to Melbourne on the Friday morning. I can't wait to hear the engines start up and rev like crazy... :)

[ShiftingGears]

Also a welcome return for the V8 Supercars at Albert Park - should be a good weekend :D

[ozrevhead]

there is 15 days 13hrs and 7min still the first practice - Im so excited I cant wait!!! :D

It will be live on ten HD Digital from this year - HALLELUJAH!!

Will RedBull finally become reliable and fast? Bloody hope so!

OFF TOPIC - Pino i need the link for the chat room so I can test it out. I had problems with java and i need a test run

[pino]

OFF TOPIC - Pino i need the link for the chat room so I can test it out. I had problems with java and i need a test run

Here's the link for you and anyone who looks forward to that :D

http://hyena-hosting.com/chat/phpMyChat.php3

[Valve Bounce]

Here's the link for you and anyone who looks forward to that :D

http://hyena-hosting.com/chat/phpMyChat.php3


Hi pino,

we need a sticky for this at the top of the forum page. Thanks.

[pino]

Hi pino,

we need a sticky for this at the top of the forum page. Thanks.

I will do that 1 day before practice starts :)

[93VTEC]

Fear that one team will turn up in Oz and disappear off into the distance, making it all a bit of an anticlimax.

I hear you.

[ozrevhead]

Hi pino,

we need a sticky for this at the top of the forum page. Thanks.
Valve why dont you just bookmark the chat site

[jens]

As Toyota showed some promise in the latest testing, then it has automatically raised my level of excitement. :p : Now less than two weeks to go. :cool:

[Tazio]

As Toyota showed some promise in the latest testing, then it has automatically raised my level of excitement. :p : Now less than two weeks to go. :cool:
Jarno Trulli recently topped the final group test time sheet on a qualifying run, but the Toyota driver insists that the Japanese team's 2008 pre-season has not been all smoke and mirrors. Indeed, the Italian told Switzerland's Blick newspaper that the Cologne built TF108 is markedly better than last year's car. “Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes will still be at the front, but we [Toyota] will be playing behind Renault and BMW Sauber,” he promised.

However, with just twelve days to go until Melbourne, the pre-season expectations even from within the seemingly back-marking Honda camp are not all negative. In complete contrast to Trulli, Jenson Button ended the final Barcelona time sheet dead last, but he insists: “Our car is certainly not as bad as the test results suggest.”
http://www.manipef1.com/news/2008/index.php?id=479&redirect=1
JB :(

[I am evil Homer]

Button better hope the other teams are worse than they appear then. Even though it's only testing the Honda hasn't looked quick in anyone's hands which doesn't bode well for the season.

After all a step up from last year's disaster doesn't mean it would do any better!

[Valve Bounce]

OK, I've just come back from Albert Park. Preparations for the track appear almost complete, although this is difficult to see as much work is still ongoing. The bad news is that the place is very dry with much of the grass lawns already turned into dry dirt - if it rains during the race weekend, the much of the place will be quite muddy underfoot.

Now, for those who want to check the weather conditions during the race weekend, here is the link: http://mirror.bom.gov.au/weather/radar/?looping=0&reloaded=0&topography=true&locations=true&range=true#skip

and then just click on Melbourne. The if there is rain, you can see the movement of the weather pattern by selecting the play option on the right hand side. As we appear to be in the middle of a drought in Melbourne, the chance of rain is not promising. :(

For those coming to Albert Park for the first time, there are free trams going to the race venue, and these come along just about every minute; just make sure you select the right line to your side of the park where you are watching the race from.

Of course, if you get there from the wrong side, don't worry as there is a floating bridge across the lake and you can see the beautiful black swans as you walk across.

Enjoy!!

[Hiryu]

With the apparent demise of any open-wheel racing worthy of the name in the States I need it now more than ever!

[Ari]

Melbourne Long Range Weather Forecast:
http://www.weather-climate.com/mel.html

[stevie_gerrard]

i have to say, i really havent got excited about it this year, i dont know why, but i just get the feeling it wont be as gripping as it was last year. I'm sure the driving and races will prove me wrong :)

[F1boat]

Well, I am not as excited as last year, but if Ferrari is dominating I will quickly be enthusiastic again. For sure I will watch the Oz GP live. :)

[woody2goody]

Ferrari nearly always dominate in Australia, so I'm worried they will and then some people will switch off thinking they will do it in every race.

But I predicted a Ferrari one-two so I'm gonna stick with it.

