Formula 1 2012: General Discussion Thread

Rattlehead_ie

There is talk of Schumacher staying another 2 years.
He is obviously delivering something to the Merc team whether its sponsorship, input to car or his driving
Schumacher might be around for another 2 years

Daniel S

Rattlehead_ie wrote: »

There is talk of Schumacher staying another 2 years.
He is obviously delivering something to the Merc team whether its sponsorship, input to car or his driving
Schumacher might be around for another 2 years

I'd love if he did.

RayM

I think Mercedes could be second best this year. Felipe Massa has been complaining about the Ferrari 'needing a lot more work'. McLaren, having chosen not to go with the ugly nose, have possibly made a huge mistake (although they insist otherwise). And I don't think Schumacher would be contemplating another two seasons if he didn't think the team was making serious progress.

My early prediction for the constructors championship:

1. Red Bull
2. Mercedes
3. McLaren
4. Ferrari
5. Force India
6. Lotus
7. Williams
8. Toro Rosso
9. Sauber
10. Caterham

(the other two teams just don't matter)

antodeco

For some reason, I just don't see a Red Bull driver winning it this year. I reckon they have a decent chance of the constructors, but I think they will have 100% point finishes for both drivers, but not all 1st as usual. I'd love to see what Di Resta is capable of in a decent car. He has a lot of talent, but lacks the car.

antomorro-sei

Christ it's tough taking photos of them cars with a bog standard digital camera!!!

Really enjoyed that testing there today. The noise of them cars in unbelievable!

Really can't wait for the actual race there!

vectra

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Before the season starts I will make a thread about predicitions etc that we can look at the end of the season. Will be fun to see how wrong people are :pac:

Brilliant idea,
How about combining the result of this with the Boards f1 comp? give bonus points for top 5 prediction or something ?

Autosport

They were all in or around the same time today with testing, I really cant wait for the season to start now. I agree with the predication and see how wrong some of us will be, I dont think Redbull will have it all there own way this season. McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari should all be up their with them.

frostie500

It's worth remembering that for much of last year Red Bull didnt have a markedly superior race car than McLaren. On Saturday's the Red Bull was in a class of its own but come race day Vettel had his work cut out to win a lot of those races. Obviously he still had some very dominant victories but overall there wasnt a huge gap to the opposition. With Pirelli going more aggressive with the tyres this year it should be deadly!

amacachi

frostie500 wrote: »

It's worth remembering that for much of last year Red Bull didnt have a markedly superior race car than McLaren. On Saturday's the Red Bull was in a class of its own but come race day Vettel had his work cut out to win a lot of those races. Obviously he still had some very dominant victories but overall there wasnt a huge gap to the opposition. With Pirelli going more aggressive with the tyres this year it should be deadly!

It's the same old thing, they either had by far the best car and Webber was really poor or they had a car at a similar level to McLaren and Vettel is the most gifted driver who has ever lived by quite a margin. :pac:

freestyla

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Magic

W-duct?

but again, how come other teams didn't come up with the same?

Rattlehead_ie

Isnt there a few places that do fantasy F1? Anyone interested?

vectra

Rattlehead_ie wrote: »

Isnt there a few places that do fantasy F1? Anyone interested?

Yes,
I did one last season.
Can do it again if enough interest?

Dusty87

vectra wrote: »

Yes,
I did one last season.
Can do it again if enough interest?

il do it, for the craic:)

vectra

Dusty87 wrote: »

il do it, for the craic:)

Good man
This is the one I did

http://fantasyf1game.net/

Dusty87

vectra wrote: »

Good man
This is the one I did

http://fantasyf1game.net/

was meaning to google a few. Can we do our own 'league' on that?

-gilly-09-

vectra wrote: »

Good man
This is the one I did

http://fantasyf1game.net/

Im game for it. Should be a bit of entertainment alog with the Predictions league.

vectra

Dusty87 wrote: »

was meaning to google a few. Can we do our own 'league' on that?

Yes,
That is the one I used last season.

