The Official 2012 F1 Thread. Spoilers possible!

[Codewheeney]

Austin back on!

[Clem Kevin]

Originally Posted by Codewheeney

Austin back on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_DPrSEOEo

[shrineclown]

They are on top of it too, I got an e-mail this morning from COTA that all was going forward.

[g®eg]

Petrov is out

Romain Grosjean says he is unfazed about the prospect of going up against Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus Renault next year, reckoning it is he who will have the edge in understanding Pirelli's Formula 1 tires. The Frenchman was confirmed on Friday as the team's second driver for 2012, with the team having announced immediately after the Brazilian Grand Prix that Raikkonen would be joining it. Although that means Grosjean will face tough internal competition, he says that it will be no bigger a challenge than when he raced alongside Fernando Alonso for the latter stages of 2009.
"After Fernando Alonso it is Kimi Raikkonen, so I am getting used to having a World Champion alongside me," explained Grosjean. "I think it is a chance because they are really good drivers, [but] they are more than that. You can learn a lot from them but, on the other hand, your first benchmark is your teammate, so if you manage to get to their level, then it is very good for you."
Grosjean believes that there will be plenty to gain by understanding how Raikkonen operates, but he also does not think that the transfer of knowledge will be one way inside the team.
"From Kimi, I have plenty of things to learn for sure," he said. "He is a great champion and a very good driver, as everybody knows. But maybe I can teach him something about the Pirelli tires that he never drove, except in rally cars. The F1 tires are a little bit different, and it will be a good deal for next year. I am sure we will get on well together and I will learn a lot from him, so let's see."
After failing to impress during his brief F1 adventure in 2009, Grosjean believes he is returning to grand prix racing a much better driver after capturing the GP2 crown this year.
"Romain Grosjean is for sure different from the end of 2009, when I could not get a seat for the following year for Formula 1," he said. "I had no seat in any categories until mid-April, and I think it helped me to realize that the place I enjoy the most everywhere around is an F1 car.
"Sometimes when you lose something that you really like, you realize it is more than you [just] like it – it is vital for you. I have been working very, very hard in these two years to improve myself, my driving and my feedback to the team and improving everything I can to make it again to F1. Today, I am so pleased it works and finally I can get back to a race driver seat."

This article originally appeared in Autosport.com

[Clem Kevin]

[FreeTheBeast]

I've got to paint a new fairing for my R80ST. I thought the silver paint and the red decals were a little reminiscent of McLaren, so I figured I'll go a little bit further.



New fairing and a vague idea of the paint scheme (fairing is still primer color):


I may have my paint guy also put black under the red for better accent. There is an edge to the fairing there that creates the impression of a windscreen.

McLaren's nose:

[wxwax]

Nice job!

Re: Grosjean, I suspect he will be no better than the Petrovs, Sennas and Piqets Jr. who have gone through their mill.

[Clem Kevin]

Originally Posted by wxwax

Nice job!

Re: Grosjean, I suspect he will be no better than the Petrovs, Sennas and Piqets Jr. who have gone through their mill.

I'm kind of in disbelief that they would bring someone back who had done so poorly, but.... he is french.

[shrineclown]

Originally Posted by wxwax

Nice job!

Re: Grosjean, I suspect he will be no better than the Petrovs, Sennas and Piqets Jr. who have gone through their mill.

Little Piquet is doing nicely with his new job.

[g®eg]

Originally Posted by wxwax

Nice job!

Re: Grosjean, I suspect he will be no better than the Petrovs, Sennas and Piqets Jr. who have gone through their mill.

oh I dunno.. depending on your inclination Petrov did a nice job of ruining Alonso's chance at the WDC in 2010

yeah yeah... I know it was a full on team fuck up...

[shrineclown]

Is now available in streaming on Netflix for those interested.

[g®eg]

Originally Posted by shrineclown

Is now available in streaming on Netflix for those interested.

watched it the other night...
it was "OK" (my opinion)
watched fastest Sunday night, and closer to the edge last night.
I think I have filled up on racing documentaries this week.

re: racing in the 80's. I think the cars were a lot cooler to watch back then.

[shrineclown]

Originally Posted by g®eg

re: racing in the 80's. I think the cars were a lot cooler to watch back then.

+1

Time does not stand in the way of progress though. More is less?

I don't think Prost got treated any worse than the whiny beatch he was at the time. I thought Senna was robbed, at the time, of that championship and I still do. The FIA is where and Prost is from where? If it was a slam dunk decision, the stewards would have made it long before the race terminated.

They still hate Ron Dennis and his drivers...............

[wxwax]

Originally Posted by g®eg

re: racing in the 80's. I think the cars were a lot cooler to watch back then.

Oh yeah, I agree completely. I thought the best thing about Senna was the vintage racing video.

[JNRobert]

Originally Posted by g®eg

it was "OK" (my opinion)

Yep, pretty much my feelings. It was (as someone else said) a hagiography to Senna and I think Prost was treated a little shabbily. It does make you realize how much safer F1 is now (and we thought it was safer in Senna's time compared to the 60 and 70's).

That active suspension Williams was very cool though and I imagine Senna must have regretted leaving McLaren when they changed the rules the year he switched.

Interesting to see just how contentious the drivers meetings could be and the lack of thought behind so much of what went on (has that improved?).

I couldn't help feeling that with the deaths (and even the big crashes they showed) that the film was being a little fetishistic (morbid even). It certainly made the sport look silly (in the sense of trivial). A little more insight into the technical would have added weight, imho. YMMV