[Tengocity]

Cracking start from Mercedes today, who seem to have made an art out of sandbagging.

Great to see McLaren showing some signs of life, and a new young Brit in Lando Norris to give some hint at a bright future.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Cracking start from Mercedes today, who seem to have made an art out of sandbagging.

Great to see McLaren showing some signs of life, and a new young Brit in Lando Norris to give some hint at a bright future.

Thanks, I had forgotten that was on this weekend!

Great, it does look like sandbagging, although Melbourne can be a bit misleading relative to other tracks.

Sounds like a superb performance from Norris and a bit of a minor let-down from Le Clerc - which might be a good thing in taking the pressure of his shoulders immediately. I'm looking forward to him being another team mate to show Seb the way

[Broncho]

Big question is, do they sound any better?

[SteveChester]

I got up at 6am to watch - Merc defo been sandbagging but expected Ferrari to be much closer...

It's going to be a great season!

[Gr-Racing]

Mercedes killed it in Qualifiers and did not expect HAAS to finish both drivers so well

[JustChris]

I thought Ferrari were holding back but nope Mercedes pole.

[JNW1]

Already has a feel of same old, same old, to me!

Ferrari flatter to deceive in pre-season testing, can't bring that pace to race weekends and Mercedes are left out front. I daresay Ferrari - and indeed the likes of Red Bull - will be competitive at some races but Mercedes again look to have the best car and, as Hamilton comfortably has the beating of his teammate, it's already looking like his title to lose IMO.....

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Already has a feel of same old, same old, to me!

Ferrari flatter to deceive in pre-season testing, can't bring that pace to race weekends and Mercedes are left out front. I daresay Ferrari - and indeed the likes of Red Bull - will be competitive at some races but Mercedes again look to have the best car and, as Hamilton comfortably has the beating of his teammate, it's already looking like his title to lose IMO.....

Amazing... we've not even had a race yet!

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Amazing... we've not even had a race yet!

Hope I'm wrong and we have a competitive season; however, if I'm right you heard it here first!

[Tengocity]

There's plenty of twists and turns, drama, and sporting brilliance to happen. Cars will develop too.

Clearly the favourites will be obvious, same as they are in most sports, but it makes the spectacle no less enjoyable for me.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by Gr-Racing

Mercedes killed it in Qualifiers and did not expect HAAS to finish both drivers so well

They qualified 6th and 7th last year as well and 5th overall last season.

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Hope I'm wrong and we have a competitive season; however, if I'm right you heard it here first!

Track suits Mercedes, they were faster by about the same in Melbourne last year as well. But the Ferrari was better than the Mercedes at just as many, if not more, tracks for the rest of the season.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by Goneinsixtyseconds

Track suits Mercedes, they were faster by about the same in Melbourne last year as well. But the Ferrari was better than the Mercedes at just as many, if not more, tracks for the rest of the season.

And yet in 2018 it was another Mercedes lock out with both championships won, eleven race victories, eleven poles and Lewis almost 100 points ahead of Seb at the end, even Bottas managed to win the fastest lap award and he had a really bad second half to the season.

We will see what the race pace is like tomorrow.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Wills2

And yet in 2018 it was another Mercedes lock out with both championships won, eleven race victories, eleven poles and Lewis almost 100 points ahead of Seb at the end, even Bottas managed to win the fastest lap award and he had a really bad second half to the season.

We will see what the race pace is like tomorrow.

Mainly because Hamilton > Fingers

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Mainly because Hamilton > Fingers

Exactly so! The Ferrari was competitive with the Mercedes for most of last season yet Hamilton won the title at a canter; if he has the best car this year - and I agree it's a bit early to judge that for certain - he'll walk it IMO....

[Tengocity]

He had the best car the year Rosberg won, so it's just not true that the season outcome is any kind of foregone conclusion.
Red Bull don't look too far behind so Verstappen could well be up there.

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

He had the best car the year Rosberg won, so it's just not true that the season outcome is any kind of foregone conclusion.
Red Bull don't look too far behind so Verstappen could well be up there.