I can set it up and you can run it from there if you wish?

puppetmaster

I'd be up for it, Never done one before, Been out of the F1 loop for a couple of years. Beauty is if i dont come last im a winner.... :pac:

Dusty87

vectra wrote: »

Yes,
That is the one I used last season.

I can set it up and you can run it from there if you wish?

Yea cool, should be a bit of fun, never did it for the F1 before.

puppetmaster wrote: »

I'd be up for it, Never done one before, Been out of the F1 loop for a couple of years. Beauty is if i dont come last im a winner.... :pac:

Two of us will be in a race for second last place so:P:pac:

ScrubsfanChris

Jenson Button interview:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17136087

antodeco

I was looking at another fantasy F1 to only find out at the very end it was £10! Is the one above free?

Dusty87

antodeco wrote: »

I was looking at another fantasy F1 to only find out at the very end it was £10! Is the one above free?

yea that ones free. Came across that 10e one myself. Feck that.

antodeco

Dusty87 wrote: »

antodeco wrote: »

I was looking at another fantasy F1 to only find out at the very end it was £10! Is the one above free?

yea that ones free. Came across that 10e one myself. Feck that.

My exact response when I saw the price

Kevski

Tweeted by Martin Brundle this evening...

@MBrundleF1 wrote:

Very pleasant day trip to Dublin with @CroftyF1 and @tedkravitz on TV business. City looks good

Wonder what that could be about?

KillerShamrock

Kevski wrote: »

Tweeted by Martin Brundle this evening...



Wonder what that could be about?

There was an F1 car in the stephens green shopping centre today with sky sports all over maybe its something to do with that?

B bopp

probably something to do with the bavarian city racing..... apparently Mclaren are going to be here...

amacachi

Yesterday was the second Sunday in a row I woke up thinking I'd missed the race. This is taking aages! :pac:

Alter-Ego

Richie6904 wrote: »

There was an F1 car in the stephens green shopping centre today with sky sports all over maybe its something to do with that?

Bah! Second time I missed an F1 car in Dublin in a few months. Does anybody know if it's there tomorrow(Tuesday)?

vectra

Fantasy F1 League created guys

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77325984#post77325984

freestyla

yeeaahh!



haha Schumi and Nico ^^ :pac:

SniperSight

Kevski wrote: »

Tweeted by Martin Brundle this evening...

@MBrundleF1 wrote:

Very pleasant day trip to Dublin with @CroftyF1 and @tedkravitz on TV business. City looks good

Wonder what that could be about?

He was interviewd on Off The Ball on Newstalk, could be the reason.

Jordan 199

I've read that Marussia are delaying the launch of this years car as it failed a crash test. Marussia and HRT both failed crash tests and didn't take part in any testing, and I doubt they will.

So I'm guessing they will show off their new cars in Aus, probably in the pitlane with their drivers removing covers from the cars.

So it looks like P1 will be a test session for the 2 back of the grid teams...

amacachi

freestyla wrote: »

yeeaahh!

haha Schumi and Nico ^^ :pac:

Head on Button :pac:

freestyla

Jordan 191 wrote: »

I've read that Marussia are delaying the launch of this years car as it failed a crash test. Marussia and HRT both failed crash tests and didn't take part in any testing, and I doubt they will.

So I'm guessing they will show off their new cars in Aus, probably in the pitlane with their drivers removing covers from the cars.

So it looks like P1 will be a test session for the 2 back of the grid teams...

Amazing they didn't learn lessons from last year (and 2010)

It's a shame that those rich owners are having them teams just for fun, like toys to do smthg in free time.. not professional commitment imo.. to not have improvements during 2 years and even making some same mistakes -not F1 level really..

Jordan 199

freestyla wrote: »

Amazing they didn't learn lessons from last year (and 2010)

It's a shame that those rich owners are having them teams just for fun, like toys to do smthg in free time.. not professional commitment imo.. to not have improvements during 2 years and even making some same mistakes -not F1 level really..

