Formula 1 2012 season.

[Jonny83]

The ideal for me would be give the designers a three-dimensional box (or maximum width at least) in which to design their cars, keep the crash test and other safety regulations, and a set amount of energy the cars can burn (petrol, electric, gas turbine, whatever), which can be tweaked to both prevent the cars being 400mph missiles requiring g-suits, and take care of the whole "green" thing. Then let the designers use their brains on the rest.

 

Maybe some other regs governing driver aids (traction control, ABS, etc.) to stop the cars being robots where the driver is basically a passenger, and that would be spot on I'd say.

 

The argument against this is usually the whole "cost cutting" thing started by Max Mosley in 2008 (which became a bit like Bono and his starving children thing, noble but so repetitive and preachy it kind of lost all meaning).

 

But the thing is, the top teams have always spent what they can get their hands on (witness Red Bull and Ferrari breaking away from FOTA over the Resource Restriction Agreement) - the difference being I'd rather see them invest that money in clever, ingenious, interesting, and dare I say relevant (to the car industry and everyday world) ideas, rather than pissing away that money doing 400 iterations of front wing endplate designs in the windtunnel to find the one that's quickest by 0.005 sec per lap, like they currently do (because the rules let them do only slightly more than fuck all else).

[Captain Turdseye]

I didn't enter the dead pool because I'm a lazy bastard but Lewis Hamilton would definitely have been my under 30. I fell out of love with F1 a few years ago but still watch the occasional race, the way that it's obvious who is gonna win the championship early in the season is utterly shite and makes me glad that I don't waste more time watching it.

[Jonny83]

To be fair, apart from last year when Vettel blatantly had it taped from an early stage, in recent years the championship has more often than not gone down to the wire, or penultimate race, I think the last time it was blatantly over early on was back when the Schumacher/Ferrari combo was at its peak. In 2008 between Hamilton and Massa it literally came down to the second-to-last corner of the season.

 

Actually when I started watching it - and for me when it was still the best that I've seen - the likes of Senna in the McLaren and Mansell in the Williams would routinely pulverise the field but I still enjoyed it, as a sports fan first and an instant entertainment junkie a distant second (if that), the idea of man and machine coming together perfectly to destroy the opposition on merit - without many rules to "equalise" the field in those days - was something I could appreciate.

[Captain Turdseye]

I enjoyed the season that Hamilton won it. What about when Jenson won the championship? That's when I stopped watching it, it's no fun when one car is so much better than all the others.

[a stoner]

Doesn't look like there will be such a big gap between the teams this year from the first test. Hopefully they will do some decent quick laps in the top teams tomorrow to give us a better idea of what the cars can do and how close it really is.

Ferrari did fuck all today, concentrating on aero data with Red Bull and Mclaren not really going for it, only putting in quickish times.

[a stoner]

Maybe it's time for a new winter series using older F1 cars?

KfOEJ-HZ1-Q

 

Could be alot of fun to watch!!!

[George Costanza]

It'll be a lot closer this season. Just hope that Ferrari & Mercedes have got compettive cars to battle out against Mclaren & Red Bull with Lotus on the odd occasion also battling it out front. Would be great to see Williams back competing for podiums but I think its far too big a step for them.

[a stoner]

The final day of testing at Jerez is over and these are the times.

 

FASTEST TIMES, DAY FOUR TESTING, JEREZ

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:18.877

2 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:19.597

3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 1:19.606

4 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.640

5 Romain Grosjean (Swi) Lotus 1:19.729

6 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 1:19.834

7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 1:19.977

8 Bruno Senna (Brz) Williams-Renault 1:20.132

9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Caterham-Renault 1:22.198

 

To be honest it tells us fuck all!

[moof]

Watch out for Sergio Pérez lads, he is lightning. Sauber have a good package, expecting to turn some heads.

 

No restrictions on innovation, you just have to think outside the box

[Nomad]

Love when the new f1 season comes about. Cap T is right, its no fun when one car completley smashes it but thats happened over the years many times andvit allways comes back.

 

The thing i hate is the silly ideas like artifical rain etc.

 

I do wish they would bring refulling back during the race, pit stops have become so predictable they now have a table of what lap they will stop at.

 

Saying all this i have missed f1 this winter and cant wait for the first race. Depending on what that little difference on Red Bulls car will do i can see it being a close season. At least 2 of the big names knew last season would be a given and decided to concentrate on this year so ingers crossed

[Guest San Don]

I'd prefer it if they did what Goodyear (and Pirelli themselves when there was a tyre war) did in the early 90s, bring an array of 4 or 5 compounds to every race and allow the teams to run what they want, when they want, allowing for more varying strategies. For example try and run the whole race on a set of the hardest, or tear up the track with the softest and fastest compound but have to change them multiple times, and everything in between.

 

Not a fan of the crap that says you can only run two compounds and that you HAVE to run both, it's a bit artificial and actually limits what the teams can do strategy-wise.

 

 

 

It's already a source of confusion for some, for instance Grand Prix racing started in the early 20th century, "Formula 1" as a category was conceived once racing resumed after the Second World War (1947 or 48 I think), the World Drivers Championship began in 1950 (the most commonly used year for "When F1 started") but wasn't officially an F1 championship, with it even being run to F2 regulations in '52 and '53.

 

Before 1950 Grands Prix were largely just standalone events, a bit like how we have in tennis or golf these days, with any attempts at tallying scores, if there were any at all, not really that important when compared to the major events themselves.

 

1981 was probably the closest F1 has had to a "Sky 1992" moment, when the FIA and Bernie officially took control (commercially as well as administratively) and announced the formation of a brand new pre-packaged championship, but most fans kind of ignored that and treated it as a continuation of the 1950-80 WDC, you don't get people quoting 1981-present stats like they do for the P*****r L****e.

