Motors The Official bit-tech F1 2012 Thread - Post season

[alastor]

The Standings:

Pos	Driver		Pts
C	Vettel		281
02	Alonso		278
03	Räikkönen	207
04	Hamilton	190
05	Button		188
06	Webber		179
07	Massa		122
08	Grosjean	96
09	Rosberg		93
10	Pérez		66

Pos	Constructor	Pts
C	Red Bull	460
02	Ferrari		400
03	McLaren		378
04	Lotus		303
05	Mercedes	142
06	Sauber		126
07	Force India	109
08	Williams	76	
09	Toro Rosso	26
10	Caterham	0

The Races:

18 Mar - Qantas Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Victoria - Sky
25 Mar - Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur - Sky
15 Apr - UBS Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai - BBC & Sky
22 Apr - Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - Sky
13 May - Gran Premio de España Santander - Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona - BBC & Sky
27 May - Grand Prix de Monaco - Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo - BBC & Sky
10 Jun - Grand Prix du Canada - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal - Sky
24 Jun - Grand Prix of Europe - Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia - BBC & Sky
08 Jul - Santander British Grand Prix - Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone - BBC & Sky
22 Jul - Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland - Hockenheimring, Hockenheim - Sky
29 Jul - Eni Magyar Nagydíj - Hungaroring, Budapest - Sky
02 Sep - Shell Belgian Grand Prix - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa - BBC & Sky
09 Sep - Gran Premio Santander d'Italia - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza - Sky
23 Sep - SingTel Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay - BBC & Sky
07 Oct - Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka - Sky
14 Oct - Korean Grand Prix - Korean International Circuit, Yeongam - BBC & Sky
28 Oct - Airtel Grand Prix of India - Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida - Sky
04 Nov - Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi - BBC & Sky
18 Nov - United States Grand Prix - Circuit of the Americas, Austin TX (subject to track completion and inspection) - Sky
25 Nov - Grande Prêmio do Brasil - Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo - BBC & Sky

The Teams:

Red Bull Racing
Engine: Renault/Infiniti
Country: Austria
Drivers: Sebastian Vettel (Germany), Mark Webber (Australia)

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Engine: Mercedes
Country: UK
Drivers: Jenson Button (Britain), Lewis Hamilton (Britain)

Scuderia Ferrari
Engine: Ferrari
Country: Italy
Drivers: Fernando Alonso (Spain), Felipe Massa (Brazil)

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Engine: Mercedes
Country: Germany
Drivers: Nico Rosberg (Germany), Michael Schumacher (Germany)

Lotus F1 Team
Engine: Renault
Country: UK
Drivers: Kimi Räikkönen (Finland), Romain Grosjean (France)

Sahara Force India F1 Team
Engine: Mercedes
Country: India
Drivers: Paul di Resta (Britain), Nico Hülkenberg (Germany)

Sauber F1 Team
Engine: Ferrari
Country: Switzerland
Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi (Japan), Sergio Pérez (Mexico)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Engine: Ferrari
Country: Italy
Drivers: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia), Jean-Eric Vergne (France)

Williams F1
Engine: Renault
Country: UK
Drivers: Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela), Bruno Senna (Brazil)

Caterham F1 Team
Engine: Renault
Country: Malaysia
Drivers: Heikki Kovalainen (Finland), Vitaly Petrov (Russia)

HRT F1 Team
Engine: Cosworth
Country: Spain
Drivers: Pedro de la Rosa (Spain), Narain Karthikeyan (India)

Marussia F1 Team
Engine: Cosworth
Country: Russia
Drivers: Timo Glock (Germany), Charles Pic (France)


The Regulations:

http://fia.com/en-GB/sport/regulatio...mpionship.aspx

Summary:

• Strictly controlled areas in which the exhausts must be placed; much higher in the bodywork
• "Exotic" engine maps banned to prevent off throttle exhaust blowing
• In season testing returns, presently planned for three days at Mugello starting 1st May
• Maximum nose height reduced from 62.5cm to 55cm from the ground (will take some getting used to)
• Lapped drivers will be allowed to unlap themselves under safety car conditions
• If in defending his position a driver leaves the racing line, he will not be allowed to retake it (could be a big change)
• Drivers will not be able to leave the track without good reason (e.g. cutting chicanes during in-laps to save time/fuel)
• Use of helium in tyre air guns banned

[alastor]

The US and Bahrain GPs are both included in the current calendar after the FIA WMSC meeting this morning.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/form...e/16067944.stm

Formula 1 bosses have announced an unchanged calendar for 2012, despite continuing doubts over the races in the United States and Bahrain. The revived US race, due to take place on a new track in Austin, Texas, had been given a deadline of this week to raise money to pay the sanctioning fee.

Meanwhile, there are concerns about the wisdom of racing in Bahrain next April because of continuing civil unrest. A bomb exploded outside the British embassy there only on Sunday.

Despite that, the race was included on an unchanged 20-race calendar issued by a meeting of the World Council of governing body the FIA in Delhi on Wednesday.

[alastor]

Disappointed that BBC didn't manage to hang on to at least some of the commentators, makes me worried for who they will actually have (if Leggard is back I might just buy Sky).

Updated OP with Sky/BBC live broadcasts.

Originally Posted by Throbbi

I've got no idea what difference the helium would make in the wheel guns.

Apparently it allows ~30% faster rotation of the gun, but the FIA has decided the cost wasn't worth the benefit

[alastor]

Originally Posted by Krikkit

Thanks for starting the thread Alastor, good postage.

Originally Posted by Krikkit

Never even heard of him!

Not a bad looking fella to be fair, think I'd rather look at her than Jake/DC/EJ

[alastor]

Originally Posted by RedFlames

I hope DiResta keeps his seat at FI... and who is Charles Pic?

