official F1 World Championship 2012 Thread

[Lingwo]

Unless Schumacher has the urge to stay on, i think this will be it for him. I can't see him at Ferrari as he'd clearly be in the same seat Massa was i think. I also can't see him go to another team.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Niki Lauda joins Mercedes F1 team in management role

Niki Lauda is to join Mercedes in a management role as part of a renewed push by the German car manufacturer to win the championship after the arrival of Lewis Hamilton.

With the Mercedes road car company having looked deeply at the structure and resources of its F1 team, and considered its commitment before signing a new Concorde Agreement, the outfit announced on Friday that Lauda is a play a role with the team - as was reported by AUTOSPORT earlier this week.

The three-time world champion recently acted as a go-between in the discussions between Mercedes and Bernie Ecclestone over the Concorde, and speculation about a formal role with the outfit emerged in Singapore last weekend.

A statement by Mercedes said that Lauda will "bring his extensive experience to the role of non-executive chairman of the team's board of directors, further reinforcing the strength in depth at Mercedes AMG Petronas."

Team principal Ross Brawn said that the arrival of Hamilton, allied to a staffing restructure and fresh commitment from the Mercedes board, was a promising sign for the future.

"Over the past three years, we have been putting in place the foundations and building blocks that are needed to compete regularly for the world championship," he said.

"Behind the scenes, we have assembled a team that is technically stronger, more experienced and better resourced, thanks to the support of Petronas and all of our loyal team partners.

"The potential is now there to match any other team on the grid, which is the minimum standard for a Mercedes-Benz works team. Our task is now to translate that potential into on-track performance for next season and beyond."

Source: Autosport

[Dan~]

I bet McLaren are loving the fact that the immature brat that Hamilton is, will be leavign at the end of the season.

I would love to see Paul Di Resta to join McLaren and be a fully British team again. I do think Paul Di Resta will be a good driver if he had the pace that the McLaren's have ow ad again.

Will see :)

[Teebor]

I bet McLaren are loving the fact that the immature brat that Hamilton is, will be leavign at the end of the season.

I would love to see Paul Di Resta to join McLaren and be a fully British team again. I do think Paul Di Resta will be a good driver if he had the pace that the McLaren's have ow ad again.

Will see :)

HUH? Lewis is British or am I missing something?

I'm pretty sure I'm right in this since he lived and went to school in the next town over from where I live

[Dan~]

Lewis Hamilton has left McLaren*, Perez has gone in*, which means McLaren isn't a fully british driver team. so yes, unfortunately you were missing something :p

* EOS

[Lovell]

Well I was wrong, seems like such a bad move to leave one of the most consistent teams for a team that might not even last the next few years.

[what]

I can understand why Hamilton has jumped ship. With the new engine regs in 2014, Mercedes should have an advantage... but with the lack of any progress in the last three years, I should be forgiven for thinking that advantage won't materialise. Not that it will bother Lewis, because he'll be earning a ******** of money to buy more limited edition Zondas. I suppose he might at least get along with his team mate now.

I'm very happy to see Perez in a top team though. Ferrari may have made a big mistake not snapping him up. di Resta has been too average tbh.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Jenson Button to get gearbox-change penalty for the Japanese GP

Jenson Button will have a five-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix because he needs a new gearbox for the Suzuka weekend, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

The Briton returns to the scene of his brilliant victory 12 months ago, 75 points adrift of championship leader Fernando Alonso, and well aware that only a victory will keep alive his slim title hopes.

But he has already been given some bad news, with post-race investigations of his gearbox after the Singapore GP uncovering an identical gearbox problem to that which had put Lewis Hamilton out of the race.

McLaren has no option but to change Button's gearbox for a new one, which means he will be moved down five places on the grid.

Hamilton will also be fitted with a new gearbox, but he will not suffer any penalty as he did not finish the last race.

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe told AUTOSPORT: "Jenson's gearbox had the same problem as Lewis's gearbox during the Singapore Grand Prix, and subsequent investigation has revealed a terminal failure.

"Therefore both cars must start the Japanese Grand Prix with new gearboxes, which means that Jenson will receive a five-place penalty.

"Of course, this is a great disappointment for Jenson and the team. On the positive side, we have understood and completely resolved the issue, allowing both drivers to compete with confidence for podium positions."

Hamilton heads to the Japanese GP 52 points behind Alonso, with six races remaining in this year's title battle.

