Track: Albert Park
Track Length: 3.295 mi./5.303 km.
Laps: 58
Tire Compounds: Soft and Medium
Previous
Winners: 2014: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2013: Kimi
Raikkonen (Lotus)
2012:
Jenson Button (McLaren)
2011:
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
2010:
Jenson Button (McLaren)
The Albert Park Circuit in Australia is a temporary street
circuit located in the city of Melbourne. It is one of favorites for the
drivers and teams to attend as the race takes place during fall in Australia so
the weather is usually good and the city is a great place to visit. Since it is
a temporary circuit, there is usually a
lack of grip Friday and the circuit will rubber in and get faster as the
weekend goes on. Also as with most temporary circuits, Albert Park is a fairly
high down force track and does not have many great overtaking zones. The
Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park has been won from pole eight times and
eleven times from the front row.
Main Headlines
New Cars: A new
season means that teams are showing up with new cars. We can make predictions
about how fast everyone is during testing but we don't really know until they
let them go for qualifying and the race.
Can anyone catch
Mercedes: Mercedes dominated the sport last year and they appear to be by
far the fastest car this year. Everyone has spent the winter trying to catch
them and this will be the first test to see if anyone has. Look for Williams,
Ferrari, and Red Bull to lead the charge if anyone can be close.
Can Honda finish the
race: Honda has been out of the sport since 2008 but McLaren have turned to
them to supply engines. The team has struggled with reliability all throughout
testing struggling to last for a full day. If the Honda engine cannot last for
a full race, it will not matter how fast it is.
Ferrari's new lineup:
Much has been made about Sebastian Vettel's switch to Ferrari this
offseason and many people are comparing it to when Michael Schumacher joined
the team in 1996. Vettel has tried to avoid these comparisons as he tries to
create his own legacy in red. A lot of attention will be on him to see if he
how he starts his Ferrari career. Also, keep an eye on Kimi Raikkonen as he
looks for a strong result to try to rebound from a difficult year last season.
Is Max Verstappen
ready for Formula 1: Max Verstappen will become the youngest driver to
start a grand prix when he starts this weekend. People have had different
opinions about whether someone of his age should be allowed to start a grand
prix. We Will see if his age or maturity affects him this weekend.
Sauber's Court Case: Giedo
van der Garde has won his court case against the Sauber team so they are now in
a situation where they have three drivers contracted for two seats. Sauber can
now chose to ignore the ruling and keep its lineup the same and risk further
legal action or it can replace one of its drivers with van der Garde and also
possibly face further legal action. Either way this is a story that will
probably not go away anytime soon.
Prediction: I
expect to see the Mercedes cars running out front this weekend as they seem to
have a bit of a gap between them and anyone else. As far as the inter-team
battle I expect Lewis Hamilton to start off strong and come home with the win.
I expect Williams to lead the charge behind Mercedes as Valtteri Bottas will
lead the battle for best of the rest.
Podium Prediction
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
How do you think the race will turn out this weekend? Do you
think Mercedes will dominate or do you think someone else can catch up and
challenge for the win? Please share your thoughts about any headlines along
with a podium prediction below.
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