Right. With only hours to go until the 2012 season officially kicks off in Melbourne, Australia, there has been a significant amount of activity around the paddock of Albert Park.
On Thursday morning, late showers hit the track and there was plenty of head scratching going on as to how the weekend would unfold due to the highly unpredictable weather. Nevertheless, the rain has stopped, but it's more than likely that this temporary moment is just the calm before the storm.
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| Thursday morning was very busy for the entire paddock (Thursday, March 15th) |
A common thing on every Thursday before any grand prix weekend is a press conference, usually with drivers and team principals from different teams. Today, the conference was focused mainly on Charles Pic (Marussia), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), Jenson Button (McLaren), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Mark Webber (Red Bull). The full transcript of the Q&A session can be found at http://www.formula1.com, for those that are interested.
Current time in Melbourne: 11:30 p.m. Friday practice gets underway at 12:30 p.m., so with approximately 14 hours to go, it's time for some answers and predictions
On Form
After a disappointing campaign in 2011, Lewis Hamilton will be looking to impress and recover from his rather disastrous season. He's got the car to do it, the McLaren looks highly competitive and all the current weather conditions seem to be in his favor. His times in winter testing were promising, so he'll most likely focus on transferring that energy into qualifying and the race on Sunday.
Prediction: Pole position (40% chance), Victory (50%)
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| Lewis Hamilton during photoshooting in Albert Park (Thursday, March 15th) |
Out of Form
After a rather disappointing winter session, Ferrari very much look to be struggling, despite various sources claiming otherwise. The car seems to be suffering mainly due to severe traction problems and high tyre degradation. The F2012 is often a victim of understeer on corner exits, thus it is eating the tyres much more aggressively compared to the other cars. This might not be such a problem during qualifying, but their race will be compromised unless they find a solution on Friday.
Prediction: Pole position (20% chance), Victory (20%)
One to Watch
Kimi Raikkonen will be looking to prove critics wrong regarding his comeback. The Finn seems to be having a solid car in his hands, with the Lotus E20 looking quite promising. During winter testing, Raikkonen seemed to have adapted to the new tyres rather quickly and was up to speed on the very first day in Jerez, with two solid and consistent race simulations in Barcelona later on. Of course, nobody expects him to win on his first race since returning to the sport, but quite a few people have been claiming he's got what it takes to finish on the podium. Having won in Melbourne before, along with finishing three other times on the podium, Kimi seems confident and cool about the whole situation, but, truth be told, when is he not?
Prediction: Pole position (20% chance), Victory (10%)
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| Kimi Raikkonen, Photoshooting, Albert Park (Thursday, March 15th) |
The F1 Reader Blog prediction
No matter how many surprises are expected to happen during this weekend, one thing is carved in stone: Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull seem to be the ones to beat. Having completed a dominating season, Vettel should be on his absolute finest form, and with a championship winning car under him, he is definitely race winning favorite here in Melbourne. Although this time around, he might not have it so easily.
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