Erm, wasn't Rosberg in the same car though? Not literally of course.

So not sure what that means. He hasn't got a team mate that compete with him now.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Goneinsixtyseconds

Erm, wasn't Rosberg in the same car though? Not literally of course.

So not sure what that means. He hasn't got a team mate that compete with him now.

Yes, that's exactly my point. You can't make assumptions that Hamilton is going to walk it, whether he has the fastest car or not. That year he had more reliability issues and perhaps a touch more bad luck.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Mainly because Hamilton > Fingers

Yes Hamilton is better than fingers, however we've all seen what fingers can do in a car that is better and faster than the rest of the grid, win 4 world titles.

Lot's of hype around Ferrari having the better car last year I'm not one that subscribes to it.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Yes, that's exactly my point. You can't make assumptions that Hamilton is going to walk it, whether he has the fastest car or not. That year he had more reliability issues and perhaps a touch more bad luck.

I accept entirely there's no such thing as a dead cert in sport but (IMHO) Hamilton is the best driver on the grid and given the best car I reckon he'll win the title easily unless reliability and/or accidents intervene. After all, he won the title relatively easily last year even though the Ferrari was the better car for a reasonable proportion of the time so give him the best car and the rest are fighting for second in my view.

Yes Rosberg beat him in the same car three years ago but I think Hamilton's improved as a driver since then; not really any quicker but he no longer seems to have those "off weekends" where he's just not at it. Also, Rosberg certainly had the rub of the green in 2016 and promptly retired because, by his own admission, he'd be unlikely to be able to match Hamilton again! I also think Bottas is no Rosberg so Hamilton no longer has the same level of competition from within Mercedes either.

In saying all of that I genuinely hope I'm wrong and that we have a competitive season. I agree Verstappen will be there or thereabouts if the Red Bull's up to scratch and it's also going to be interesting to see how things develop at Ferrari; Vettel didn't like it when Ricciardo came along and started to match him at Red Bull and if Leclerc proves to be quick I think there could be some tension there.

But if the Merc proves to be the best car - or is even just close to the best - I firmly believe Lewis will take his sixth title with ease this year!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JNW1

I accept entirely there's no such thing as a dead cert in sport but (IMHO) Hamilton is the best driver on the grid and given the best car I reckon he'll win the title easily unless reliability and/or accidents intervene. After all, he won the title relatively easily last year even though the Ferrari was the better car for a reasonable proportion of the time so give him the best car and the rest are fighting for second in my view.

Yes Rosberg beat him in the same car three years ago but I think Hamilton's improved as a driver since then; not really any quicker but he no longer seems to have those "off weekends" where he's just not at it. Also, Rosberg certainly had the rub of the green in 2016 and promptly retired because, by his own admission, he'd be unlikely to be able to match Hamilton again! I also think Bottas is no Rosberg so Hamilton no longer has the same level of competition from within Mercedes either.

In saying all of that I genuinely hope I'm wrong and that we have a competitive season. I agree Verstappen will be there or thereabouts if the Red Bull's up to scratch and it's also going to be interesting to see how things develop at Ferrari; Vettel didn't like it when Ricciardo came along and started to match him at Red Bull and if Leclerc proves to be quick I think there could be some tension there.

But if the Merc proves to be the best car - or is even just close to the best - I firmly believe Lewis will take his sixth title with ease this year!

Your original post said it looked like his to lose, before a single race has run.

We know Hamilton is the best driver, and that Mercedes will have one of best cars, so of course he's a favourite, but seems faintly ridiculous to me to suggest the season is his to lose!

He's been on pole here 6 races in a row, yet only won 2 of them, so clearly it's not even like this race is in the bag, never mind the season.

[73henny]

Can help but think it's already looking like a boring season.

McLaren are still rubbish.
Honda aren't as rubbish as McLaren.
Williams should be relegated.
Every expert at pre season testing was wrong.
Bottas proving once again he's only at Merc because he's too slow to take points off Hamilton. Not his fault but poor from Merc.
Still really early but the changes for '19 look to have achieved absolutely nothing.