Rate the race: 2014 Australian Grand Prix

2014 Australian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Australian Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2014 Australian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (3%)
  • 9 (8%)
  • 8 (26%)
  • 7 (33%)
  • 6 (14%)
  • 5 (7%)
  • 4 (4%)
  • 3 (2%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 1,014

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2014 Australian Grand Prix

    Browse all 2014 Australian Grand Prix articles

    Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    236 comments on “Rate the race: 2014 Australian Grand Prix”

    1. First half was exciting.Second half was a bit boring IMO. 7/10 from me.

      1. That’s not NASCAR mate, it’s F1 and it was a brilliant first race with the new regulations. Loved it, my wife too, even the cat is standing next to the TV.

        1. Nascar is great too… Mate

        2. What was brilliant about it? Very little wheel-to-wheel racing, very little strategic variety, and worst of all barely any tension.
          Lets hope that if Ham, Vettel and Massa make it further into the next race there might be a bit more excitement.

          1. Bottas drive after he hit the wall, Kevins Podium, Rickis brilliant drive :)

          2. Very little wheel to wheel racing? Did you sleep during Valtteri Bottas’ 2 runs through the field? Or the battle between Alonso and Hulkenberg?

            1. Learn the difference between “very little” and “none”. Bottas’ run through the field was exciting but for most of the race the other drivers were following each other around either unable or unwilling to make any moves.

            2. seriously? as other mentioned, bottas was amazing… but we had a great start, mag and rick at the end, lots of brilliant saves and some interesting kablamo’s.

              Perhaps this is just not your sport, sport.

            3. @mortyvicar

              Or the battle between Alonso and Hulkenberg?

              What battle? Alonso didn’t even try to pass him, waited for the tyre change window to pass him, and both lost a place in the process to the clever Button. The top 5 barely changed during the whole race. A nice race, but can’t give it more than 7/10 too.

            4. @carldec You’re right, maybe I’ve been watching the wrong sport for the last 15 years. Thanks for enlightening me.

              There have been so many more exciting and interesting races than this one, I think some people might be over-rating it because we’ve been waiting all winter for the start of the season and any F1 is better than no F1.

              There were some interesting moments as you say, but no-one will remember this race for it’s exciting racing. The only reason it will be remembered is because of the unusual podium, RIC’s disqualification, and the fact that it was the first in a new era.

            5. @spoutnik how can you not have any appreciation for the race between Alonso and Hulkenberg? Hulk was on the edge and forced into a couple of errors. It was pretty thrilling. Maybe you actually have to have raced on track to appreciate it.

              @mark-hitchcock this is the first race of a brand new formula. Of course it’s going to be remembered mostly for the way the sport has been radically altered since the previous era. If we had continued with the 2013 formula it would have been remembered for how Vettel took his Alberto Ascari-record-breaking 10th victory in a row and sailed off into the distance as usual. It’ll probably be commemorated as the beginning of the Mercedes era, and the end of the Red Bull era.

              That doesn’t detract from the fact that there was some thrilling racing and on-the-limit car control. Some of the saves from snap-oversteer alone were worth watching the race for. I’ll probably remember it for Bottas going wheel-to-wheel around the outside of Raïkönnen and getting the place. The new formula has definitely spiced up racing and car-control.

              FWIW, I gave the race an 8. The last 20 laps became a bit processional but what F1 race in the past 15 years hasn’t suffered that fate?

            6. @mortyvicar I enjoyed all the things you’ve mentioned (especially how the cars seem much harder to control), but despite that I don’t agree that it was a particularly exciting or interesting race.
              Maybe I’m just too difficult to please. But I do think many of the races in the coming season will eclipse this one in terms or racing, tension and strategy.

              Glad you enjoyed it though!

            7. @mark-hitchcock my F1 palate has definitely been a bit jaded over the 2000s. The pinnacle of F1 for me was the Prost-Senna-Mansell era of the late 80s-early 90s and whatever brings back anything like that level of struggle with car and adversary I see as a good thing. Of course that was before Senna passed and before F1 became somewhat anodyne, not that I’m arguing for increased danger in F1.

          3. little wheel to wheel racing?? did you not see bottas cut through the field…twice?

            1. One driver cutting through the field does not equal lots of wheel to wheel racing when the 13 other cars on track are largely playing follow-the-leader.

            2. Agree – one driver making a few passes doesn’t make for an exciting race at all. Quite disappointed with the excitement of the race overall.
              Main positives been the great performances by the rookies – Magnussen and Kyat; and the polished drive of Ricciardo.

            3. GB (@bgp001ruled)
              16th March 2014, 19:06

              well, bottas was the only one that really fought! he was great. also nicos drive, rics and mags race were great. but the actual race (with the said exception of bottAs) was boring! 6/10

          4. @mark-hitchcock I’m with Mark here. I enjoyed the race and as 7’s go, it’s a high seven but I think due to a high number of DNF’s we didn’t see as much wheel to wheel as there potentially could have been. Even with the number of people out there it wasn’t as exciting as I was hoping, but don’t get me wrong Kevin’s debut podium winning drive & Ricciardo’s home 2nd, uncertainty in the field and Bottas attacks were great.

            I remember great races and this was not one of them. If a 10 is a relentless, stimulating watch, this gets a 7

        3. +1 for your cat :)

          1. HaHa @gunusugeh, it’s a grey McLaren female with a coller nose :P

      2. Completely agree, but even in the end there was some close action so I decided to bump mine up to a kind 8.

      3. Exciting start, kind of lulled down in the middle, and there were some good drives out there.

        7/10 seems fair to me.

      4. Well… i felt exactly same rating.. although i give+1 just 4 my <3 4 f1…

        A few tho8s…2014 is Mercz year to lose…but for mismanagement… or technical glitches…
        RBR r champions 4 seasons in succession 4 a reason… they r going to be a damn force thru later half of season…so 2014 is going to be pretty alive all the way out to the end
        Williams so strong… n first half is going to be theirs to lose… keeping aside Mercs….but for driver errors.. mismanagement.. etc
        Mclaren s going to be there and thereabout….. and r in the top mix this season… which is not surprising from winter testing..
        Ferrari is going to be same boring team… always putting lot of resource and not getting anywhere…near what they were supposed to deliver…. its really a big shame … for them not to have any consecutive pole positions for such long long time… not to mention their race pace.. etc…

        i got a feeling that 2days podium is full of future prodigies for sure…
        DR indeed surprised me.. i nvr expected that… from him… he s so fresh… n gr8 deli8 to see him smile every time… n gives such a +ve vibe… to all arnd..
        KM delivered what is expected… McL simply r not stupid to put a fresher… reasoning with the likes of LM.. & hw v all rate him… KM s a future champion 4 sure.. brilliant stuff

        Phenomenal start from NR… although none give him credit in the commentary.. sorry for LM & SV… but understandable.. it cud happen to any1 else .. in coming races… thru out 2014
        Sorry 4 FM.. Pity on VB… shud hav come second.. shame on those errors…

        1. @fractal Sorry, what are you saying? I don’t understand your writing. Are you texting your Mum?

          1. w d’t y und..or whatver language the 12 year used..lol

          2. Excuse me. I did not intended to write a journal here. If you cant understand, just ignore it. No big deal :)

            1. Fractal english perhaps. If you can’t be bothered to use proper English grammar then don’t expect too many people to bother reading your juvenile scribbles.

        2. `Sorry son but there are adults on here that do not do txtspk. At least post your comments in English so that we can all understand and disagree!

          1. twitter generation..i am surprised it is over 144..

