Official Formula 1 2012 thread

[u3b3rg33k]

I hear that the Bittorrent Broadcasting Company airs F1 a few hours after it airs on speed...

[Philo]

I always download them from a torrent file. "No commercials, no mercy!"

[eskimo810]

Sooo....where, online, can I watch races? My parents house doesn't have SPEED...

ಠ_ಠ

Yeah, they're usually up on your torrent website of choice within a day. I'm usually way too lazy to get up at like 4 in the morning for the race.

Same fore qualifying.

[z31maniac]

Great race but tires are playing way to big of a role imho. Also, the ferrari is no dog. Yes alonso is driving well, but it is pretty clear massa is way under performing, rather then the car being bad. Watching alonso his knuckles are pretty damned steady, not like he is fighting the car. Very pissed Schumi went out, even more pissed he got a 5 spot penalty for monanco. Senna clearly flinched left then moved right.... Pastor drove a flawless race and the williams team did a pretty good job, one reasonably slow stop but overall they performed well espc considering the pressure.

McLaren wtf. Never seen a team give away so many points....confounding

1. The tires are great, you're obviously a schumi fan.
2. Yep, you are. Senna did move both directions, no doubt, but it's not like he changed position much.......a few feet either direction. Schumi wouldn't have gotten by either way. He should have made a definitive move one way or the other and tried to get him on the brakes.

[naplesE30]

1. The tires are great, you're obviously a schumi fan.
2. Yep, you are. Senna did move both directions, no doubt, but it's not like he changed position much.......a few feet either direction. Schumi wouldn't have gotten by either way. He should have made a definitive move one way or the other and tried to get him on the brakes.

I am a schumi fan now,until kubica returns (fingers crossed) not in the ferrari days... I was more of a mika guy.... I never said the penalty for him wasnt fair, but I am pissed. More of a racing incedent imo but I can see how the penalty is justified..... although I think senna was at fault as well. Kinda like when you are walking past someone and they fake one way and then you both go the same way. Thats at like 4mph and it crosses you both up. He def would have passed him, senna was already braking and conceeded the position, he admitted as much, but oh well.

I am for an f1 that is about pure outright speed. One of the things that always amazed me about f1 is the concentration level it takes to be on the absolute limit for the course of a race.... Flat out. With the new tires it def takes that away. Its now more about entertaing, i get why, but I disagree with it. Yes the racing is good, if you like a crap shoot in some respects. I prefer the f1 that showcases sepremecy in engineering and ultimate pace, not tire management to this extreme and tire longevity. No longer does it take as skilled a driver as cars are no longer pushed to their limit. Thats my opinion and it happens to coincide with Schumi's as well as some other purists. However, we are prob in the minority.

[Ferdinand]

I think senna was at fault as well. Kinda like when you are walking past someone and they fake one way and then you both go the same way.

I still think swerving of any sort to block a pass should be banned. Pick your line and stick to it. It's the overtaking driver who is responsible for pulling off a safe pass.

Senna chose the middle of the track. Schumacher with much higher speed chose to go to the outside. That would have worked fine, except Senna (legally) then moved left to block. Schumacher changed his mind and went to the inside, but was surprised when Senna braked much earlier than expected and also started to turn into the corner. From there on it was a racing incident, but the initial cause was Senna's (legal) blocking feint to the left.

I think it's interesting that it involved these two drivers though, since it was uncle Ayrton who first introduced such aggressive blocking to F1, and Michael Schumacher who then raised it to ridiculously dangerous levels. Now it's such a commonplace maneuver that even Rosberg's moves in the previous race are considered normal and legal and thus went unpunished.

I am for an f1 that is about pure outright speed. [...] I prefer the f1 that showcases supremacy in engineering and ultimate pace, not tire management to this extreme and tire longevity. No longer does it take as skilled a driver as cars are no longer pushed to their limit. Thats my opinion and it happens to coincide with Schumi's as well as some other purists. However, we are prob in the minority.

I don't think F1 has ever been about pure outright speed, flat out over the entire length of the race. Tires, brakes, fuel, gearbox, and engine conservation as well as driver stamina has always played a role.

Back in the good old days, there were no pit stops. Cars were fueled to run the distance. Brakes had to be used sparingly to last the distance. One missed gearshift meant an over-revved and blown engine, etc. Racing was ALL about going as fast as possible, while at the same time nursing the equipment to the finish line. There were many times when "The Professor" Alain Prost won races by being not necessarily faster than, but smarter than, Ayrton Senna.

As technology improves and the cars get faster, regulations are put in place to limit the outright performance of the cars. Back in the ground-effect days cornering loads were so high that drivers struggled to hold their feet on the pedals and were actually in danger of blacking out from the enormous g-loads. Sliding skirts sealed the underbody to the track surface, but they were prone to being damaged if abused over the curbing.

