Formula 1 2012

[Supafly]

Looking ahead to the first race of 2012... Melbourne

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Night, night Melbourne

THE Australian Grand Prix is the ''least viable'' of all the formula one races and unless Melbourne introduces a night race it will be scrubbed from the calendar after the contract expires, according to F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

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Damn that would suck. Hope they fix that 'Night Race' issue. I like night races

 

[TheAdmiral]

Bernie says alot of things though. Remember his medals idea?

 

[Rey C.]

Thank you, FIA! :clap:

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Feb.29 (GMM) Formula one looks set to prevent the cars of 2013 from being as 'ugly' as this season's field.

Pirelli chief Paul Hembery recently called the 2012 generation, mainly featuring an awkward 'step' between the front of the monocoque and the nose, as "pig ugly".

The odd look is the result of a compromise reached after the FIA decided to lower the tip of the nose in the name of safety.

It emerges that it was Red Bull - whose Adrian Newey pioneered the high chassis underside philosophy - who pushed for the monocoque height to remain the same as 2011, ostensibly so that small teams like ****** squad Toro Rosso did not have to come up with entirely new monocoque and front suspension designs.

World champion Sebastian Vettel admits that the 2012 outcome "doesn't look that nice".

But he told Britain's Sun newspaper: "For next year's cars, the steps will be gone."

Former grand prix driver Christian Danner said the current solution is "ghastly".

"I think it will be fixed for next year," he told Austrian television Servus TV.

Agreed Nick Heidfeld: "Yes, I am sure the FIA will make a few changes next year so there's not such a huge hump.

"On the other hand, it's like a few years ago when the rear and front wings were changed; it doesn't look quite so bad once you get used to it.

"Of course, you'd always prefer something that looks nicer," he admitted.

 

[TheAdmiral]

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Lotus’ Romain Grosjean topped the timesheets as the final pre-season test began at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday. Grosjean’s best, a 1m 23.252s set late in the day, was a quarter of a second faster than that of the second-placed McLaren of Jenson Button.

With the weather dry and sunny, the 10 teams in action enjoyed a productive first day, with fastest runner Grosjean completing 71 laps in the E20. It was a welcome result for his team, who had to abandon last week’s session at the Spanish track after a chassis problem ****** them back to their UK factory.

Sauber’s Sergio Perez was third after covering 118 laps in the C31. “We are quite happy with how the day went,” said the Swiss team's head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall’Ara. “We ticked off everything that had been on today’s job list without any noteworthy issues. It was also good for Sergio to cover a good amount of mileage. Test conditions here in Barcelona have been ideal.”

Red Bull’s Mark Webber was fourth, ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Rosberg covered 128 laps, the German working on set-up in the morning before tackling longer runs in the afternoon.

Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne posted the sixth-quickest time, with ***** India’s Paul di Resta and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa just behind the Frenchman. Vergne completed 113 laps as he focused on set-up work in the STR7, split between long and short runs. The team also practiced pit stops.

“It was a good day and I completed more laps than on any of my other times in the car so far,” said Vergne. “I am feeling more confident and comfortable and I think we are also making steady progress on car development. The pit stops are also getting better and were an improvement on last week here.”

Di Resta was charged with shaking down the team’s second VJM05 chassis and completed 98 laps. “Another busy day and we managed to tick off all the objectives once again,” said the Scot. “The final test is all about adding new parts to the car, seeing how they perform, and getting our set-up sorted for Melbourne. I think we have a good idea of where we need to be based on the performance of the car today.”

Massa focused on improving the F2012’s set-up and covered 105 laps. Team mate Fernando Alonso will take to the track on Friday, before Massa returns to the cockpit on Saturday.

With Heikki Kovalainen succumbing to food poisoning overnight, Caterham were ****** to hastily rearrange their schedule and draft in team mate Vitaly Petrov. Petrov completed 123 laps and finished ninth.