            1. HAHAHA! I actually can’t stop laughing at the comment!

          2. I will try, big boss :)

        3. Next time you post in a forum that’s aimed at grown ups, please post in at least a passable attempt at English.

          I suspect English is your first language and you just very foolishly assume that everyone wants to read posts written in txt-speak.

          1. is this forum aimed at grown ups? I thought its aimed at f1 fans, no matter their maturity. I don’t read txt-speak, but its easy enough to follow. his/her opinion is just as valid as yours.

            1. It is aimed at F1 fans, most of whom are grown ups.

              I’m afraid txt speak is just too hard to read for most people, and it shouldn’t be used.

              There’s no character limit in these posts, so type the whole word or don’t bother posting.

          2. Well, English is not my first language like u presumed
            I just shared my tho8s and I am just too lazy to type in full words.
            Sorry for that.
            :)

            1. Ignore them. I think alot of your points were spot on and to be honest I couldn’t post something of such depth in any other language. You’re opinion was appreciated and keep posting! Even if it is just to annoy the grammar Nazis.

            2. @watchkyle Gotcha! You earned a well deserved point.

      5. Does anyone realize that this is the first time since 2009 German GP that there was no world champion on the podium?

        1. There was a podium in 2010 – I think Monaco – where that was also the case @dujedcv.

          1. Full credit by the way to @andae23 for the observation on Twitter – I’m just stealing his stats :P

        2. Wrong! (but in hindsight only)

          JB is on the virtual podium.

        3. Look like was wrong. Twice. Still, almost 4 yers is a pretty big gap

        4. First podium since AUS 2010 that didn’t have Vettel, Alonso, or Hamilton

      6. Looks like the average is going to be below 7 – so would be considered one of the more boring races compared to previous years.

      7. Maybe I watched a different race than some of the others. 3 cars were not on the grid. Only 14 finished ? 20+ secs between 1st & 2nd ? But I was glad to see Williams score. Yet my real complaint is
        that these cars sound terrible. People pay or watch on TV because they want to hear angry high horsepower motors. What we have now is downright pathetic. I have been to Europe, Canada, and USA but I will never pay to see these cars run. In my view, FIA has ruined F1. So I’ll go to sports car races and hear the Cadillac CTS-V coupe run. Now there is a car whose sound will blow your hair back!

    2. Decent start to the season I think

    3. What a great race, very exciting. Even better is the crop of new (and not so new) young drivers: Magnussen, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Bottas. My man of the match was Bottas. Congratulations to Nico Rosberg: Mercedes is the new Red Bull it seems. Thrilling racing from Magnussen. Bad luck to Kobayashi and Massa. Ron Dennis must be feeling good and consequently Martin Whitmarsh is probably sick as the proverbial chip somewhere.

      1. you mean silliy rookie mistake from kobayashi

        1. We don’t know if it’s driver error or brake-by-wire/other car issue yet. Kobayashi took the blame already but it could have been mechanical. I like Kobayashi and want to see both him and Caterham doing better than this. I also think Massa has a good chance this season and it was sad to see him taken out at the first corner.

          1. i agree that it is a shame, i want to see what my fellow swede can do against Koba. but we will see in Malaysia ^^

        2. @marussi

          Apparently ERS failed, so he only had front breaks.

          1. yeah i heard that, really scary moment what if that happends at the end of monza straight?

      2. I rated it better than average for the racing (6) + 1 extra for technical interest so 7 from me trying to be consistent with my rule of 5=Average.

    4. I was rather disappointed – for sure HAMs retirement took a lot of excitement out of the race, so I hope better races will follow. But overall it felt pretty predictable after the dust settled.

      1. Fully agree. It would have been great to see a Hamilton Vs Rosberg battle. It looks like the Mercedes is going to dominate for a few races, and without a battle for the lead the races do lose some excitement.

        I’m no Vettel fan, but it would have been great to see how he got through the pack. Same with Massa, the car showed good pace with Bottas, so I wonder where he would have been. And again shame Bottas clipped the wall becuase I think he would have had the pace to challenge k-mag and possibly Ricciardo. But hey, that’s racing. I feel we’ve had some answers now, but there’s still many more to come yet.

        Overall a good opener, no thriller, and there’s still some big questions left open.

        1. I feel a bit the same about the race as the two of you @tmf42, @f190, it wasn’t a bad race, glad F1 has started again, might have been better, but I already put my hopes down (sort of expected Vettel to cut through field as HAM had misfortune, ROS maybe a gremlin like last few years etc. Alonso in a not quite up there Ferrair, you know, like it was last few years :p), so this was good;

      2. Big shame – I think a Rosberg/Hamilton battle for the win would have added that extra dimension the race needed.

        Awesome start to the season in terms of watching though.

      3. Yeah, ‘Rosberg/Hamilton’ and ‘Vettel/11 cars ahead of him’ were the two big fights I was looking forward to.

      4. hams retirement made it more exciting for many fans

        1. +1. Yeah it did.

    5. 6. For me it was a dreadfull race. The start and the next laps had a drama, while the early exits of Hamilton and Vettel killed the race a bit. The only thing that saves the race from being a 5 is Bottas. Easily the Man Of the Race. I hope all improves in Malaysia.

      1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
        16th March 2014, 8:00

        6, but for me not that dreadful. agree on Bottas! what a race from him, unfortunately he kissed the barrier too much. Rosberg being away is what makes me down the rate a little bit.

      2. 6/10 is ‘dreadful’?

        1. lol i had the same thought, 6/10 isnt a dreadful score in any respect

      3. Mercedes is clearly ahead and Lewis having a PU problem prevented us from a proper fight for P1 and it kind takes something away from any race. Even if other struggle to catch Mercedes, they look even behind the Silver Arrows and the fact Lewis scored no points in Australia will guarantee some pushing from his side to catch his team mate (points wise) and fights for P1 in next rounds will improve the spectacle.

        Talking about team mates battles, seems to me Alonso will not have as many problems as some anticipated unless Kimi adapts quick, because the Finn is struggling to the point that the most hyped intra-team battle will probably not be the most exciting. I’m expecting more thrilling battles in Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

      4. I agree that the loss of Hamilton and Vettel totally took the bite out of the race within the first 5 laps. But I wouldn’t say it was dreadful.

        What I found weird were the huge gaps between cars within the first 5 laps. By the time we reached the first pit stops etc it closed up a bit, but there were times where Lotus, Sauber, Marussia and Caterham looked they were racing in a different formula.

      5. i went with 6 too. a few points of interest but no real suspense and the winner was never in doubt. there will be better races to come so dont want to give a higher score this early in the season

    6. Great! 10/10 I can’t believeit went so well. Man, these engineers and drivers are just unbelievable people. Such a big change in rules and powertrain and they made a respectable race on the first try. I’m impressed.

    7. I couldn’t stop cursing the TV every time they had a ad-break. Especially in the first 20 laps!

      1. Ad breaks?…

        1. Yeah, I get sky commentary but not coverage.

        2. Today David learned that there are fans living outside of the UK and they might have to endure ad breaks. Sigh…

      2. @mashiat
        The key to surviving ad breaks is to have a live stream of Sky/BBC running on the side.
        I just mute the TV, unmute the laptop, you can keep watching. Works well for me.

    8. Mr win or lose
      16th March 2014, 7:47

      Big rule changes, but the racing has remained more or less the same. There were some good overtakes, but the winner was once again unchallenged and the sprint to the finish was rather disappointing. The next races will probably be more exiting as fuel saving won’t be as important.

