Complaints about none of the cars finishing don't pan out. Complaints about the cars being slower than gp2 don't pan out. Complaints about the usual suspects being at the front don't pan out. So we complain about the race being too boring, even though the teams and drivers were always going to be careful in the first race with so many new elements and unknowns.

Ahhh TBK, never change. (or rather, fucking please do)

you can't really deny that there was very little on-track action after that safety car period, and I wonder if this is going to be something that's going to be repeated as the drivers just try to get the cars home instead of genuinely racing

Remember that if Bottas didn't have his moment, there wouldn't have been a safety car. Hulk was holding everyone up and the top guys would have been miles ahead. There's no way Bottas would have ended the race higher than 4th, and he'd have to have passed Alonso to do so, and avoided being jumped by Button at the stops. And found a way past Hulk...

His pace was great, but the mistake probably wasn't that costly in the end.

In what universe was it going to be any other way? The same thing happens every time when there's a major rules change to start a season and the first event is a bit dull (see Daytona 500 2013, Clipsal 500 2013, Melbourne GP 2009).

Nobody with any experience in motorsport should be expecting a lot of aggressive racing or tight finishes when a new rules era starts, that's just naive.

That's the worst season opener at Melbourne I can remember

There have been plenty of good season openers after rule changes. Let's not be selective on this. The first race with the V8s in 2006 was fantastic. That's the worst season opener at Melbourne I can remember since 98 -the only one that compares is Bahrain 2010

In any case, it doesn't really matter why there was no action in most of the race. It doesn't change the fact there was no action, and that's ultimately what F1 lives and dies by. If that had been my first F1 race, I doubt I'd bother to watch the next oe - I'd not be interested in the explanations or apologism, because it wasn't entertaining and that's what I'd go away thinking

The season's not a write-off by any means. I'm just not as optimistic as I was. I'm certainly not convinced forcing the drivers to save fuel is the answer to whatever question those running F1 came up with

If that had been my first F1 race, I doubt I'd bother to watch the next one - I'd not be interested in the explanations or apologism, because it wasn't entertaining and that's what I'd go away thinking