To be fair, Marussia are heading in the right direction, they have access to McLarens technical facilities, so that should help them. That said, having failed a crash test and haven't made it to testing, not good at all. A few years ago, they made a blunder with the fuel tank size. Failed to make a distiction between a U.S gallon (3.78 litres) and an Imperial gallon (4.5 litres).

lolie

Here's a pic from yesterday in dublin. Brundle looks like a wee child in the car

mickdw

lolie wrote: »

Here's a pic from yesterday in dublin. Brundle looks like a wee child in the car

Surely thats doctored or something. Even his head looks tiny and that cant be right:D

antodeco

mickdw wrote: »

lolie wrote: »

Here's a pic from yesterday in dublin. Brundle looks like a wee child in the car



Surely thats doctored or something. Even his head looks tiny and that cant be right:D

My thinking too. Looks added in afterwards. Looks like Michael D Higgins!

h3000

It has to be Photoshopped, badly at that.

vectra

Lotus problem solved

http://en.espnf1.com/lotusf1/motorsport/story/71578.html?CMP=chrome

mickdw

Added around 1kg to the chassis which I would have thought is not ideal specially if the repair is all around the top mounts

Trampas

Thank god it was rejected

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17209342

amacachi

Sake, would've liked to see that. Make tyre-saving more important again.

Hurley6969

Myself and a mate are going to Barca in May. Bought the 3 day tic. Cannot wait, first time at a grand prix. From anyone's previous experience, Do drivers do signings or anything like that on the practice day on Fri or is all that kinda stuff reserved for the VIP tics?

Jordan 199

Heidfeld and Sutil looking at returning to F1.

I don't see Heidfeld getting a seat with anyone in the future so I think he should focus on sportscar racing. Would be a better chance of me selling bellybutton fluff on ebay than seeing a Heidfeld comeback.

As for Sutil, I wouldn't rule him out returning this season. If Grosjean doesn't deliver the goods at Lotus, I could Sutil replacing him.

antomorro-sei

Hurley6969 wrote: »

Myself and a mate are going to Barca in May. Bought the 3 day tic. Cannot wait, first time at a grand prix. From anyone's previous experience, Do drivers do signings or anything like that on the practice day on Fri or is all that kinda stuff reserved for the VIP tics?

I've never been to a GP before but I'm going to the Barca one too. So, I ain't sure about the signings thing but on the Circuit de Catalunya website it says that on the Thursday, you can go to the pit lane and watch the drivers and mechanics working, or something along those lines. So maybe then, you can get autographs? I dunno though.

http://www.circuitcat.com/TICKETS/F1-Tickets/_C-m36i6nCePpk4oQ7X5tn5SbgRwnSFoLQBL3YxyXY34tnSG5NdJgYfLZQxepA9xmf3ujU9JAipm84j-d_HCTmf_ctjPz39yEa5Hq5teF39ysY3Yta-aX29V8TLFZX-j-

Zagato

Haven't been to a grand prix in a few years, but there was very little of that. I think most of the cap/photo signings are not done in public, and if there was one, even on a practice day, queues would be crazy (it might be the only thing you did that day -and possibly the night before).

brownacid

Jordan 191 wrote: »

Heidfeld and Sutil looking at returning to F1.

I don't see Heidfeld getting a seat with anyone in the future so I think he should focus on sportscar racing. Would be a better chance of me selling bellybutton fluff on ebay than seeing a Heidfeld comeback.

As for Sutil, I wouldn't rule him out returning this season. If Grosjean doesn't deliver the goods at Lotus, I could Sutil replacing him.

Really?

You can see the team with a senior stakeholder that was attacked by Sutil and pressed charges against him causing him to be cast out of the sport hiring him to drive for them? I honestly don't think Sutil will have anything to do with Lotus either be his design or senior managment's.

Jordan 199

I genuinely forgot about what happened between Sutil and Eric Lux.

Mitch Connor

"Jenson Button mentioned at the last test that McLaren would have a major upgrade prior to the first race, and they will be adding new parts to the car throughout this test. McLaren tell us the focus for the first two days is race simulation work, while the final two days 'will be more exclusively devoted to learning about the new upgrades'."

From the BBC Live Text.

With all the talk of McLaren having controversial designs prior to the launch of the car - yet nothing seeming the least bit controversial I though the reports were either bull or that we wouldn't see anything til the last day or two of testing - may it will be the later theory. I hope it is!