[Official] Rate the Grand Prix: Australian Grand Prix 2023

[Born Racer]

What score are you giving?

[spaced]

farce

[TheMightyM]

Three, one point per red flag.

[bjohnsonsmith]

It was all very exciting to begin with but the first red flag put a massive crimp in what could have been a good race, as Russell went down from 2nd to 7th, taking him out of the mix. It tailed off but the second red flag turned the race into a 2 lap sprint race which ended in chaos, resulting in a third red flag and the race finishing under the SC, turning the race into a bit of damp squib.


10 for the chaos factor, 2 for the actual race.

[dsg]

What a great race. Hope there are more like that this season. Really like the standing restarts for red flags but would prefer the teams didn't get free tyre changes.

[Akrapovic]

3. Nothing actually happened except for some forced red flags ending in a predictable accident, showing up the incompetence of the people making decisions. Take out the stupid race direction calls and you have no real race.

[Tourer]

I'd like to give it a 7 or more as it's the only race that we here in Oz get to watch on a Sunday afternoon, which is nice and the vibe, organisation and crowd size all make it pretty special - but I can't give it that good a rating when it comes to the race itself.

Was actually pretty processional, with evidence again of just how narrow the operating window of the current tyres is - crazy to think that slightly cooler than expected conditions (duh, it's Melbourne and always potentially variable) would make it so hard for teams to switch the tyres on.

The poor decisions taken by race "control" just pushed the score lower in my book. Really hate to do this to my home race but can't give it more than a 4 - & that is being generous really.

[GT6]

a generous 3 from me, more of a destruction derby than a race.

[Red]

I'd put it into "But I thought April fool's day was yesterday" category. 0 points.

[Aysedasi]

I started with a 7.
I took 3 off for ludicrous DRS
And 2 more for the shambles at the end.

2.

[chillibowl]

Some fun parts and non drs passes but too many procedural maybe even justified but really took the flow away and then an unnecessary high risk restart. 4

[Adam43]

10. Kylie was on the grid.

[steve_r]

Unexpectedly good.
4 DRS zones is silly and yet many of the passes were difficult even with DRS (not for Red Bull though).

Farcical nonsense at the end. We want F1 to be entertaining, but it was obvious that restarting from the grid with 2 laps left was going to result in carnage. A dose of common sense needed by the lunitics in the FIA.

[morninggents]

5, again. Reasonably interesting in mid-field spoilt by ludicrous FIA decisions.

[TrapezeArtist]

8. Very entertaining, albeit sometimes for the wrong reasons.

[Lancsbreaker]

5 - some of the race was interesting, despite excessive DRS, but the farcical Red Flags and ending with a yellow flag parade lap was ludicrous.

[Born Racer]

Very entertaining, but DRS is awful, awful, awful. This band aid solution to difficult overtaking has now made for easy overtaking. Look at the way Verstappen swept past Hamilton and sad to say, although Perez and Ocon's moves in the fast chicane were exciting, they were heavily DRS-assisted. So, I have been mean and taken off three marks for an entertaining race, leaving it with a 5.

Was thrilled watching the race, but DRS should be scrapped.

[chillibowl]

to each their own of course but the battle in the midfield where several cars all had DRS and were using their brake regeneration to attack and defend was awesome imo. Hamilton keeping Alonso out of DRS was likewise pretty epic stuff. the Sainz Gasly and Stroll (to an extent) stuff was great. the Hulk and Norris battle also great.

can any of us say we get that without DRS?

no doubt RB have an massive advantage and another advantage in how their car works with DRS enabled so this creates the impression that DRS is overpowered but they also happen to be the significantly faster car.

imo they make those passes even without DRS...provided there is enough room on track vis a vis these huge cars.

again to each their own but DRS did exactly what it was supposed to in this race...kept the cars close while allowing much faster cars to get through.

[Born Racer]

While I don't disagree that some of those battles occurred due to DRS, I would take issue with the point about not getting this battling without DRS. Maybe we wouldn't have as much or we wouldn't have the same ones, but cars can clearly run together now.

The Alonso/Hamilton thing doesn't excite me as a DRS thing. Hamilton did want to keep him out of DRS range, but he needed to stave him off anyway. Arguably, if he has let him get closer, not concerned about an automatic DRS pass, we would have had a non-DRS pass anyway, opening up more excitement.

If the Red Bull can get past other cars easily anyway, then from that perspective, the DRS is unnecessary.

And regarding faster cars being able to get through, that takes away something from the race because the cars sort themselves out in pace order too quickly, instead of having the tension of having to make a good move.

