2012 Formula One Season - Round 1 - Australian Grand Prix (16-18 March)

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2012 Formula One World Championship - Round One - Australian Grand Prix (16-18 January 2012)

After nearly 4 months without any Formula 1 racing action the 2012 season is about to get underway with the traditional season opener at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. As usual here is Mark Webber's lap of the track:

[youtube]ZZMsc5WoOeA[/youtube]

2012 Teams and drivers:

Red Bull Racing - 1 Sebastian Vettel/2 Mark Webber

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 3 Jenson Button/4 Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari - 5 Fernando Alonso/6 Felipe Massa

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team - 7 Michael Schumacher/8 Nico Rosberg

There are no driver changes in the top four teams, although McLaren have swapped driver numbers for Button and Hamilton as a result of Button finishing 2nd in the 2011 drivers championship.

Lotus F1 Team - 9 Kimi Raikkonen/10 Romain Grosjean

Lotus F1 (previously Lotus Renault) have completely revamped their driver lineup with Heidfeld, Senna and Petrov no longer with the team. Raikkonen returns to Formula 1 after his Ferrari contract inspired exile.

Sahara Force India F1 Team - 11 Paul di Resta/12 Nico Hulkenberg

Hulkenberg replaces Adrian Sutil at Force India

Sauber F1 Team - 14 Kamui Kobayashi/15 Sergio Pérez

No changes at Sauber

Scuderia Toro Rosso - 16 Daniel Ricciardo/17 Jean-Éric Vergne

Like Lotus, Toro Rosso have two new drivers after dumping Buemi and Alguersuari

Williams F1 Team - 18 Pastor Maldonado/19 Bruno Senna

Senna replaces Barichello at Williams and the car is now Renault powered (previously Cosworth)

Caterham F1 Team - 20 Heikki Kovalainen/21 Vitaly Petrov

Petrov comes in for Trulli at Caterham (previously Team Lotus). The Caterham car has KERS this year.

HRT F1 Team - 22 Narain Karthikeyan/23 Pedro de la Rosa

Pedro De La Rosa replaces Liuzzi at HRT. The car is rumoured to have KERS at some stage during the year, but will start without KERS.

Marussia F1 Team - 24 Timo Glock/25 Charles Pic

Charles Pic replaces d'Ambrosio at Marussia (previously Marussia Virgin).

The rookie drivers this year are Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso) and Charles Pic (Marussia)

Last Year

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull were in a class of their own in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, his 0.8 second advantage over Hamilton was an early marker for what was to become a dominating first half of the season for the German. Webber disappointed in third in a car that was clearly way ahead of the rest. After a disappointing testing campaign the McLarens returned to form with some hasty modifications to the rear of the car. The McLarens changes were so new the team did not have enough time to make them from carbon fibre and they were fabricated in titanium instead. Further down the grid Schumacher failed to make it into Q3 and at the back of the pack the HRTs failed to make the grid with a car that had failed to turn a wheel during any of the 2011 pre-season testing days.

1 Sebastian Vettel 1:23.529
2 Lewis Hamilton 1:24.307
3 Mark Webber 1:24.395
4 Jenson Button 1:24.779
5 Fernando Alonso 1:24.974
6 Vitaly Petrov 1:25.247
7 Nico Rosberg 1:25.421
8 Felipe Massa 1:25.599
9 Kamui Kobayashi 1:25.626
10 Sebastien Buemi 1:27.066
11 Michael Schumacher
12 Jaime Alguersuari
13 Sergio Pérez
14 Paul di Resta
15 Pastor Maldonado
16 Adrian Sutil
17 Rubens Barrichello
18 Nick Heidfeld
19 Heikki Kovalainen
20 Jarno Trulli
21 Timo Glock
22 Jérôme d'Ambrosio
107% time: 1:31.267
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:32.978
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:34.293

Race

The main question before the start of the 2011 race was whether or not the Red Bulls had KERS or not. Although Vettel had easily qualified in position one it was uncertain whether he had used KERS during qualifying. As the race unfolded it was clear that Vettel in the lead could hold position without KERS and therefore the race came down to tyre strategy. After the race it was revealed that Red Bull had not fitted KERS to either car for qualifying or the race. Vettel, Hamilton and Petrov all went for a two stop strategy and duly ended up on the podium. Webber and Alonso pitted three times and finished 4th and 5th. The one stopping Saubers of Perez and Kobayashi finshed the race in 6th and 7th position but the team was subsequently disqualified due the a rear wing infringement which promoted Button and Massa, who had had an absorbing duel during the race, into 6th and 7th.

