GPI 2017 Australian Grand Prx | Page 166

MELBOURNE DIARY

Friday
Day one of on-track action kicked off with a press conference with Ross Brawn and Sean Bratches , who together make quite the couple . Brawn has quickly settled into his role as the cool uncle of F1 , getting to promise all the cool stuff while Bratches is more like a high school vice principal – all the responsibility , none of the glory . Together they ’ re an interesting combination , and it actually made for an interesting discussion , giving well-rounded responses to the various questions .
Answering questions about levelling the playing field ( Brawn is in favour ), engaging fans ( a popular refrain from Bratches ) to playing tough with the next commercial agreement ( Brawn wants Ferrari et al to make concessions ), they were pretty candid . Of course , whether they actually follow through on what they say remains to be seen .
Today was also the first day I got to take in the paddock , and I ’ m ever lucky enough to make it back , a French dictionary is essential . I mean of course the FIA is French , but even the Japanese guys at Honda are speaking the language of love ( although there ’ s not a lot of that at McLaren these days ). Not that everyone doesn ’ t speak English , it was just an interesting quirk .
Speaking of speaking , around 3 o ’ clock-ish that was no longer possible , thanks to the Royal Australian Air Force , who seem to have taken it on themselves to destroy everyone ’ s hearing . It ’ s like they ’ ve been given a mission to make up for the noise of the V6s , in which case they easily succeeded . Not that there ’ s anything wrong with a good ol ’ fashioned flyover , but they might as well have been strafing the paddock – if wanted to feel like an insurgent in Syria , I ’ d join ISIS .
On-track there ’ s not much to say that won ’ t be written elsewhere – Hamilton was dominant , and as much as he might pretend otherwise , Mercedes are still out in front Nevertheless , Ferrari were impressive , and watching from the left-right sequence at turns 11 and 12 , the SF70H – along with the Toro Rosso (!) – were really able to attac the corner , taking plenty of kerb on entry . Assuming development keeps pace , they could be serious contenders come the first European race in Barcelona .
Finishing with the team principal ’ s test conference , perhaps the most interesting tidbit was Christian Horner ’ s assertion the cars will be 1.5 seconds faster by Abu Dhabi . Is it possible for the cars to be too fast ? At what point will the increased physica toll start to decide the racing ? This year we might find out …