FORMULA 1 - 2012


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FORMULA 1 - 2012

Hello all!

It's been a while since I have had the chance to post and frequent FOH as compared to the past where I was on this site so very often posting news on Formula 1 amongst other news and topics.

I figured I'd return this season as much as I can and post some more news etc related to this amazing sport and hope that all fans can feel free to post their news, opinions etc on the same topic without any prejudice or negativity from others (Such as Indy fans) on whatever their opinions may be, even if you like HRT....:rolleyes:

I'll do my best to keep this thread as up to date as possible and of course dependant on weather or not there is an interest as I see there are many new people here.:2thumbs:

Regards,

Mika.

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Raikkonen stays quickest on day one in Jerez

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Kimi Raikkonen held his position at the top of the times to once again lead as the teams wrapped up the first day of pre-season testing.

Raikkonen's morning time of 1:19.670 kept him ahead of Paul di Resta in the Force India, his best lap also came in the morning as the Silverstone based outfit concentrated on longer runs in the afternoon.

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher shared the cockpit of the 2011 Mercedes (W02) to post the third and sixth quickest times.

Mark Webber completed 54 laps in the Red Bull to go fourth fastest, 52 laps shy of Kamui Kobayashi in the C31 - the Japanese driver completed the most laps and finished seventh.

Jenson Button came in eighth behind Kobayashi, with Felipe Massa, Heikki Kovalainen, Pastor Maldonado and Pedro de la Rosa - in the 2011 HRT - completing the timesheet.

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Schumi and Webber shine on day two

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Michael Schumacher led the way with the "old" while Mark Webber shone for the "new" brigade on day two of the pre-season test at Jerez.

Whereas the returning Kimi Raikkonen and the stepped noses dominated the headlines on the opening day, it was Schumacher and his 2011 W02 that produced the goods on Wednesday.

With Mercedes opting to only introduce their new challenger at the Barcelona test, Schumacher and team-mate Nico Rosberg are putting a developed 2011 chassis through its paces in the south of Spain.

According to the BBC's Lee McKenzie, the Brackley squad are running the old car as "they are trying to hide a clever new front wing they have developed - they don't want their rivals to see it too early".

Schumacher, who was the second busiest man on the track having completed 132 laps, had no problems topping the timesheets as he was the only driver to dip under the 1:18 mark.

Webber, though, proved that there is once again plenty of pace in the new Red Bull as he was only 0.623 off Schumacher's best effort of 1:18.561.

The RB8 was the most impressive of the "new" cars, but Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo kept his Australian compatriot honest most of the time and was a further 0.403 off his pace.

Jules Bianchi, driving for Force India in the morning session before handing over to Paul di Resta in the afternoon, put in a decent shift and his 1:20.221 earned him fourth place with Lotus' Raikkonen completing the top five.

Raikkonen was limited to a handful of laps in the morning after he hit a bump at the end of a kerb and some debris went flying off his car.

Ferrari and McLaren were once again well down the timesheets with Felipe Massa in seventh place with a 1:20.454 and Jenson Button a further 0.234s behind in eighth spot.

"The thing to remember about Ferrari is that this is a revolutionary car for them," Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz reported.

"It's taken them in a direction away from the direction they'd taken in the last few years and with such aggressive concepts as the pullrod suspension and the very tight aero packaging, the team say they have a lot to learn and understand about the new car."

He added: "The team tell us they're not even looking at Webber's 1:19.1s and at present they don't know if they can match it, because that's not the focus of their work. That's reassuring for Ferrari fans, but I'm sure the drivers will be anxious to know where they stand in terms of pace as soon as possible."

McLaren also insisted at the close that it's all about learning.

"Another productive day: 85 laps and a 1m20.688s best. Lots learned today - despite the cold. Lewis already here and raring to go tomorrow!" McLaren's twitter feed read.

Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen was the busiest man, having completed 139 laps, while HRT's Pedro de la Rosa, who is driving a 2011 car, was more than four seconds off the pace with a 1:22.628.