    9. I really liked it, perhaps not as good as previous aussie gp’s. shame to miss some of the protagonists. We’ve learned so much even if this track is not going to show everything. I praise McLaren for making the most out of the situation but I fear that there are cars much quicker than them.

    10. Great race. There was a lot of action throughout the field and the reliability was better than I expected it to be.

    11. Zantkiller (@)
      16th March 2014, 7:51

      There was a whole season’s worth of excitement forced into the first 15 or so laps.

      The latter half was a bit flat but the result was very good.

      8/10

    12. Some great drives throughout the field today – I’m already convinced Magnussen is world championship material. Can’t wait for Malaysia already!

    13. mediocre for me. VET&HAM early out meant that challenge for lead was gone and w/o Bottas it would have been just dull.

      1. HAM, okay. But VET was starting P12, he wasn’t going to be anywhere near the lead anyway..

        1. Look at Bottas. He could have finished on the podium without his mistake. Vettel could have gotten close.

      2. I was a tad disappointed by that, but it did allow Ricciardo and Magnussen to finish on the podium, so it isn’t a massive loss.

        But I agree: it would have been nice to see Rosberg challenged by Hamilton and how well Vettel could have recovered.

    14. Loved the unpredictability. Who thought Hamilton and Vettel would retire in the initial laps?

      Hope Ferrari can sort out the issue bothering both cars today. Kimi has to come to terms with the car rather quickly. It was disheartening to see him not able to put up a challenge today.

      Good Start to the season. I will give a 6.

      1. I fear that there were no issues. Just not as fast as we thought :(

        1. I don’t think it is the case. Alonso has the third fastest lap of the race and not that far from the Mercs. I feel he just didn’t have enough pace to pass Hulk. If Alonso had been in front, he might have been a lot closer to Kevin than losing a place to Button.

          Main issue is if the wind tunnel problem has been rectified.

    15. One more breakdown and I had guessed it correct. Great podium (grand slam for Rosberg?). Bottas easily man of the match. Would’ve been on the podium I think if it wasn’t for his stupid mistake.

      1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
        16th March 2014, 7:57

        no. Nico had to get the pole for grand slam

      2. Bottas as man of the match?

        Can’t agree with that myself. It was his mistake that cost him with that puncture and he had a clear car advantage over many of those he overtook. Not to take anything away from Bottas who I’m a big fan of, but I think he should feel disappointed that he could’ve been higher up than he was.

        1. I have to agree with @magnificent-geoffrey @ardenflo, as great as Bottas’ drive was to see, I am sure Williams feel he threw away a podium with his mistake; and I expect Bottas himself to acknowledge that too.

        2. I agree @magnificent-geoffrey and from the interviews Bottas was very disappointed with the result. Had he not hit the wall and perhaps qualified a bit better then he would easily have won DOTW for me. However, he didn’t.

      3. I guessed 14 finishers, and there were 14 classified finishers, so I’m very happy!

    16. A pretty comfortable 7 for me. The first half was pretty incredible but it mellowed out after that. Some great battles but not much thrilling racing, though that podium is a popular one. It was an interesting race, if not a thrilling one, that probably raised as many questions as it answered.

    17. I can’t be the only one thinking that it was an absolute bore-fest….

      The only excitement: Bottas, but even that was kinda ehhh because he was (out of his OWN fault) racing people whose car was much slower…

      Nice drive by Button and Rosberg though.

      1. Nice drive by Button and Rosberg though.

        Roseberg yes but Button !!!!He was nowhere until the safety car deployed when he pitted in the perfect timing and then he shortcut Alonso in the pit, i was more impressed by Magnussen

        1. @tifoso1989 If you see a chance to talk down Button, you go for it it seems. Most races are lost or won in the pit and this time out Button + Mclaren were the lucky ones (safety car) and the smarter ones (pitting Button earlier than the rest of the field).

        2. Magnussen started 4th, HAM had mechanical problem thus MAG came in 3rd…. Come on, are we impressed with the fact that he didn’t smash into a wall? Is that all what it takes nowadays?…. Nice result really, but I don’t really see nothing special. No real threat to Ric at any point despite having gained a lot of footing in the box…

          Button started P10. Was nipped at the start. McLaren had 2 very average pit stop with him(much slower than Alonso’s or Kevin’s), where they actually BROKE OFF the front of HIS NOSE. He drove GREAT laps once he was not impended by somebody to come in 4th, 2-3 seconds behind his team mate who started 6 places in front of him and natural inherited an extra place in the first corner.

          1. ^^ * in the pit.

            I should really go to sleep now.. :..

          2. +1, finally someone who was awake. Magnussen is a real talent, but he didn’t have to do anything today except keeping his car on track.

            1. Magnussen is a real talent, but he didn’t have to do anything today except keeping his car on track.

              So is Button,

    18. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      16th March 2014, 7:55

      7.

      I really liked that! Bit disappointing for Lewis, Seb and Massa, but that was a really fun race.

      Mercedes are WAY ahead of everyone else. Good! I love it!
      So happy to see Ricciardo and Magnessun get on the podium as well.

      I love this new Formula One!

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        16th March 2014, 7:59

        Also, people giving this a negative rating, should consider that this is just the first race of these new regulations.

        Ron Dennis said before the race to Brundle that we should give it some time before judging the racing, simply because the teams are still figuring out exactly how to do so.

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          16th March 2014, 8:04

          How can anyone being way ahead of everyone else be a good thing? It wasn’t a good thing when Vettel did it and it isn’t a good thing now. I want a battle for the lead for once!

          1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
            16th March 2014, 8:30

            The difference is that before it has always Vettel. Now though, it’ll be Lewis and Nico… I not opposed to that because I’m a Lewis fan. Lol

            1. As long as the pattern of this race (and testing, to some extent …) doesn’t continue, with him having the reliability issues while Rosberg drives away, I presume ;)

            2. how are you so sure? at first it was not always vettel, webber nearly won the 09 championship. id prefer to see vettel win then lewis, vettel is more consistent, lewis has made far more mistakes in his career and seemingly hasn’t improved since his rookie year. Id prefer to see a champion at the top of his game like vettel was, then someone winning because their car is the best. vettels redbull was often best, but the margin was extended by vettels talent, who kept winning whenever McLaren looked better then redbull, ie in 2010 and 2012.

        2. @tophercheese I did consider that it was the first race of the new regulations, and I still voted it an average 5/10 as it simply wasn’t that exciting as a race. I don’t think there’s any point in factoring in all sorts of imponderables when rating the race.

    19. A solid 8 for me, good race especially in the first part when many drivers where struggling with power, happy for Ricciardo and Magnussen, not very happy for Ferrari…. it seems that DRS was not very influential maybe it was easy to neutralize it with the ERS

    20. Pretty lackluster I thought. With all the promise of impending chaos it was nearly business as usual. Some uncertainty in the opening laps with retirements, but after that there were few real position changes of note and nowhere close to a battle for the lead. The only real excitement was from Bottas, and an honorary mention for Magnuson getting a podium on his debut. 5/10 for me. I hope the other teams can reign in Mercedes soon or it’s going to be a pretty boring year.

      1. No one is mentioning Hulkenberg, he had several good battles, and @us_peter, I am assuming you saw the same NBC broadcast I did.

    21. It’s a good thing they changed the regs. Now we don’t get the boring racing where everybody just follows everybody with fear of using too much of their tyres. And there’s no longer a car out in front with a 0.3 seconds advantage over the rest.

