Formula1 2012 Season

[KimT]

So be it.

With the recent press release that Kimi Raikonnen will join Lotus GP (Renault) next season and some driver lineups already in place, I thought it was time to fore up the discussion around here too.

1. Sebastian Vettel RED BULL RACING (AUT) Red Bull Racing Renault

2. Mark Webber RED BULL RACING (AUT) Red Bull Racing Renault

3. Jenson Button VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES (GBR)McLaren Mercedes

4. Lewis Hamilton VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES (GBR)McLaren Mercedes

5. Fernando Alonso SCUDERIA FERRARI (ITA)Ferrari

6. Felipe Massa SCUDERIA FERRARI (ITA)Ferrari

7. Michael Schumacher MERCEDES GP PETRONAS F1 TEAM (DEU) Mercedes

8. Nico Rosberg MERCEDES GP PETRONAS F1 TEAM (DEU) Mercedes

9. Kimi Raikkonen LOTUS F1 TEAM (GBR) Lotus Renault

10. Romain Grosjean LOTUS F1 TEAM (GBR) Lotus Renault

11. Paul Di Resta SAHARA FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM (IND) Force India Mercedes

12. Nico Hulkenberg SAHARA FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM (IND) Force India Mercedes

14. Kamui Kobayashi SAUBER F1 TEAM (CHE) Sauber Ferrari

15. Sergio Perez Mendoza SAUBER F1 TEAM (CHE) Sauber Ferrari

16. Daniel Ricciardo SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO (ITA) STR Ferrari

17. Jean-Eric Verge SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO (ITA) STR Ferrari

18. Pastor Maldonado AT&T WILLIAMS (GBR) Williams Renault

19. Bruno Senna AT&T WILLIAMS (GBR) Williams Renault

20. Heikki Kovalainen TEAM CATERHAM (MAL) Caterham Renault

21. Vitaly Petrov TEAM CATERHAM (MAL) Caterham Renault

22. Pedro De La Rosa HRT F1 TEAM (ESP) Cosworth

23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 TEAM (ESP) Cosworth

24. Timo Glock MARUSSIA F1 TEAM (RUS) Marussia Cosworth

25. Charles Pic MARUSSIA F1 TEAM (RUS) Marussia Cosworth

Race Calendar 2012

16 - 18 Mar AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne)

23 - 25 Mar PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur)

13 - 15 Apr UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai)

20 - 22 Apr GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir)

11 - 13 May GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2012 (Catalunya)

24 - 27 May GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2012 (Monte Carlo)

08 - 10 Jun GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2012 (Montréal)

02 - 24 Jun GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia)

06 - 08 Jul SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone)

20 - 22 Jul GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012 (Hockenheim)

27 - 29 Jul ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2012 (Budapest)

31 Aug - 02 Sep SHELL BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps)

07 - 09 Sep GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2012 (Monza)

21 - 23 Sep SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore)

05 - 07 Oct JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka)

12 - 14 Oct KOREAN GRAND PRIX (Yeongam)

26 - 28 Oct AIRTEL GRAND PRIX OF INDIA (New Delhi)

02 - 04 Nov ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina Circuit)

16 - 18 Nov UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX (Austin)

23 - 25 Nov GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2012 (São Paulo)

F1 2012 TESTS:

Jerez 7th - 10th February

Barcelona 21st - 24th February

Barcelona 1st - 4th March

Mugello 1st - 3rd May (In season test)

Sites of interest:

PlanetF1

Autosport

Formula1

[KimT]

Pastor Maldonado stays with Williams for 2012

Ferrari and Red Bull leave FOTA after RRA row

Petrov wants to stay with Lotus(Renault) in 2012

Intersting to see where FOTA will end now? The Concorde Agreement and RRA are here to stay - let's hope the teams can sort out how to interpret the RRA before FIA and Bernie mess it up

Good on Maldonado! But what about Rubens? Will he get a seat in 2012? I seriously doubt it. He did some excellent racing in the superior Brawn GP racer and also back when he was Shumi's shadow in a superior Ferrari - sadly he's getting older and should know when to quit. Thanks for being a great figure in F1 Rubens But your time has passed.