1 Sebastian Vettel 1:29:30.259
2 Lewis Hamilton +22.297
3 Vitaly Petrov +30.560
4 Fernando Alonso +31.772
5 Mark Webber +38.171
6 Jenson Button +54.304
7 Felipe Massa +1:25.186
8 Sébastien Buemi +1 Lap
9 Adrian Sutil +1 Lap
10 Paul di Resta +1 Lap
11 Jaime Alguersuari +1 Lap
12 Nick Heidfeld +1 Lap
13 Jarno Trulli +2 Laps
14 Jérôme d'Ambrosio +4 Laps
Not classified Timo Glock
Retired Rubens Barrichello
Retired Nico Rosberg
Retired Heikki Kovalainen
Retired Michael Schumacher
Retired Pastor Maldonado
Disqualified Sergio Pérez
Disqualified Kamui Kobayashi

The tyre choices at the Australian Grand Prix are the medium and soft compounds. Last year the choice was between the hard and soft and, as a result, the difference in performance between the two tyres should be smaller. This could have an important effect on the grid with the teams at the back of the grid not getting the performance boost that they got last year during qualifying. This means that some of the back markers may struggle to make the 107% time.

Significant 2012 Rule Changes

The most visible change to the 2012 cars is as a result of changes to the height of the nose of the car. The nose height has been reduced to 55 cm from 62.5 centimetres (24.6 in) above the ground to minimise the risk of driver injury in a side impact scenario. The noses were becoming higher than the mandatory head protection around the cockpit, in some areas this is as low as 55cm. It was possible that a high nose tip could easily pass over this area and strike the driver.

Exhaust blown diffusers are banned in 2012. The exhausts must now sit in small allowable area, too high and far forward to direct the exhausts towards the diffuser. The exhausts must feature just two exits and no other openings in or out are allowed. The final 10cm of the exhaust must point rearwards and slightly up (between 10-30 degrees). Allied to the exhaust position, the system of using the engine to continue driving exhaust when the driver is off the throttle pedal has also been outlawed. Last year teams kept the engine throttles opened even when the driver lifted off the throttle for a corner.

Pre-season testing.

All teams have had the opportunity to test their 2012 cars over 12 days of testing at Jerez (4 days) and Barcelona (2 x 4 day sessions). Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Toro Rosso, Sauber, Force India, Caterham and Williams have all tested on each available test day. Lotus found a chassis problem at the 2nd test session and missed the majority of that test opportunity whereas Mercedes waited until Barcelona to debut their new car. HRT and Marussia did no testing at all and launched their 2012 cars at the start of this week. Launching at a "media" day does not allow any meaningfull testing apart from system checks.

There has been no clear winner during pre-season testing and the lap times have been relatively close, although tyre choice and fuel loads can make the times pretty meaningless. Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Lotus have all appeared strong and at this stage appear to be the favourites going into the first race of the year. The radical 2012 Ferrari looks like it has potential, but the team has downplayed their chances leading into Melbourne.
 
ManWithNoName said:
What? Have you not been following testing? The Ferrari's rubbish.
Click to expand...

Every session, every possible write up. I didn't say the Ferrari was good, as you may have noticed I didn't have them in the top four teams. Don't ever count out Ferrari as they'll always find the budget to develop during the year. I would agree with you though, the Ferrari pre-season was rubbish.
 

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Is it sad that seeing the preview thread with Mark Webber's track video is kind of exciting :p

Can not wait for P1. I'm blowing off everything to be there.
 