      Now we’ve got racing where everybody just follows everybody with fear of using too much fuel. And we’ve got a car out in front that’s at least a second quicker than anyone else. This is much better.

      :)

      1. +1
        You’ve got my vote for the COTD…..

      2. Sorry, I disagree. The fuel saving was not that bad, the tyres were very good (the ideal balance between durability and over-durability IMO), overtaking is happening out with DRS zones and – besides the Mercedes – the cars seem pretty close.

        I’m very encouraged.

        1. +1. Unless the car has a definitive disadvantage, overtaking was very much possible. Kvyat, Kimi, Vergne proved that along with Bottas.

          First race and many teams would want a baseline. I am sure they were extra careful and will take more risks as the season goes on. I am willing to give it time before coming to a conclusion. A fairly good opener.

      3. “And there’s no longer a car out in front with a 0.3 seconds advantage over the rest”
        what? Mercedes actually look to have that – they did today! whether their drivers will deliver in the way vettel consistently did is unlikely to me. that 0.3 second advantage is made by the driver, ie Vettel, and not Webber – and probably not rosberg or Hamilton going by their career performances so far.

        1. @dkpioe I think you should perhaps read the entire comment.

    22. 5 from me. Bottas spiced it up with a bit of overtaking but without any challenge for the lead and a lot of follow-the-leader around 4th-7th I found it a bit boring.

    23. petebaldwin (@)
      16th March 2014, 8:02

      I gave it a 7. I criticised races last year when Vettel drove off into the distance so it would be unfair to give this a higher rating considering it was the same story again. Hamilton vs Rosberg would have been good but we didn’t get that or any sort of battle for the lead.

      Bottas did well but then hit the wall and lost his position. Everyone else just stayed in position and got on with it.

      Interesting enough race though. The new regs seem to work fairly well so with a bit of luck, we hopefully have a very exciting season ahead of us.

    24. amazing first half of the race, then it dropped off a bit only to get more exciting at the end. still better than every single race in 2013. what a great, refreshing podium!

      9/10

    25. Anonymous (@)
      16th March 2014, 8:03

      Sad to see them save fuel. :( Formula 1 should not be about saving fuel the way they did today. The race was good though.

    26. 6/10

      Fantastic result all round, but not the most exciting race at Melbourne.

      However, more importantly, today proved to be a triumph for the new look Formula 1. That felt like a real grand prix and I’m really pleased to see how much racing there was out there today. Formula 1 v2.014 is as good as I hoped and I cannot wait for the rest of the season. Bring it on.

    27. A damp squib to the beginning of the season. Most of the excitement was before the race even started! Only Bottas’s drive served up any modicum of buzz.
      Congratulations to Riccardo and Magnussen for their podiums

    28. 7/10. Had its moments in the beginning and end but the fuel saving middle was a bit dull.

      More importantly, I found that the 2014 cars were more interesting to watch. I think it was the combination of slightly slower speeds and the reduced downforce forcing the drivers to attack some of the corners a bit differently. The overall result was a lot more action in each shot of the TV feed – and a better viewing experience.

    29. Nothing special, hybrid F1 without sound and with fuel saving isnt good racing

      1. IvoI (@ivostivanov)
        16th March 2014, 8:28

        You are so right! I hate the new sound and look of the cars!

    30. I think Mercedes have just secured themselves a championship. But the rest of the grid looks to be in for a dog fight.

    31. 3/10. Dullest race since long time. Think red bull have dominant in the past? Wait till you see the dullness of the merc powering to win all races this year.

    32. Hurray for Daniel, Kevin and Bottas !!!!! Too bad for Lewis… Great for McLaren!!!

    33. A kind 7 I think. Was a bit surprised / disappointed at the lack of a show. The Williams had pace but started in the wrong place.. twice. The fact we lost (arguably) the faster Red Bull, Merc and Williams drivers to silly things lowered the potential. We should be in for a good season if Merc don’t develop themselves into the sunset from here though.

    34. A solid 6, I’d say. Even though I love the sound of the engines, the overall volume level made this race hard to stay awake :/ FOM should really up the volume.

    35. Exciting race. I’m sure it will be an exciting season. Two new faces in the podium. I hope we’ll see more new faces in the podium in the coming races. Superb drive by Nico. Ricciardo adapted well. I hope he beats Vettel. Big improvement by Mclaren, P3 and P4. Great drive by Magnussen and Bottas. I hope Kimi improves.

      Ron Dennis looked excited and he was smiling.

      Andrea Stella was talking to Alonso in English!

      Team radios were very clear because of the toned down engine noise.

      I miss last year’s engine noise!

      1. +1 i too miss the distinct scream the old v8 used to give

    36. A solid 5 for me. Nothing exciting really happened apart from the rookies come into fore. Mercedes dominated like RedBull did last year, Mercedes has a clear advantage in the engines.
      Winners: Ricciardo, Rosberg, Magnussen, Bottas
      Losers: Button, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen
      Too early to call of course but it seemed that the youngsters found it easier to get comfortable with these new cars.

      1. Euhm, Button fought his way from P11 to P4, I cannot comprehend why you would say he is a one of the losers of the day.

        1. haters gonna hate i guess

        2. beaten fair and square by your rookie teammate is losing in my book.

    37. Gave it a 5. Nothing much really happened after the first 10 laps or so. Bottas DRS’d through a couple of people…that’s about it – no challenge for the win. Dan vs Kevin was a little tense but if I wasn’t an Aussie I can’t imagine that would’ve been that exciting.

      1. don’t think you even watched the same race….

      2. DRS was too strong indeed but Bottas made a few beautiful overtakes, especially his first on Raikkonnen.

    38. 8. Would have been much better if there was a car to challenge Rosberg but other than that a great race with some fantastic drives by the stars of the future.

    39. 8/10, great race and a superb opener with the new regulations.

      Loved Bottas driving today except that brush with the wall. Excellent debuts for Magnussen and Kvyat. This is going to be a great year.

      1. I particularly loved that brush with the wall @force-maikel. In combination with the clearly more durable tyres – a godsend quite frankly – the cars are evidently more difficult to drive. Of course, it is the first race with new regulations and they will probably become more planted quickly, but I love the fact that these cars clearly have to be driven!

        1. @vettel1 I agree 100%

    40. i felt it was enjoyable all the way through because of the ricciardo and magnussen’s debut performances and vettel not winning from lights to flag, 8/10 thank god for the rules changes, the future of formula one looks promising. Ron dennis = results lol

    41. 7 for the race, but I just had to give one extra point because of the podium.

    42. 9/10

      If this was race was that boring, why is the podium such a surprise?

      A battle for the podium until the last laps, 2 rookies in the top 10 and 1 on the podium, seeing Bottas moving up through the field was awesome and a few retirements to spice it up!

    43. A lot of feel-good results, quite a bit of wheel-to-wheel (particularly into T3) and some high-profile retirements – although they came too early to have any appreciable effect on the excitement – and arguably were to the race’s detriment. Vettel had no opprtunity to make a comeback and Rosberg went unchallenged due to Hamilton’s retirement.

      Very good start to the year I felt: the fuel saving cries were apparently just scaremongering, the tyres held up pretty well, DRS wasn’t too powerful (although it was entirely unnecessary), the rookies really shone which is a very promising sign for F1 and – besides the Mercedes being clearly a big step ahead – the field is pretty close. No Mercedes PU domination as was feared: the Ferrari can cut it considering their electrical issues and Red Bull were more impressive than even the best estimates.

      2014 is full of promise. 8.