[chillibowl]

really we need to see a race without DRS to see if the new regs allow the cars to follow more closely...a huge assumption on my part, but the new rules were created with the knowledge that DRS would continue to be used. with DRS, would the new regs on their own allow for closer racing?

surely the FIA runs race simulations, or did when drafting these new regs i would think, so in lieu of being able to actually see a few races without DRS to get a better sense, i wonder what their data would suggest.

granted, FIA's/FOM's desire to prioritize entertainment over competition undermines the point i am making as their data would no doubt justify the use of DRS...have to acknowledge that.

Originally Posted by Born Racer

If the Red Bull can get past other cars easily anyway, then from that perspective, the DRS is unnecessary.

to be honest, im more than fine with one team dominating because they got the most out of their cars and the rules so all the power to RB but is it worth it at the risk of none of the other teams/cars being able to race closely?

tough question but with several teams all running within the top 10 at some point in OZ...the intensity of the midfield battles may be too good to give up for me.

Originally Posted by Born Racer

And regarding faster cars being able to get through, that takes away something from the race because the cars sort themselves out in pace order too quickly, instead of having the tension of having to make a good move.

again, wont know until they they go back to no DRS races, but with the size of the cars and tires made for entertainment i fear that tension you speak of would quickly turn more to frustration as we watch lap after lap as faster cars get stuck behind slower cars.

undermining my point again tho, 2005 Suzuka is one of my all time favorite races and that first stint can only be described as the greatest Trulli train of all time but in the end we had loads of 'natural' overtaking and perhaps one of the greatest comeback drives of all time.

so maybe it would be fine without DRS?

addition of a side point...getting rid of DRS would also necessitate the removal of regenerative braking and the extra power that comes from it...thats a huge paradigm shift in the design of these cars and engines.

but to undermine my point again, perhaps the removal of the MGU-K (i think thats whats its called) could yield a path forward to reducing the size and weight of the cars which would allow for more room on track and more overtaking.

anyways its a complicated issues so with all that aside, i really dont think it was DRS that ruined this race!

[VIVA GT]

I quite like the idea of trying a race (or two) without DRS, but of course it would be difficult to compare the effect at different tracks. If they were to do it where there is also a sprint race (either in the sprint, or the main race) that would be a more direct comparison (but of course would then be accused of falsifying the results of whichever one the didn't have DRS).

[Aysedasi]

We're developing another DRS thread here.... So I'll add to it. I detest DRS, both as a concept and in practice. There is something wrong when the organising body thinks a racetrack needs FOUR DRS zones to put on it's show. Once the cars were redesigned, they should have had the gonads to dump DRS completely and see what happened - see if the drivers can actually do what they ought to be doing, race and carve out overtakes in the 'traditional' way, rather than being offered a free pass on one, two, three or even four fast parts of the circuit. But if they're still at the point where they think they need four DRS zones on a track, I don't think there is any real hope of seeing DRS disappear any time soon. I daresay the drivers want to keep it anyway as it makes their racing infinitely easier.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I don't think there is any real hope of seeing DRS disappear any time soon. I daresay the drivers want to keep it anyway as it makes their racing infinitely easier.

fair point, the drivers no doubt find it useful.

but arguably, as they should?

races last on average about 90min and at 2hrs they are inclined to stop the race regardless of how many laps are remaining. several laps trapped in the aerodynamic backwash of a slower car, overplay your tires, lose your window, ruin your stint and your race...several laps is a lifetime in 90min race.

we dance around this as if its a function of driver skill when really no driver can apply their skill when punched in the face by the realities of the physics of a modern day F1 race car.

[Born Racer]

I don't think the drivers should be capable of doing the impossible, but they should be forced to try to make tricky moves without the free passes DRS permits.

to be honest, im more than fine with one team dominating because they got the most out of their cars and the rules so all the power to RB but is it worth it at the risk of none of the other teams/cars being able to race closely?

I don't have an issue with one team dominating and if the DRS assists them in this, that's the way it is, but it's the DRS I have the issue with. It is a contradictory device now. It was introduced to counteract the overtaking limitations of the rules, but now they've attempted to correct the overtaking issue with the other regulations, the power of the DRS only serves to undo the work they have done. I'm not convinced the DRS was taken into account when crafting these new regulations. It looks like it sits out there on its own as a sort of push-to-pass and adding zones is exacerbating its negative impact.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

I don't have an issue with one team dominating and if the DRS assists them in this, that's the way it is, but it's the DRS I have the issue with. It is a contradictory device now. It was introduced to counteract the overtaking limitations of the rules, but now they've attempted to correct the overtaking issue with the other regulations, the power of the DRS only serves to undo the work they have done. I'm not convinced the DRS was taken into account when crafting these new regulations. It looks like it sits out there on its own as a sort of push-to-pass and adding zones is exacerbating its negative impact.

Agreed. (Obviously ).