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Massa: F2012 needs a lot of work

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Felipe Massa admits Ferrari still have plenty of work ahead of the new season after the new car again failed to make much of an impact on day two in Jerez.

Although Ferrari have made it clear that they will use the Jerez test to "collect data" and "experiment with different solutions", the fans will no doubt be a little disappointed that the F2012 has not come close to matching the times of the front-runners.

Massa managed a 1:22.815 on day one and followed it up with a 1:20.454 on Wednesday which earned him seventh place.

The Brazilian says they are struggling to understand the new car.

"It is a very new car, and it is not a car (like the one) we had in the last years," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"It is a car that needs a lot of work, and (there are) a lot of things to try. I did so many laps just trying different things in the car. It was a programme to understand every single point in the car set-up.

"It is more or less what we expected to do. We had to try so many things but it was more or less in the right direction."

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Webber: Ferrari, McLaren will challenge

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Mark Webber feels Ferrari and McLaren will once again be Red Bull's main rivals during the 2012 season.

While the double World Champions' RB8 have impressed close the top of the timesheets on the opening two days of testing in Jerez, their foes have lacked pace and found themselves stuck in the midfield.

Although it is still early days, Webber says Ferrari and McLaren will be there or thereabouts when it comes to top honours this season.

"We're making some pretty good progress. It's early days in the concept of the car, we have a lot of stuff to go through and, with the regulation changes, you have to understand new challenges," he told BBC Sport

"The car was pretty competitive in winter testing last year and the same again this year, (but) we know Ferrari and McLaren will be there."

The Australian completed 97 laps on Wednesday finished second behind Michael Schumacher, who was driving a 2011-spec Merc, on day two with a 1:19.184.

"It was pretty good today. I think we're making good progress although, as I keep saying, it's still very early days in the concept of the car and we have a lot to get through before we race it. But it's the same for all the teams," he said.

"We did well on the mileage today," he added. "I guess we could have done a bit more, but it was positive overall and the conditions were good to test in."

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Barrichello deserved another year - Maldonado

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Rubens Barrichello's former teammate, Pastor Maldonado, believes the Brazilian deserved to stay in the sport for at least another year with the Williams outfit.

Barrichello, after 19 season in Formula 1, lost his seat at the Grove based outfit at the end of 2011, bringing his illustrious career to a sad end.

Maldonado laments the teams decision to replace him.

"I hate that Rubens is not in the team, really, I think he deserved another year," the Venezuelan is quoted as saying by the DPA news agency.

"I had a very good relationship with Rubens and I will do forever. He's a great friend and a great man, we worked and fought together to improve last season, but unfortunately it was not what we expected."

Meanwhile, McLaren's Jenson Button, also a former teammate of Barrichello's whilst at Honda and Brawn GP, added: "The saddest thing is that we could not celebrate his last race in Brazil."

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F1 race at Nurburgring under threat

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The Formula 1 race at the Nurburgring in Germany could be under threat after the local government withdrew the circuit operator's license this week.

Minister Roger Lewentz, from the Rhineland-Palatinate state, doesn't believe the track can continue under the current private operator, as they continue to battle spiralling debts.

Without a license, the organisers cannot hold races, but Lewentz is hopeful of continuing the current share deal with the Hockenheimring, which sees the German GP alternate between the two.

"I want and need to speak personally with Mr Ecclestone," Lewentz is quoted saying, in regards to continuing such a deal.

The 2012 German GP is scheduled to take place in Hockenheim on July 22nd, with the Nurburgring having most recently played host.

