Formula 1 - 2012 Championship Season

[Chandranath]

Yes just imagine Ferrari's plight in paying out a contract for someone who has been a world champion and still had a year of contract left..
Some journalist had commented Ferrari were never sure of which 'Kimi' would turn up for racing...i hope Kimi is back with a mature head, his racing skills were never a question...

Yes his racing skills were never in question, neither was his speed. But unfortunately you need more than this to be consistent in F1.

For eg Michael was a team builder, he gave enough feedback and input to his engineers, worked very closely with them, had better tyre management, strategised pit stops with his engineer at 300 k / hr, had superb control on wet tarmac and so on. That how a champion is made. Today Alonso (not a fan of his) probably comes closest and of course Vettel with his increased maturity. Probably Button is a very matured driver in the same mould but he clearly lacks the speed of the top league of Vettel, Michael, Alonso and Kimi.

Kimi has to thank Hamilton and Alonso for handing him the championship on a platter. Ferrari chose Alonso over Kimi because Kimi had speed, but that is the only thing he had.

However having said that he is a favourite of mine and his return to F1 will surely rake up additional interest.

And I am sure on his day he will dare the Red Bull of Vettel with his jalopy called Lotus. That is what Kimi is made of.

 

[Chandranath]

Wonder if Rubens will find a place in 2012,nice to hear of Kimi's return,& ya RedBull are the obvious ones to beat.

I have been following f1 throughly from 2000 but interest started around 1998 with one of the best rivalry Mika(Mc laren) vs Schumi(Tifosi)

I have genuine rare books from around 60s & 70s(Jackie Steward),wonder if I should make a separate thread for all of this,Is there an hardcore F1 fan thread?

Sorry, missed your post.

Please go ahead and make the thread. Should be interesting discussions. I am on for this

 

[Iron Rock]

The full FIA statement:( from formula1.com )

FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Changes to the 2012 Technical Regulations

- All engine standard ECU set up and control parameters, which were formerly contained only within a Technical Directive, are now contained within the relevant parts of the Technical Regulations.
- The exhaust tailpipes are now strictly regulated in order to ensure that the aerodynamic effect exhaust gases have on the car is kept to an absolute minimum.
- Better marking of in-car emergency switches operated by marshals are now stipulated.
- The side impact structures will now have to be subjected to a further (upward) push-off test.

Changes to the 2012 Sporting Regulations

- Cars may no longer take part in pre-season testing without having passed all crash tests.
- There will now be a maximum race time of four hours to ensure that a lengthy suspension of a race does not result in a race that could run up to eight hours if left unregulated.
- Before the safety car returns to the pits all lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and then join the back of the pack, ensuring a clean re-start without slower cars impeding those racing for the leading positions.
- Cars which were in the pit lane when a race is suspended will now be allowed to re-join the cars on the grid in the position they were in when the race was suspended.
- Drivers may no longer leave the track without a justifiable reason, i.e. cutting a chicane on reconnaissance laps or ‘in’ laps to save time and fuel.
- Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position.
- One three-day test will be carried out during the season, formerly there were none.
- All stewards’ decisions which are not subject to appeal are now in one place instead of being in various places within the regulations.
- All tyres allocated to a driver may now be used on the first day of practice; formerly only three sets were permitted.


they have altered the defending lines that can be adopted by the driver - its a shame you nearly have to let through a faster car and there are hardly any provisions of defensive driving now..

i for one enjoyed Michael astounding defensive drive against hamilton - i cant think of anyone else who has been able to hold Hamilton for that long.

 

[Thetraveller]

they have altered the defending lines that can be adopted by the driver - its a shame you nearly have to let through a faster car and there are hardly any provisions of defensive driving now..

i for one enjoyed Michael astounding defensive drive against hamilton - i cant think of anyone else who has been able to hold Hamilton for that long.

This is a glaring change in decision and IMO it might take away a little fun out of races, as it would be difficult for a driver to defect if his car is running slower. I am not sure why this move have been initiated to let faster cars go ahead or let slower teams give way.
F1 is all about going fast but is also about defending one's position by intelligently following the line. That fun might just go.