[Tazio]

Ferrari nearly always dominate in Australia, so I'm worried
Just out of curiosity,
Woodman what difference does it make to you if casual observers tune out
an eighteen-race season after the first race?
Do you own stock in the sponsoring companies? ;)

[woody2goody]

Just out of curiosity,
Woodman what difference does it make to you if casual observers tune out
an eighteen-race season after the first race?
Do you own stock in the sponsoring companies? ;)

No, but I wish I did lol. It already annoys me that people dismiss F1 as a snooze-fest, but if one team bosses the first race then the media are so quick to write off the whole season. It really frustrates me, especially when Ferrari win and everyone's like 'here we go again'.

[Tazio]

No, but I wish I did lol. It already annoys me that people dismiss F1 as a snooze-fest, but if one team bosses the first race then the media are so quick to write off the whole season. It really frustrates me, especially when Ferrari win and everyone's like 'here we go again'.A point well taken! I posted on another thread that oz was an atypical circuit!
Don't let it frustrate you! We all know the short-sighted fish-wraps
aren't worth the paper they're printed on!

[Valve Bounce]

I would be most interested to see how Fernando against Junior will go in the Renault as well as Heiki vs Hamilton in the McLaren. Ferrari will have a settled team so I don't anticipate any worries there. I'll also like to see how the new Honda will perform, and Mark Webber in the Newey car. I guess if we look into the lineup, there will be quite a bit of interest in the lower teams as well.

[markabilly]

However, with just twelve days to go until Melbourne, the pre-season expectations even from within the seemingly back-marking Honda camp are not all negative. In complete contrast to Trulli, Jenson Button ended the final Barcelona time sheet dead last, but he insists: “Our car is certainly not as bad as the test results suggest.”
http://www.manipef1.com/news/2008/index.php?id=479&redirect=1
JB

"are not all negative"... :bounce: ..dead last but .. :laugh: ."not as bad as the test results suggest" :rotflmao:

and soon Button will be saying "we are not as bad as the race results suggest....." and keep drinking the kool aid, :beer: as somewhere, some one may actually begin to believe...... well maybe not.......

[Valve Bounce]

Just checked Ari's link above for the long range forcast, and race weekend will be warm. My TV forcast says it will be 37 on friday, and Ari's long range link suggest a hot weekend. It could be anywhere around 37.

[woody2goody]

"are not all negative"... :bounce: ..dead last but .. :laugh: ."not as bad as the test results suggest" :rotflmao:

and soon Button will be saying "we are not as bad as the race results suggest....." and keep drinking the kool aid, :beer: as somewhere, some one may actually begin to believe...... well maybe not.......

OH YEAH!!!

[Spoonbender]

To get my self buzzing and in the mood for the upcoming season, I downloaded my F1 2006 season review DVD on to my Ipod for an instant hit of F1. Then I went a searching on the internet, to a well known online sales outlet from Jersey. Low and behold they only had the official 2007 F1 review, with bonus features including never before seen footage and driver interviews with a massive 75% off list price. Placed my 5.99 order on Monday of this week, arrived at my house yesterday, went straight in to the DVD player hooked up to the lovely Samsung 40" Lcd - Oh yes. Am thinking of going to testing again at Silverstone, £15 on the day (what a bargain for a day of F1), I really am doing F1 on a shoestring this year, who says F1 is too expensive.

[woody2goody]

A point well taken! I posted on another thread that oz was an atypical circuit!
Don't let it frustrate you! We all know the short-sighted fish-wraps
aren't worth the paper they're printed on!

I know. The media in general seem to have something against F1. Melbourne is a strange circuit because you wouldn't think you need much downforce for it because there's only the fast chicane where you would think aerodynamic grip would be important. But you do need good braking and a well tuned front end.

There could be a surprise here maybe from BMW or Williams, or even Renault who have gone well there in the past.

[jens]

But then again... although Melbourne is an untraditional circuit, then with current regulations the car performances on different circuits are more similar than ever before, so therefore I think that however the pecking order at Albert Park looks like, we won't see drastic changes in the next Grand Prix' weekends.

[Fangio]

So..............are we there yet? :D

[Tazio]

But then again... although Melbourne is an untraditional circuit, then with current regulations the car performances on different circuits are more similar than ever before, so therefore I think that however the pecking order at Albert Park looks like, we won't see drastic changes in the next Grand Prix' weekends.We'll see! Pre-race testing at Albert Park will speak volumes

[Valve Bounce]

Just checked it out again. RICARDO'S TRATTORIA - Great restuarant in Dundas street, within walking distance of the south west corner of Albert Park. 9699 5536. It is also BYO.

Book early though if you want to go there next weekend after a day at the circuit, probably as soon as you read this post. Here's a link to the place next door: http://www.eatability.com.au/au/melbourne/albert_park_hotel_albert_park/map.htm
and the reviews: http://www.eatability.com.au/au/melbourne/ricardos_trattoria.htm#user_reviews

For coffee earlier in the day, say around 7am onwards before going to the race, try Laurent three doors up from Ricardo's, also in Dundas st., great French Patisserie.