Anyone think Ricciardo can pull off a top ten finish on debut for Torro Rosso and the Australian F1 GP? I think that would be a dream start. No doubt he needs everything to go right but i reckon he will be able to showcase his real talent in a car with some genuine pace.
 
Very pumped for this. Got 4 day grandstand tickets so hopefully I'll be going to all 4 days. The dream would be Webber win/Ricciardo top 5. But I'd still be very happy with a Webber podium.
 
Dockersman said:
Anyone think Ricciardo can pull off a top ten finish on debut for Torro Rosso and the Australian F1 GP? I think that would be a dream start. No doubt he needs everything to go right but i reckon he will be able to showcase his real talent in a car with some genuine pace.
Click to expand...

The midfield battle is going to be even greater this year and it's difficult to know which team is currently at the head of the pack. I have a suspicion that Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso will be pretty evenly matched. Exactly where Caterham and Williams are in relation to those three teams is currently unkown, but they could spring a surprise in Melbourne.

If the assumption is that Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Lotus are at the head of the pack, with Ferrari in between them and the likes of Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso next up then you can see that the battle for a top ten position is going to be red hot.

A strong showing all year by Ricciardo is needed so that he can press for a seat at Red Bull.
 
Huge crash into turn one and Ricciardo runs it in for a maiden home GP win?

Maybe a tad optimistic, but I like it.
 
His friends call hm Rick.


Edit: On a side note, the yanks call Montoya 'Juan Montoya.'

Apparently 3 names is a bit tough for them.

Jean Vergne?
 
Herald Sun's driver profiles. First they call Lotus "The Renault Formula One team", then they have a picture of Kimi in Ferrari gear, then for the Force India profile they refer to "Delhi set to host the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011".

Let's play "Spot the newspaper who used last years article".
 
The FIA have posted a Q&A with Charlie Whiting about the 2012 rule changes at http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2012/Pages/f1-cw-qa.aspx

Q: Why has a four-hour total time limit been put on Grands Prix?
CW: Last season the race in Montreal went on for four hours and four minutes. A race really should not go on longer than that. Should four hours elapse during a future race, drivers will receive a signal telling them they have one more lap before the chequered flag.

Q: Race stewards will now be able to investigate an incident without first reporting it to the race director. Why is the system changing?
CW: In the past stewards might see something suspect and alert the race director. He would look at the incident and request the stewards investigate. It was a process that consumed a lot of time. If they identify something worth investigating, there’s nothing wrong with them taking a look and then giving the race director an opinion. It should make the process less cumbersome.

Q: Drivers are now instructed to not deliberately leave the track without good reason. Why?
CW: We’ve seen drivers taking shortcuts on in and out laps, either to save time or fuel. We could put up barriers to stop them exploiting short cuts but it usually looks stupid! The rules say the drivers should use the track. If they don’t, they will need to justify their actions.
It also follows that safety will be improved as other drivers are more likely to know that a car has left the track for a good reason.

Q: The ‘one-move’ rule on defending a position has been reinstated. Has there been a problem with dangerous blocking in the last few seasons?
CW: This isn’t really a new overtaking rule, rather we’ve put into the regulations what was an unwritten rule. A driver can make one move only to defend a position – but when that driver then moves back onto the racing line to take a corner it can be construed as a second move, which is not allowed. It’s a matter of deciding to what degree resuming the original line is acceptable. We don’t want to get into silly arguments about centimetres so we’ve decided the defending driver must leave at least one car width on the racing line otherwise he will be judged to have made a second move and penalised accordingly. We need to have drivers giving each other space on the track – otherwise we risk dangerous collisions.

Q: Previously cars needed to pass crash tests before racing. Now they have to pass before testing. Why?
CW: Safety cannot be compromised. It is indefensible to have drivers testing cars in the winter that haven’t met the safety standards we demand for a race. The teams resisted this for quite a while, telling me it would be impossible to get the crash tests done before the first test. It came as no great surprise that nearly everybody managed it.
However, as we have seen, two teams failed to pass all their crash tests in good time and were subsequently unable to participate any of the pre-season testing in Jerez and Barcelona (both of these teams have now passed all the required tests).

