Both Victoria state Premier John Brumby and Bernie Ecclestone confirmed today that new deal has been reached to keep the Australian GP in Melbourne until 2015. The race will start at 5pm to better suit European audiences. Not sure how happy the local opposition will be after hearing this news, but from a visitor point of view I can say - Great news !

To see how it was in Australia this year, check my posts from 2008 Australian GP:

Australian GP 2008 - My Thursday in Melbourne

Australian F1 GP 2008 - Friday Photos

Australian GP - My Saturday In Melbourne - Practice and Qualifying

Australian GP - The great F1 experience - But for how much longer ?

F1Wolf

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It took a bit longer this time to make something out of the pictures I took in Australia but better later than never . Here you can download 2008 Formula 1 Screensaver - Australia featuring all 22 drivers.

You can also check out some of my photos in the 2008 Australian F1 GP photo gallery.

Over the coming weekend I will prepare few high resolution photos for download.

F1Wolf

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As you may have realized from my few previous posts and from the photos I came to Melbourne to see the opening race of the 2008 Formula 1 season. Last few years I went to Sepang, 5 hours shorter trip, but this time I decided to go to Melbourne and see how Aussies do it.

First I was a bit disapointed with not too much information about and promotion of the Grand Prix in Melbourne. But that is where for me as a fan the disapointments ended.

The biggest issue I usually face when coming to the race is the logistic of actually getting to the race. That is not an issue in Melbourne at all. Of course the location of the track in the city helps a lot but you still have to get there somehow. Over the whole course of the F1 weekend there were special tram services to and from the Albert Park. And as I found out from a very talkative taxi driver and got confirmed by the tram people, the F1 ticket was all that was needed to ride on public transport …

The races in Shanghai and Sepang may have excellent purpose built facilities, but try to get something decent to eat or drink there … That is not an issue at all in Melbourne. All over the F1 venue there are plenty of places serving all sorts of food, 5-6 different beers, wine, Lavazza coffee. In direct contrast with the greed of Mr. Ecclestone there is free drinking water all around the Albert Park. And that sure came very handy during the hot F1 weekend this year.

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F1Wolf

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What a race. When I posted a video from the most exciting Australian GP race start I did not really expect we will see something similar this year. At the end, we had a spectacular race that so many cars did not finish, that the last 2 cars that broke down actually scored points.

It has to be said, Lewis Hamilton deserved to win this race. He qualified on pole position, avoided most of the mess that plagued many cars behind him and never looked back. He did not lead the race only during the brief periods after his pit stop. Importantly, same as Heidfeld and Rosberg behind him, he had luck on his side during the safety car periods.

Many were wondering how will the new rules affect the racing, especially what impact they will have on race starts. Well, now we now . Five cars were out after lap one, and Felipe Massa was lucky guy not be the sixth.

Hamilton quickly pulled away, Raikkonen made up several places and climbed to 8th. Sato also made the most out of the mayhem - he was running at 10th for quite a while. Raikkonen’s progress have been stalled by Barrichello, it took Kimi 19 laps to overtake the former Ferrari driver in Honda.

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F1Wolf

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Here are the results from the mad race in Melbourne, with only 7 cars finishing the race, and even one of those (Rubens Barrichello) later disqualified for exiting the pitlane under red light:

1. Lewis Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes– 1:34:50.616
2. Nick Heidfeld – BMW Sauber + 5.478
3. Nico Rosberg - Williams + 8.163
4. Fernando Alonso – Renault +17.181
5. Heikki Kovalainen – McLaren Mercedes +18.014
6. Kazuki Nakajima – Williams + 1 lap
7. Sebastien Bourdais – Toro Rosso + 2 laps
8. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari + 3 laps

Race report will follow later today.

F1Wolf

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It was much more pleasant today. The temperatures dropped by more than 10 degrees. But season seems to be off to hot start .

The free practice was unlike any I have seen or heard of as far as I can remember. There were at one stage 20 cars within 1 second … Only two Super Aguris lagged behind. At the end the timesheets looked strange - Kubica fastest, no Ferrari, no McLaren top ten. Heidfeld and Webber were quick to dismiss any possibility of two front running teams being in trouble. Webber said something like “it is only practice, they simply do not need to practice as much as we do”.