Source: Autosport

[MightyJordan]

Well, at least his gearbox didn't go during the race, like Lewis' did. Let's hope luck shines on him at Suzuka this weekend.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Michael Schumacher to retire at the end of 2012

Michael Schumacher will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2012 season, the 43-year-old German announced on Thursday at Suzuka.

Following last week's announcement that the seven-time world champion will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Schumacher called a press conference along with the team in Japan to call time on a career that has spanned 21 years and more than 300 races.

Speaking of his decision, Schumacher said: "It is without doubt that we did not achieve our goals to develop a world championship fighting car. But it is also very clear that I can still be very happy about my overall achievements in the whole time of my career.

"In the past six years I have learned a lot about myself. For example, that you can open yourself without losing focus. That losing can be both more difficult and more instructive than winning.

"Sometimes I lost sight of this in the early years. But you appreciate to be able to do what you love to do. That you should live your convictions and I was able to do so.

"I would obviously like to thank Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, the team, the engineers, and all my mechanics for all the trust that they put in those years in to myself. But I would also like to thank all of my friends, partners and companions who over many years in motor sport supported myself."

Schumacher added that he had felt his energy and enthusiasm had begun to wane, just as it did when he quit Ferrari and the sport the first time at the end of 2006.

"I have been thinking for quite a while [about this]," he said. "We had a three-year agreement, hard to keep motivation and energy - it's natural you think about this more than when you are young.

"I have had my doubts for quite a while whether I had energy to [carry on]. I said in 2006 my battery was empty and now I am in the red zone. I don't know if there is time to recharge them - but I am looking forward to my freedom.

"I have no hard feelings. In a different way we achieved a great deal...

"Now I will do exactly as I did the first time - to finish and focus 100 per cent on what I do."

Speculation had linked Schumacher to a move to Sauber, where he began his world championship-level career with the Mercedes-backed Swiss-team's endurance prototype squad in 1990, but that proved wide of the mark.

Source: Autosport

[Lingwo]

Shame to see him go again but i couldn't of seen him go to a lesser team like Sauber.

Hopefully he'll get a podium or even a win by the end of the season. With all this change though it wouldn't surprise me if they write this years car off and concentrate on next years.

[neo1911]

But when is he announcing his comeback? He should have announced that first.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Japanese GP, FP1 result:

FP2:

[Zoom7000]

Jenson needs nothing short of pole to keep his hopes alive, but with the penalty and the unlikelihood of him getting pole, I think that's McLaren all done for this season unless Lewis can pull off one last major hurrah! I hope so, just for the fairytale ending! I'm sentimental like that! :rofl:

[Noir Angel]

I respect the fact that Lewis needs a new challenge but I have a feeling he's going to win very little with Mercedes. It's going to be interesting to see how he deals with not having a title challenging car. Not surprised by Schumi's retirement either, it's safe to say he hasn't really made many waves since coming back.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[Noir Angel]

Between them McLaren and Lewis have probably now taken his title chances, shot them, and buried them in a ditch with this dismal qualifying performance. The fact that McLaren and Red Bull are likely to keep taking points off of each other is starting to make it look like Alonso will be hard to catch as long as he continues to score good points.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

1. What the hell happened between Alonso and R?kk?nen?

2. Romain Grosjean is a bloody idiot.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Man of the race: Kamui Kobayashi

Reject of the race: Romain Grosjean

[TheLegendOfMart]

Pretty boring race, glad Alonso crashed out at the start, Perez pulled a nice move on Hamilton shame he crashed out as well, happy for Massa and Kobayashi to be on the podium considering their seats are at risk, especially Kamui because it was his home race.

[Chasethebase Veteran]

The championship is Vettel's now unless Ferrari pull out something magical with the car, especially if RBR are implementing new bodywork for the next race.

[simonlang]

with todays race justice has been done. was so happy to see alonso dnf and vettel finally having a car without technical problems. the title should be his now :)

also very VERY happy with massa. the ferrari is not as bad as alonso always claims. :)

[Noir Angel]

Well that flip flopped quickly, it's Vettel's to lose now with the performance advantage he has over Ferrari

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

The championship is Vettel's now unless Ferrari pull out something magical with the car, especially if RBR are implementing new bodywork for the next race.

It's far too early to tell. RBR have had reliability issues before; who's to say they won't have similar issues again?

The WDC won't be decided before the last race in Brazil.

[simonlang]

if rbr suffers another light machine failure then they better ditch magneti marelli for their obvious help to support ferrari. 2 races have been ennough. :|