Petrov will stay with Renault until Kubica is ready to return. That's my 2 cents on this matter. The Russian money he brought are nothing compared to what Kubica and Kimi will bring to a team if they are the drivers. Personally I'd love to have Kimi and Robert race together

[KimT]

Todays headlines:

Mercedes set to race with AMG banner from 2012

New Merc car to debut at second test

David Coulthard says Kimi Raikkonen will return to Formula 1 stronger than ever before

[5150 Lego]

HI There Kim T. Hope you've been well. Nice to see another F1 topic.

Here's hoping that Hamilton will start concentrating a bit more. Also this will be the end of Vettel's rein. We'll know more in the upcoming off season, but it seems that most teams will be on par with each other.

[KimT]

Oooh Grosjean is to have the second seat at Renault

I guess all those Russian investors couldn't keep up with the amount of money Kimi is bringing? (From autosport.com

And Senna bears no grudge - yeah right

I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.

I guess I'll have to update the drivers lineup in the first post.

Oh yeah, there's new rules coming too

Link

And quoted:

From next year, all cars will have to pass all the mandatory crash tests in order to be able to take part in winter testing.

The ruling body has also confirmed there will be a three-day test during the season, which is set to allow teams to run with their drivers mid-campaign. Previously, teams were only allowed to run during the season in the Young Driver test near the end of the year.

From 2012, all lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and then join at the back of the field during safety car periods, ensuring a clean restart without slower cars in front of the leaders.

There will now be a maximum race time of four hours during each grand prix, ensuring that lengthy suspensions do not result in events that are longer than that.

The FIA also said that from 2012, drivers will not be allowed to move back onto the racing line after having moved off it to defend their position.

Also from next year, cars which were in the pitlane when a race is suspended will now be allowed to rejoin the grid in the position they were in when the race was stopped.

The governing body has also altered the use of tyre allocations, with drivers now allowed to use all tyres from the start of practice. Previously, only three sets were permitted.

Finally, the FIA said drivers will not be allowed to leave the track - like cutting a chicane on reconnaissance laps or 'in' laps to save time and fuel - without a justifiable reason.

Should be interesting to follow.

[KimT]

Looks like a lot of seats got filled the past days while I was moving.

I'll update the drivers' list in a day or so.

[KimT]

Drivers lineup update

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/7384361/Only-Two-Seats-Still-Available

[KimT]

Only 2 seats left:

One at Williams and one at HRT.

I wonder who'll get them?

Not Buemi

Senna at Williams?

Not Alguersuari at HRT

What about Bianchi? Will he stay at Ferrari?

[KimT]

Bruno Senna remains in F1 in 2012 as 2nd driver at Williams

So this is the end for Rubens.

Jerez 7th - 10th February

Barcelona 21st - 24th February

Barcelona 1st - 4th March

Mugello 1st - 3rd May

[KimT]

I know this isn't F1, but what the hell?

Peugeot ends Le Mans programme with immediate effect

[KimT]

What the heck?

Lasy year they (FIA) ruined Renault's exhaust system and now this!

Are they trying to make Lotus Renault quit?

Get over it - Renault is a new team and Crashgate is way back by now.

Give them a break please!

