The American-backed Haas team "made a dream Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, taking points in its first-ever race as Romain Grosjean finished in a surprising sixth place," according to the AP. New teams in F1 "normally serve an apprenticeship at the back of the field in their first season but Haas wasted no time in making an impact." After crossing the finish line, "a thrilled Grosjean radioed" back to the pits, "This is a win for us! Unbelievable." Grosjean said, "It feels like standing on the top step of the podium." Team Owner Gene Haas said, "It's very satisfying, it is a win. Romain came here to an unestablished team, he didn't know how the pieces could come together, there was no visible sign of what this team could be. It's justification for him and it makes the team feel like a winner." The second Haas did not finish as Estaban Gutierrez's car was hit from behind by the McLaren of Fernando Alonso in "a dangerous, high-speed collision that caused the red flag" (AP, 3/20).
THAT WAS FAST: The BBC reported Formula 1 bosses have "agreed to ditch the controversial new elimination qualifying system for the next race." The previous system will be re-introduced for the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 1-3 "after criticism of the new knock-out format at the season's first race in Australia on Saturday." The teams made a "unanimous decision at a meeting in Melbourne on Sunday." Mercedes F1 Exec Dir Toto Wolff said, "We wanted to improve the show and we went in the wrong direction. It shows there is common sense in F1." Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said, "It was done with the best intentions, to try to shuffle the grid around and create more excitement and to help the promoters. And unfortunately that didn't happen. We gave it a go" (BBC, 3/20). The PA reported Wolff said that the elimination-style format, which sees a driver knocked out every 90 seconds, "could be reintroduced" in '17. Wolff: "This is a global sport and we need to acknowledge that we have a responsibility. Changing the rules every week is not the right way forward. We have seen that there are good bits about it, and the teams' decision today was to look at it next winter and maybe during the season analyze what we can do in order to optimize it and come up with a solution that really works." The "biggest gripe with the format was the lack of on-track action during Saturday's qualifying session." While Q1, the first of the three-timed sessions, "was frantic," Q2 was "rather tame with Q3, which should have been the big crescendo to determine who started on pole, being nothing short of a disaster" (PA, 3/20).
'PRETTY RUBBISH': In London, Daniel Johnson reported Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel, the front three, all agreed the "elimination-style" system "should be abandoned." Wolff described it as "pretty rubbish" while Horner said that the "sport owed its followers an apology." Reverting to the old system -- or a hybrid of the two "where the elimination element is kept for the first two parts of qualifying but scrapped for the finale" -- will require the "unanimous agreement of the teams but the sport appears united in its view." F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said, "It was pretty awful. But it wasn't my idea at all. I am sure we can change it for Bahrain. We should be man enough -- we gave it a try, it didn't work, let's find a new way of doing it." Vettel, who qualified third, "was the most scathing." Vettel: "I don't see the point why everyone is surprised. We all said what is going to happen. It happened. We were told to wait and see. Now we saw and I don't think it was very exciting" (TELEGRAPH, 3/19).
LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: The AAP reported two-time world champion Alonso said that he is "lucky to be alive after the horrifying crash that destroyed his McLaren-Honda and momentarily stopped the Australian Formula One Grand Prix." The Spaniard's car "flipped repeatedly and crumbled to pieces before hitting a barrier at turn three of the Albert Park circuit after he clipped the rear" of Gutierrez of Haas F1. His wrecked car came to rest "upside down but Alonso somehow managed to free himself from the mangled wreckage and hoards of debris unharmed." Alonso: "I'm extremely happy to be here, it was quite a scary crash. I'm thankful for the safety of these cars. ... I'm alive thanks to the job of the last 10 to 15 years of Formula One" (AAP, 3/21).
F1 WINNER: In London, Kevin Eason opined Ecclestone told them it was "c**p" but they came anyway "in their thousands to Melbourne's Albert Park," and they "left enthralled." The winner was F1, "despite the efforts of Ecclestone." Last night, the sport "was on the canvas and being counted out after a farcical qualifying session that left an empty track with minutes to go." The new knockout qualifying system -- eliminating the slowest car every 90 seconds -- "turned out to be a disaster." In "typically haphazard F1 fashion, team bosses met this morning and threw out a format that lasted a single weekend." Like Lazarus, though, "F1 rose from a dead Saturday to a Sunday grand prix that fizzed with life" (
LONDON TIMES, 3/20).
