Ferrari:
Another year, another abysmal Albert Park performance from the Prancing Horse. Their pace is not a disaster, Kimi and Massa were matching Button for a few laps, however they don't have the pace in qualifying and over long runs to challenge at the front yet. Interesting that Ferrari won't admit what Massa's problem was, I would put money on KERS. I didn't see Kimi's incident (neither did anyone else in Australia) so not sure what happened there but considering there was a chance of a podium it was a bad time to throw away points. Their tyre problem could help or hinder them in Sepang, if they can't get heat into them like last year they should do well, if its the opposite (which I suspect it is given the massive graining of the super softs) they are in big trouble. KERS system should help them on the long run to turn 1 though.
McLaren:
The world champions have made a dud! The positives are that the car is nicely balanced and their KERS system works well, it was certainly a sovereign boon to Hamilton in his early charge through the field. All those waxing lyrical about Hamilton's drive lets keep some perspective here! He carved through Force India's, Toro Rosso's and Renaults then drove a consistent race before some well timed pitstops vaulted him up the field. I think his tyre strategy worked very well despite it copping some flak. He had a couple of laps to clear the backmarkers before his tyres went off and still had great rubber at the end of the race. Kovaleinen seemed to have Lewis' measure for most of the weekend until he got involved in the first corner fracas. The long straights of Sepang should suit their KERS system and there are rumours they have a twin tier diffuser on the way!
BMW:
Kubica showed his class by completely blitzing Heidfeld despite a theoretically inferior car. Quali pace seems to be a struggle as he was lightest of everyone from memory but his race pace was certainly very strong and of course he never gives up pushing every lap to the maximum. All came to naught as he had a rush of blood to the head. Had he given Vettel another half a metre all would have been well. Yes Vettel braked early but did Kubica really think that his whole car had cleared Vettel by the time he turned in?? That said he seemed to take it pretty well. Heidfeld didn't trouble the top of the timesheets all weekend, he only seems to deliver when he is about to run out of contract so should wake up about Belgium.
Red Bull:
Newey has done it again with the fastest of the non diffuser cars. This was a surprise to me as Webber was talking down the speed of the car. Reliability seems to be present as well however Webber's luck as usual is appalling. Also of bigger concern is the fact that Red Bull have almost no capacity to install a twin tier diffuser if (when?) they become officially legal. That combined with the fact they usually fall behind in the development race means it could be a case of making hay while the sun shines. At the moment they have a podium capable car and two podium capable drivers so hopefully we see some....errr podiums! At least they have started from a strong base though.
Toyota:
Finally Toyota's bazillion dollars are bearing some fruit. Unfortunately their car (along with Force India's) looks like it needs a visit to the orthodontist, those "teeth" are ghastly. Sepang will show if their new inflexible rear wing costs them any speed, kudos to Toyota management for putting their hand up for blame though. Truilli and Glock both fell off the road of their own accord which is a bit of a concern but both also showed excellent pace. Has the Truilli Train finally been de-commissioned? I expect some strong results from Glock this season, he seems to be maturing well as a driver and his pass on Alonso was brilliantly ballsy.
Renault:
Renault are in no-man's land. Even Alonso looked like he just couldn't be bothered, letting Glock and Hamilton pass with only token resistance. Going to be a long hard season, they are further back than they were this time last year. Piquet is a liability, way off Alonso's pace and while he managed to gain some places in the race threw it all away on turn one to the surprise of absolutely nobody. 6th could be the highest Alonso sees for a while.
Brawn GP:
If Honda does not race, there is no Honda.....no, wait.....If Honda does not race, the car wins?? In reality the only part of this result that should be surprising is that the car seems to completely reliable. A team with an enormous budget spends 15 months building a car under the direction of probably the best technical director the sport has ever seen then gets one of the best engines on the grid in the back. Nonetheless it is still a huge achievement for a team with next to no testing to come out and put their cars on the front row by half a second. I have long sung Button's praises and thankfully he finally has a car to show what he can do. Barrichello must have loved sticking it up Ferrari, he just needs to learn how to overtake again as his attempt on Kimi was the stuff of amateurs. Only a diffuser ban can derail the Brawn juggernaut.
Williams:
Rosberg was hailed as a race winner after topping all three practice sessions. We should have listened to wily old Patrick Head who was rather less optimistic about their chances. Rosberg did have a great chance at the podium until the botched pit stop, even so the amazing inadequacy of the Williams on the super soft tyres would have put paid to his chances I think. Nakajima I thought was pretty impressive, swapping times with Rosberg during practice and quali before blotting his copybook by sticking it in the wall unaided. A refreshing change of form for Williams, although as usual will get swamped in the development race.
Toro Rosso:
Car looked very twitchy, unlike the McLaren thats stable and slow, the Toro Rosso is a handful and slow. Buemi had an impressive debut not making mistakes under pressure, although he seems to have an aversion to certain apexes. Bourdais was decidely unimpressive, perhaps they should have gone with Taku. Should have fun battling with Force India's though.
Force India:
Fisichella, what a dichotomy. Was driving impressively mid race holding good speed, yet forgets to turn into his pit garage? About the silliest mistake I have ever seen any driver make, yet alone one with his experience. Again languished at the bottom of the time sheets. Time will tell whether this McLaren technical partnership leads to a higher rate of development.
The Race:
Australia always turns up wierd results so while Brawn are obviously the class of the pack, the rest are a lot harder to judge. Tyre management is obviously going to be a huge struggle this year with certain cars just flat out failing to work on a certain compound (see Williams). KERS is actually a pretty cool addition, whether it will remain this way once almost every car is running it is another question. It feels a bit "Need for Speed" but interesting that those who have developed it the most are not near the front. I think the driver is also going to make a lot more difference this year. The cars are all so ridiculously close that a bit of wheelspin or missing an apex will be the difference between 5th and 15th. Its going to be an immensely exciting season.