F1 2012

[Jon Crofts]

Not long now 'til the season opener.

Senna gets the Williams seat vacated by Barrachello, Team Lotus become Caterham F1 (vested interest being a Caterham owner)
Kubica breaks his leg again so won't get a drive in 2012.
New venue USA in Austin at the Americas Raceway & possibly 2 USA races the following season with a New Jersey street circuit along the banks of The Hudson. (vested interest 2 miles from my NY office)

Expect Hamilton to come back strong in the new McLaren along with JB & of course the box head Vettel.

But last & by no means least the return of Kimi Raikkonen, lets hope his interviews are as entertaining as this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3JWFEK5q88

[scotty_do30]

I cannot wait for the season to start mainly because i will be watching it on Sky sports which i think will make the experience so much better than the Bloated Broadcasting Corporation.
As for the season well i think its going to be a cracker with all the world champions on the grid and the new designs of the car. For me the one to watch will be Button but i think Senna at Williams makes a really good mix.
Lets not forget Di Resta had a great season and will surely kick on from there.

[Dave Cooper please]

Meh. Glorified follow-the-leader.
I love the politics and the technology, but the racing leaves me cold.

[Jon Crofts]

Meh. Glorified follow-the-leader.
I love the politics and the technology, but the racing leaves me cold.

The racing has got a whole lot better under the new rules re refuelling & tyre choice, it's a hell of a lot closer now, the battles in midfield are great.

[ozzjim]

So, have McLaren got it right, or totally dropped a bollock with this stupidly ugly nose design. Their car looks the best but will the vent on the red bull nose actually be the one to copy?


And the new exhaust placements should be interesting to see if anyone tries something a bit naughty.

[Jon Crofts]

The nose design is pretty much across the board, I saw Caterham testing in Jerez last week, man that front end looks a right dogs breakfast, but form follows function, it aint no beauty pageant out there.

Been in New Jersey & New York all week, Monday night I was in NJ in the area of where the US GP will be, venue is just amazing for a treet race, with the Manhattan skyline, Empire State as the backdrop, you can keep Monaco for street racing, New Jersey is where its gonna be.

[ozzjim]

Is it this season or next John for the New Jersey race? And is the texas one on the calendar this season?

New York skyline with F1 at dusk would be brilliant.


Looks like despite the lack of the platypus nose McLaren should be competitive with Red Bull.

[Jon Crofts]

2013 for New Jersey, US race in 2012 is Austin, Texas.

[bertlambshank]

2013 for New Jersey, US race in 2012 is Austin, Texas.

If they can build it in time,we might be looking at a Donnington.

[ozzjim]

After all that money spent on Silverstone? 2 brittish races would be good. Valencia needs to be got rid of for it being a boring one!

[Jon Crofts]

No chance of Donnington, I race there a couple of times a year, they've run out of money, in fact they never had the money in the first place plus Silverstone & the BRDC have got a 10 year deal for F1 at Silverstone.

[j66acd]

Just watched a bit of the new F1 channel on skysports. Looks really good and loads of info on the cars and changes for this season. Reckon it will be much tighter this year.

Still predict Vettel to win it with the Mclarens a close second.

[Shrek]

Well i'm up, I can't remember there being so much uncertainty around everybody's true pace.

Just watched Q1, very exciting so far.

[j66acd]

Good to see a Mclaren front row. Thought the Mercedes looked quick as well. Looking forward to tomorrow morning.

[ozzjim]

Wow, no red bull on the front row! Or second, how different that is. Not sure how much the mercedes f duct/ drs feature will hinder them in the race though, if it is worth a bit of time per lap not being able to have the flap open the whole time might give them some problems. Would expect Newey will have the red bull back at the front by the time the season hits Europe though, probably before.

Nice to see the only car without the fugly nose 1 and 2 on the grid though, shows there is another way re the design, and makes a bit of a mockery of the way red bull were throwing towells and running out with screens to cover the car after the updates in Barcelona.