FORMULA ONE 2012 thread...

[Katzkatz]

Hmmmmm, interesting tyre choice from Mr. Fingerman! That could give him another podium. Meanwhile, his teammate has gone for a different setup. This stirs things up.

Good show from Schumi. But will his car munch its tyres?

The McLarens look super strong. I think it is going to be a win for Lewis.

Shame about Kimi. He still could get a good result.

Even the Ferraris manged a decent spot from qualifying.

[crusto]

I loved Hamilton when he first came into the sport. He was fast and unpredictable - and showed Alonso a thing or two!
But now he's becoming more and more unlikable every time I see him. He's like a stroppy child that doesn't get his own way - last week on the podium, last week in the post race interview, last week in the top 3 interview...... Dummy out of the pram time. He should have been happy to get 3rd as it is only the start of the season.
As for his world championship - YES, he did deserve it and Massa did not.

Button on the other hand is just cool.

It could be that hes just frustrated rather than a tantrum throwing toerag, with himself more than anything. Definitely doesnt smile as much anymore.

[theantmeister]

As for his world championship - YES, he did deserve it and Massa did not.

Yeah, well, in my opinion he didn't. But then, as a Ferrari fan, I would say that!

And while I'm at it. Woohoo! Ferrari won a race!

[Katzkatz]

Wow. What a race. I think it could have been Peréz's day, but sadly he messed up. I think we have found Ferrari's new driver. Sorry Felipe. By the way Felipe: "Fernando is faster than you. Do you understand?".

A good result from the 'Red Bus of F1'! I don't think that they were expecting that. But it does goes with what Alonso said in the press, that they could still challenge for the title. I think that with these results, and maybe gaining some performance by mid season, that they could very possibly do that. Fernando again, proved why he is still the best all-rounder in F1.

Lewis shouldn't be that disappointed with 3rd. But he knows things are going to be tight. Sometimes he doesn't put up much of a fight in the race, when he is in the midfield.

Jenson had a bad race. An uncharacteristic mistake from him. I don't think that it would have been on the podium, even if he hadn't tangled with the HRT. He had too many tyre problems.

Shame about the Williams again. Poor Pastor.

Kimi returned a good result.

A good result from Bruno Senna as well.

The driver of the day has to Peréz. I wonder if the Sauber will be competitive at the other races. It looks like it is going to take 3rd or 4th in the Constructors' Championship at this rate.

[DreamcastRIP]

Vettel brands Karthikeyan a "cucumber"!

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/177966/1/k ... cials.html

(later when he spoke to the BBC he substituted "cucumber" with "idiot")

[markopoloman]

I really enjoyed that race. I dislike Alonso immensely - but would rather him win than see 'the finger' win again! I personally think Sauber wouldn't have let Perez take 1st away from the Ferrari and the message sent when he was 1 second behind made it all sound too dodgy

' Sauber’s late instruction to their driver, as he caught Fernando Alonso, telling him to ensure they finished second, aroused suspicion.
Perez was told, “Checo, be careful, we need this position, we need this position,” as he reduced Alonso’s lead from seven seconds to less than one in the closing stages of the race.

Hmmmm

Star of the race has to be Perez though - he is brilliant. PLEASE Ferrari, throw Massa in a skip on the way to China and grab Perez!

Karthikeyan is a mobile chicane. HRT are a joke. Throw them in the same skip as Massa.

[theantmeister]

I really enjoyed that race. I dislike Alonso immensely - but would rather him win than see 'the finger' win again! I personally think Sauber wouldn't have let Perez take 1st away from the Ferrari and the message sent when he was 1 second behind made it all sound too dodgy

' Sauber’s late instruction to their driver, as he caught Fernando Alonso, telling him to ensure they finished second, aroused suspicion.
Perez was told, “Checo, be careful, we need this position, we need this position,” as he reduced Alonso’s lead from seven seconds to less than one in the closing stages of the race.