 

[Chandranath]

Will need to wait and see what the defending line implications actually are. What I do not understand is earlier also the rule was the driver could not have changed the line twice over, having already moved to a position to defend.

Maybe Michael in his classic defence of Hamilton had stretched the rule to the limit, so they are making fresh directions.

And yes all his life he has also been a great dfender of position. He is the undisputed champion not just for his car and speed. It s for everything associated with the race

 

[Iron Rock]

Will need to wait and see what the defending line implications actually are. What I do not understand is earlier also the rule was the driver could not have changed the line twice over, having already moved to a position to defend.

Maybe Michael in his classic defence of Hamilton had stretched the rule to the limit, so they are making fresh directions.

And yes all his life he has also been a great dfender of position. He is the undisputed champion not just for his car and speed. It s for everything associated with the race

well yes Michael was the on the borderline , he was moving off the racing line to defend and then taking it back on for the corners and timing it so perfectly - poor hamilton, if only anyone could photograph his expressions then then it wud have been priceless

So now the new rule is u cant take back your racing line even if u have moved off it to defend , which means even on corners u r not on optimum asphalt..
so in simple words the one behind easily overtakes u...i personally am not in favour of this at all!!

 

[Chandranath]

well yes Michael was the on the borderline , he was moving off the racing line to defend and then taking it back on for the corners and timing it so perfectly - poor hamilton, if only anyone could photograph his expressions then then it wud have been priceless

So now the new rule is u cant take back your racing line even if u have moved off it to defend , which means even on corners u r not on optimum asphalt..
so in simple words the one behind easily overtakes u...i personally am not in favour of this at all!!

If that is the case then it is a very stupid rule. They might have as well used the blue flag to allow them to overtake here also like the lapped cars. Vry stupid rule.

 

[Iron Rock]

If that is the case then it is a very stupid rule. They might have as well used the blue flag to allow them to overtake here also like the lapped cars. Vry stupid rule.

"Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position"

I cant see any other interpretation of the above enforcement.

 

[Prads]

"Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position"

I cant see any other interpretation of the above enforcement.

once your off the racing line you loose grip,I dont see what this rule is trying to do, hard Gamble perhaps?

 

[droy]

Source : Autocar India

Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne will race for the Toro Rosso team in the 2012 Formula 1 season.

Romain Grosjean will make a Formula 1 comeback next season after Renault opted to hand the Frenchman a seat alongside Kimi Raikkonen in 2012.

Force India has confirmed Nico Hulkenberg will join Paul di Resta in its racing driver line-up for the 2012 season.He replaces Adrian Sutil, the German having been expected to leave Force India .

 

[Iron Rock]

thanks droy, so the 'chota' red bull has an all new driver line up, red bull have 4 cars in formula 1 really - well u can look it up as more test data with more permutation combinations - ok i dont intend to start a debate - ohh well u dont need to compare the 2 cars performance but u can do a lot in F1 with such options.

i am bit disappointed for adrian sutil - he deserves a racing seat - lets see if not force india anywhere else?

 

[Iron Rock]

something for schumi fans to cheer about :-
Michael Schumacher ended the season as Formula 1's top overtaker - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

i am praying next year he ups the ante on the qualifying too - he definitely need qualifying pace atleast 3/10ths!!

 

[Chandranath]

something for schumi fans to cheer about :-
Michael Schumacher ended the season as Formula 1's top overtaker - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

i am praying next year he ups the ante on the qualifying too - he definitely need qualifying pace atleast 3/10ths!!

Throughout the season Ross Brawn has always been harping on Michael's race pace and how good it was. This is just a validation of that.

However I feel more than the number of passes what is important is the quality of some of the passes he did in a slower car in quite a few races need to be highlighted. Nico has hardly anything to show for on that account though I believe Nico has done a creditable job in outpacing Michael in almost all the races.

 

[Iron Rock]

OK FIA have now issued a clarification on the overtaking rule, i think this is better than what they put before :-

FIA clarifies defensive-driving regulations for 2012 Formula 1 season - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

 

[Chandranath]

Honestly....... I am still confused Will need Schumacher to stretch this rule to the limit to understand what it meanssed.