    44. The sport has lost a lot of purity and simplicity.

      Then: “More accelerator, less brake.”

      Now: “Yellow gee nine.”

      1. And that would have been originally written on a pit board not via a radio!

    45. Decent race. Nothing to shout about but amazing effort by the engineers behind the scenes to make it all work. The cars were much closer than I was expecting.
      For me, the driver of the day was Ricciardo. His race was boring but we all know how weak the Renault engine is compared to the Merc’s and Ferrari’s, and he kept it ahead of all but one.

    46. Wow some people are quite hard to please, I don’t see how this race was anything less than an 8 and this is coming from a die hard hamilton fan. His exit though not completely welcomed made the race brilliant, in fact him winning would have made this somewhat dull. However the engineering struggles of the teams and the drivers being out in open waters with out a paddle made this a spectacle that hasn’t been seen in this sport for ages at least not that I can remember. The cars sliding around and locking up for both rookies and seasoned veterans as they fought for position, the climb back for Bottas and all the drivers between that didn’t make it easy on him though he was amazingly quick. Jenson’s strategy pit that helped him try to make a campaign for podium was wonderfully executed. The breakdowns and shunts, made for more drama and excitement too. Furthermore the downfalls of certain people that were once on top and easily on the ground floor was highly interesting and a simple part of motor racing.

      There was much emotion, if you know this sport you’d easily detect it. Magnussen not only finished on podium and pulled a magnificent drive that could be compared to his father’s pre-f1 career or the man he’s been compared to Lewis Hamilton, was amazing as well as being first Dane to make podium. DR drove a great race and did something no other Australian has in an official F1 race in their home country and that is Finish on the podium. However, the man of the hour was Rosberg while everyone placed their money on Hamilton and the reliability of Mercedes it wasn’t so and Nico became the driver that would win for MGP not Hami.

      This race had everything and as long as I’ve been on this blog, it had everything that some of you have complained was lacking in the past several year. Due to either big teams with big money, or one team domination and so on, and now I see some of those same users still looking for some fault? I guess it’s true what they say sometimes, fans aren’t happy unless they have something to complain about.

      1. Nice comment @magillagorill mate. It’s good to see positive vibes. I personally thought the race had everything and it’s going to get even better..

    47. 7/10. Good race in my opinion. No battle for first place, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. There were a lot of cars battling for fourth place in the middle of the race, but unfortunately we didn’t see a lot of action. The only source of action was probably Bottas: two very good recovery drives, but one, very costly, mistake between them.
      In the end the race was a bit less unpredictable than what we expected. I have to say, though, that this race left me hungry for more. Yes, Mercedes looks untouchable ath the moment, but I’m really curious to see what Vettel and both Williams could have done with a smooth weekend. The battle between Rosberg and Hamilton is going to be interesting, Nico has already 25 points in the bag, Lewis will do everything to make up for his bad luck.

      So, closing thoughts: good race, some very surprising results, now I can’t wait for Malaysia.

    48. I gave that a 9, a week ago we would have been happy with 8 or 9 cars at the finish, Mercedes would be 2 laps ahead of the rest. We even seen some racing today. Putting it in prespective of the low expectations I had at the start of the weekend this turned out good. An indications show that the year can become a good one.

    49. This race has to be rated at the sharp end mainly because of peoples’ pessimistic predictions that “nobody will finish” failed to materialise. The fact is that even with these new rules and question marks over the engine formula, there were 14 finishers and Max Chilton didn’t come last with the promise of better things to come. 8/10.

    50. Really enjoyed that, especially the beginning. Good, clean racing, not too DRS-dominated and the tyre screams are fantastic to hear. Fantastic result though! Regarding tyres, good to see less marbles on the track, which seemed to encourage overtaking. Defending driving is still completely dead, as most drivers can’t be bothered to defend their position.

      However, the thing that ruined it most for me was the live timing: I don’t have an iPhone or iPad or anything like that, so I simply don’t have the possibility to get the F1 app. I used the free version they stream on F1.com, but it’s completely useless now they don’t show sector times, nor can you see weather conditions and race progressions. What’s worse, they don’t show the number of pitstops anymore, which gave me zero sense of strategy.

      There is absolutely no need to stop streaming sector times and pitstops on the free website; it’s just to make you buy the app, which I heard isn’t particularly impressive either. I know it’s just luxury issues, as I’ve got used to the old version, but it’s just a huge and unnecessary step backwards.

      1. I also noticed that the new interface is still a bit work in progress. There is no info on throttle, brake usage and RPM in the onboard shots, we had to wait for the end of the lap to see the positions and gaps, while last year this info was on the bottom of the screen and it was updated very frequently.

      2. Most of the time I don’t have access to TV or streaming video and have to follow the race on f1.com Live Timing and Keith and the BBC’s live commentary.

        Not having sector times and a lap chart is a big blow. I wrote to them and asked them to bring them back and add a column that tells us who still needs a compulsory tyre pit stop.

        Let’s start a write-in campaign. Their email address is: livetiming@formula1.com

        1. This was my email to them, enjoyed writing it, hehe:

          I just wanted to stress how disappointed I was to see the backward step taken by the F1 site’s Live Timing function for the 2014 season. The absence of sector times, whilst horribly misguided, is almost understandable, from the perspective of either de-cluttering the screen, or attempting to gouge ‘profit’ from the die hard F1 fans by selling an overpriced app to 0.0001% of the TV viewers, which infuriatingly expires at year’s end. But removal of the column displaying the number of pitstops each driver has had is absurd, as that was a critical tool for understanding who is actually effectively winning the race at the time. Last year it was utterly indispensable with so many pitstops, and whilst there will probably be fewer this year, without this aid it takes an exceptionally astute and focussed viewer to keep up with how many stops every driver in the field has had. So that leaves the remaining 99% of viewers rather puzzled as to what’s going on.

          F1 is complicated enough to the broad public without you trying to confuse and alienate them further with a pathetic gouging strategy. I know you have vast dividends to investment bankers that you simply must pay, over and above the bankrupt teams which actually make up your product, but this tactic reflects the broader malaise of Formula One Management’s short term outlook destroying itself to turn a quick buck. Except in this case, that really may be all the money you make…

      3. The live timing app isn’t all that great either…on my iPhone at least it showed massa in P9 throughout most of the race…

    51. Fun. Great drives throughout the field, the rookies are both excellent aren’t they? Nice battles, but no fight for the lead, both mercs will have to be reliable or the others will have to catch up for that happen, but Rosberg earned that win fair and square.

    52. I had no access to visual so I had to revert to radio comentary. The puttering ‘new’ engines sounded like mopeds with a broken exhaust. By the way has ‘Greedy Bernie’ put a block on access to the proper live timing screens unless you pay? This crap just gets worse!

    53. I liked the way the cars moved around more, on the whole I appreciate being able to hear the tyres, pit radio and spectators (well, here, will be a bit quiet at some of those newer tracks?); the V8 wail was a bit boring to me (sitting next to track with V12 going past – great, but not really something I need the most 60 odd laps to be honest) so this engine sound is nicer, with headphones and sound turned up a bit.

      Not the best race I could have imagined, but for an opening race I think it was quite adequate. The rookies did show they can race at least.

    54. I gave an 8 – mainly because the pecking order is yet to be established and nothing could be taken for granted. Kudos to Ricciardo, Magnussen and Bottas. Kudos also to all three engine providers; wartime is the only other environment that sees complex hardware developped at this pace.

    55. Much better than I expected. Really miss the scream of the engines on the grid at race start tho.

      Tyre squeals are weird to hear too.

