2012 Formula One Season Thread

[Fallschirmjager]

Just watching the qualifying replay, the Mclarens are really quick and they have the nicest looking car too. But as Hammy said, there’s still a lot of questions regarding race pace and tire usage. I expect a lot of Hammy vs. Button battles in the races to come.

As for Mclaren’s sister team, Mercedes AMG. I think this will be the year they will finally shed their B-team status. But I’m still cautious though. Despite the Merc’s incredible straight line speed, race pace remains an issue. It just occurred to me that their DRS-activated F-duct only serves them during free practice and qualifying as these sessions allow unlimited DRS activation. It will be different during the race as DRS can only be activated in designated zones and in specific conditions. I don’t know how they resolved their tire wear issue that plagued them all year last year. Despite these, I think the Merc will be a monster in dogfights as they have the most efficient DRS system out there. Schumacher and Rosberg need to be at the top of their game. It would be nice to see Der Meister win a few this year.

As for Red Bull, where they sandbagging their times in winter testing? They weren’t impressive in yesterday’s session. I used to remember last year, the RBR was very aggressive on corners. They seem to have lost that edge this year. I guess they really lost a lot with the ban on blown diffusers. They also have one of the lowest top speed on the speed traps. If this is the case, they’ll likely become sitting ducks at the DRS zones.

Ferrari has a very nervous car. Despite limited gains in winter testing, they are outclassed by their rivals for the moment. Ferrari chairman Luca Montezemolo must be throwing fits right now.

Romain Grosjean put a stunning lap. I really thought Schumi had P3. I guess a GP2 championship can do wonders to one’s confidence. He’s no longer Alonso’s whipping boy. Welcome back to F1. Too bad, Kimi wasn’t afforded the same chance to show the Lotus’ pace.

As for the midfield, Sauber is quick but is quite fickle. Kamui is doing well. As is Force India. Welcome back to the Hulk. I think William’s potential is being wasted by mediocre drivers. They should’ve gotten Sutil, imho.

It’s just minutes away till the five red lights illuminate.

[Kopite]

Start na!!!

[Bendita_Cristi]

Everyone deserves to be behind the Mclarens for using that ugly nose!

[Rocker09]

Brilliant drive by Jenson! He was untouchable today!
Little bit of bad luck for lewis w/ the safety car.
What a mistake by maldonado towards the end.

[angel_thegame11]

Mclaren 1 & 3

Sayang si madonaldo 6th na naging bato pa

7th place for Kimi

[Kopite]

haha!

[pinoylumix]

na karma yata si Maldonado kasi he punted Grosjean out on the second lap with a reckless maneuver

[phillo]

enjoyable start to the season and a great result for Jenson and Mclaren

Like the 2 new commentators on StarSports , even Steve Slater was bearable today . Now if only they could sort out the ad breaks

[Fallschirmjager]

Congratulations to Button. He really made most of his good start. Vettel and Webber got lucky today. At least the RBR, despite its low top speed, has good race pace. Bad luck for Hammy.

My fears regarding the Merc is founded. They don’t have pace to be competitive at the front at all. Massively disappointed for Schumi with his gearbox failure. It would have been a top five finish at least. Rosberg got swamped in a lot of battles down the order and it cost him.

Alonso drove the wheels off his Ferrari, finishing 5th. Can’t say the same for Massa. I’ve always wondered what is it with Massa’s contract that lets him keep his seat at Ferrari year in and year out. I think it’s time for him to go. Alonso is the only one injecting some decency into Ferrari these days.

Grosjean got bullied in his return. Kimi had a feisty drive with classic Kimi moments on the radio. Welcome back, Iceman.

Kamui is always a scrapper. Despite exchanging paint and body works with other cars and having parts of his rear wing fall off, he drove to a solid 6th. Perez’s long stints paid off.

Like I said, Williams is squandering their potential with mediocre pay drivers.

Off-topic: Jessica is pleasing as always. Did Nicole shed a few pounds? And was that Maldonado's WAG?

[renz_reggy03]

Gratz Jenson. Good start for McLaren.

[ivan_lendel]

Hope Mclaren can keep it up for the rest of the season! Congrats Jenson!

[doc_ama]

Grosjean got bullied in his return. Kimi had a feisty drive with classic Kimi moments on the radio. Welcome back,

LOL at Kimi's blue flag radio call!

[schiller]

Can’t say the same for Massa. I’ve always wondered what is it with Massa’s contract that lets him keep his seat at Ferrari year in and year out. I think it’s time for him to go.

i completely agree. the moment i checked his qualifying session, there's no chance in hell this guy can make a decent performance this season.

good decision na hindi muna ako sumali sa pustahan namin

[pinoylumix]

Massa deserves the boot.. the whole F1 fraternity is wondering why he's still driving for Ferrari.. he's never the same after his accident at Hungary

with someone like him who doesn't even look at the mirrors when he knows someone is trying to overtake him.. poor Bruno Senna was an example, and who knows who else will be victimized? he's a liability to the sport

[tartakobsky]

enjoyable start to the season and a great result for Jenson and Mclaren

Like the 2 new commentators on StarSports , even Steve Slater was bearable today . Now if only they could sort out the ad breaks

you might want to try and watch Skysport HD coverage, totally no commercial breaks

Very nice results for Mclaren, could have been 1-2 but nevertheless 1-3 is still a good result. Hoping for 1-2 in malaysia.

With what Massa is showing now, its safe to say that hes the one at fault on his encounters with Lewis last season

[rocqG]

^^
i would prefer bbc over sky tho they have martin and james which is a perfect fit... the one over at bbc irish, scotish, english trio is kinda all over the place. the only worth watching there is L Mckenzie!!lol

the reason why Massa still have his seat is because, they sell tons of fiat cars over there in brazil... and thats what keeps his seat warm.lol ever wonder why ferrari kept rubens after all those years??

even a healthy kubica can't snatch that Massa' seat that easy.. ferrari loves this kind of driver line up. they can focus on Alonso while Massa is busy selling their cars!lol

[Fallschirmjager]

One thing I'm sure of though. Massa won't be driving for Ferrari in 2013. Looking at the lap times, Alonso outclassed Massa on average of 1 to 2 seconds per lap! On top of that, Massa chewed his tires up faster than Alonso. Sure, Alonso is one of the top 3 drivers of the sport, but this is just unacceptable.

If Ferrari has some sense, they must let him go. The sooner the better, imo.

That said, would it be premature to campaign for "Kamui Kobayashi: Ferrari 2013"? (even if Sergio Perez is being linked for a Ferrari drive)

[gm4all]

Malaysian GP na pala susunod.

Base from what I have read from different sites, looks like

this will be the track where we can see the true pace most specially

teams like ferrari, i heard that they had an emergency meeting

already because of the lack of pace at Australian GP. Meanwhile,

for team that is very excited to show their true gun is the

mercedes team. Shcumacher is a bit exited to drive this

famous track and seems to be in contention for the podium.

[rocqG]

no need to campaign for Kamui, Peter Sauber would hand him on a platter just to get in Maranello... Peter still owes Ferrari when he let Kimi to join Mclaren.

Ferrari can still bring Rubens but i would rather see my boy Luca back in the mix for more lulz!!

[renz_reggy03]

Hamilton takes pole at Sepang. McLaren 1,2. Again.