official F1 World Championship 2012 Thread

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[TheLegendOfMart]

I hope Jenson was doing race simulations, getting sick of seeing him in the midfield, theres only so many times you can blame the car when his team mate is consistently out qualifying/racing him.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[Noir Angel]

Impressive stuff, Lewis has looked untouchable all weekend, hope that continues tomorrow. And although Button is 4th, in reality he still looked like he was somewhat struggling. And Grosjean nipping ahead of vettel was great as well.

[simonlang]

since this weekend, more and more drivers and team-bosses are stating the obvious:

button: alonso is no prost or senna. thinks its unfair if someone puts a driver like alonso (who is easier to overtake than schumacher) in the same line with prost or senna.

(source: http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2012/07/Button_Alonso_nicht_mit_Senna_oder_Prost_vergleichbar_12072908.html)

helmut marko: everything is going for alonso. calls him "lucky". (source:

http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2012/07/Marko_Alonso_spielt_alles_in_die_Haende_12072906.html)

i really hope that luck equals out soon because as a race fan i want to see the best driver (has to be vettel, hamilton or even schumacher) and not the luckiest driver (alonso, sometimes webber) winning the championship.

[simonlang]

watching the race..... and cant belive it... mark - "i support alonso since abu dhabi 2010" - webber again not interested in trying to pass alonso..

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[Mike]

From the Lotus F1 team:

[TheLegendOfMart]

Boring race, if I wanted to watch a race decided by pit strategy I would have watched live timing screens.

Nice for Hamilton, getting bored of Jensons whinging about the car.

[Noir Angel]

Lewis was under pressure for most of the race and he handled it quite exceptionally. McLaren are clearly back on form now, which should make the title fight more spicy again.

[simonlang]

McLaren are clearly back on form now, which should make the title fight more spicy again.

your judgement comes quite fast. not wanna like to share it but i have my doubts. ferrari clearly has the fastest car again and as helmut marko told everything is playing nicely in the hands of alonso - as if it was scripted. im still looking for words why the only race lotus seemed to be competitive raikkonens drs failed just behind alonso and why massa (usually gaining at least 1 place at the start) just had his worst start of his career right now. no need to mention schuey....

this race, again, was swinging heavily in lucklonsos favor, despite his driver-underperformance today.

and, as if that wasnt ennough, nothing was swinging in vettels or webbers favor this race. as a neutral fan i was very annoyed.

really hoping for a wdc hamilton (wonder) or vettel (semi-wonder), as these drivers would do it by their performance and driving-talent, and not for lucklonso (name says it all) but i cant chose sadly.

[Noir Angel]

Neither of the Ferrari drivers came close to matching the pace of Lotus and McLaren. They do not have the fastest car. Sorry to burst your bubble but it's not about luck. Alonso is a brilliant driver and Massa is getting his butt kicked because frankly he stinks. The title is not a done deal by any means, there's more than enough time for the other drivers to pull the gap back.

[Lingwo]

I agree about Alonso, it isn't luck with him. He is one of the few on the grid who can get the best out of whatever car he is given. Unlike say Button who needs the car to have some sort of "balance" for him to drive well. You don't become a two time champion with luck.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Alonso has the same quality Schumacher used to have in the 1990s: He can consistently score points and win races in an inferior car. So no mclaren2, it's not luck, it's skill which moved Alonso into the #1 spot of the WDC ranking.

Man of the race yesterday for me: Kimi R?ikk?nen. He would have deserved to win.

Reject of the race: Pastor Maldonado.

[]SK[]

Alonso is the best driver on the field. I'm following McLaren so this isn't a bias view.

Reject of the season: Pastor Maldonado. He's a good driver when there's no one around him, shame.

[123456789A]

ferrari clearly has the fastest car again

No.

[Noir Angel]

Alonso has the same quality Schumacher used to have in the 1990s: He can consistently score points and win races in an inferior car. So no mclaren2, it's not luck, it's skill which moved Alonso into the #1 spot of the WDC ranking.

Man of the race yesterday for me: Kimi R?ikk?nen. He would have deserved to win.

Reject of the race: Pastor Maldonado.

Alonso has the same quality Schumacher used to have in the 1990s: He can consistently score points and win races in an inferior car. So no mclaren2, it's not luck, it's skill which moved Alonso into the #1 spot of the WDC ranking.

Man of the race yesterday for me: Kimi R?ikk?nen. He would have deserved to win.

Reject of the race: Pastor Maldonado.