      By the end of the race I was really enjoying the sounds coming out of Bottas´cockpit view.

      Great to see a bit of a change in the pecking order, Williams resurgent, the fruit of Ross’ labour at yet another team starting to pay off, Mclaren looking hopeful.

      And with Bottas, Magnusson and Ricciardo showing so well I think we are in for an interesting year.

    56. I give it a 5. The major reason is this: the f1 “revolution” fail to bring us more competition. Yes, I know, it’s just the beginning. But, as we’re asked to vote for this first race, the truth is that nothing changed for better. The race was boring. There were no true racing competition aside from a 5 pilots-race, for a good part of the time, and even that I believe it was due more to the lack of reliability of the ferraris.
      Well, all in all, a bad beginning, not so catastrophic as said before tough, but still lots of work and improvements to make. Sad but true, The F1 is at this very moment failing, not at technological and efficiency level, but at the competition level. And for that contributed Hamilton and Vettel’s absence as Ferrari’s lack of competitiveness.

    57. F1 has lost its balls. I give it a 1. nuff said.

    58. What a bombshell to end the weekend on though. It will be horrible if Ricciardo is DQ’d.

    59. Ehh gave it a 7.

      It was pretty good but after the first couple of laps there was a real lack of overtaking unless Bottas was involved. Not to mention the Hulkenberg train where it seemed that everyone was just too afraid to attempt an overtake.

      Rosberg strolling it was another negative. I don’t want F1 to go from one team running away with it last year to another doing the same this year. Hopefully the other teams can catch Mercedes sooner rather than later.

    60. Interested to see Kobayashi’s crash into the back of Massa.

      http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/73611000/jpg/_73611926_021555533-1.jpg

      It shows the new noses are doing what they are supposed to do — keeping the car on the ground in a crash instead of flipping it up in the air a la Webber at Valencia.

      1. @aardvark But did Kobayashi’s head hit Massa’s rear end?

      2. What the nose did is just as predicted, sub-marined Kobayashi under Massa. Had the speed differential been greater Kamui may have had a gearbox coming down on his head.

        It’s non-sequiter to refer to such a design as a reason to prevent flip ups, when a safer, more logical solution would be to put guards on the the back of the wheels.

    61. For me, the race didn’t really live up to expectations. A decent race in the end.

    62. It’s probably beacause Koba tboned Massa directly on the back, while Webber smashed into kovalainen’s rear wheel, jumping into the air.

    63. So I was there… sitting at the back of turn 9. To be honest I am quite disappointed. the race wasn’t exciting apart from Bottas and his charge…. which was actually a result of his mistake without which he should be much higher.
      I would rate it as 6. Only because the cars were more reliable that i was expecting them to be and the noise is quite exciting without tearing apart your ears. You can hear much more which gives you more insight on the drivers driving style and where they struggle. Also the clutch noise is almost gone.
      It was very apparent that Lotus struggles, the engine and gearbox noise was just not right. Actually it was very similar with Sauber. Somehow they didn’t look quick. Mercedes of course in different league, Bottas was also very quick. I was quite disappointed with FIAT’s as they just couldn’t get the hammer down. Alonso just couldn’t get past Hulkenberg which was easily overtaken by Bottas. I got an impression that everyone was taking it safe. No dare overtaking moves and no big drama. Actually V8’s were more exciting from my perspective.

      Being at the same race last year, this year it was nowhere near as exciting. Could be worse but could be much better. Maybe the fact that we lost Hamilton, Massa and Vettel so early has something to do with the end result.
      Only the first part was not bad. After first 25 laps only Bottas kept it running.

      Congrats to top three, they were all faultless. Also great drive from Button.

    64. Rosberg set the fastest lap on Lap 19 of 57. I guess he was in cruise mode most of the race.

    65. rather disappointing in what could have been a fabulous race
      hamilton had problems off the line
      as so often rosberg had the advantage of being on the best side and used it
      dan looks like losing his place as I write
      Q2
      with regards to bottas being driver of the day , he clearly had a much quicker car than those he overtook , ruined his chance by hitting the wall
      button’s quick thinking got him some good luck to go with his terrible luck in Q2 [ although he only just made it ]

      but when half the quickest cars were immediately out it could hardly be a great race ..7 out of 10 ? only 5 for me

    66. 5 from me. Kinda boring overall.

      Pretty great driving from Magnussen, Bottas and even Ricciardo (he’s not a rookie anymore, as some still consider him. He just changed the car -> results showed up !). Other than that, Vettel’s parade got replaced by Rosberg’s parade.

    67. cars chasing ech other with any attemp to overtaking, has to be boring.

    68. 7, a bit better overall compared to last year’s average.

      Either thst or I didn’t have enough sleep last night to enjoy it.

    69. Exciting start but largely boring second half. Losing Ham & Vet so early was gutting. 6/10

    70. I want real and pure competition between the most faster cars and the most perfect drivers. Risk, sweat, speed, that’s all I want in a race and not “make me rich” as BE and most of FIA managers want.

      I remember the past in which only the driving mood and the cars were the pure competition force in F1.

      Sorry but I blame this new F1 rules 2014. This will change the passion of young people for the F1 races.

      Tears from spain.

      Regards (I’m new and happy to be in this good web-forum).
      Julius

    71. I don’t know why but it didn’t manage to keep me on the edge of my seat all the time. However, other than that irrational thought, it pretty much had everything.

      It had the technical Vettel-esque drive by Rosberg, it had drama (Hamilton, Vettel retiring and the Kobayashi – Massa incident), it had underdogs, it had Red Bull being not-so-bad-afterall, McLaren coming back to live, a brilliant recovery drive by Bottas, a brilliant drive by the rookie Magnussen, it had reliability issues, it had mistakes. It demonstrated that the fuel-related “coasting” fears are not that well founded, and for the first time in years, it really looked like drivers are able to push right up to the finish line.

      It looked good. It wasn’t that full of intensity but it demonstrated this new “Formula 1” and the rest of the season could be.

      8/10

    72. Processional race = 3, plus one for Bottas, plus one to see the new regulations in action, plus one for Kobayashi really trying (now duck.) Total = 6.

    73. First 21 laps saw me not even daring to look at F1Fanatic Live or my phone. Heck, I even postponed getting something to drink while I was parched with thirst..

      After that the middle of the field kind of went their ways. There was no excitement in front (but as a Schumacher-era kid I guess I’m just not concerned when that happens) but the back was very calm too. I gave it a 7, as I enjoyed it a lot more than the last 10-12 races of 2013, which I rated between 4-6.

    74. it was a really exciting race 8/10 from me

    75. Meant to head to the pub this morning, but the 4 AM alarm I woke with a headache and heart-burn, so decided to take some meds and head back to bed. Just watched the replay on BBC.

      Not a great race, but I appreciate that at least it mixed up the regular order of things. I think we’re probably in for a few uneven races until everyone finds their way with the new regs, and then things start to settle. Hopefully, when they settle in, it’ll be into a good competition and not a domination by one team.

    76. Some pleasing results but not a great thriller. A little too much management going on, only Bottas seemed to remember he was in a race. And sort the engine sounds out Mr World Feed, they’re not loud enough on TV.

      Just seen the BBC highlights (after a pleasant sunny morning avoiding the result – thanks Bernie, thanks Rupert) and glad I wasn’t watching it live, with all the faffing around getting the race under way, getting the safety car organised and the race going flat about half way through, but Melbourne is often like that.

