F1 2012

[freddy]

With just hours to go before the action kicks off in Melbourne, I think it's time we get the F1 thread for 2012 started!

What can we expect from this season, will it be another year of RedBull domination? Or will the other "big teams" Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes be faster from the start? Can even Lotus get mixed in with the top teams?

From the testing, we don't know anything I guess, RedBull look strong as ever and McLaren is supposedly close. Mercedes is also said to be fast, especially over longer stints. Ferrari, with their radical new car has had problems, but you never know. Lotus has showed promising speed, but is it just attractive "sponsor" times or true speed. Personally, I would really like Kimi to have a good car this year and show every doubter that he's quick as few.

The middle field also looks very tight this year. Who's going to be the surprise of the year and can Caterham mix it up with the other teams?

What about the new noses? McLaren is the only one with a decent looking one, the others just look plain ugly. But as with the narrow rear wings, we'll be used to them soon enough.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the weekend develops, I even read something about rain and that can make things even more interesting.

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[el chuy]

oh buddy! i loves me some f1!!!

i hate vettel. his haircut looks like a mike brady hair helmet circa 1971.. and i hate dudes that win all the time. unless its my dude of course.. haha! seriously though. there is something about vettel that just rubs me the wrong way.

ferrari never show their hand.. not in practice, and certainly not in preseason testing. they will be stronger than anyone gives them credit for.. totally sandbagging right now. at least im hoping so.. alonso is one of my faves. massa will be luck to keep his seat all season.

mclaren will be fast.. im curious to see who has the red t-bar this season.. button deserves to be the #1 driver there.. he kicked the crap out of hamilton all season. maybe hamilton will be back strong now that the whole girlfriend drama thing has blown over..

also curious about who #1 will be at mercedes.. shumacher doesnt deserve to be top dog there.. rosberg whooped his ass soundly 2 years running. hes my pick for 'sleeper podium contender' this year.. wouldnt surprise me to see him pick up a win this year either. hopefully shumacher goes back to retirement.. i hate that dude more than i hate vettel. dirty driving butthole!

everyone says raikkonen looks pretty quick, and im also going to pick kobyashi to surprise some people this year.. im also picking force india to be 'best of the rest'.. i think they can legitimately challenge lotus (but still renault to me.. haha). watch for diresta to have a breakthrough season.. rumor has it that mercedes is eyeing him to replace shumi

[Mike @ pit b]

Not expecting much out of Ferrari. They even admitted their car isn't up to par when they were testing in Jerez.

All the cars look fugly with the goofy nose except for the McLaren.

Should be a good season.

[Mumzy]

I think everyone is wearing a poker face right now. By the time the checkered flag drops all hands will be shown.

I don't think Ferrari is as bad as they say they are.

[freddy]

Watched FP2 today, which was struck with bad weather, making any assumptions about speed hard to make. But Force India with Hulkenberg looked very good, I hope they can cause some trouble for the big teams. Looking forward to Q tomorrow where the true speed will be evident, no more rain I think.

[freddy]

Very good qualifying session today. Alonso wasn't happy when they wouldn't give him a push to get going again after his spin, and Ferrari as a team can't be very happy either. Grosjean and Lotus was all smiles though, except for Kimi I guess, reportedly he thought he had time for another lap. McLaren looks very good and Mercedes also, RedBull didn't get it right this first race. This can be a very good season.

[harleys dad]

Just read that Eric bohoo from Lotus is going to protest Mercs wing. I will say I bet Shumacker kicks rosbergs behind this year as he will NOT be driving a Jenson Button inspired car as he has had to suffer with the last 2 years, and besides Shumackers race pace is so much better than Rosbergs and he finally has a car under him that suits his driving style. Rosberg folds like a lawn chair if even hinting of being in front. Ferrari needs a fork put in them already, Alonso looked like a 2 year old after going into the gravel(1000 percent his fault) and Massa will be racing against HRT all year at the pace he is driving and Redbull and more so Vettel is in complete panic with OUT the blown defuser and sitting 6th on the grid looks for a very long day for Vettel as he will have to race which he does not do well when NOT starting on pole, I am stoked to watch Vettel and Webber strugle and get there butt kicked hard

[el chuy]

im mixed.. im a big alonso fan, a big jenson button fan (not hamilton so much), and a rosberg fan just because i cant stand schumi.. haha! im sad for ferarri.. that thing looked terrible. worse than terrible really... should be interesting to see them try and rebound.. massa shouldve gotten the axe at the end of last season. hate to say it, but he hasnt been right since he took a spring to the face in hungary. im a little disappointed with the force india guys.. i have been a fan of theirs for a while.. cheering for the underdog.. you know. thought diresta would look better than he did. really expected those guys to be close to bringing it to the big 4, but not this year.. really surprised with the saubers and williams's's's though. kinda eerie to see a senna in a williams. heres hoping for a happier ending this time..

that mercedes rear wing absolutely needs to be protested. its a driver operated aero device, and that makes it illegal.

call me a weirdo, but im happy the red bulls are a touch slow. watching vettel win every week got old fast. and just for the record, it wasnt boring when button was winning every week in a brawn. hahaha!!

[harleys dad]

I am glad we did not have to look at Vettels finger

[freddy]

I'm also glad we didn't get to see Vettels finger, was a little worried there after the safety car, but Button was very quick today. He's sure worth it and it shows how important the start is.

Was a great race today with a lot of action, hope the season continues like this. Not sure how much we should read in to this first race in Melbourne, it's a pretty special track that's not used much.

Kimi did a very good race along with both Sauber drivers. Maldonado has to keep it together the whole race!

Next weekend is Malaysia.