MARCH 28, 2006

The importance of the Australian Grand Prix

The race this weekend in Albert Park will give us a much clearer picture of the relative competitiveness of the various Formula 1 teams afetr two races in hot temperatures. In Bahrain and Malaysia we saw Bridgestone tyres more or less on a par with Michelin in qualifying but we have yet to see what the Japanese rubber can do in lower temperatures. During the winter the Bridgestone teams reported that the problem they were having was getting heat into the tyres in cooler temperatures (a problem which affected Toyota even in the heat of Bahrain) and Melbourne will offer us the chance to see whether Bridgestone has come up with a good compound for the European season. Things may be a little confused by the fact that Ferrari and others will have slightly different specification cars because of deceisions made about wings in Malaysia.

One way or another the Australian GP is going to be a fascinating contest.