Formula One 2012 Season Thread

[Chacarita Juniors]

I'm hooked, F1 has an unconditional fan in me. My interest was minimal in past years when I would watch highlights and that would be it, really to the point that I didn't have a clue about which drivers raced for which teams. It wasn't untill last year when I saw parts of races where 'Checo' Perez was involved that I began taking a deeper interest.

This new racing season, I've seen both races including practices and qualis and needless to say I have found F1 incredibly fascinating. I'm mesmerized by...well, everything! Both of Checo's performances this season have been excellent giving him more points than he had all of last season in just 2 races. His last race was amazing, I was euphoric with the possibility of him winning, and really should have passed Alonso if it wasn't for Checo's mistake.

Now, I now he's only a top-10 racer in dry conditions which makes me wonder how well he could do if he moves to Ferrari like rumors indicate. If he does make a move to Ferrari, his spot would be filled by another Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez 'el Guti', Sauber's reserve driver this year. I'm psyched about the future of those two drivers, and it will be an awesome day when both 'ma boys are racing side-by-side in F1.

Till then all my support for Checo, el Guti, and even Maldonado.

Kamui Kobayashi, Sergio Perez, Esteban Gutierrez

Sergio 'Checo' Perez making history

 

[Alex]

Funny, you're interested in F1 for similar reasons to me.

I'm interested because Australia finally has a World Championship contender, and now we have a second driver (who is likely to take over Webber's spot, once he retires). Meaning we'll likely have a new contender.

Ricciardo is an AWESOME driver, you look at his lap times as a practice driver over the past few years, and he will become a contender if given the right car.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I have a passive interest..... I rarely watch the races unless they happen to be on when I turn on the TV..... but I do follow the results and support the Brits. Very happy there are now a couple of decent British drivers again, and one of them shares my last name!

 

[fender]

I hope Nico Rosberg manages to clinch his first Grand Prix soon.

 

[Alex]

I have a passive interest..... I rarely watch the races unless they happen to be on when I turn on the TV..... but I do follow the results and support the Brits. Very happy there are now a couple of decent British drivers again, and one of them shares my last name!

Yep Sir_Didier_Drogba Button.

 

[Xifio]

I hope Nico Rosberg manages to clinch his first Grand Prix soon.

amen to that! just a shame the car's quali pace is so far off its race pace, forcing some more tinkering with the car to find a suitable solution ...


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the season's gotten off to a great start! Alonso's win at Sepang was incredible -- the mark of a true champion driver is making an ordinary car do extraordinary things ... Checo's 2nd place was remarkable too in that regard ... then there's been technical controversy with Mercedes' rear wing design ... Louise Hamilton has failed to convert consecutive poles, while Jenson already has a win (haha!) ... Webber's extracting more out of the new Red Bull than Vettel -- insulting Karthikeyan is a clear indicator of the kind of pressure that Seb has become so unaccustomed to being under these past 2 years ... and of course there's the hopeful prospect of a pole-capable Mercedes for Nico to drive ... can't wait for next weekend!

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

... can't wait for next weekend!

 

[Xifio]

and of course there's the hopeful prospect of a pole-capable Mercedes for Nico to drive ... can't wait for next weekend!

Niiiiiiiiiccccoooooooooooooo!!!

 

[fender]

Hurray for Nico Rosberg!

 

[Xifio]

and of course there's the hopeful prospect of a pole-capable Mercedes for Nico to drive ... can't wait for next weekend!

Niiiiiiiiiccccoooooooooooooo!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope Nico Rosberg can finally step up this year, and land a podium finish or two ... nothing to the speed, I know, but Williams' FW30 looks sleek in all-navy (almost all-black) ...

said this^ back in 2008, when he was still driving for Sir Frank Williams ...

it looks like Nico Rosberg, my personal favourite driver, has already signed with the new Mercedes team ... Mercedes are being ambitious at a time when other car manufacturers are removing themselves from the F1 picture ... the team's intention is to compete with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren for the constructors' championship ... that is terrific news for Nico, and I look forward to finally seeing him drive a car that is capable of winning races ...

and this^ in 2010, when he joined the Silver Arrows ... took a little longer for Mercedes to finally get a worthy car under him, but he unsurprisingly delivered when he got it!

amen to that! just a shame the car's race pace is so far off its quali pace, forcing some more tinkering with the car to find a suitable solution ...

and they did! converting a maiden pole to maiden win -- that's an exclusive club ...

Hurray for Nico Rosberg!

indeed! he drove like he belonged ... 20+ seconds to Button?! wow ... and even when Jenson temporarily had the lead, he was reigning him in a second a lap ...

also: what a race behind him! overtaking galore, and one of the most exciting and action-packed GPs in recent memory ... that it was all in dry weather shows that F1 is working just fine ...