Q: Why are drivers now allowed more than three sets of tyres for FP1 and FP2 on Fridays?
CW: Each driver still gets eleven sets for the weekend and three still have to be given back on Friday evening and another two after FP3 on Saturday. This has not changed. We are, however, allowing teams to use more than three of their eleven sets on Fridays to give them the opportunity to do more running on the first day of practice should they wish to do so. As an example they might expect Saturday to be wet and want to get more running in beforehand on a dry track. It is to the benefit of everyone that they are allowed to run as much as they want during the Friday sessions.

Q: With the safety car on track, lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and rejoin at the back of the field. Why is F1 going back to this system?
CW: We took this rule away because it was difficult to manage and potentially dangerous. We have reinstated it with new safeguards. Drivers will only be allowed to overtake once they have all passed the pit entry twice, this will allow all drivers to pit if they want to. We will also instruct the lead drivers to stay on the racing line once the order is given to allow cars to overtake. They will be allowed to weave again, to get heat into their tyres, when we inform them it is safe to do so.

Technical regulations
Q: Why do the 2012 cars have the ‘platypus’ nose?
CW. The height of the survival cell in front of the driver was 625mm – and we wanted to reduce that to 550mm. Our intention was to ensure the nose is lower than the cockpit sides, to protect the driver’s head in the event of a ‘T-bone’ accident. Some teams complained that lowering the whole car forward of the cockpit would force them into a radical redesign. We agreed a compromise that the 550mm height would only apply from a point 1950mm in front of the rear edge of the cockpit template. This achieves the objective equally well, and without requiring the teams to fundamentally overhaul their suspension packaging. They do all look like ducks though…

Q: Measurement tolerances have been tightened. Why?
We used to measure tolerances across the flat bottom, the step and reference planes with a margin of ±5mm. The tolerances were there to allow for manufacturing discrepancies but teams were designing to the limit of the tolerances, contrary to the spirit of the rules. We have therefore reduced the allowance to ±3mm.

Q: The obligatory weight distribution rule was only supposed to run for one season. Why has the rule been continued for a second season?
CW: We had this rule last year to allow teams to begin designing their cars before they knew the characteristics of the Pirelli tyres. The teams have indicated they would like to keep the rule in place for the second year rather than make expensive wholesale changes to their cars for 2012. We have no problem with this.

Q: The size and position of exhaust exits is now specified. Why stipulate this area of the design?
CW: Our objective is to prevent teams operating a blown diffuser, which under certain circumstances infringes Article 3.15 (moveable aerodynamic device). In combination with additional constraints on engine mapping, as described in technical directive number 36 and incorporated into the SECU code, it will limit designers’ ability to exploit exhaust gases for aerodynamic effect. However teams will not unlearn the knowledge they have gained and it is quite likely this area of regulation may need to be revisited again in 2013?

Q: Why are there new dimensional constraints for suspension uprights?
CW: This is to stop uprights protruding too far from the wheels and being used, in effect, as wings.

Q: Why has helium been banned from use in wheel guns?
CW: Powering wheel-guns with compressed helium instead of compressed air saved fractions of a second during a pitstop. Now everyone is aware of this, it would have been a very expensive method of gaining no advantage.

Q: Why have active torque measuring systems been banned for wheel changes?
CW: We want the wheel gun operator to be responsible for the action. Once the torque is applied he should be making the decision to disengage. The latest torque guns show a light when the correct torque has been applied. That is as far as we want to go – we do not want any further automation.

Q: Why have the intrusion panels increased in size?
CW: The panels were installed 100mm-500mm above the reference plane, they are now 100mm-550mm about the plane. The forward one was 400mm high and is now 450mm high. This change should improve driver safety in the event of a T-bone accident.