[KimT]

So Jerez testing is over and this is the combined lap times:

Pos Driver Team Best time Total laps

1. Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.613s 174

2. Grosjean Lotus 1m18.419s +0.806 212

3. Schumacher Mercedes 1m18.561s +0.948 174

4. Alonso Ferrari 1m18.877s +1.264 106

5. Webber Red Bull 1m19.184s +1.571 151

6. Vettel Red Bull 1m19.297s +1.684 146

7. Hamilton McLaren 1m19.464s +1.851 166

8. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.587s +1.974 157

9. Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.597s +1.984 159

10. Raikkonen Lotus 1m19.670s +2.057 192

11. Perez Sauber 1m19.770s +2.157 116

12. Di Resta Force India 1m19.772s +2.159 170

13. Kobayashi Sauber 1m19.834s +2.221 182

14. Hulkenberg Force India 1m19.977s +2.364 90

15. Senna Williams 1m20.132s +2.519 250

16. Bianchi Force India 1m20.221s +2.608 46

17. Massa Ferrari 1m20.454s +2.841 164

18. Button McLaren 1m20.688s +3.075 147

19. Maldonado Williams 1m21.197s +3.584 122

20. Kovalainen Caterham 1m21.518s +3.905 167

21. De la Rosa HRT 1m22.128s +4.515 108

22. Trulli Caterham 1m22.198s +4.585 117

23. Van der Garde Caterham 1m23.324s +5.711 74

Now why did Mercedes run their 2011 spec racer?

Aren't they ready for 2012?

Anyways it looks good for Lotus this season.

[MetroiD]

Thanks for being a great figure in F1 Rubens But your time has passed.

And in Top Gear too :) But yes, I agree that he's way past his prime, as is the case with Schumi. I simply can't understand why he would want to disgrace himself with this charade - he should just step down and give a young driver the chance to actually make a difference in that team. That's just like him though - why should he do the sensible thing when he can keep playing his games.

Btw - seeing Caterham among the official names for this season sounds a bit like having Triumph in MotoGP... That said, they've had experience with their chassis over the last couple of years, so let's hope they'll be able to build on that.

[KimT]

Yeah, I hope Caterham will keep up their good work so far.

A shame that we have to be bothered with Marussia and HRT

As for good ol' Schumi, then he even downplays the chance of winning this season.

They're running a 2011 spec racer at the pre season tests - I doubt that's what they hoped for.

They do claim "it's no biggie" though - seriously!

It'll be good to see what Kimi can bring to the race

And I still wonder what Kubica is going to do when he returns.

My money's on Ferrari - he's going to screw LotusRenault to get himself a red racer - which obviously doesn't work right now

[MetroiD]

Yeah, Kimi and Lotus sounds like a match made in heaven. And honestly, who doesn't love Kimi! I really missed the 'can't be bothered' guy, it's good to have him back. Especially seeing as Grosjean doesn't look like he's bound for great things.

As to Schumi - I'm looking forward to the launch of their new car next week. Still don't think they've got a chance with him in the lead though; I know he's useful in terms of development of the car, but still... Perhaps Kubica for Mercedes GP later on? Who knows what might happen!

[KimT]

NO!

Lotus just withdrew from the second pre seasonal training.

Apparently they have an issue with the chassis and it can't be fixed overnight or on site...

That reeks of big trouble

Dammit!

Fingers crossed that they'll fix it before the final pre season test or at least before the Australian GP.

[MetroiD]

Issues with the chassis at this point is never good news...

[KimT]

Issues with the chassis at this point is never good news...

Ssshhh!

Let's hope not.

This is the season for Renault/Lotus to rise again.

First the exhaust thing was ruined by the FIA, then the reactive ride thing was banned by the FIA and now the chassis wont work properly.

Dammit...

[KimT]

Which is why inferior teams should think twice before joining the pack...

Marussia FAIL

And HRT barely made it...

[Larrynautik]

It's really a good thing that we have 3 french F1 pilots this year, Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Charles Pic (Marussia) and Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso). Last year we didn't had any ! I can't wait for the first race in Australia on March 18th

[KimT]

Me neither and it's looking good for Lotus this season.

A shame that there's no Italian drivers this season - one should think that Ferrari would want at least one, but that's not the case these days anymore.

[Kim Thomsen]

YES!!!