SK[' timestamp=1343648496' post='595044965]

Alonso is the best driver on the field. I'm following McLaren so this isn't a bias view.

Reject of the season: Pastor Maldonado. He's a good driver when there's no one around him, shame.

I agree with this. Crashtor Maldonado isn't just reject of the race, he's the reject of Formula 1 full stop in my opinion, it's an insult to everything Williams used to stand for that they let someone like that drive one of their cars.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Formula 1 teams agree to ban double DRS for 2013

Double DRS will be banned for 2013, AUTOSPORT has learned, after Formula 1 teams agreed to a change of rules that will outlaw the concept for next year.

Mercedes led the way at the start of this season with a radical design that feeds air via a hole in the rear wing endplate, all the way through the car and out the front wing - which is then stalled when DRS is activated. This helps provide a straight line speed boost.

Rival team Lotus lodged a protest against the concept at the Chinese Grand Prix, but it was rejected by the race stewards who were adamant that channelling air through a hole that is opened when DRS is activated was not against the regulations.

Despite being disappointed at the time about the failure of the protest, Lotus duly set about developing its own version of double DRS, which it tested at the German GP and is set to race in Belgium next month.

Other teams have not pursued the idea yet, and there have been concerns among some of them that work on double DRS could become the subject of an expensive development race.

Following discussions at F1 rules think-tank, the Technical Working Group, sources have revealed that a majority of teams agreed for a change in regulations that will ensure they cannot incorporate double DRS into their cars for 2013.

Although Mercedes did not support the change in rules, because it had made such a headstart in the area, it could not stop the ban going through as it only needed a majority of teams to agree.

It is understood the changes to the rules will be made official by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council later this year.

Despite rivals claiming that double DRS was an expensive avenue of development, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn was always adamant that it was cost-effective.

Speaking earlier this year he said: "People talk about the huge cost, but there isn't really a huge cost. You all know that there are a couple of carbon pipes running down the car, and the man on the street will tell you that they cost a few thousands pounds ? they are not millions of pounds."

Source: Autosport

[MightyJordan]

...now what is the point in banning progress? It wasn't even majorly helping Mercedes; they're 5th in the constructor standings, a massive 83 points behind Ferrari in 4th, and Rosberg's 6th in the driver standings, 39 behind Raikkonen.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I fail to see the reasoning behind the double DRS ban as well. It's not a very expensive solution and would have been easy enough for other teams to implement. Ah well.

In unrelated news, Autosport are about to shoot themselves in both feet:

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Source: Autosport

Why yes, going behind a paywall is going to be popular with your audience. :rolleyes:

[MightyJordan]

Hopefully it'll start a mass exodus onto other sites.

[Lovell]

Di Resta & Hamilton Snr off to court

Paul di Resta's split with Anthony Hamilton has taken a turn for the worse after the latter filed a case for 'wrongful termination' and 'loss of earnings.'

The Scot and his manager, who is also the father of Lewis Hamilton, parted ways earlier this season although neither was willing at the time to give an explanation.

"I think everything's been said that had to be said. I'll confirm we're not working together," di Resta said in early July.

Asked to expand on that the Scot said: "I think it's been reported that we're no longer working together and that is the matter at the moment."

However, the dispute is now set to go public after Hamilton reportedly brought a case of "wrongful termination of contract and loss of earnings."

According to the Daily Telegraph, di Resta responded with defence papers in which he "alleges that he dismissed Hamilton after learning he had been misled over a multi-million pound deal with the Energy Drink company Go Fast, which never came to fruition."

The newspaper states that the Force India driver alleges that "he took the deal, set up by his friend Jordan Wise and worth ?5.5 million (?4.3 million) less commission, to his former manager late last year."

"Hamilton allegedly said it would make sense to buy Di Resta's sports drink rights from Force India so that they could proceed with the deal, telling the 26-year-old they were worth ?2 million (?1.56 million). After hearing nothing for some time, Di Resta allegedly went to his team at the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this year to ask them what the situation was.

"Force India allegedly told him that the rights were worth only ?1 million (?800,000). At this point, Di Resta allegedly decided to terminate his contract with Hamilton."

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7952241/Di-Resta-Hamilton-Snr-off-to-court

[Lovell]

Pastor Maldonado showing his skill. :rofl:

!

[i11usive]

Pastor Maldonado showing his skill. :rofl:

Love it ... he shouldn't be on the racetrack!!!

[Lingwo]

The guy doesn't catch a break haha :laugh:

Rule 1 of doing a demonstration is don't mess up. To be fair, i don't think he could have gone any slower round that corner.