Pre-Break Madness Down Under - F1 Round 8

Welcome to Albert Park for the mid-way round of the SLR season as we take on the Australian Grand Prix! We've had 8 successive weeks of racing and there was one final stop on the Season 16 road before we have a break week! Here's how it went down in Melbourne:

McKeon Division

Qualifying

Pole Time: 1:15.057

1. DustyBassoon244

2. TRT_Karim

3. SLR Ham19

4. SLR Jam40

5. LSJRundle

6. Drastik Blaze

7. MattCoper97

8. AJNOLAN754

9. raceroller22

10. Nightowl0208735

11. OwenHowell36

12. RazzaGamerHD

13. THATGUY691244

14. GoldenEggFryer

15. Joseeeph F1

Race

Fastest Lap: 1:17.900 - DustyBassoon244

1. DustyBassoon244

2. SLR Jam40

3. Nightowl0208735

4. SLR Ham19

5. MattCoper97

6. RazzaGamerHD

7. LSJRundle

8. OwenHowell36

9. GoldenEggFryer

10. raceroller22 (+3s)

11. THATGUY691244

12. Joseeeph F1

13. Drastik Blaze (DNF)

14. TRT_Karim (DNF)

15. AJNOLAN754 (DNF)

Lap 21 incident involving LSJRundle & Drastik Blaze

Verdict: 5s + 2LP to Drastik Blaze (3LP due to DNF)

Detail: The stewards felt that Blaze has initiated the contact for this incident by turning into the apex too sharply when Rundle is on the inside defending his position.

Lap 21 incident involving OwenHowell36 & RazzaGamerHD

Verdict: No Further Action

Detail: As stewards we feel that Owen had enough time to react and was driving unnecessarily close given the circumstances. Both drivers were over their delta so Owen should have been reducing speed too.

Lap 24 incident involving LSJ Rundle & raceroller22

Verdict: 3s + 1LP to raceroller22

Detail: The stewards feel that raceroller's weaving is unusual when approaching the T1 braking zone, and as a result when he returns to the racing line to enter T1 he leaves Rundle no time to react to his braking, causing damage to Rundle's car as a result.

Division 2

Qualifying

Pole Time: 1:15.835

1. HazeeLN4

2. I CJT22 I

3. LSW L3G3ND44

4. Hicks_46

5. BGR_SXPERI-74

6. matty1929

7. Kislesko

8. LRS-#78Nello

9. SSR Halo

10. F1ABQW3RTYYY

11. Goggy

12. RustedBolt3021

13. Joseeeph F1

14. Invade

15. ZachIsBeast25

16. AD4M F13

17. EVVOR94

18. Lansiee23

19. bourbonboy64

Race

Fastest Lap: 1:17.995 - bourbonboy64

1. HazeeLN4

2. bourbonboy64

3. LSW L3G3ND44

4. Invade

5. EVVOR94

6. F1ABQW3RTYYY

7. Goggy

8. BGR_SXPERI-74

9. matty1929

10. ZachIsBeast25

11. Lansiee23

12. RustedBolt3021

13. AD4M F13

14. SSR Halo

15. Kislesko

16. Hicks_46

17. LRS-#78Nello

18. I CJT22 I (DNF)

19. Joseeeph F1 (DNF)

Lap 26 incident involving Invade & I CJT22 I

Verdict: 2LP to I CJT22 I

Detail: As previously stated, the stewards are able to penalise drivers who retire in the pits if their car re-enters the track and causes an incident, and the stewards have decided to do so here, as CJT did not provide any evidence for the reason as to why he retired, and the retired car clearly impacts Invade causing him to go off circuit to avoid this and losing significant time.

Division 3

Qualifying

Pole Time: 1:16.388

1. GazzaBridger

2. Oli Matthews

3. Gregers_Uk

4. SLR Moley

5. COLDEN3335

6. ZZG-SpeedyB

7. WillyBum7

8. haydencole666

9. SLR Hicklin

10. BlackSpartan133

11. Hubbadee

12. Lockyer5522

13. OWR snoozer

14. l 21 l Maxwell

15. Nealix

16. SLR Laney

17. IAC Lambo

18. Rico_AV

19. DC80 BRITGRIT

20. Bunnypower94

Race

Fastest Lap: 1:27.109 - Oli Matthews

1. Oli Matthews

2. GazzaBridger

3. BlackSpartan133

4. SLR Moley

5. WillyBum7

6. Hubbadee

7. haydencole666

8. Gregers_Uk

9. DC80 BRITGRIT

10. Bunnypower94

11. SLR Laney

12. IAC Lambo

13. l 21 l Maxwell

14. Rico_AV

15. ZZG-SpeedyB (DNF)

16. OWR snoozer (DNF)

17. COLDEN3335 (DNF)

18. Lockyer5522 (DNF)

19. SLR Hicklin (DNF)

20. Nealix (DNF)

Lap 18 incident involving COLDEN3335 & SLR Laney

Verdict: No Further Action

Detail: The stewards felt that on what is already a difficult corner to overtake, Colden has attempted a move in a small gap when it wasn't on. Laney does nothing wrong here and is taking the racing line.

Lap 18 incident involving COLDEN3335

Verdict: Race Ban + 3LP to COLDEN3335

Detail: Colden crashes out on purpose here, and such is given the standard penalty for doing so. Although the stewards understand that Colden has just had another incident and sustained rear wing damage, you are allowed to retire in the pits if you have damage that cannot be fixed without repercussion, so this would have been the better option here.

And that wraps up another weekend in Melbourne! Congratulations to our winners and podium sitters taking home big points. As stated at the start of this report we now have a week off this week as we have the mid-season break, so sit back, relax and enjoy the early mornings for the FIA Australian Grand Prix this coming weekend! We'll next see you for F1 racing on Friday 13th March as we welcome back the United States Grand Prix, heading to the Circuit of the Americas! Here's what could happen in Austin:

... SLR Moley (19th) could reach 900 SLR F1 points if they score 13 points.

... Gregers_Uk (20th) could also reach 900 points if they score 24 points.

... F1ABQW3RTYYY (67th) could reach 500 points if they score 23 points.

... GazzaBridger (116th) could reach 300 points if they score 17 points.

... BGR_SXPERI-74 (157th) could reach 200 points if they score 6 points.

... Nightowl0208735 (233rd) could reach 100 points if they score 11 points.

And here are some race milestones that were surpassed in Australia!

... l 21 l Maxwell became the 9th SLR driver to reach 180 SLR races.

... THATGUY691244 took part in his 140th race in Melbourne.

... SLR Laney raced for the 130th time on Saturday evening.

... RazzaGamerHD racked up a quarter-century as he raced for the 25th time.

... bourbonboy64, Lansiee & LRS-#78Nello all took part in their 10th SLR race.

... Lockyer5522 raced for the first time in Australia, making them the 697th different driver in SLR history.

See you in Austin!