206 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
206 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
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motorsport
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formulaone
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7533068
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-----
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# Australian Grand Prix: It's a simple recipe - just add water for F1 success
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## So that's sorted then. The answer to Formula One's recent woes has become
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blindingly obvious.
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![Australian Grand Prix: It's a simple recipe ? just add water
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][1]
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Wet, wet, wet: Fernando Alonso of Spain loses control of his car at the first
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turn in Melbourne Photo: AP
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By Tom Cary in Melbourne 8:00AM BST 29 Mar 2010
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[Comments][2]
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Never mind tweaking tyre compounds and banning rear diffusers, if he really
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wants to spice up the action Bernie Ecclestone should just install sprinkler
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systems at race tracks around the globe with the setting to random. What a
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difference a bit of water can make.
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The rain began to fall about 20 minutes before kick-off and from that moment
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on it was a nailed-on certainty that this race would be more exciting than the
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slow burner in the Bahraini desert a fortnight before.
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Of course, the Albert Park circuit, a bumpy street track, was also a factor. A
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first corner pile-up that saw Fernando Alonso spin to the back of the grid; a
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safety car; a massive crash that saw Sauber's hair-raising Japanese driver
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Kamui Kobayashi go airborne; a drying track that necessitated a switch back to
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slicks; and hey presto, the much-derided new regulations were working a treat.
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Suddenly teams were switching their strategies and the ban on in-race
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refuelling was not looking like such a dumb idea after all.
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The last few laps of the race could not have been a better demonstration of
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what the lawmakers intended: drivers at the front on old tyres holding off
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faster cars on newer ones as Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber (two stops) caught
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and tangoed with the Ferrari pair of Alonso and Felipe Massa.
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## Related Articles
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* [Jenson Button's slick decision pays off][3]
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28 Mar 2010
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* [Hamilton rues second stop][4]
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28 Mar 2010
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* [Button wins in Melbourne][5]
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27 Mar 2010
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* [Australian Grand Prix: as it happened][6]
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27 Mar 2010
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* [Schumacher in 'please be nice to me, Fernando' shock][7]
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28 Mar 2010
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* [Australian GP circuit guide][8]
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25 Mar 2010
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Inevitably, there will be dismay at the fickleness of F1 scribes, who built
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the season up to unprecedented levels over the winter only to pen its obituary
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in Bahrain.
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It should be remembered, though, that it was not just the fourth estate who
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panned the season opener. Alonso predicted that races this season "would be
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decided in qualifying and at the first corner", McLaren's Jenson Button said
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Bahrain "was very dull" and admitted he did "not know how it would get any
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better".
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Button's [**McLaren**][9] team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, said "immediate
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changes" were needed to spice up the show. Interestingly, Whitmarsh added that
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he wanted to see change even if Australia proved to be exciting.
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Will he be as good as his word when the F1 circus moves to Malaysia this week?
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Will he seek to persuade his fellow team principals who are due to discuss the
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issue?
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Perhaps, now that his team are not looking so badly off, he will conclude that
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he is happy for things to remain as they are. This would be dangerous. Rain is
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almost certain to fall in Malaysia, where the late start time coincides with
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the passing daily monsoon, but when the action returns to Europe in May we
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could see more of the soporific one-stop, processions.
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In that case, it is time for Bernie to send out the men with the watering
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cans, because if the races are anything like Sunday's, we are in for the
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classic season we all dreamed of.
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Already the rivalries are simmering nicely. Alonso must privately be seething
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that his team did not order Massa aside to let him through.
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Those who wrote Button and his smoother-than-silk action off may be regretting
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their words now. Lewis Hamilton, though, is certain to bounce back and remains
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the safe bet there.
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Hamilton v Webber, Vettel v Webber, Schumacher v Alonso, Schumacher v Rosberg,
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Schumacher v The World.
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Just see what a bit of water can do; bringing the season to life. Formula One
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is back and Malaysia beckons. No doubt Bernie will be limbering up with a bit
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of a rain dance now.
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[What are these?][11]
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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[Tweet][14]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/7533068/Australian-
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Grand-Prix-Its-a-simple-recipe-just-add-water-for-F1-success.html
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Telegraph
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## [Formula One][15]
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* ### [Sport »][16]
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* ### [Motorsport »][17]
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* ### [McLaren »][9]
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* ### [F1 News »][18]
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* ### [Jenson Button »][19]
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In sport
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[![][20] ][21]
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### [Red Bull rule in Turkey][21]
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[![Formula One 2011: drivers' and constructors' world championships standings
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- Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton][22] ][23]
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### [F1 2011: standings][23]
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[![][24] ][25]
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### [F1 2011: full race schedule][25]
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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Share:
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][12]
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* [ ][13]
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* [Tweet][14]
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* FORMULA ONE ACTION PHOTOS
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Advertisement
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![][26]
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