Q: How and why have the tests for front wing deflection changed?
CW: The rules state the wings (as well as all other parts of the bodywork) must be rigid. We have halved the permitted deflection. Previously the wing was tested with a 1kN load and allowed to deflect 20mm. As a result of this the teams were testing wings until they found a design that deflected 19.9mm under a 1kN load. Our allowances are only a guideline for us and we felt the teams were operating outside the spirit of the rules and clearly designing their wings with flexibility in mind. In our view Article 3.15 takes precedence over Article 3.17 where the deflection limits are quantified. Article 3.17.8 allows us to introduce new tests if we feel our guidelines are not being following in an appropriate manner. The new test therefore moves the pressure point rearwards by 10mm and inboard by 5mm with the permitted deflection reduced to 10mm. We have also told the teams that we may apply the load to just one side of the front wing, an asymmetrical test.

Q: There has been a technical directive on the subject of ride height systems. Why have these been banned?
CW: The systems in question used braking torque to affect ride height changes. If these changes are made primarily for aerodynamic benefit they would be illegal under Article 3.15.

Q: Finally, there were some additions to the regulations ratified by the F1 Commission at the World Motor Sport Council on 9 March. Can you expand on those?
CW: The changes weren’t substantial and the amendments were in three areas: firstly, we decided that one set of dry weather tyres can now be carried over to Saturday if both Friday practice sessions are declared wet. The reason for that is simply to give the teams the opportunity to run more laps on Saturday; we also decided that we would clarify things with regard to DRS use so that we can prohibit the use of the adjustable rear wing if we feel that visibility is too poor in wet conditions. We did that on safety grounds because of concerns about the speed differential between cars. Finally, we just clarified things with regard to the curfew works to make sure that rest periods remain constant throughout the season, irrespective of the timing of practice sessions at some events.
Click to expand...

One that I wasn't aware of was the change to the front wing deflection test. Whether or not these changes have caused a major redesign to the Red Bull front wing (and all who have copied the concept) is unknown.
 

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ManWithNoName said:
Herald Sun's driver profiles. First they call Lotus "The Renault Formula One team", then they have a picture of Kimi in Ferrari gear, then for the Force India profile they refer to "Delhi set to host the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011".

Let's play "Spot the newspaper who used last years article".
Click to expand...

The work experience kid must of done it or someone who knows nothing about motor racing.
 
Coverage on ONE on Friday for Practice sessions 1+2 and simulcast on 10 and ONE on Saturday/Sunday. Anyone want to take a bet on if HRT and/or Marussia (Virgin) will make the race given their lack of testing time?


In support category land, no celebrity race this year again and V8's are trialling an eliminator format (3 cars dropping out of the race at a determined lap).......
 
Could rain throw the cat amongst the pidgeons this weekend???

Melbourne Forecast

Friday 16 March - Min 17, Max 22
Cloudy. Areas of rain, easing to isolated showers during the afternoon. The chance of thunderstorms until late afternoon. Winds north to northwesterly averaging up to 30 km/h tending southwesterly up to 25 km/h around dawn.

Saturday 17 March - Min 13, Max 22
Partly cloudy. Isolated showers, mainly about the southern and eastern suburbs. Winds southwesterly averaging up to 20 km/h.

Sunday 18 March - Min 15, Max 22
Partly cloudy. Isolated showers during the morning. Winds southerly and light tending south to southeasterly up to 25 km/h during the morning.
 
I reckon the race should be a dry affair but qualifying could be very interesting. May get the situation where there's a drying track and it comes down to who's on track at the right time. I'm going down to all 4 days. Hopefully get to meet some drivers and do the pit lane walk tomorrow.
 
OzBomber said:
Herald Sun trying to make readers pay to watch Webber's track preview.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...with-mark-webber/story-e6frf9if-1226299239885

What utter ****wits charging people for stuff you can get for free.
Click to expand...

even worse... you gotta pay to read this article which is completely false....
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/g...-senna-to-ignore/story-fn7q3txe-1226299758842

BRUNO Senna will never forget the smile on his uncle's face, as they rolled him back into pit-lane after scoring a heroic home-town pole at the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Bruno was just 10 and his uncle Ayrton, who had carved out one of the most famous career's in world sport, was dead just 34 days later.

Senna never won in Brazil in 94, he won in Adelaide in 93, his final race win, I was there too.

MORONS.

And to further prove the stupidity, you can read the article on their sister site...
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport...-senna-to-ignore/story-fn7qiwqj-1226299758842
 
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