The Official 2012 F1 Thread. Spoilers possible!

This one of the reasons I love F1 the Aerodynamist, really push the rules and make the cars do so much better, with the air and make the cars faster :huh

#LuckyNumber8

Williams low line gearbox....



taking the CG to the lowest possible level!

I really thought Ferrari might have something this weekend. I'm shocked. I'm also shocked that Schumi failed while his teammate did so well in Q2.

Since there's no passing at miserable Valencia, they're all cooked.

I suppose I could root for Lotus-Renault, even if they do have a prick for a boss and chaotic governance. But truly, I'd like to see a Williams win the race.

The way that 'track' was rubbering-in, I think Lotus screwed up with their timing for Grosjean. He might have been front-row had he timed it right, maybe not pole (what a lap by Vettel). Nice to see Williams and Lotus in the top 4 though.

I hate that mickey mouse track. It's ugly and stupid.

I agree. And yet the commentators love it, year after year. I can understand a Hobbs liking it from a driver's perspective, but why on earth would anyone else?

Vettel sure likes it.

Valencia is a lovely place (unlike Alicante just along the coast which is a shit-hole) and the idea is good but the circuit itself is an oddity. Quite how such a lovely location can appear so bland and edge-of-town-industrial-estate is amazing. There are only two places that I can recognise in each lap, the start-finish and the swing-bridge. The rest just blends into one long stretch of tar bounded by walls and catch-fencing.

I'm quite pleased not to be watching F1 on TV anymore. Radio commentary has the best scenery.

I like Hamilton's chances of winning this weekend. The McLaren had tons of straight line speed with the DRS open in Canada which might give him a chance to get by Vettel if he can keep up early on. In Canada it seemed like even with the DRS open neither the Ferrari or Red Bull was able to get by Hamilton on the straight.

The Red Bull has never been renowned for top speed but in Canada when Hamilton was in a fight with Alonso and Vettel towards the closing stages, he was on new rubber, they were on tired shagged-out tyres. That meant that even if Alonso or Vettel had better top speed, they couldn't get close enough after the twisty stuff (where their rubber put them at a disadvantage), to pass Hamilton.

The comparison between the performance of Vettel before and after his late, unscheduled stop for more tyres, is proof that McLaren's strategy was more important for Hamilton's win in Montreal than outright speed (it still required a first-class drive from Hamilton to be in that position).

No DRS zones this weekend , Bye Bye Hammy Fettle

Podium loaded with ex-Ferrari F1 champions.....who'da thunk it?

I agree. Louis seems to have got his head on straight these days.
Should be a great race.

WOW!!! What a race!!!

Well, I batted .500.

Great race.

Very strange decisions by the stewards almost across the board.... I'd probably let most/all of them fly as racing incidents, but in almost every case, I thought the driver they penalized was less at fault than the other. Penalizing Senna after Kobayashi attempted from way back to squeeze his car into a non-existent gap with the barrier early in the race has to rank as one of the strangest stewards decisions I've ever seen.

Regardless of penalties, for Hamilton to be defending as aggressively as he was when he was so much slower late in the race after his tires went off was pure stupidity on his part. He takes a couple steps forward in race judgment and then another back.

- Mark

Leigh Diffey, Will Buxton and Steve Matchett graduated cum laude from the Broadcast School of Hyperbole. Give it a rest, guys.

I agree. Other than Kobayashi's second incident, the stewards got it all wrong. Hamiton was clearly at fault. he just couldn't accept losing another place, so he threw away all of his points instead. Race management is still an area where he struggles.

Most entertaining race and for once, there was passing at this horrid little track.

Love seeing Schumi on the podium. Happy that big red got a win, unlikely as it was. Sorry Williams didn't get the podium I think they deserved. Creditable 4th for Webber.

Watching them on the pit wall, patting Vettel on the head like a pet dog reinforces my feelings about the kid.

A very nice season!