official F1 World Championship 2012 Thread

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

mclaren2: Look at Alonso's results with the inferior Ferrari. Then look at Massa's results.

The difference is down to the driver. There is no denying that at present Alonso is the much better Ferrari driver, and Massa will find himself looking for another cockpit before the season is over at this rate.

[Daedroth]

he was leading the championship after the first 3 races in 2010 and was the first ferrari driver that year to win a race by superior pace only (hockenheim) and not by sitting on p2 and lucking into the win because of vettels car braking down (bahrain).

so i dont buy the argument that the accident has made him that much slower. he was still beating alonso comfortably. imho it has been a combinition of new tires and ferrari changing direction of support.

my facts remain: since hockenheim 2010 and what happend, ferrari has gone backwards only. yes, they got a lucky win in silverstone 2011 and one this year in malaysia, but that wont discount my arguments.

the only time ferrari really focussed on massa was in 2008 after a few races. and the results have been amazing. they even could have won on tracks like monaco (where they last won in 2001) or hungary (where they last won in 2004). tracks where their car never has been the best, but massa made the difference.

today, i agree. massas performances are not good. but then look at ferrari. its not like they are shining either. i say if the car is great again, massa will be at the front again.

It is fact that since his accident in 2009, his performance with Ferrari has waned. Even with the results after the first three races of 2010, he hasn't been as successful as he was pre-accident. Massa has always been the second rate driver at Ferrari. Schumacher, Raikkonen and Alonso were/are the no1 driver for Ferrari. He bucked the trend in 2008 by narrowly missing out on the title at the last race, but that sort of performance hasn't been shown since.

An accident like he had is bound to knock your confidence, plus like you said with the change of tyres and yet another high calibre of driver as a team-mate, I think this is why he's struggling.

[Guest]

Massa's a whining little ****er. Ferrari need to get rid.

[MarkusDarkus]

Sky Go + Desire HD + BT Fon = F1 Qualies while I work. ;)

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Monaco FP1 result:

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[simonlang]

massa in front of alonso.... oh oh oh :D :laugh:

[Noir Angel]

Hardly anybody did a lap on the super soft tyres apart from button so these times probably mean relatively little. Still no idea where the form's at.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

FP3:

[Fourjays Veteran]

Pastor Maldonado has been given a 10-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix, the Williams team has confirmed to AUTOSPORT.

The penalty is believed to be for colliding with Sergio Perez in the closing stages of final practice at Monaco.

The Spanish Grand Prix winner caused the session to be red-flagged when he crashed at Casino Square, having made contact with the Sauber driver on his previous lap at Portier.

Perez appeared to move off line and slow down visibly to allow the Venezuelan past between the corner after the Loews Hairpin and Portier, but Maldonado turned across the Sauber driver on the entrance to the right hander ahead of the tunnel.

Source

Maldonado should've been given a race ban for his antics in FP3. Got off very lightly last year, but doing it a second time is simply unacceptable. Motorsport is dangerous enough without drivers deliberately driving into others. :angry:

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

The Maldonado/Perez accident was unavoidable. One thing is for sure now: He isn't going to win the race.

I hesitate to make any predictions for qualifying or race. Monaco makes for chaotic races as is, and with this year's unpredictability added it's impossible to make any guesses. It wouldn't surprise me to see the 6th driver and 6th car this year on the top of the podium come Sunday - R?ikk?nen perhaps?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Real shame about MSC's grid penalty. It's still one hell of a grid... this race is going to be fascinating.

Also, loljensonbutton :p

[starbearer]

Proved his class once again. This was the most difficult qualifying session in quite some time, really close, and he comes out on top.

Shame about the grid penalty. May not start on pole, but Michael's still the fastest man in Monaco. Gunning for the max. tomorrow.

If anyone remembers the 2006 Monaco GP, it's certainly possible.

[san.W10]

MS !!!!

:woot: :woot: :woot: :woot:

[TheLegendOfMart]

Yet another disappointing drive by Button, getting bored of him whinging about the car, Hamilton manages perfectly fine.

Proved his class once again. This was the most difficult qualifying session in quite some time, really close, and he comes out on top.