More Photos here 

Then the qualifying began .

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F1Wolf

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And it has started ! The engines fired up this morning in Melbourne, the new season is officially here !

I overslept a bit and arrived about half hour late to the track. And the first thing I saw, my first Formula 1 picture of the 2008 season is the blown engine of David Coulthard . As this was the first photo, the quality is not too good, it took me a while to get used to the very bright sun … More photos from Melbourne coming up later …

The weather during first practice session was very hot, the air temperature was 37 degrees. Surprisingly the track temperature was only about 40 … Most of the cars ran on the harder tyres saving the soft ones for later.

The drivers may say that the removal of driver aids does not make much difference to them, but the difference is very obvious on the track. The cars slide in the corners, many drivers were loosing their rears. I haven’t seen that many off the track excursions an any of the races I went to in past few years …

The cars do sound better, the ugly traction control cracking sounds are gone .

The second practice brought some surprising names higher up the order - Webber, Coulthard, Fisichella. This however has to be taken with caution. The teams were experimenting with tyres, running longer runs, carrying heavier fuel. So far I am not any smarter than I was yesterday. Ferrari and McLaren are clearly quick. Toyta seems to be quicker than people thought. Button is higher than perhaps expected. Red Bull, Williams, Renault, BMW all strong as predicted. But for clear indication of the form at the start of the 2008 seasn we have to wait till tomorrow’s qualifying …

From the reports from the pit lane during the session, it looks like the softer tyres deteriorated very quickly in todays conditions. But one has to remember that the actual race will start at 3:30pm - that is the time today’s sessions ended. By that time the temperatures were already much cooler.

Here are the Friday times from Melbourne:

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F1Wolf

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It took a while, but I made it. I landed in Melbourne this morning. The program at Albert Park started today with several support races practice sessions. But I took a day off from Formula 1 and everything and spent it doing nothing in Melbourne .

Here are some F1 related observations from today:

1) It is extremely hot here. I do not carry thermometer on me but I can tell that Sepang has a very serious competition for the 2008 Hottest F1 Race title.

2) There is very little around the town that suggests the F1 is here this weekend. What is on the photos in this article is all that I have seen. Of course if I do not count the immediate vicinity of Albert Park. I landed at the airport this morning - no sign of F1 at all, except for few appopriately dressed Ferrari fans. In the city few flags here and there,

tents with official F1 Merchandise at 2 places in the city (full of 2007 or older merchandise)

and some ads on public transport (but these are placed there by Bridgestone and Vodafone).

If there is more, than they managed to hide it pretty well… Basicaly if person that has no idea about F1 race being in town will only realize there is something going on when security kicks him/her away from Albert Park entrance . But there is one positive as well - unlike in some other F1 cities, here in Melbourne they sell the F1 program brochures in the newstands not only on the track.

3) Nando is everywhere though, but this may have nothing to do with guy who won the title twice and returned to Renault this year

4) Birds are all over the place

5) And another significant positive - This must be the easiest to get to F1 track on calendar (not counting the flight time). You hop on tram at one end of the city, and within 10-15 minutes you are disembarking at the F1 track. Even in the tiny Monaco getting to my seat was pain in the butt with all the roads and walkways closed and locked.

The F1 cars will be in action tomorrow from 10am local time in Melbourne. I will be there with my camera.

F1Wolf

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I am not sure if the latest Ecclestone had to say on future of F1 racing in Australia is just another chapter in his game of negotiation or this guy is getting completely mad.

“The only way the race could stay in Melbourne, or anywhere else in Australia, is if it is staged during the night so that the public in Europe can watch it. At the moment, it is ridiculous that people are asked not to sleep in order to see it live. That can’t carry on. The alternative is to pull the race completely from Australia. I’ve spoken to (new prime minister) Kevin Rudd and he’s told me it would cost too much to re-stage the race, so I guess that’s it. We won’t be going to Australia for too much longer.”

So it is ridiculius that people in Europe have to wake up early … And he only knows that now ? The Australian GP has been on calendar since 1985 !!!

F1Wolf

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Today my ticket for Australian GP landed on my desk and the first thing that came to my mind was this:

Those who saw the race will remember, for those who perhaps missed Ralf Schumacher’s attempt to take off there is a video inside this post.

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F1Wolf

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