    77. Definitely a 7/10, the race was very processional with Rosberg dominating from the front with no one to challenge him after Hamilton retired. The Hulkenburg train really ruined the battle from 4th all the way to 10th for the entire race, it really looked like no one wanted to overtake and just hold position, except for Bottas who was only doing that because of his mistake, he really should’ve been challenging for a podium.

    78. Gave it a very generous 10, partly because it was so refreshing to see something a little bit different. The new era is going to be the best F1 since the 1990s.

      But it was let down by three big retirements. Hamilton, Vettel and Massa being in the mix would have made it a far more exciting affair.

    79. Other than Bottas passes, it just wasn’t a fun race, actually I stopped watching and concentrated on something else, only hearing the TV. So, the racing isn’t improved from previous years, lots of retirements, no strategic uncertainties… It is still early, only the first race, let’s wait and see

    80. i rate the race 7. it was great to see the new cars, new sounds, new atmosphere, new drivers. fantastic to see new young guns showing up and getting great results. i was disappointed with the first lap crash, would have loved to see how both Massa and Kobayashi went. Next race in Malaysia i predict the merc teams to have more dominance over the redbull and Ferrari. Massa and Bottas should be in top 6 – Williams seem to be second fastest merc team after Mercedes team.

    81. A lot of mixed emotions and F1 is pretty much all emotions. 6 maybe, cannot get over the cars sounding like retail street sedans, Agree with most everyone here but with the screaming engines gone cannot tell yet what will replace that for over the top excitement.

    82. Some good results, but not as chaotic as pre-season testing might have given us to believe, and from lap 22 on it was fairly processional for long stretches.

      Certainly didn’t live up to the hype of “anything can happen!” we got leading up to it. Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren at the front, and Hulkenberg performing well. One car dominantly fast.

    83. Perhaps my rating was based on low expectations, but I thoroughly enjoyed the race, and it exceeded my expectations. Outstanding to see Bottas, Magnussen, and Ricciardo have good drives. Awesome to see the Williams of Bottas pressuring the Ferarri of Alonso. I would have given it a generous 8, but the DQ of Red Bull bump it to a generous 9. Tongue in cheek, and sorry for Ricciardo, I expect that RB will develop into the class of the field — clearly they have pace. I would like to see the likes of McLaren and Williams fighting at the front.

    84. Race itself was a 6 but Bo77as bump it to a solid 8.

    85. Great start to the season

    86. Boring sound, ugly cars, slower speeds, boring “over takes”, sound doesn’t match the cars, parade to the end, tentative “economical” driving….

      This is not F1 IMO. If they don’t immediately do something radical – like allowing unlimited fuel, unlimited flow rate – I’m not sure why I should watch. Make race day “Qualifying 4”, maybe.

    87. This is by far one of the best races I have seen in some years. It’s a shame to see MAS, HAM and VET getting retired. But, with the reduced engine configuration, fuel limitation and gear box changes, it was fascinating to watch brilliant show from the rookie drivers mixing up with the seasoned drivers. The “new” engine needed some time to get used to.. Half way through the race, I didn’t even realize that they are racing with a turbo V6. I’m so thrilled for Mercedes and Williams. We have a great year ahead of us.

    88. Not the first time Nico gets a victory from Lewis’ mechanical failure.

    89. 9/10 for me.
      Positives: *excellent technical achievements just under a YEAR
      *smallers teams are getting better
      *impossible to predict results

      Negatives: *pace was a bit slow, but there will be improvement
      *was gutted to see Dan DSQ-d
      Was sad to see Ferrari struggling though.

    90. 8 out of ten for me. Great to see new faces doing good, Vettel’s reaction was appalling, Bottas’ charge was great to watch, Rosberg was scary fast. The race had all the ingredients for a 9 but too many key players were out (Such as Lewis) to really make the race awesome. Probably should be a 7 but not hearing about tyres and being the first race back bumps it up.

    91. 8/10
      Some brilliant overtakes other than DRS ones, though my ignorance of current F1 regulations makes me think those were all pure whilst engine maps and braking behaviour varied from car to car, from corner to corner. Drivers making mistakes, retirements (though either straight away or out of action, like the Lotus ones) and unexpected results (Ricciardo, Magnussen Kvyat) made it an entertaining race, though some glimpses of it gave some ideas as to how F1 will feel like when teams sort out their data.

    92. Some great drives throughout, especially by Bottas. Great to see an Aussie on the podium at home for the first time–shame it seems gone.
      That said, it just didn’t have the fizz I’m used to seeing at Australia. The field was scattered about in groups, the cars seem less suited for overtaking than last year (good job with the new regulations, FIA), and the track was desperately empty.

      It was okay, but not good enough that I’ll remember much a few months from now.
      That makes it a very average 5.

    93. Did Ferrari do anything to remember Schumacher? I know a few drivers and Mercedes did.

    94. Do the voters realize: 1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

      I sometimes wonder.

      Aside from seeing Bottas and Hulk actually racing as well as K-Mag’s result, I can’t say anything positive about this race or season. And I’m someone who attends races, buys related products, and is a life-long superfan. Frankly I’m disgusted by the state of F1 and have been since 2010 and I see things worse now than ever. jmo

    95. Boring…. :(

    96. I’m slightly miffed at those expecting a tight race with lots of passing… It’s because of these folks that the regulations get mixed up every other year, causing this exact situation.

      I thought the race was fantastic with heaps of tension, mystery and still some very close racing and good passes. Bottas’s drive was great, the people at the track (including me) loved Daniel’s drive, and there was a turn 1 crash with cars flying to keep TV’s switched on waiting for the next one… while the rest of us intrigued ourselves with who made best on the new regulations.

      People replying saying it was terrible, not enough passing, etc… take a step back and blame the person in the mirror. Can’t blame F1 for not listening!

    97. As average as they come, completely forgettable. It was only interesting because it was the first race of the season and we were all looking answers. 5/10. Anyone rating it above that needs to have their head examined or get out more.

    98. For me it was an 8 and there was definitely potential for a 9 if we’d been able to see Hamilton and Vettel make it past 5 laps! But there was some brilliant over taking moves and some awesome corrections from drivers such as when Jev nearly lost it when his rear wheel dipped on the grass at turn 16! Also Hulkenberg did well to keep it in 6th place especially when you think about Perez in the same car who had a very dull weekend over all. So all in all for me a good race weekend and I really can’t wait for Malaysia and the race gets a double thumbs up from me! 👍👍

    99. 1/10

      10 cars on lead lap. 10 cars dnf. Fastest lap on lap 19 by winner who then coasts for next 38 laps and wins by half a minute. The longest Safety Car period for NOTHING (except fuel saving!) then factor in the sound, the look, and the “lift and coast” method and there is why this is one of the worst starts to a season i can recall.

      Disagree? Then go watch 2005-2009 seasons whete there was passing, racing, close championships, excitement, and proper F1 – then return and explain how this is better!

      FIA/FOM want ignorant fans! Do not give them what they want!!!

    100. The engines sound pathetic. A shell of Formula-1’s former glory.

    101. I’m a fan of the new engines in theory, but to me the cornering speeds looked significantly slower than previous years.

    102. Race 6/10 just because of the lack of action But I understand that few could push it just yet.

      New formula 9/10***

      After years of “frozen” engine rules, I welcome the fact that the power train has become an area where the engineers can work again. I am SICK of 100% focus on aero. Not too happy about the spec weight distribution or increase in minimum weight though. Never was a fan of ballast either. Or the artificiality of DRS zones. Flat bottoms must go. Ground effects without skirts and a minimum ground clearance rule (measured when the suspension is fully compressed) will enable more passing in dirty air. And KERS harvesting should be unlimited. If a team wants to harvest from the front axle, then let them. AWD if they want too.