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Oh Welcome back stranger :spotlight::wink2:

It's going to be a cracker of a season I can feel it in my bones,hope Webber can win a championship this year ,as long as Vettal does not ,I expect the other teams hot on the heels of RB this season

OZ :cigar:

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Yeah, I'm defintiely looking forward to the new season, too. Schumacher is my favorite old-school driver (Mansel was my fave back in the day... man, I miss those old Williams Renaults). Vettel is definitely my favorite younger driver and I'm excited to see what he does in the seasons to come - he's going to be a force for quite a while.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

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Yeah I'm looking foward to the new season as well. Hopefully Hamilton will have a better showing this year along with button

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Yeah, I'm defintiely looking forward to the new season, too. Schumacher is my favorite old-school driver (Mansel was my fave back in the day... man, I miss those old Williams Renaults). Vettel is definitely my favorite younger driver and I'm excited to see what he does in the seasons to come - he's going to be a force for quite a while.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

Yes Greg

I know what you mean back in the day Mansell was like a GOD :thumbsup: ,it's hard to imagine Schumacher as old school :surprised:

Cheers Oz :cigar:

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Thanks for doing this again Mika. I've always enjoyed reading your thread.

Not a problem Graham. Glad to see you're still around and very happy to see so many people interested. :thumbsup:

I'm really pleased to see Kimi back and already doing so very well even if it's only testing in Jerez. Go Kimi!

I'll be mainly going for Schumi, knowing he may not win the WDC but rather, I hope he adds to his wins as well as his records.

I'm also hoping to see good things from Paul Di Resta at Force India as well as new commer Jean-Eric Vergne at Torro Rosso.

Will Ferrari get back to form, I'm hoping Massa gets a few races over Alonso and prove he still has race craft, if not, it will sadly be game over for Massa at Ferrari.

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Big guns back, but Rosberg takes P1

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Mercedes GP's 2011 challenger once again upstaged the new cars on day three of the pre-season test in Jerez with Nico Rosberg topping the timesheets.

World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton were all in action for the first time on Thursday, but it was Rosberg who took the P1 honours with a blistering time of 1:17.613.

It was the second consecutive day that Merc set the pace after Michael Schumacher posted a 1:18.561 on Wednesday. With the team opting to skip the fourth and final day of testing on Friday, it was also the perfect send-off for the W02 as Merc will introduce their 2012 challenger ahead of the next test in Barcelona.

Lotus also continued their keep up with the pace at the front as Romain Grosjean led the way in the 2012-spec cars. The Frenchman was the early pacesetter before Rosberg blew everyone away with his 1:17 mark. Grosjean's best effort in his E20 was 0.806 slower than that of the German..

After watching from the sidelines on the first two days, Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton finally got a taste of the action. Vettel put his RB8 in third place with a 1:19.297, but Hamilton was just under two tenths off his time.

Alonso and Ferrari didn't have the smoothest of days as the Spaniard spent nearly two hours of the morning session in the garage with a hydraulic problem.

Things went a little better in the afternoon and, with Ferrari focusing on data collection and not times, he finished seventh but put in some consistent times on the medium Pirelli tyres.

Thursday proved to be a fruitless day for Force India after reserve and test driver Jules Bianchi had a shunt early on. Although damage to the VJM05 was not severe, the team were forced to skip the rest of the day due to a lack of spare parts.

"It was just a small mistake from my side," Bianchi told ESPNF1.

"Some wheelspin with cold tyres and I went into the gravel and touched a little bit the rear wheel and damaged the car a bit. I'm very sorry for the team because it's had to do a lot of work for a small mistake. I'm really sorry about that."

Caterham reserve Giedo van der Garde also had an excursion off the track, but his CT01 wasn't damaged.

Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergne and Bruno Ssenna made their official debuts as they drove for Toro Rosso and Williams respectively.

Vergne's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo impressed on the first two days and the Frenchman proved that there is plenty of pace in the STR7 as he finished fifth while Senna was the busiest driver on the track, having completed 125 laps.

Only 10 teams are in action after HRT decided to back up and head home after Wednesday. Marrusia, meanwhile, skipped the session altogether.

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Hamilton: It's good to be back:

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Lewis Hamilton was delighted to return to the Formula One action on Thursday as he made his 2012 bow at Jerez.

The 2008 World Champion took over from team-mate Jenson Button on day three of pre-season testing and completed 80 laps.