Also Helium in the Air Guns... would using something like helium really make that much difference [though this is a sport where .1 of a second is considered a long time]?

Pic finished a fairly unspectacular 4th in last years' GP2 series; he drove for Virgin at the young drivers' test after the Abu Dhabi GP a few weeks ago and subsequently was confirmed at Marussia for next season.

Apparently the helium allows up to 30% faster rotation speeds, so if it takes half a second to undo a wheelnut with air, I guess that could be reduced to as little at 0.35s using helium.

[alastor]

Originally Posted by TheKrumpet

Huh? It's the second most abundant element.

It's true; there may be lots of it but not on it's own, and not on Earth.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...m-2059357.html

[alastor]

Lotus have announced that Romain Grosjean will partner Kimi for at least the start of next season; will be interesting to see where Kubica fits in (if anywhere) when fit.

Enstone, 9th December 2011

Lotus Renault GP and TOTAL are delighted to announce that Romain Grosjean will race alongside 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen next season. The two companies are also pleased to confirm that they have renewed their sponsorship agreement for another year.

http://www.lotusrenaultgp.com/8108-R...alongside.html

[alastor]

Well it's goodbye Alguersuari and Buemi, hello Ricciardo and Vergne at Toro Rosso. Slightly harsh on the Spaniard in particular; perhaps there'll be a place for him with Pedro at HRT?

Toro Rosso have named Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as their drivers for the 2012 Formula 1 season.

Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari make way as the team name an all-new line-up for the first time since their debut in 2006. Australian Ricciardo, 22, is a Red Bull test and reserve driver and has raced for HRT this year. French driver Vergne, 21, has tested for Red Bull and took part in practice for Toro Rosso three times this year.

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said: "One has to remember that when Toro Rosso was established in 2005, it was done so with the intention of providing a first step into Formula 1 for the youngsters in the Red Bull junior driver programme. "It is therefore part of the team's culture to change its driver line-up from time to time in order to achieve this goal."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/form...e/16187987.stm

[alastor]

Good to see Nico back, hopefully FI can give them a better car this year. That only leaves two seats left (Williams and HRT) and plenty of drivers to fill them.

[alastor]

Now that we're in to 2012 officially, there's only 34 days to go until testing begins

McLaren are the first to announce their car launch details, with the MP4-27 breaking cover on the 1st February, well before the Jerez test. Mercedes however will not be trialling the W03 until Catalunya, which Nico Rosberg believes won't be an issue.

Elsewhere, Andrew Benson reports that Rubens could be back in line to stay with Williams next season, according to his sources. He notes that Patrick Head grew tired of the veteran's complaints, so his departure from the sport has removed at least one barrier.

[alastor]

Originally Posted by Krikkit

Just a minor correction - no-one's doing any racing for another 74 days...

Maybe the Mercedes will be racing against each other? No? Alright then

[alastor]

Originally Posted by Jester_612

Sorry to be that guy but, Sauber beat MC-Larren by three days. Also Chaterham's car passed crash test mid-December, so there shouldn't be any major worries about them turning on for the first day of school.

Good spot, I'll add a section about the launches to the OP.

In the news today, Sebastien Buemi has been "promoted" to reserve Red Bull driver for the season, and there are reports that some of the teams are working on new separate Concorde agreements with Bernie. The FIA has also clarified the "no moving back to the racing line" rule:

But from 2012, the actual regulations now declare: "More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted.

"Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner," the rule goes on.

[alastor]

Was about to post that myself. It certainly looks interesting, Google Translate did a humorous job on the discussion ("Now the Lotus-Renault is preparing another devilry", "On the brakes when the driver steps on your foot on the left" etc.) and it sounds like it will be beneficial. Just how much so will be seen at Jerez.

[alastor]

As expected, Ferrari have also been working on a similar system according to Stefano.

"What you are talking about, is more related to having stability under braking," explained Domenicali. "It is a system that I know there have been some documents in writing between the FIA and the teams.

"We are waiting for the final confirmation if this kind of devices will be acceptable or not. But for sure we are looking around these sorts of devices to see if they contribute to a performance. But we need to wait and see what will be the reaction to the FIA on that."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96971

[alastor]

Originally Posted by Jester_612

AT&T Williams is now just Williams alastor, contract ran out at the end of the year. They are looking for a new title sponsor, their other driver won't have anything to do with that now .

edit: don't you just hate those self-quoter's.

True, edited OP to suit. Who are we betting on then, T-Mobile?

[alastor]

Bit of (possibly) good news for anyone with Virgin TV; they've confirmed that Sky F1 will be coming to service, although it sounds like it'll be part of the sports pack.

Virgin Media has confirmed that it will carry Sky Sports' new bespoke Formula 1 channel when it launches this season.

Sky Sports F1 will be available alongside the rest of the Sky Sports package for Virgin customers.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97040

[alastor]

Good to see Bruno has got a race drive this year, hopefully we'll see him at least spanking Maldonado. That leaves Barichello out in the cold, and with just one seat left open (at HRT), this might be the first season in 20 without Rubinho on the grid.

[alastor]

Force India have also announced details of their Silverstone launch on February 3rd, added both to OP.

Spanish newspaper Marca is claiming that the second HRT seat will cost a driver at least €6m...that's obviously the best way to get a quality driver

http://www.f1zone.net/news/second-hr...million/11578/

[alastor]

That was a very good talk by Steve, the amount of motorsport on terrestrial TV is frankly appalling, and is only going to get worse.

Very good news coming from Austin, with the circuit chiefs saying construction is back on track for completion in August. I'm particularly looking forward to that race.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97091

[alastor]

It's looking like our first view of a 2012 car will come next Thursday, as Caterham unveil their challenger...in F1 Racing magazine. Interesting strategy.