Hmmmm

And so the conspiracy begins. You do realise those transmissions are delayed, right? The suspicious timing only existed on TV. Personally, I think that radio message put Perez off. What a stupid thing to tell your driver! And of course by then his tires had gone off. It was then or never and the doubt meant it would be never. Pity.

Does anyone know what happened to Vettel? Those radio messages on the last lap were hilarious.

[psj3809]

It could be that hes just frustrated rather than a tantrum throwing toerag, with himself more than anything. Definitely doesnt smile as much anymore.

I dont mind Hamilton at all, he really got me back into F1. As for not smiling or whatever, the problem is with the public is they see someone for a few minutes at an interview and then they judge them solely on that, i'm sure hours later hes with his family cracking a joke or laughing about stuff. But straight after the race his minds still in it and for a lot of sportsmen hes not the best to interview straight after a loss/frustrating race etc.

I'm actually glad he voices his opinion most of the time, too many sportsmen are 'robots' and just say the company line, i see it with football players all the time, come out with the generic replies to most questions which are boring.

[The Laird]

I used to go out with a girl who was Hamilton's second cousin or something like that, they grew up together. I got to meet him once at a family do and he was a really nice guy, not arrogant in the slightest. Bloody good laugh he was too.

[greenberet79]

But straight after the race his minds still in it and for a lot of sportsmen hes not the best to interview straight after a loss/frustrating race etc.

I hate post-event interviews. You get interviewers running around shoving cameras in peoples faces. Let them enjoy (or commiserate) the moment! We don't need instant soundbites.

24HOUR NEWS NOW NOW NOW TELL ME EVERYTHING NOW THE PEOPLE DEMAND TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL!!!!

[Katzkatz]

Does anyone know what happened to Vettel? Those radio messages on the last lap were hilarious.

I think they wanted to retire it to get a fresh gearbox for the next race.

[psj3809]

I used to go out with a girl who was Hamilton's second cousin or something like that, they grew up together. I got to meet him once at a family do and he was a really nice guy, not arrogant in the slightest. Bloody good laugh he was too.

Thats the thing with celebs. IF he had a bad day that day and you met him and he was the opposite and slightly off with you, then you go back and moan to your mates 'met Lewis Hamilton, right muppet....', they then pass that on to other people 'my friend met lewis hamilton, said he was rude as anything....' and its like chinese whispers. Hamilton could be nice 95% of the time but if you meet him on an off day then you'll have that opinion of him forever which is wrong.

I dont know the guy from Adam, seen him in interviews but whether hes rude or not in interviews i still dont know the bloke to really judge him. Just know hes a great racing driver and its brilliant having Button/Hamilton racing at this moment in time, dont really care how he comes across in interviews

[theantmeister]

Hamilton's personality doesn't enter into it for me. The reason I say he didn't deserve his title is the simple fact that he landed right at the top of the tree in F1 in his first season. There are many, many drivers on the grid today and in the past that, given that chance, would have done exactly what Lewis did to win the title. Imagine what Kubica could have done in that car. Imagine what Vettel could have done in that car!

To be fair, times have been tough for Hamilton in the past few seasons and I think actually now, if he won this years' title, I would absolutely agree he deserves it. Mind you, it isn't helping that he still sulks and blames the car.

[psj3809]

Yeah but you could say that about lots of winning drivers and their car, Vettel or Button. Look at Vettel last year when for the first 8 or so races he looked unbeatable in that car, put another driver in and they might be the same. Same for Button, i like any UK driver but the car he had that year (2009) was far superior it seemed to all the others. Looking at wikipedia it mentioned he had the 2nd highest number of races before winning the championship, so despite drivers having skill its obviously always down to the car as well.

I thought Sky had a good idea when they had that championship where i think every driver had the same car so it was down to the drivers skills not the constructor (often with the most money).

Again i dont really mind, just glad we have two excellent GB drivers in F1

[DreamcastRIP]

... The reason I say he didn't deserve his title is the simple fact that he landed right at the top of the tree in F1 in his first season...

... and proceeded to finish above his reigning double world championship winning teammate in his rookie F1 season.