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The Official 2012 F1 Thread...

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Now that the 2011 season is over, time to discuss next year's season. Thoughts, opinions, predictions, bets.... :biggrin:
 
I'm gonna say Vettel won't have as successful a season as 2011. :smile:
 
Careful what you hope for. Remember we all thought Schumacher couldn't go on winning as much as he did, year in, year out! :frown:

We'll see, I feel there will be much closer next season with all the changes that are coming.
 
Re: He's baaaaccckkk!!!

Cool, if Barrichello comes back Kimi can race with him. Great drivers in mediocre cars are hard to watch.

Rubens is safe with Williams if I had to guess. If you are talking about Kubica, then yes it would be a solid team but I don't see Kubica making it back for 2012. There may be a chance he won't come back to Renault/Lotus anyways.
 
More likely for Kubica to be back for Ferrari in 2013, mean while he can train in ferraris own track at maranello. Pretty sure that will happen...

Kimi, at Renault for two years!? Like that's going to happen. As soon as Michael retires in 2013 Kimi will be jumping ships ASAP .

Other changes so far are ricciardo at catherham and Charles pic at virgin I think , rumors are tha Pic will be a paying driver at the song of 18mil.
So Peter winsord said.

Also hear that Sutil may be moving to Williams , that will open the door for the good ol' hulkenberg .
I think that's a step down for Sutil.
 
Six World Champions racing together next year will be superb!

So happy that Kimi is back and will defintely stir up the grid and watch out for Lotus Racing...they could be on the start of a Red Bull like climb to success.
 
Six World Champions racing together next year will be superb!

So happy that Kimi is back and will defintely stir up the grid and watch out for Lotus Racing...they could be on the start of a Red Bull like climb to success.

Did you meant Carterham?
Yep, they'll be coming somewhat strong.


-MSR
 
Re: Interesting

Well, it will be interesting to find out his motivation and resolve. Is it just for money? (the obvious conclusion) or has he somehow grown up and is up for the challenge of participating and improving a rising team? Has he got some insightful advisors who tell him that next year's Lotus/Renault staff are capable of a front row car? or........is he really a smart and connected guy behind the scenes and personally knows that?

If he's just the same ole' Kimi, well, that will get old fast and yeah he will be racing Schumi for best of the over the hill gang. But if there's a new or previously hidden side to Kimi, that will really be something.

And wouldn't it be fun if both Merc and Lotus make a charge and it's a 5 team race at the front. One can always hope. :biggrin:
 
I'm curious as to what you guys figure is the peak F1 ages for drivers.What makes the older guys slower?Is it declining fast twitch/fear/caution .....what determines when the downward slope is reached?
 
It'll be great to see him in the cockpit again.



Mika_Hakkinen_300.jpg
 
Re: Many variables, but..........

I'm curious as to what you guys figure is the peak F1 ages for drivers.What makes the older guys slower?Is it declining fast twitch/fear/caution .....what determines when the downward slope is reached?
Doc, coming from you, this is probably a trick question, but I'll just throw something on the wall and see what sticks here.

I think it's safe to say that in the most obvious physical (reflexes) ways, it's all down hill after the very early 20's. But equally or more importantly, the mental dexterity becomes an issue. Equipment gets more complex each year and mastering controls becomes more difficult. Steering wheels, as the obvious example, have become more like computer games that 14 year olds excell at. How these guys turn the right little knobs with gloves on at 200 mph is amaziing.

Also on the physical side, the testasterone level (which affects risk tolerance) peaks around 18-20, does it not? Normal decline of that has a some effect surely.

Beyond that, it's all about the mental which can vary tremendously from one individual to another. Parker Johnstone is a good example of how the brain was bigger than the balls; he was an excellent technical driver doing well. Then he got into the mix with the Paul Tracys and other CART studs and he simply realized he didn't have the balls (or stupidity) to compete with those guys. He was smart enough to take Dirty Harry's advice: "A man's got to know his limitations."
 
All good thoughts Ted...and no no tricks...I know the physical and mental physiology,it would be great to be able to form a specific test or measurement device to quantify all this.I'm sure there is work being done with fmri,but to my knowledge I really don't know specificly if this has been adressed.If anyone knows of some links let us know.
 
Re: The biggest unknown

I think is the driver's resolve or mental toughness.

I'm sure a psychologist spending days interviewing different F-1 drivers would develop some opinions on each relative to the others. But I can't imagine any standardized ways to objectively measure that for, say, evaluating a class of young up and coming drivers.
 
From the F1 site.

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has published the current 2012 championship entry list. As already confirmed, three constructors change their names next season - Renault become Lotus, Lotus become Caterham, and Virgin become Marussia.

Five teams have yet to finalise their driver line-ups, with Marussia’s Charles Pic the only rookie confirmed so far. Despite having been announced by HRT, Spanish veteran Pedro de la Rosa is absent from the list, and the team - who ran Cosworth power this year and last - have no engine supplier listed.

Red Bull Racing Renault
1 Sebastian Vettel (DEU)
2 Mark Webber (AUS)

McLaren Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (GBR)
4 Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso (ESP)
6 Felipe Massa (BRA)

Mercedes
7 Michael Schumacher (DEU)
8 Nico Rosberg (DEU)

Lotus Renault
9 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)
10 TBA

Force India Mercedes
11 TBA
12 TBA

Sauber Ferrari
14 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)
15 Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX)

STR Ferrari
16 TBA
17 TBA

Williams Renault
18 TBA
19 TBA

Caterham Renault
20 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)
21 Jarno Trulli (ITA)

HRT/TBA
22 TBA
23 TBA

Marussia Cosworth
24 Timo Glock (DEU)
25 Charles Pic (FRA)

For tickets and travel to 2011/12 Formula One races, click here.
For Formula One and F1 team merchandise, click here.
 
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