official F1 World Championship 2012 Thread

[Zain Adeel]

Mercedes W03 nose looks like a surfboard :p

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

And another Mercedes spy shot:

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[ybrett23]

just watched this, fantastic, how the hell does he manage that steering wheel?? :wacko:

[simonlang]

the new mercedes looks awesome

very small sidepods and the suspension layout looks well thought too. the car looks so clean, pretty much like the 2010 and 2011 ferraris which were also done by aldo costa. and now the ferrari looks like an unready toolbox. fun. :)

[Fourjays Veteran]

Wow, it looks very skinny from that angle.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

The Mercedes GP W03 has now been officially unveiled ahead of the first day of testing at the Barcelona GP circuit. High-res photo:

[Lingwo]

I hope Mercedes get some wins this year. I like Ross Brawn and Rosberg deserves a decent car by now.

[lt8480]

I hope Mercedes get some wins this year. I like Ross Brawn and Rosberg deserves a decent car by now.

Mercedes/Rosberg to win the title would be great... ideally in the most ironic of situations, that is with Shumacher being forced to give over some race wins to help Nico to the crown.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Sebastian Vettel quickest on first day of F1 testing at Barcelona

Sebastian Vettel put Red Bull on top of the first day of pre-season testing at Barcelona.

The German had risen to the top of the timesheets shortly before lunch, displacing compatriot and Force India pilot Nico Hulkenberg.

With warmer track conditions not as conducive to chasing times, many teams opted for longer run programmes, but Vettel was able to slightly better his time to end the day with a 1m23.265s.

That effort, set on Pirelli's hard compound - rather than the medium on which he set his morning best ? put him 0.175s clear of the field as the chequered flag brought the first day of testing to a close.

Vettel's improvement proved the exception rather than the rule, with second through to seventh position not changing in the afternoon.

That meant Nico Hulkenberg ended the day second fastest for Force India, having set the pace for much of the morning until Vettel's late lap.

The German managed nearly 50 laps in the afternoon, but did not get within a second of his previous benchmark.

The same was true of Lewis Hamilton, who completed several long-lap simulations in the second half of the day. The Briton trialled a variety of compounds, and was consistently in the mid to high 1m28s.

Daniel Ricciardo likewise set his best time in the morning, less than three hundredths of a second down on Hamilton. The Australian was the last man to break the 1m24s barrier.

Fernando Alonso ended the day fifth fastest in the Ferrari F2012, having also completed an 18-lap run with an average of 1m26.208s in the final hour.

The Spaniard ended just five hundredths clear of Michael Schumacher, who managed 51 laps in what was the first day of testing for Mercedes' new W03.

Sergio Perez was the last driver to get within a second of Vettel, although the Mexican's afternoon programme was disrupted by an issue with the rear anti-roll bar.

Heikki Kovalainen too suffered a truncated day, as a broken track rod left him stranded sideways at the final turn after just nine laps of running.

The team was able to fix the issue and he returned in the afternoon, eventually getting down to a 1m26.035s ? enough for ninth, just behind Bruno Senna in the Williams FW34.

There were issues too for Lotus, with Romain Grosjean reporting a strange sensation from the team's second chassis.

As a consequence the Frenchman completed just seven laps before the team decided to halt operations. It will fly the first chassis, which was used at Jerez, out to Barcelona and expects to take part tomorrow.

With HRT opting not to run, Marussia's Charles Pic rounded out the day's runners, 4.7s down on Vettel. The Frenchman racked up 121 laps ? the most of any driver - on his first day in the car.

Source: Autosport

[Zain Adeel]

The Mercedes GP W03 has now been officially unveiled ahead of the first day of testing at the Barcelona GP circuit. High-res photo:

now thats how you do a stepped nose!!!.. looks beautiful!

also slimmer .. is it really?

[monkey13]

Yep that Merc is certainly the best looking stepped nose.

Love the way the way the vertical parts of the front wing that connect to the surfboard are swept back. Looks gorgeous compared to the ugly box of the Ferrari. I think the whole nose may even be better than the McLaren. Still loses overall though.

[ybrett23]

mclaren wins, with mercedes a close second :D

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Lotus F1 team pulls out of Barcelona test due to chassis problems

Lotus has pulled out of the Barcelona test with immediate effect as a result of the problems it encountered with its chassis this morning.

The team has decided to abandon running in order to fully understand the problem with the chassis that manifested itself on chassis 2, which ran for the first time today.

This is despite chassis 1 completing the full Jerez test two weeks ago. The team said the problem requires modification to both chassis.

The car completed 1788 km of testing at Jerez, but the problem manifested itself at the higher-speed Barcelona configuration.

"Before we were due to fly chassis E20-01 out to Barcelona in replacement of chassis E20-02 - damaged this morning - we ran a series of simulations at the factory based on the data provided by our brief running on track today," said technical director James Allison.

"As a result, we were able to identify an area which requires some additional work. It will be more productive for us to carry out these modifications to both chassis at Enstone rather than send E20-01 out to this week's test. We'll put the right measures in place and we will be able to fix the problem before next week."

Team boss Eric Boullier added: "Not running this week has been a tough decision to take, but we feel that our choice is the right one. On the positive side, we have quickly identified the issue with the chassis and our design office has already devised a solution. We will be present at next week's test in Barcelona.

"We draw faith from the fact that the E20 was quick out of the box in Jerez and showed its reliability there. We have a lot of work ahead of us over the next week but everyone at Enstone is ready for this challenge."

Although the team has not revealed the exact nature of the chassis fault, AUTOSPORT understands it is in an area towards the front of the car.

