The 10 Pills of the 2011 Australian GP

We inaugurate the 2011 'Pills' with the Melbourne theater, scene of the first stage of 2011. Even if it seems like the continuation of 2010.


1 – Sebastian Vettel: he doesn't scream anymore
Baby Schumi starts where the 2010 comeback ended, winning and convincing. The World Cup doesn't seem to have gone to his head and he seems more mature. Very calm in the post-qualifying team radio, also calm in the post-GP team. Now it's his track engineer who's screaming. I start with Kaiser.

2 – Lewis Hamilton
'We have to recover a second per lap' were Lewis' words before Australia. The reality is different, Mclaren's desire to overdo it with extreme solutions has given way to tradition and the results have arrived. He hits rock bottom (sorry for the pun), crazy owls come from the commentators, but he gets the car to the end without any problems. Bad luck shield.

3 – Vitaly Petrov, Asturias' nightmare
The flying Russian (you can see for yourself in what terms) also picks up where he left off, that is, in front of Alonso. The Renault-Lotus must be a piece of cake if it goes like this in his hands (and what a sublime sound you hear from the camera car! The front exhausts are beautiful). Not hitting the mark all weekend is already news, getting to the podium is enough to break the bank for betting agencies. Who knows, maybe Abu-Dhabi himself didn't trust him.

4 – Fernando Alonso
'Use the best of your talent, I know how big it is' This time too it didn't work. After four months Nando is still after Putin's protégé. This time, however, the World Cup is not being played and he does not thank him at the end of the match. Once he starts very well compared to his standard they almost throw him off the track, and the result is to waste time anyway. He damns himself like a madman but it can't get any more than that. The Russian nightmare continues.

5 – Mark Webber
Yesterday we defined it as 'Massinizzato', and we hope we are wrong. But today the feeling is that he didn't understand anything at all. Seeing Vettel take the World Championship away from him at the last minute and seeing him fly like this today must have been a shock. Maybe just maybe, Felipe's syndrome is something demonstrable at this point. Unrecognizable, even if it's only the first.

6 – Jenson Button
For once, the handsome man forgets that he is a 'gentleman' and becomes the protagonist of a clever trick worthy of Silverstone 2010 (Alonso-Kubica). He doesn't leave room for Massa after passing him by cutting the fast chicane and takes a sacrosanct punishment. Considering the extra stop for the tire change and the Drive Through, he could have had a very different race. He was sent back to Sepang.

7 – Sergio Perez
Impressive debut for the Mexican with Sauber to say the least. He takes his car home with ONE stop. The doubt is that they provided him with rebranded Bridgestones, given the stops of the others. Consistent, he doesn't do anything wrong, he is under a Ferrari contract. Understand, Felipe?

8 – Felipe Massa – Baby Rubens
Unfortunately, tires or no tyres, the doubt that arises is that he no longer has any. He resists Button for turns and turns and then, as soon as he sees Nando in the mirrors, he throws himself onto the adjacent city streets to let him pass. We are sure that another 'Fernando is faster than you' we won't listen to it. Definitively Barricaded.

9 – Rubens Barrichello
They continue to call Schumacher old, but the one who continues to hit his colleagues on the back is him. After Spa 2010 (but nothing can be done against the indestructibility of Ferrari), this time the unfortunate one is the blonde from Mercedes. Result, Rosberg out, and Rubinho himself will retire later. -2 Diopters.

10 – Michael Schumacher
That he doesn't like Australia? Thrown out at the start last year, rammed today with damage to a suspension. Already in Ferrari he had collected retirements in Melbourne, but even by changing jersey the situation has not changed here. 'Wheel rotten, suspension rotten, everything rotten'. Even the Zebedees, perhaps.

Out of Competition – Bernd Maylander
Zero points today for the driver of the Safety Car team. Impalpable performance, he has never been seen in the positions that count, unable to find the rhythm throughout the weekend. It still finished ahead of the HRTs, both in terms of performance and mileage, which makes you think.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Robert Kubica
We have no idea how excited he is for seeing his teammate Petrov's performance. We don't understand what Heidfeld has done, but we refuse to think that this is his level. The black Lotus appears to be a really good car, and the fact that Kubica can't be in there is a crazy injustice. If he gives us a lot, today he would have fought for second place without any problems. Come back soon, Robert!

The mobile wing
The concept according to which those in front must suffer a handicap because the FIA ​​cannot find alternatives that make overtaking feasible, is simply unsportsmanlike. At the end of the fair of overtaking 'useful' to the cause we saw perhaps two (Button on Massa and Massa on Buemi). For the rest, the Englishman himself remained behind Felipe for entire laps in the first part of the race without getting close. In short, we would like to confirm Fantozzi's quote. Someone even has the courage to ask for it (loudly, moreover) to be enabled on any occasion, even during a race. Pure madness. There are no problems with console games.

The mystery of Kers Red Bull
They have it, they don't have it, they have a smaller one, they only use it at the start, they don't use it, it's used to keep the lights on in the garage. The latest version of the first 2011 enigma is that the Lattine had problems on Friday and it was therefore decided not to use the batteries either in qualifying or in the race. It goes without saying that, without Kers, Vettel did what he wanted, both yesterday and today. Hopefully, we're ruined.

The Pirellis
Partial Mea culpa regarding the criticism of Pirelli. They last less than the Bridgestones but not as long as it seemed in tests. Colder temperatures probably caused greater problems. It must also be said that Melbourne is a street circuit, only braking and restarting. There are no supporting curves, we will see in Sepang if consumption will be higher (very likely). The recognition of the different compounds is not as immediate as for the Japanese ones, you will get used to it.

That's all for the first pills of the year, see you in Sepang!

Alessandro Secchi
F1Grandprix.it