Ban sliding skirts, and force a minimum ride height. That spawned active suspension systems which allowed the car to maintain the critical ride height and aerodynamic pitch angles for optimum downforce. Ban those too.

Later regulations required stepped side-pods and a "plank" under the chassis to ensure the minimum ride height rules were not circumvented. A minimum remaining plank thickness was required to pass the post-race tech inspection. So it became a test to see who would gamble on setting ride heights lowest to gain an aerodynamic advantage without wearing the plank beyond minimum thickness.

Rules are constantly changing. F1 allowed pit-stops with refueling and unlimited tire changes. That meant, instead of one long endurance race, F1 races turned into a series of flat-out sprint races where you never really knew who was in the lead until everyone had done their final pit-stop. Winners were ultimately determined by whichever team had managed the quickest pit-stops. None of the race passes ever occurred out on the track. All of the action happened exclusively within the pit lane. Boring.

Next we have completely artificial overtaking maneuvers accomplished only by means of KERS and DRS, also boring.

Now with refueling no longer permitted, teams will deliberately under-fuel their cars to eke out a weight advantage, counting on some pace-car laps to stretch their fuel economy to the finish. Otherwise they are forced to dial back the engine tuning to stretch the fuel. They cannot run at full power for the entire distance. Fuel strategy is a big part of the game.

The most challenging aspect of F1 these days is seeing which teams, for how long, manage to squeeze the best out of their tires. I think it's the most interesting thing that's happened in years and the "racing" has certainly improved because of it.

Williams pitted Maldonado very early for new tires and it was a real nail-biter to see if he'd be able to stretch that stint to the finish without losing the lead to Alonso or Kimi.

F1 has always been about so much more than just pure outright speed. It's meant to be an endurance event with chess strategy required for making the right moves at the right times to ensure your car ends up at the front at the end of the race.

[Jean]

Surprised Pastor didn't crash on the last lap, great drive!

Kimi was driving the piss out of the car, good work as usual, amazing come back vs Michael's... and wtf Michael for running into the back of the car and then getting all butt-hurt lol.

[z31maniac]

Next we have completely artificial overtaking maneuvers accomplished only by means of KERS and DRS, also boring.

I disagree with that analysis, look at the passes on the outside of turn 1 on Sunday. The DRS didn't cause that pass, it put the driver in a position to pull off a ballsy move.

Vettel around the outside of Alonso in Monza last year? Putting two wheels off at 150+ mph..........boring?

Yes, at some of the tracks last year, they got the DRS zone wrong and cars could just go right past on the straight. The intention (which I think has been pretty good most of the time) was to get the cars close enough to make a pass under braking.

[Munich Man]

Rumors of Webber switching to Ferrari, anyone else heard of them?

[z31maniac]

Rumors of Webber switching to Ferrari, anyone else heard of them?

Unlikely.........and yes, you are weeks behind on that one.

[Thizzelle]

Yeah, they're usually up on your torrent website of choice within a day. I'm usually way too lazy to get up at like 4 in the morning for the race.

Same fore qualifying.

Lol I set my alarm for a half hour later so I can buzz through the commercials, you catch up just after the finish. It's cool when there on at 11-12 PST because then I can go to the bar and watch it while getting fucked up and hitting on girls.

[gp.plus]

Yes, at some of the tracks last year, they got the DRS zone wrong and cars could just go right past on the straight. The intention (which I think has been pretty good most of the time) was to get the cars close enough to make a pass under braking.

This, and they nailed it in Spain. The activation zone wasn't until atleast 1/4 of the way into the straight.

[YAN-3]

so this is intersting, to hear it from other drivers:

Vitaly Petrov thinks it is possible Felipe Massa will lose his Ferrari seat long before the 2012 season is over.
But Caterham's Russian driver, who moved from Renault (now Lotus) at the end of last season, does not believe reports that Ferrari could sack the struggling Brazilian imminently, such as after next weekend's Monaco grand prix.

"I don't think they'll fire Massa just now. At least not until August," Petrov is quoted by the state owned Moscow news agency Ria Novosti.

There are six races until August's month-long calendar 'summer' break.

So while Petrov thinks Massa's career is genuinely in danger, he does not agree that Ferrari is ramping up the pressure on the 30-year-old.

"I wouldn't say that Ferrari are criticising him that strongly," he said. "They're not saying he has one more chance or anything like that."


Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/11205184...#ixzz1vEtZQDzJ

[z31maniac]

Says the guy that is only good enough with millions upon millions of Russian industrial money.

F Petrov.

[GillesBigCowboy]

At Monaco I always thought that they should have some sort of alternate route that was a second or so quicker than the main route. Once open, say ten laps in, each driver is given three altroute passes to use when wanted throughout the race. Would add some excitement to the procession.
Qualifying should be good. Time for Perez and or Maldonado to step it up... The great ones have to shine here.