 

[Sir Calumn]

I actually watched this one, or most of it, yeah it was entertaining. A good win for Rosberg though the margin is slightly skewed by Button's terrible last pitstop, still think Rosberg would have won but it wouldn't have been by 20+ seconds. And yeah, each year the rules changes seem to make the races more exciting, I remember watching 10 years ago and it was usually so bland, few overtaking, just guys going round and round hoping for the one in front to slip up, not like that any more!

Glad to see the British boys making up the rest of the podium, also nice to see that Vettel isnt going to be dominating this year. Looks like he picked the wrong car, Webber's seems to be going a lot better.

 

[Xifio]

A good win for Rosberg though the margin is slightly skewed by Button's terrible last pitstop, still think Rosberg would have won but it wouldn't have been by 20+ seconds.

meh, fair enough ... Jenson was all class, as usual, when responding to what would have happened had he not lost time on his last pit-stop: "It would have been a big gap but I would have given it a go."

also, Nico was on a 2-stopper, and the McLarens were on a 3 ... basically, I don't think there is much doubt that the race pace of Mercedes can't yet match its quali pace, while the McLaren is the fastest car overall ... but as Jenson said of Nico and Mercedes, they had a "flawless" race to match that "flawless" pole-setting lap ...


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sooo, the next GP is next week ...

or is it?

 

[Sir Calumn]

It's a disgrace that that race is going ahead.

Dont get me wrong, Rosberg was quality. Shanghai really seems to be his circuit. Out of interest, why is Rosberg so popular?

I think I might try to follow the racing more closely this season.

 

[Xifio]

Out of interest, why is Rosberg so popular?

is he? I guess as a talented and poster-friendly polyglot, he's 'PR friendly', if you know what I mean ...

tbh, it was chance that I've followed his career ... I was disillusioned with the sport during Schumi's dominant era ... but when I was going to start my engineering studies, I knew I'd probably want to get into Formula SAE (which I'm still part of, actually), so I had to get back into Formula 1 from an engineer's standpoint ... but nothing retains one's interest like being a fan of something ... so I decided to pick a rookie who I felt had the potential and personality for me to follow ... and since I'd seen him drive like a champion in GP2, I went with Nico ...

I think I might try to follow the racing more closely this season.

you should ... more World Champions than ever racing against each other ... 3 different winners in the first 3 races, with the championship being headed by someone who hasn't won any of them so far ... then there's the bagful of inter-team rivalries, intra-team politics, and etc. ... and that's not to mention all the technical and technological delicacies ... I mean if this isn't the start of an epic Formula 1 season, I don't know what is ...

 

[clash]

I started following F1 years ago with my dad (my first favorite driver was Damon Hill!) and I still like watching it every now and then, but I do hope that the race this weekend will get disrupted by protesters as much as possible. If you say we shouldn't mix sports and "politics", you shouldn't hold the stage in a country where the mere fact of organizing it is political (and disgraceful).

 

[4ndr3i]

What an awesome race from Raikkonen. I so wanted him to win this one but I guess second place isn't that bad either. He's such an amazing driver.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I didn't watch - what happened to the McClaren boys for them to perform so ****?

 

[4ndr3i]

They were disappointing. At least Hamilton put up a fight. TBH their pit stop team isn't the best one out there. I remember Ferrari kept Alonso for 3.3 sec while the McLaren team were acting like amateurs and kept Lewis for almost 10 sec on the same stop.

 

[Xifio]

What an awesome race from Raikkonen. I so wanted him to win this one but I guess second place isn't that bad either. He's such an amazing driver.

he was reeling him in before the final pit stop! but then, when they got the message to box during the same lap, Seb's team managed to release him in 3.9s, but Kimi's took 4.6 ... the final gap was a little larger, but it would have made for an grandstand finish if Kimi had managed to get the jump in the pits instead ...


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it was Renault's turn to come from nowhere and challenge at the top ... in fact, Bahrain ended up being all about Renault power, with a podium full house ...

in contrast, Mercedes power had been strong this year, but exhaust problems for Jenson AND Nico suggests engine performance issues ...

so, Seb becomes the 4th different winner (in the 4th different constructor car) in 4 races in 2012 ... and he also takes over the Championship lead ... this season continues to keep everyone guessing!

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

I haven't seen the last 2 races. The one in Shanghai, I was to wasted to stay up till early in the morning and watch it. This last one, my cable provider didn't show it but they will show the repeat at 11 PM today, so I'll get to see what went down (of course it sucks when you already know the result). A fan is a fan is a fan, right?

Now I have to wait 3 weeks utill the Barcelona GP...