Cheers Genji, that article is interesting! I'm also wondering who Caterham think they can oust from Q2. Opinion from the paddock and media seems to be that Williams are at the back of the midfield, and that Caterham have closed the gap, but are still behind. If the cars were equal, I think Kovalainen is more talented than Senna or Maldo, but whether thats the case or not remains to be seen. Theres a video on the BBC website where they reckon that the tyres have a very narrow window of optimum performance in which to squeeze a quali lap. If that is the case, we may see some odd lap times early on as drivers struggle to get on top of this aspect of the tyres. If Caterham are easier on their tyres, maybe they feel this won't be such as issue, so will be able to consistently displace someone who doesn't nail the window?
This is probably Caterham doing the same. The teams are all saying their cars are better than their own cars last year. The question is whether anyone has developed better than others. Johnny Herbert's the driver steward.
Consensus according to Gary Anderson's article is that Caterham are still a couple of tenths off Williams, but that the midfield in general is going to be a lot tighter. Toro Rosso and Sauber have made a big step forward whilst Force India have made a minor one.
I hope the underlying performance of the cars is a couple of tenths, because with Caterham's stronger driving lineup that will be a really exciting battle during the ten races that the BBC are showing. I'm sure it will also be an exciting battle during the other races, but I have zero faith in the phone hackers' cousins showing it, or in the BBC including it in the highlights.
How do you mean? They'll be showing the same FOM feed during the race. They may focus on different things before and after the races, though. It'll be disappointing if the top drivers give more time to Sky than to the BBC F1 Forum after the races this year.
I imagine it'll come down to viewing figures. I'd imagine sponsors would prefer drivers to speak to whichever channel has the most viewers, to get greater brand exposure.
[video=youtube_share;ZHWsIuQZy74]http://youtu.be/ZHWsIuQZy74[/video] Sahara Force India Australian Grand Prix Insight Paul Di Resta gives us an inside view of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, talking about the race, the track, the city and the people
Last year most of the excitement came from the midfield battles and that kind of stuff is likely to be a casualty of highlights editing, unless they're really savvy at the BBC about what makes exciting viewing for the fans. It's a tough choice: do they show the big names doing not-very-much or do they show a thrill-packed battle between lesser-known drivers for 8th place?
My old man went behind my back and got Sky sports f1 on virgin media last minute. I'll try and keep an eye out with the midfield for you guys if the BBC highlights are half arsed.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/03/15/kovalainen-angry-birds-helmet-design-pictures/ Heikki is trying out a new Angry Birds helmet scheme . Why not though? Last month I got an Angry Birds birthday cake, complete with edible birds, pigs, landscape and falling rocks
Just seen this video: [video=youtube;kGx9Ycf9TTM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kGx9Ycf9TTM[/video] Anyone think the whole paranoia thing is getting a bit much? How long before teams start making cars out of material which prevents photographs?? Also, pretty sure I spied Gary Anderson with a BBC cameraman on the right hand side of the shot, so hopefully we'll be getting some decent technical analysis on the RB8 from him.
Ross Brawn says victories are "too optimistic" and Norbert Haug then says: "There is 6 cars ahead of us, very strong and have to say that I think Ferrari is not struggling like this is described right now like now, this is my judgement, this is my feeling." http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98028
Haha, Kimi is the same as ever, Daniel is surprisingly funny as is JB. I'm really buzzing too, I think I might just go into school tomorrow, hand in my Engineering Studies work and take the rest of the day off to watch the first practice.
It's good to have another Aussie in the field. Webber can be somewhat taciturn but Ricciardo seems a lot more cheery. Raikkonen just uses fewer words to say nothing than the rest of them. It'll all be over by the time I start getting ready for work but I'll be up for FP2. I'm not sure we'll get much action, though. please log in to view this image It'll be a relief to move on from the subterfuge and reverse psychology and see them let rip. HRT are struggling.
