The Official 2012 F1 Thread. Spoilers possible!

[Rick West]

Kimi wins, Vettel proves he is the best driver, and Hamilton has to walk home.


Couldn't ask for anything more than that.
Great race.

[g®eg]

Originally Posted by Rick West

Kimi wins, Vettel proves he is the best driver, and Hamilton has to walk home.


Couldn't ask for anything more than that.
Great race.

you've read my mind!

[Turder]

Originally Posted by JBSmith

I know the source isn't unimpeachable, but I really want this item from Kimi's Wikipedia page to be true:

"Later in the year, he and two friends entered a powerboat race in the Finnish harbour city of Hanko while wearing gorilla suits. Again, he raced under the name "James Hunt". They then won a prize for the best-dressed crew."

"James Hunt" has also won couple of snowmobile races up here, entered in some rallycross event too, rode motocross... what else hmm?

[Thinc2]

Originally Posted by g®eg

you've read my mind!

THat's great.

[g®eg]

on board audio...
it would be so cool to be able to get this in real time (not just the snippets)


Ab Dhab '12 R by Yellow_G7

[srad600]

Personally, I would have liked to see Vettel finish a little further down, solely to create a "last round" shootout between him and Alonso. Oh well, he and the car are an insanely tough combo right now. Aside from that, the attrition rate at this GP was crazy. Cars were crashing or breaking down left and right.

Hamilton has got to be angry about the cars reliability at this point…race after race with issues, man.

I feel bad for Webber, his teammate started LAST… twice and came through to finish higher than him, that has GOT to demoralize a man.

[g®eg]

young driver test... crazy aero rigs everywhere!









old exhaust..

[g®eg]

squishy nose on Red Bull



"could" be due to hitting the DRS foam block..... or..........

hmmmmmmmmmm

[g®eg]

Red Bull under suspicion : "rubber nose" is causing a stir


TV footage of Sebastian Vettel's first pit stop in Abu Dhabi ensured after the race fans for excitement. The nose of the Red Bulls seem to twist the front wing change peculiar. Is there something illegal? We clarify.


The Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi made by fans for three days after crossing the finish line yet to talk about. The jubilation over Kimi Raikkonen's first victory had faded long ago, Sebastian Vettel's sensational comeback story of one yesterday. Instead discussed suddenly hot on the first pit stop of the Heppe heimer.


Red Bull-nose bends strange

What had happened? For several days, TV recordings of the tire and nose change haunt during the safety car period, the fan forums (here as >> animated picture ). On Facebook and Twitter, the video spread quickly in F1 community. What's to see it works, amazing at first glance: When the Red Bull mechanics replace the damaged front wing of the car Vettel, suddenly turned his nose.
When trying to remove the old wing holds a mechanic the front with the right hand to the onboard camera that bends it up as if it were made of rubber. Even when grip under the nose seems the material to yield. Of course, Red Bull immediately fell under suspicion. Is the front as flexible? When it turns to while driving? That would be under these rules is not allowed.
Technology experts give the all clear We have the pictures shown our technology experts and analyzed the scene exactly. The consensus: false alarm. The noses of the Formula 1 cars are on the front 150 millimeters always built a little softer to the maximum amount of delay of 10 g at the FIA ​​crash tests to not exceed.
Only fold behind the nose along with more resistance. A slightly softer front part of the nose is thus quite reasonable. Where the nose is pointed and yet the energy spread over a few square centimeters, it must be flexible in order to avoid collision with an obstacle serious damage.
Collision damaged Red Bull-nose

To comply with the strict security guidelines, the front tips of the Formula 1 cars are crafted from only a maximum of three layers of carbon fabric. The fact that the nose in the video bends so strange, for a simple reason. With Vettel's collision with the DRS-shield made of polystyrene, the front was apparently already damaged so that the tip of the simple lifting left bend very easily.
Even with the Red Bull rival the video from Abu Dhabi has already arrived. The engineers have the pictures now also analyzed. At least one team should have also demanded the FIA, is whether there everything is above board.

[A. T. T-W]

Originally Posted by srad600

I feel bad for Webber, his teammate started LAST… twice and came through to finish higher than him, that has GOT to demoralize a man.

Not really. Gary Anderson (former F1 car designer and the BBC's technical guru this season) pointed out that the Red Bull strategy was changed from their usual downforce and gearing settings on Vettel's car.

Webber retained the normal Red Bull set-up, shorter gearing and higher downforce to maximise acceleration out of the corners, sacrificing top speed in the process.

The Red Bull default is to get to the front, sprint away to break the one-second DRS opportunity, sacrificing top speed in the process (it works for them).

As Vettel had to start from the Pit Lane, he needed speed to make lots of overtakes so his gearing was taller and the car had lower drag.

Webber might therefore be more concerned that Vettel has shown the Red Bull default to be less effective than they believed. Had Webber been given the same set-up, he might not have had to make so many speculative (and damaging) lunges in the one place that his lack of top speed didn't count.

[Rick West]

Originally Posted by srad600

Hamilton has got to be angry about the cars reliability at this point…race after race with issues, man.

Taking over Schumacher's seat at Mercedes doesn't seem like a good idea then, does it.

[RedRocket]

Kimi had 500 of these made for his team.

[srad600]

Originally Posted by A. T. T-W

Not really. Gary Anderson (former F1 car designer and the BBC's technical guru this season) pointed out that the Red Bull strategy was changed from their usual downforce and gearing settings on Vettel's car.

Although this is technically true (and I agree to a point), I doubt most racers think that way.

Originally Posted by Rick West

Taking over Schumacher's seat at Mercedes doesn't seem like a good idea then, does it.

I'd bet he's questioning that decision right about now....

[anotherguy]

Nah Hamilton is so arrogant and self-absorbed he never questions himself. It's always something other than The Great Lewis Hamiliton when things go south. Ross should be looking into a nanny right about now.

And I want one of those shirts.

[wxwax]

That was a great race. Gripping! Enthralling! Congrats to Lotus on winning their first. That's a big deal for them. Great drives by Kimi, Alonso and Vettel.

I'm sooo looking forward to a race on that Texas track. It looks really promising.

I wish someone would put a cork -- a large cork -- in Luca's mouth.

Hamilton is leaving a well-ordered, always competitive team, to a snake pit of wavering ownership and divided leadership. Lauda is a viper, based on events at Jaguar. Mercedes could be a mess.

Hamilton may not win. But he'll emerge from it a wiser man and a man more appreciative of the good things, when they happen. Interesting that Whitmarsh believes that ultimately, money was the deciding factor. Also, he rues that Hamilton made his decision in the days immediately after a rough outing at Singapore.