“That was an excellent day for us, despite the very late change of driver we had to make this morning,” said chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne. “We completed the whole programme and even though we will not have Vitaly’s race seat ready until he is back in the car on Sunday, he was much more comfortable in the car and improved his times and his feedback throughout the day.

“This morning we were focusing on further tyre evaluation and setup work, and in the afternoon session we completed a number of long runs which has helped us take a step forward with the set-up options for this car. Taking into account the number of laps we ran today, and the fact Vitaly is feeling ever more comfortable with the team and in the car I think we can say that this has been the perfect start to the test for the whole team.”

The day’s final runner was Pastor Maldonado in the Williams. Testing continues at Barcelona on Friday.

 

[TheAdmiral]

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Lotus’s Romain Grosjean became the first driver to top the times twice during this year’s pre-season testing on Friday after he again led the way at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. Grosjean’s late lap of 1m 22.614s put him half a second clear of fellow Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso.

In a session delayed briefly - and subsequently extended - due to morning fog, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended up third fastest, ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.

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Williams have announced that team founder Sir Frank Williams is to step down from the board of Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC at the end of this month. Williams will, however, remain as majority shareholder and continue to work full time as team principal.

Williams have also confirmed that Claire Williams - ******** of Frank and a long-time member of the team - will join the board at the start of April as director of marketing and communications, following the decision of the post’s current holder, Dominic Reilly, to leave the company.

 

[TheAdmiral]

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Kimi will be the ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ on the series finale of hit UK motoring show Top Gear.

A host of racing stars from both past and present, including Sebastian Vettel, Rubens Barrichello, Nigel Mansell, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Mark Webber and of course the infamous ‘Stig’ have tested their skills around the Top Gear test track. Next week, Kimi Räikkönen will be the latest to add his name to that prestigious list.

Taking to the circuit, which is based on the main runway and taxiways of Dunsfield Aerodrome in South East England, Kimi will have to negotiate the legendary Hammerhead, Followthrough and Gambon bends as he aims to etch his name into the Top Gear history books.

And of course, the Iceman will come face to face with one of the most recognised figures in British television – the one and only Jeremy Clarkson.

The show, which is the last of the current series, will be shown on BBC TWO – Sunday 11th March, 20:00-21:00 (UK time).

 

[TheAdmiral]

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On a day that saw the teams get their first taste of Pirelli’s 2012-spec wet-weather tyres, it was Sauber’s Sergio Perez who topped the times. Perez’s best of 1m 22.094s - set in the morning before rain arrived - put him less than a tenth clear of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo.

“I am very happy with how my final test day went,” said Perez, who hands over to team mate Kamui Kobayashi for Sunday. “We did an intensive programme with qualifying and race preparation, which was important to do.

Pre-season testing concludes at Barcelona on Sunday, when HRT had hoped to debut their new car. However, the Spanish team have failed to ready the F112 in time, though they may reportedly carry out some running with it on Monday for filming purposes.

 

[TheAdmiral]

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The final pre-season test of 2012 concluded in Spain on Sunday, with Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen setting the pace. Less than half a second covered the top six at the Circuit de Catalunya, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso second and Williams’ Bruno Senna third.

Raikkonen’s 1m 22.030s lap was the fastest set over this year’s two sessions at the 4.7 kilometre track. The Finn also completed the greatest distance on Sunday, with 121 laps at the wheel of the E20.

With official testing complete, the next time an F1 car will turn a wheel in anger will be in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix on March 16-18. There will still be some action in Barcelona on Monday, however, as HRT use a filming day to debut their 2012 car, the F112.

 

[TheAdmiral]

For what its worth, HRT launched the F112 today

 

[larss]

For what its worth, HRT launched the F112 today

The team name always raises a smile. How can any team do well when they are named after a **** treatment for menopausal women?

 

[TheAdmiral]

Marussia launched today, and unless I saw pictures of last year's car, there is no stepped nose.

The team name always raises a smile. How can any team do well when they are named after a **** treatment for menopausal women?