 

 

 

 

Now those were cars, along with the Brabham fan car of the same era.

 

 

One thing I find sad about the current F1 cars is that the regulations are so tight and they are trying to make everything so standardised and "fair" that you lose a lot of the ingenuity that you used to get, to the point where the cars get more and more similar. Even some of the more recent clever innovations like the exhaust blown diffuser, the F-duct and so on quicky get stamped on. Shame really.

 

That 'sucker' car was ace. I pissed myself laughing at Mario Andretti bitching about it chucking 'stuff' into the air if you were behind it so you couldnt see where you were going.

 

Kind of makes you wonder how they fucking drove in the rain really.

[Jonny83]

That 'sucker' car was ace. I pissed myself laughing at Mario Andretti bitching about it chucking 'stuff' into the air if you were behind it so you couldnt see where you were going.

 

Kind of makes you wonder how they fucking drove in the rain really.

 

That could be roughly translated into "We brought the Lotus 79 that made everything else obsolete, but now these bastards have done the same to us...help!..."

 

Plus I'm surprised he got that close to the back of it.. well in the race anyway. Although apparently in practice Lauda was instructed to drive it at something like 90% so not give away its advantage.

[Stouffer]

Neeeeeeeereeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn.............

[Sweeney287]

Just hoping for a more competitive season where the Red Bulls are being challenged.

 

Maybe Adrian Newey will move to another team soon and design them a championship winning car.

[a stoner]

I wish Ecclestone would stick to running the freak show he has created and keep his nose out of teams and drivers business.

 

Lewis Hamilton may leave McLaren says Bernie Ecclestone

 

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says Lewis Hamilton may leave McLaren at the end of the season if he struggles to mount a serious title challenge.

Hamilton, whose contract expires at the end of the season, won the world title with the British team in 2008.

But he has since finished no higher than fourth in the world championship.

"I think if he doesn't perform this year he'll be looking maybe to move on, and the team may also be looking for him to move on," said Ecclestone, 81.

 

Asked if he thought Hamilton, 27, would end his career at McLaren, the F1 boss replied: "I doubt that."

McLaren have not won a constructors' championship since 1998 and have won just one drivers' title in the last 10 years.

With seats at Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes available next year, Hamilton has options, should he wish to leave the team which has supported him all the way through his racing career.

Hamilton endured a turbulent season in 2011 which yielded only three wins and a host of on- and off-track controversies.

He also said that not having the right combination of people around him was one of the reasons for his troubled mindset last year.

But earlier this month, he said he was "in a good place" mentally after spending the winter analysing his mistakes.

 

The 27-year-old has also taken on Didier Coton, who previously worked with double world champion and former McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen, as part of his management team.

But while Ecclestone believes Hamilton is in a better frame of mind this season, he is still unsure about his management set-up.

"I spoke to him [Hamilton] the other day and I think he's a bit more focused," said Ecclestone.

"But I don't agree with the people he's got surrounding him and so-called managing him. I think he doesn't need that sort of management."

Asked what type of management Hamilton needed, Ecclestone said: "Someone with their feet on the ground.

"It's a people's job. They don't have to know about technical issues, someone who if you've a problem you can talk to the guy.

"His dad [Anthony] was good, wasn't he? His dad was the right person."

And when asked about his thoughts on Coton, Ecclestone said: "Let's see. I hope so [that he is right]."

 

Fuck off Bernie you self absorbed midget.

[moof]

Some excellent results in testing so far, Sauber looking very quick.

 

Optimistic for the season ahead.

[a stoner]

Nothing to go on really. Testing depends on what the teams are looking for. The slower teams are trying to scare their close rivals with super quick laps where as the top teams are trying to get what they need in data without giving their opponents any clue as to what they can actually do.

[Magic Sponge]

Last year Sauber ran on low fuel loads during testing which pumped in consistently fast lap times. When it came to race pace at the start of the season, they ended up with egg on their face.

[moof]

Sauber are quick, trust me. I agree that you can't compare performance based on pre season form.

[Magic Sponge]

Sauber are quick, trust me. I agree that you can't compare performance based on pre season form.

 

McClaren are convinced they can get another half second a lap, out of the car, before the season starts.

[moof]

McClaren are convinced they can get another half second a lap, out of the car, before the season starts.

 

They have a big upgrade to come so they'll get quicker, but not .5 seconds per lap. I still can't see them beating Red Bull tbh.

[Magic Sponge]

 

They have a big upgrade to come so they'll get quicker, but not .5 seconds per lap. I still can't see them beating Red Bull tbh.

 

James Allen thinks so mate and he knows his onions. I hope they're quicker than the Redbulls. Their starting to piss me off.

[a stoner]

They have a big upgrade to come so they'll get quicker, but not .5 seconds per lap. I still can't see them beating Red Bull tbh.

 

If they have said they have an upgrade that will give them half a second then you can bet your bottom dollar it'll give them alot more than that or they have been sandbagging during the test sessions so far and are waiting to pull out their real performance in Australia and not before.

None of the big teams have showed their hand other than some times in long runs but even that isn't much to go on as they can run with an extra 80KG in the car an software can compensate for this in it's readings.

All in all it's looking like it could be an exciting season.

[Jairzinho]

Good race that.

[Trumo]

I'm amazed they don't move the Malaysian Grand Prix to later in the calendar, especially when they will be racing in Singapore, Japan and South Korea in September and October. Every year in Malaysia they have to deal with monsoon conditions and that means you don't get a good race. It's short-changing everybody.