Schu has no class, he is an over-rated, aggressive, has-been. Driving into people then blaming them, forcing people off the track, driving off the track then sitting on the apex of a corner to block someone and put them off.

I hope he retires at the end of this year.

[123456789A]

I'm pretty sure Kartin' Keyan will win the race tomorrow.

[Fourjays Veteran]

The Maldonado/Perez accident was unavoidable. One thing is for sure now: He isn't going to win the race.

It was avoidable as they come. Good comparison of the lines here. Given that this is twice in less than a year, he really ought to have been given a far harsher penalty. A driver in GT racing purposely drove into a car last year and got pretty much crucified over it (rightly so), but in F1 it is apparently no worse to use your car as a weapon than to have an overtake go wrong. :wacko: Sorry to go on, but I've got zero tolerance for drivers who behave like this.

Anyway, got a feeling that today's race will be great. :) Wonder if Webber will actually get a good start or lose several places like he usually does...

[MightyJordan]

It's FIA logic at work again. According to them, forgetting to put enough fuel in your car is a much worse offence than deliberately crashing into someone.

[mps69]

It's FIA logic at work again. According to them, forgetting to put enough fuel in your car is a much worse offence than deliberately crashing into someone.

This is two different offences, one is a technical infringment, the other is driver incident. Both carry different penalties, first one is set by the FIA, the other dished out by the stewards on the day of the event, right or wrongly that's the way the rules are set just now.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

It was avoidable as they come. Good comparison of the lines here. Given that this is twice in less than a year, he really ought to have been given a far harsher penalty. A driver in GT racing purposely drove into a car last year and got pretty much crucified over it (rightly so), but in F1 it is apparently no worse to use your car as a weapon than to have an overtake go wrong. :wacko: Sorry to go on, but I've got zero tolerance for drivers who behave like this.

Anyway, got a feeling that today's race will be great. :) Wonder if Webber will actually get a good start or lose several places like he usually does...

Urgh. Of course I meant avoidable. Serious case of blonde moment there.

[TheLegendOfMart]

It's FIA logic at work again. According to them, forgetting to put enough fuel in your car is a much worse offence than deliberately crashing into someone.

I'm a massive McLaren fan but c'mon do you really believe that they "forgot" to put enough fuel in the car, they took a chance on getting Hamilton on pole by under fueling the car, I don't think the punishment fit the crime, but McLaren has been caught doing it in the past and they deserved a slap on the wrist.

[philcruicks]

I'm a massive McLaren fan but c'mon do you really believe that they "forgot" to put enough fuel in the car, they took a chance on getting Hamilton on pole by under fueling the car, I don't think the punishment fit the crime, but McLaren has been caught doing it in the past and they deserved a slap on the wrist.

It's not that they "forgot", it's that the fuel man got it wrong...

In quali they can't use the big fueling rig that they use in the race, they use a much slower rig...kinda like a big complex petrol can...it has a fill and empty setting (so they can suck all the fuel out to make it safe while working on the car).

The fuel man had it on empty to start with, realised and set it to fill, but there wasn't enough time to fill it sufficiently before Hamilton had to go out...thus he ran out of fuel.

It was a mistake and a costly one...but not deliberate.

Because of this the penalty definitely did not fit the crime.

[TheLegendOfMart]

It's not that they "forgot", it's that the fuel man got it wrong...

In quali they can't use the big fueling rig that they use in the race, they use a much slower rig...kinda like a big complex petrol can...it has a fill and empty setting (so they can suck all the fuel out to make it safe while working on the car).

The fuel man had it on empty to start with, realised and set it to fill, but there wasn't enough time to fill it sufficiently before Hamilton had to go out...thus he ran out of fuel.

It was a mistake and a costly one...but not deliberate.

Because of this the penalty definitely did not fit the crime.

Yes I know the story they spun, they had time to bring him back in to fuel him up for one timed lap and Hamilton would have still smashed it and been on pole.

They tried to chance it and with their past form the stewards took a dim view on it.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Well driven Mark, nice consistent race. Shame for Grosjean I was looking forward to seeing him on podium. Heikki did well to keep Button behind for as long as he did.

Karmas a b**ch for Maldonado.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

6th race, 6th winner after a close race. I'm loving this season...

Man of the race: Mark Webber

Reject of the race: Jenson Button