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

The Standings:

Code:

[b]Pos	Driver		Pts[/b]
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

Code:

[b]Pos	Constructor	Pts[/b]
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/regulations/Pages/FIAFormulaOneWorldChampionship.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

 

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/formula_one/16067944.stm

 

Sky Sports F1 have announced there line up, and to be honest I'm mostly impressed with the crew they got.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12433/7356971/Sky-reveal-2012-F1-team

Martin Brundle and David Croft commentators
Ant Davidson as Practise commentator
Ted Kravitz (Which is the one I'm happy about most probably) with Natalie Pinkham as pit reporters
And then the bad selection Georgie Thompson.

Seriously, Georgie Thompson? Oh the irony, Sky F1 has a convicted drunk driver on their team.


Problem with the line up, the best thing about BBC's coverage, Jake, Eddie and David isn't there.

 

Let's hope Pirelli change things a little for next season. 2011 started with Pirelli really making things interesting with dramatic differences in the grip and degradation levels of the different compounds but towards the latter half of the season things slowly became a Bridgestone affair again with tyres lasting silly amounts of time and removing the tactical elements seen at the start.

I've got no idea what difference the helium would make in the wheel guns.
In season testing will make some interesting changes. ~The last couple of years have seen some teams being very competitive early on only to drop off significantly as the season progresses (Renault being a prime example last year). A lot of this, I think, is down to some teams being unable to maximise the results gained from wind tunnel testing, hopefully in season testing will help to even things out.

The banning of exotic engine maps and strict control of exhaust placements will show us who were really making the most out of blown systems.

EDIT: Crofty in the commentary box with Brundle?! Epic Win!
Can't wait to see who fills the last seats but it's good to see old Pedro back again, always liked that guy

 

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.

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

 

Won't be watching this, certainly can't afford sky as a student. A shame, 2011 was really good year for F1, viewer figures were up, and then it gets licensed to Sky and quite a few people can't watch as a result. .

 

Against my better judgement i am tempted to get a sky sub... but if i do it means 'they' win...

 

Thanks for starting the thread Alastor, good postage.

2012 technical changes are shaping up to be quite decent, I'm looking forward to it. The change in nose height coming over the next few seasons is going to be a big aero challenge, even though no-one's really touched on it yet.

Sounds like a good team to me - whichever broadcaster has Ted, Crofty and Ant is my winner really, as they're the heart and soul of the team from my perspective (I don't really enjoy the Eddie/Jake/DC banter that much, I'll watch some of it, but not 8h/weekend). Now if only they could find some way to get ScarbsF1 into the program... That'd be a real winner!

Never even heard of him!

As for Sky vs BBC I'd rather have it on the Beeb, but since our household already has a Sky subscription the stats won't change because of me (if we didn't have it already I wouldn't get one, I hasten to add).

 

The only reason i have Sky is that it's the only luxury we can afford really and it's kind of unfair that I have internet use and the wife just has the TV, when it's without Sky but through a Sky box that's very few channels(you can't even get Dave for example). Basically just with HD is £10.25 a month and that would include the F1 channel when it launches. It only gets really expensive when you start adding movies, sports or multi-room really.

 

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

 

If in defending his position a driver leaves the racing line, he will not be allowed to retake it (could be a big change)

Won't this destroy most of the battles for position we see though i.e taking a slower line into one corner in order to get an advantage at the next one.

 

Räikkönen is a fatboy now

 

So what they're basically saying is 'once you have left a turn/corner/bend you may only move the steering wheel once before turning into the next turn/corner/bend.'

Way to go with making an enforced procession FIA.

 

I have literally lost all interest in F1 seeing as I cant, for the first time in my life, watch all the GP's.

I actually feel betrayed.

 

Serves me right for skim-reading it as George. Not my cup of tea, but a bit of sideboob never does any harm.

 

Come on, Get Sky, you know you want to

 

I'll get in early!

Dont forget before the start of the season to sign up at http://www.fantasyf1league.com

Dont do it yet as i'm redesigning at the mo.

 

Is that anybodies cup of tea? She looks like a mouldy old iced gem...

 

You can't be that much of a motorsport nut then. It wasn't that long ago (actually before I was born) that only the broadcasts were highlights.

I like that lesbian look!

New sporting regs: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/12/12876.html

Is anyone thinking of going to Milton Keynes on Saturday?

For me it depends on how much stress I feel like having on the morning.