[SGWilko]

So..............are we there yet? :D

If I had a £1 for every time my kids say that in the car...... :laugh:

[Storm]

I wasn't that much excited till now...but now thats its this coming sunday and reading all the stuff on the forum is making me look forward to it :)

[Tazio]

or even Renault who have gone well there in the past. I think Fred will be the big surprise in round one. Very highly touted, and rightfully so,
Hamilton has to get off the schnide he finished the 2007 season on!

While..........................

Few would bet against the "Iceman" chalking up a third successive win for a team now under new leadership, with Stefano Domenicali taking over from Jean Todt as principal but looking as strong as ever.uld be nice to be leading the championship with the other drivers playing catch up."

The Finn, who won six races last year, said the 2008 car was strong, fast, competitive and reliable and expected Ferrari to be fighting for victory in every race and for both championships.

"Personally, I feel there is a big difference to start this season compared to last year," he added.

"I know the team and how they work. There will be no surprises. I've built up a good relationship with my engineers and we understand each other and they also know how I like to have my car set up."

It's about time to go racing boys :)

[Valve Bounce]

I think Fred will be the big surprise in round one. Very highly touted, and rightfully so,
Hamilton has to get off the schnide he finished the 2007 season on!

While..........................

Few would bet against the "Iceman" chalking up a third successive win for a team now under new leadership, with Stefano Domenicali taking over from Jean Todt as principal but looking as strong as ever.uld be nice to be leading the championship with the other drivers playing catch up."

The Finn, who won six races last year, said the 2008 car was strong, fast, competitive and reliable and expected Ferrari to be fighting for victory in every race and for both championships.

"Personally, I feel there is a big difference to start this season compared to last year," he added.

"I know the team and how they work. There will be no surprises. I've built up a good relationship with my engineers and we understand each other and they also know how I like to have my car set up."

It's about time to go racing boys :)

Hey!! I think the iceman could win, but I am willing to bet my sig on Lewis Hamilton against Fernando Alonso !! Any takers??

[Ian McC]

Might be a good time to come out of winter retirement!

[ArrowsFA1]

Just beginning to make plans for the weekend. Up at 3am for qualifying and 4:30am for the race despite what Bernie thinks :s mokin:

[pino]

Just beginning to make plans for the weekend. Up at 3am for qualifying and 4:30am for the race despite what Bernie thinks :s mokin:

Same here, plus I've asked my wife to cook me a nice chocolate cake to eat it with my cappuccinos :D

[Tazio]

Hey!! I think the iceman could win, but I am willing to bet my sig on Lewis Hamilton against Fernando Alonso !! Any takers?? Valve, I'll take that bet! I'm going on a hunch! Plus the record in sig bets is,
Tazio one, Valve Bounce zero! This should be a give-away to put us on even terms in this arena! ;)
The proposition is Fred will finish the race ahead of L.H.

[Tazio]

Just beginning to make plans for the weekend. Up at 3am for qualifying and 4:30am for the race despite what Bernie thinks :s mokin:I'll be thinking about you Bro!
Spain isn't that far away, and not recommended for Yanks with sleeping diorders

[Tazio]

Well Valve!! I'm waiting! You in or out!! The offer expires 3/14/08 High noon Ausie time!

[Valve Bounce]

Valve, I'll take that bet! I'm going on a hunch! Plus the record in sig bets is,
Tazio one, Valve Bounce zero! This should be a give-away to put us on even terms in this arena! ;)
The proposition is Fred will finish the race ahead of L.H.

OK, you're on. This should be easy pickings, and I'll have a chance to change my sig :p :

[Tazio]

OK, you're on. This should be easy pickings, and I'll have a chance to change my sig :p :Too what? Let me guess! "Justin Bunsen F1 2008 WDC"---------"I'll have a chance to change my sig"
As will I!} :)

[Valve Bounce]

Too what? Let me guess! "Justin Bunsen F1 2008 WDC"---------"I'll have a chance to change my sig"
As will I!} :)

I don't know yet! but it's gotta be something really good!!

[Tazio]

I don't know yet! but it's gotta be something really good!!
Here's a little "Grit for your Bristle"
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2008/03/13/webber-warns-of-renewed-alonso-hamilton-fight/
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber says the battle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton could actually intensify and become more bitter in 2008, despite the fact the duo no longer drive for the same team.
Any interference by Bernie in the facts surrounding an unfortunate DNF of either, or both drivers will void the bet for obvious reasons!
Perhaps we could get webbo to arrange a boxing match during the proceedings!
Or better yet. Vince McMahan Gets them in a WWE Steel Cage Match!
Mucho Luchia!