    103. I give it a 7/10 as well. Good to see some unknowns step up and take the spotlight away from the past champions in the field. Bottas & the Williams was the highlight for me. Would’ve been interesting to see what Massa could’ve done in the sister car. Other than that, fairly processional racing for the most part, nothing too exciting. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t put up the infographic with the live telemetry. Would’ve been nice to see how much ERS boost they were using and when. I think they have 33 secs worth this year, up from what, 6 seconds last year?

    104. I rate it 7/10. The first half was exciting but the second half was a bit dull. But another point has to go BO77AS for his driving and would of got 3rd easily if it wasn’t for that touch.

      1. 3rd EASILY? Rea11y!? I don’t think so…but 4th, yes.

    105. The funny thing is that I attended the race, and like many people sitting around me, thought it was boring. The the cars were too slow (+ 10 seconds/lap slower than the lap record) AND too quiet. However when I returned home I watched the replay on TV and thought it was not such a bad race after all. The sound was still bad BUT the perception of (slow) speed was not so apparent!! Strange!!!!!

    106. Slackbladder
      17th March 2014, 7:25

      It’s still called Formula One but it isn’t, the cars look like ‘Formula One Racing Cars’ but they don’t sound like ‘real’ Formula One race cars should sound and they don’t ‘race’ like Formula one race cars used to. It all feels a bit shamish, sad really, from v12’s to v10’s to v8’s to v6’s, whats next v4’s? all for the wrong kind of show! As some one mentioned above, the Jumbo Jets that fly the teams back and forth use ‘TONES’ of fuel per trip and the fleets of transports burn Tones of diesel and no one batts an eye lash. Having watched motor racing, particularly Formula One, for over 50 years it is my considered opinion that small minded idiots are ruining one of the few sports with some pedigree left, at least I hope so after this latest fiasco. Too much change is more counterproductive than no change, change for change sake is a fools game.

      1. Yours is the first comment that I’ve seen that mentions this, which I find quite surprising. It’s as if there’s an elephant in the room but everyone has got “invisi-elephant” glasses on. Ignore it and pretend it’s not there.
        For me, as a casual (“lay” perhaps) F1 viewer, I was very dismayed at the sound of the new cars.
        They are, singly, almost silent compared to what they were last season. But all might not be lost (I thought) – I wondered what they would sound like when they were all on the grid. Maybe lots of them together might make some kind of exciting roar. Well, no.
        What’s next? Totally silent cars? I guess the die-hards here will still be saying “hey I guess this is just not the sport for you sport” etc., defending F1 to its inevitable slow death as they transfer to 2V 600cc engines. But anyway, as to this race, after the first few laps, with near-silent cars just running round the track following each other, Hamilton out, I just thought, this is just too damn boring, and switched off.

        I think you are spot on with your comments. It’s not up to F1 to save the world. It’s up to F1 to be an exciting spectator sport. On the basis of what I saw this weekend, I don’t think they have succeeded.
        And yeah, I’m just a casual F1 viewer. But how many of F1’s viewers are also casual viewers?

    107. 8/10 from Me. unlike Last year pretty much close racing but then no overtakings – probably because the units are not set for outright power as of now. Hope things will Improve as for 17 Odd Laps if positions don’t Change thats not really F1 (Hulk-Alonso-Vergne-Raikkonen first stint). Even with DRS enable it wasn’t the same as last year. But then thats my vision with no critics to any team. I know things will improve and thats what we look forward to

    108. I liked it. It wasn’t a super race, maybe not even a great one and certainly not one I’d watch again, but it was a nice race. I liked the fact that DRS was not so overpowering and we saw some good overtakes (especially by Bottas), some good battles (Ricciardo-Magnussen) and a couple of strategic moves that decleared the outcome. Had Hamilton not retired, I think we would have seen a better race for the lead but that’s something to live with.

      7/10

    109. My race ended at the momment Nico get’s the 1st place, the race for me was obvious and apart of Magnussen and Bottas, with no realy interest

    110. Having seen the in-cockpit comparison of Ricciado & Vettel during qualifying where Vettel appeared to be fighting a greased pig while Ricciado was all smooth and Button-like, I was anticipating Vettel driving into a wall during the race. Is he really still driving as if it’s last year’s RB?
      7/10 for the race, I like hearing tyre squeal, all the burbling and whistling of turbos, being able to hear the radio transmissions.
      Did RB ignore the FIA’s ruling on their flow meter during the race just to get a high-profile result in the knowledge it would be taking away; that being preferable to grubbing about (perhaps) behind the Torro Rossos even?
      Kudos to Button for quick thinking, and to KevMag & Dan Kvyat for keeping it on track!

    111. I can’t believe how low the ratings are. 6.9 average? 90 minutes of watching the best drivers in the world fighting tooth and nail with cars everyone is still learning about, whilst the cream of the young crop float to the top, resulting in the freshest podium we have seen in years? I thought it was awesome.

    112. 4/10.
      Since 2009 I am enjoying F1 less and less with every year and I fear that if I will see 3 more races like that in a row I’ll just stop watching for a while. V6, DRS, ERS, PIRELLIs, 100kg/h, no re-fueling and medi core drivers… I’m happy that Magnussen got a great result but it just made me think that there are hundreds (if not thousands) drivers that are on pair (if not better) than the current field.
      Average drivers, slower cars, delta lap time driving, and constant regulation changes. I slowly have enough.
      And to think that I was complaining (2000-2008) about the championship being played between 2 or 3 cars back then. It might have been two cars, but they were actually RACING back then.

      1. Yeah don’t forget the ridiculous noses, you can also add ugly cars to that

      2. slackbladder
        19th March 2014, 2:59

        Totally in agreement, that was the most boring pathetic excuse for a Formula One races ever

    113. Bottas has a rocket, and a shame Massa couldn’t use his. Williams are a force. Magnussen did well, as did Kyvat, so Toro should be commended for finding reliability and speed. Lotus were moving forward before elec. failures. Ferrari/Sauber/Marrussia need more speed. If brains and patience are the key, Button and Rosberg have to be favourites, but I’ll pull for Massa to be there too.

    114. Missing Stirling Moss, Phil Hill, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost, Aryton Senna Michael Shummacher. When races were won by skill and cars not lost by software and wire malfunctions. Maybe it’s time for me to retire from being a fan.

      1. When races were lost by drivers getting killed or engines blowing up? When scrutineering didn’t seem to cope with computer launch control, when Ferrari had a veto on new rules (in secret)…?

    115. Boring Race. We all knew the winner from lap 2.
      We couldn’t hear the cars, we saw less overtakes than retirements with Bottas the only driver who was racing.
      We were seeing the fastest drivers of the world rival each other on fuel economy all the time.
      we have also seen a live timing with no sector times no pit stops no gaps from the first driver.
      This year F1 sucks!
      Fuel economy isn’t compatible with F1, at least at that point.

    116. 6. First half was interesting whilst the field settled down, Bottas was great with his storm through the field, although he was out of position. The safety car seemed to kill the race dead though. There wasn’t too much happening in the final 35 laps. There were some cars catching others, but although they got slightly closer, nothing came of anything.

      A good start, by no means a classic, and probably ultimately forgettable. So a generous 6.

    117. It seems I have missed the voting so it won’t count to the overall, but I rated it a 7.

      It was a decent start to the season but nothing special.

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