Check out our parent site! The original Girls Like F1 Too

Monday, March 28, 2011

Australian GP

I guess by now you all know in detail* who did what yesterday, so I decided to just share some random little thoughts:


Podium

  • Vettel added an 11th GP win to his cv. Starting from pole, he had a very good start and managed to build a gap straight on. He had no problems whatsoever during the race, so it was a logical win.

That's a huge gap, I was fascinated!

  • Hamilton was the only who could keep up - a little - with Vettel's pace. He never was a threat, as the gap between them was big from the start. Even though the floor of his car got damaged severely, he could take the well deserved 2nd place.
  • Petrov had a good day, I was very happy to see him on the podium for the first time. Last year he never really got into shape, so it's nice his season started this surprising. It makes aslo me wonder what Kubica could've achieved with the car in Australia - I miss him.



Bits and pieces

  • Mercedes had an awful day. Schumacher got hit by Alguesuari on lap 1, dived in the pits, never really got into the race and had to retire during his third pitstop, on lap 22. Rosberg got hit by Barrichello two laps later and had to retire as well. Not a good day...
  • Webber had decent start, but never got into the race, finishing 5th. The team is puzzled over the cause of this, so it will interesting to see how this evolves in Malaysia - my birthday GP!
  • I didn't realize during the race Heidfeld had been hit by a Torro Rosso on lap 1 - but maybe I wasn't really awake yet at 8 a.m. - until I saw this on his Official Facebook Page. That explaines it all...
  • Sauber showed they have a reliable car and talented drivers, Perez impressed on his debut and finished 7th, right before Kobayashi. Well done! But as you all know by now, they were disqualified after the race due to a technical infringement.



Pitstops

  • As expected, we saw a lot of pitstop action. I have the impression the BBC couldn't keep up with all the pitstops, I don't think they showed them all - again, maybe I wasn't really awake yet!
  • Perez however only did one pitstop and set a decent performance, quite surprising, I wonder what his secret is...
  • Did you notice that the technique of the front jack man of Red Bull (Chris Gent) during pitstops is far more elegant than that of Torro Rosso's guy? It makes me lol

Elegant...










...not that elegant...












The Red Bull technique also looks more efficient to me: easier to get out of the way when the front tyres are ok.

Liz.


* Race reports






View From a Grandstand

Well what can I say, I have just attended my first ever Grand Prix, the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, if you thought it would look like it does on the TV, well not quite, for starters there's the noise from the F1 cars, its almost deafening when your sitting right beside the race track, then the cars zoom past you so fast its impossible to get a decent photograph of them, well it is for an amateur like me, instead of watching all the action from your lounge room or wherever else you may sit and watch, your out in the open come all weathers watching most of the action on the Big Screens dotted around the track and in my case loving every deafening minute of it!




So what is it like when your viewing a Grand Prix from the top of a Grandstand, well in my case I was in the Fangio Grandstand named after the Five times World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. I had flown into Melbourne from Tasmania, when your in the Grandstand your sitting next to the same people for 3 or 4 days depending on how many days you attend, you get chatting to people you may otherwise of not met, the people next to me had flown in to Melbourne from Western Australia.



The view from the Grandstand however is amazing, I had a seat right on the Start Line, I could see the Pit Stops, in particular Red Bull and McLaren's garages just to the right of me a little but still I could see all the action going on, for a first timer to a Grand Prix this event gave me a great introduction to what it is like to attend a Grand Prix and I would love to go again, I did not sit in my seat all the time I got up and walked around the Paddock to various other parts of the Park to see what it is like to view the track from other parts but at least with a Grandstand Seat you know you have a spot to sit, if you go in as General Admission you take pot luck where you might find a spot.

Overall the organisation of the Australian Grand Prix was fantastic, getting to and from the track was easy, just a bit of a wait getting out of the Park after the Grand Prix has ended, but when you've got one hundred thousand odd people trying to leave all at the same time you just have to wait.

I thoroughly recommend attending a Grand Prix and booking that seat in the Grandstand, especially your first time and come the end of the Race, I had the best view in the house, see this pic below:




Written by: Linda Hardy


Saturday, March 26, 2011

Australian GP- Qualifications

Finally! We've had to wait two weeks longer than planned, but it's started now: the 2011 season!
New cars, new tyres, new rules, new faces,...
All the pre-season predictions aside, the only thing that matters now is what will happen on track.

Got up at 6 a.m. to watch the BBC-coverage. I like to stay up late, don't like to get up early, except for F1! And with a little breakfast in front of the tv, it can't get any better, yay! Or can it?

There were some surprises, both negative and positive: Heidfeld in P18!? - Schumacher in P11 - Barrichello making a mistake - the Ferraris being off pace - strong McLarens - Petrov in P6 (yay! And right behind Alonso, might get interesting! ;)) - Kobayashi in P9 (he's so entertaining!).

No surprise to me is the achievement of Red Bull, they seem to pick up where they left off in 2010. And at the same time I can't believe they're actually doing it, as being in the front is not something to take for granted: it's the result of hard work. And lots of fizzy drinks no doubt.


Liz.




Saturday, March 19, 2011

Here It Is! And It's Just For You!

Have you ever watched a race and had something to say about it?

Ever gone to a race weekend and wanted to share your experience with the world?



Well here is your chance! We have started a blog just for you, The Weekend Race Report. With 19 races spanning 9 months of the year we are sure that something will happen that you will just need to have a say on.


 
Even if we have a complete season without any controversies .... Tell us about your Sunday experiences by emailing your own Race Report to girlslikef1too@gmail.com with your name and anything else you want to say and find it at this address!

you never know who could be reading it!


- The Girls at GLF1T