Source: Autosport

[monkey13]

I think the Mercedes is like a woman who has a very good body. You start looking at this first appreciating various parts and then you see her face ....... oh no she's had a very bad nose job and a load of collagen in her lips. Such a shame.

[ybrett23]

I think the Mercedes is like a woman who has a very good body. You start looking at this first appreciating various parts and then you see her face ....... oh no she's had a very bad nose job and a load of collagen in her lips. Such a shame.

as opose to the ferrari that looks like its been snorting crack for a few years :D

[monkey13]

Oh the Ferrari, with that "mouth" a the front, would be an inflatable sex doll.

You know it sort of looks like a woman but at the same time is very, very wrong and disturbing.

[ybrett23]

Oh the Ferrari, with that "mouth" a the front, would be an inflatable sex doll.

You know it sort of looks like a woman but at the same time is very, very wrong and disturbing.

i agree, its certainly disturbing

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends

Force India headed the times sheets at the end of the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya thanks to Nico Hulkenberg.

The team?s new recruit for 2012 lapped the Spanish track in 1?22.608 ? over half a second fastest than Sebastian Vettel?s best time for yesterday.

The world champion completed his week?s testing with the third-fastest time, but spent a long time in the pits during the middle of the day. Mark Webber will take over from him tomorrow.

Between the pair was Sauber?s Sergio Perez, despite suffering an exhaust problem late in the session.

Fernando Alonso moved up to fourth late in the session with a lap of 1?23.180.

Fifth-fastest Daniel Ricciardo stopped twice on the track, causing two red flag interruptions. He did not return to the track following the second.

Lewis Hamilton was sixth-quickest and was the busiest driver of the day, completing 120 laps.

Williams test driver Valtteri Bottas had his first run in the FW34 but ended the day eighth, over a second off the next-slowest car. Behind him were Caterham debutant Vitaly Petrov and Charles Pic in Marussia?s 2011 car.

Source: F1 Fanatic

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Maldonado quickest on third day of Barcelona test

Pastor Maldonado was quickest for Williams on the third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Williams driver set his best time on super-soft tyres early in the session. His lap was three-tenths quicker than the fastest time seen at the test previously, set by Nico Hulkeberg.

Michael Schumacher was second-fastest for Mercedes, almost a full second slower than the Williams. Following the problems with the new W03 yesterday Schumacher completed a busy programme of well over 100 laps.

Third fastest was Kamui Kobayashi, who caused a red flag a few minutes before the lunch break when his car stopped during a fuel run-out test.

McLaren continued to pile on the laps with Jenson Button completing over 100 tours in the MP4-27. He was fourth-quickest ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne?s Toro Rosso.

Mark Webber ended the day sixth but brought out the red flags with half an hour to go when his car stopped halfway around the lap.

The Ferrari of Felipe Massa spent a while in the pits in the morning due to a technical problem. He later emerged to set the seventh-fastest time, but caused the final red flag of the day, moments before the chequered flag was about to be shown, when he stopped while leaving the pits

Paul di Resta, Timo Glock and Vitaly Petrov completed the runners, with HRT absent and Lotus having returned to their factory earlier in the week.

The Force India driver lost part of his engine cover during the test. Glock, who had his first running of the year in last year?s car, carried out tyre comparison work and had a minor off which caused another red flag. Petrov was delayed by suspension problems in the Caterham.

The second test concludes at the circuit tomorrow, though the teams will return for a final four-day pre-season test next week.

Source: F1 Fanatic

[monkey13]

Man McLaren sure are going round and round. They have been top or second in the most laps for every test session so far.

Burning desire for a trophy this year, very solid car they aren't having to do much with or just trying to get as much data as possible? I wonder.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Kobayashi on top as testing ends in Barcelona

Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap of the Circuit de Catalunya test on the final day of running at the track.

Despite being hampered by an exhaust problem, Kobayashi posted a fastest lap of 1?22.312, beating the quickest time of the test.

He also completed more than two Grand Prix distances. With a quarter of an hour to go, having already covered over 660km in a single day, his car came to a stop and brought out the red flags. The session was briefly re-started before being red-flagged again.

Kobayashi is the eighth different driver to have been quickest in the eight days of testing so far ? joining Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado.

Maldonado set the second-quickest time of today in his Williams ahead of Paul di Resta. The Force India driver caused a red flag when he went off at Campsa during the session.

Jenson Button was fourth-fastest, McLaren once again completing a busy day?s running of well over 100 laps.

Ferrari?s day was once again punctuated by a lengthy delay while they made a set-up change. But Felipe Massa nonetheless logged 100 laps in the F2012 ? the first time this week Ferrari have reached a century of tours.

Heikki Kovalainen?s running in the Caterham was badly interrupted by an engine change. But things were worse for Marussia, who had to scrap their running entirely.

The team had planned to give Charles Pic his third day in the 2011 MVR-02. But suspension damage from yesterday?s running could not be repaired in time.

According to the team, a replacement for the broken part was available, but they did not wish to run before completing an analysis of the failure at their factory, which could not be done in time for Pic to get any meaningful running done.

The teams will return to the track for a final four-day test beginning on March 1st. However Ferrari and Red Bull will begin an end their running one day later than the rest, in order to test last-minute upgrades for their cars.

Source: F1 Fanatic

[MattehCarter]

16 days until the Australian Grand Prix, I can't wait!

I sure hope that red bull does not dominate the grand prix again this year!

[mps69]

Sky F1 HD channel 408 is now transmitting, not sure if it's free to air.

[Daedroth]

Sky F1 HD channel 408 is now transmitting, not sure if it's free to air.

Thought it was launching on the 9th? :s

It's free for those with a subscribtion to one of the following:

Sky Sports 1 & 2

Sky HD