It's time to go racing.
The first race of the season takes place at the Albert Park Circuit. As evidenced in the video, the track is a rather fun blast around Albert Park Lake in central Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
It is late summer in Australia, and the current weather forecast calls for temperatures near 90°F for qualifying on Saturday (2:00am EDT) but much cooler for the actual race on Sunday, with a high of 68°F. That should sufficiently effect track conditions, especially with overnight rain in the forecast.
The week leading up to the grand prix has been exciting.
Sauber, Giedo van der Garde, and the Courts
Sauber was hit with a lawsuit from former driver Giedo van der Garde over a race seat and, effectively, lost wages. The Dutch driver was signed to a Sauber race seat, along with Adrian Sutil, last season, but both men were kicked aside in favor of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, who provided better sponsorship money. Sutil faded into F1 obscurity, but van der Garde decided to fight. Especially since he lost his race seat after every other team had decided their lineups. That means this is a lost season for him and his sponsors.
So van der Garde launched a court case demanding that he be allowed to race this weekend. Sauber said no, as it would not be safe. The current Sauber cars were designed for Ericsson and Nasr, not for van der Garde. The courts, though, agreed with the Dutch driver, saying Sauber should provide him a race seat for the grand prix. Sauber is now refusing to recognize van der Garde as a nominated driver, meaning the Dutchman cannot obtain an FIA super-license in order to race in F1.
This case will get uglier before it gets settled.
McLaren-Honda Growing Pains
It's not like Honda has been away from the sport for a long time. Just a few years, actually...but much has changed. As such, the new partnership between McLaren and Honda has been off to a slow start.
The team failed to put in anywhere close tot he number of laps their competitors were churning out in testing. Then Fernando Alonso suffered a massive crash (that is still under investigation) and has been medically ruled out of the Australian Grand Prix.
Perhaps McLaren-Honda will gather momentum as the season progresses. But right now I'm thinking the bottom third of the points-paying positions is probably the best Button and Magnussen/Alonso can honestly hope for.
Race Predictions
The first race of the season is always tricky. Everyone is still working out reliability issues. Unforeseen technical complications are bound to ruin someone's race. A surprise or two is never out of the question.
That said, it's not exactly going to be a shock for Mercedes to walk away with this race, likely with a 1-2 finish (and probably with a 1-2 start). It is entirely too early in the season to start talking about the pecking order, but like last year, it is obvious to everyone involved that Mercedes outclasses the field right now.
So which constructor claims a stake on the #2 slot? Personally, I think Red Bull is taking a step back this year. McLaren is not yet ready. Ferrari is lagging, even with a total of five World Driver's Championships piloting the ponies. No, this year belongs to a classic team that spent last season completing the long hard trudge up the mountain back to excellence.
Williams. I'm looking for Williams-Martini Racing to have a great season, and for that season to start right in Melbourne.
Podium Prediction
When all is said and done, after the smoke has finally cleared, after whatever other cliche has run its course, who will stand on the podium in Melbourne?
It think we're looking at a podium of:
1st: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas
2nd: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG Petronas
3rd: Valtteri Bottas, Williams Martini Racing
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