I get it :1orglaugh

 

[TheAdmiral]

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Marussia have announced that Maria de Villota has joined their testing line-up. De Villota has raced in a variety of single-seater and sports car categories, including Spanish Formula Three, the Daytona 24 Hours, Euroseries 3000 and the Superleague Formula championship.

The Spaniard, ******** of ex-Formula One driver and British Formula One series champion Emilio de Villota, has already tested an F1 car, having completed 300km of running for Team Lotus (now Caterham) at Paul Ricard last August.

As well as working alongside Marussia racers Timo Glock and Charles Pic, De Villota will have the chance to drive the MR01 during the year.

“I am very happy to be joining the Marussia F1 Team test driver programme,” she said. “This is a fantastic opportunity to work closely with a Formula One team and gain important experience to help me progress my career, including the chance to drive the new car later in the year at the Abu Dhabi test. I will be joining the team trackside so I’m looking forward to working alongside them at the first race next weekend and this can only help my future ambition to step up to Formula One racing.”

Team principal John Booth added: “We are pleased to welcome Maria to our test driver programme, which will enable her to be integrated into a Formula One team environment and gain a vast amount of experience that will be useful to her career progression. We will also provide Maria with the opportunity to sample F1 machinery later in the year, further adding to her racing credentials.”

A number of women have already competed in Formula One racing including Italians Giovanna Amati, Maria Teresa de Filippis and Lella Lombardi, Briton Divina Galica and South African Desire Wilson. The best finish for a female driver was Lombardi’s sixth place at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

 

[Rey C.]

I'm having a hard time placing Maria de Villota. But I'm thinking that she raced in some European series at about the same time that the "Swiss Miss", Simona de Silvestro, was there. But maybe I'm "misremembering" that. :dunno: But she does look familiar.

It would be nice to see a qualified girl (not just an attention whore, like Danica) make it to the highest form of motorsport and do well. Too bad Maria is with a completely crap team. With a year in GP2, I really think that Simona could do it. In the IRL, her potential and talents are being ******.

 

[TheAdmiral]

Less than a week to P1 in Melbourne!

 

[TheAdmiral]

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The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) met on Friday in the Italian city of Milan and agreed a number of ***** changes to the sporting regulations. The amendments include tweaks to DRS and tyre usage at events affected by wet weather, and a slight modification to the curfew rules for team personnel.

Details from the WMSC in full:
The changes to the 2012 Regulations have been approved by the Formula One Commission.

One set of dry-weather tyres may now be carried over to Saturday if both Friday sessions are declared wet; it is hoped that this will result in teams carrying out more laps on Saturday.

Changes have been made to the personnel curfew to ensure the rest periods remain constant throughout the season, irrespective of the timing of practice sessions at particular events.

The race director may now prohibit the use of the adjustable rear wing (DRS) if he feels visibility is too poor in wet conditions. This has been done as a result of safety concerns over large speed differentials between cars.

 

[TheAdmiral]

24 hours until Australia practice!

 

[TheAdmiral]

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Local heroes Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo will be among six drivers facing the media on Thursday, whilst Pirelli’s Paul Hembery joins team bosses from Lotus, Mercedes, Williams and HRT to answer questions on Friday. The line-up in full…

Thursday, March 15, 1500 hours local time (0400 GMT)
Jenson Button (McLaren), Charles Pic (Marussia), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Mark Webber (Red Bull).

Friday, March 16, 1830 hours local time (0730 GMT)
Eric Boullier (Lotus), Ross Brawn (Mercedes), Paul Hembery (Pirelli), Adam Parr (Williams) and Luis Perez Sala (HRT).

 

[TheAdmiral]

Kobayashi is the fastest through P1 so far, about 36 minutes remaining in the session

 

[TheAdmiral]

...and he sets a new fastest lap

 

[TheAdmiral]

Webber sets a new fastest lap, then Kobayashi takes the top spot back