Although his best effort of 1:19.464 saw him finish the day fourth place, Hamilton was happy to get some much-need mileage in the MP4-27 under his belt.

"It felt pretty good to be out there first time, to get back out on track after such a long winter. My initial thoughts were pretty good," he said.

"Every year you arrive and you never know what to expect, but you always hope for a good platform to start from and something that the team can build from.

"I think that after today I feel quite positive about where the car is at the moment and I'm confident that the guys can push it forward."

He added: "Today you've got to remember that everyone is just focusing on their own programmes. It's not a contest for who's the fastest at the moment.

"We're just trying to get lots of running, testing the items. The Ferrari's not really showing anything just yet; of course, the Red Bull looks fast - as it usually does - and we're there I think.

"But over the coming weeks we'll get a better indication of where everyone is."

Hamilton was happy with his pace, but admits the rear end of the car felt a little different due to the outlawing of the exhaust blown diffusers.

"The car is different...last year we had so much support and stability, particularly in the high-speed corners, but now we're having to find that grip," he said.

"We'll take grip off the front and try to offload it to the rear somehow. But I think the baseline that we have is something we can really work with."

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Vettel: Still early days:

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Defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel completed a satisfactory return to F1 on Thursday as he put the RB8 through its paces at Jerez.

The 24-year-old German posted a best lap of 1:19.297 - the third best time of the day - and completed 96 laps on a very productive day for Red Bull in the south of Spain.

Vettel says he took some time to get back into the swing of things, but is happy with the way the day progressed.

"Let's see on the second day but on the first day it was promising," Vettel is quoted as saying by ESPNF1.

"It's a long way to go, it's the first day, there's a lot more to come. We need to understand how the car works and then we can address the problems properly and hopefully tune the development in the right direction but for now it's just to understand what are the main points for this year; where are the weaknesses and where we can improve. So that's why it's important now to run as much as we can.

"In the morning it was quite slippery and it does take a little while to get back in to the rhythm and mainly to understand the car. So that was the priority today for me; find the rhythm and try to understand what the car needs so that we can hopefully push the development in the right direction."

As usual, most of the teams are still playing cat and mouse games as they try to hide any new concepts, but Vettel feels no one has come up with something extraordinary so far.

"You try to explore things that you haven't tried before," he said.

"It's attention to detail, so I don't think there's any big secrets we will find out. If you look at all the cars they are slightly different yes but there is nothing revolutionary.

"Now we wait for the Mercedes and then we'll know a little bit more. At this stage it's clear that this year it should be very tight again if not tighter than last year."

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Kimi unimpressed by DRS:

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Kimi Raikkonen admits he is not a fan of the Drag Reduction System (DRS), describing it as "ridiculous".

The FIA introduced the moveable rear wing system last year in an attempt to boost overtaking and, although some felt it took the art out of passing, the general consensus was that it was a success.

Raikkonen, who will use the system for the first time this year having spent the past two seasons competing in the World Rally Championship, is one of those who believe it has made overtaking too easy.

Speaking to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, the Finn said: "Last year I watched a few races on TV. The way the DRS wings work is a little ridiculous for me.

"Overtaking is no longer a great art. You just put the wing down and you go past easily. The driver in front can't really defend. However, I accept that at least it makes the show better."

Another rule change that Raikkonen has to adapt to is the ban on refuelling, but the 31-year-old is confident it won't be much of a problem.

"It's no big deal. The pit stop is just a little shorter. Driving with a heavier car is slightly difference and it's not like day and night. I do not have to learn to drive again. It's still the same sport."

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Looking forward to the season. Hoping for a return to dominance for the prancing horse! Forza Scuderia Ferrari! On a related note, I am quite intrigued by the kink Ferrari has introduced to the nose cone for the coming season. Will work as a virtual wing creating downforce right where the front wheels are. Should work wonders in the turns however could impact ultimate speed in the straights. I am sure the aerodynamicists have it figured out, but always like to see some innovative thinking!

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