2012 Predictions / Driver Line-up / News etc...

Thanks Forza. I admit that I'd overlooked the wide-ranging, general nature of this thread. It just didn't seem 'F1' to me.

Those cars are pretty but as for Ferrari P.R. and their advertising: well I'll shepherd in my own vaguely related red Sky and wish for a beautiful day tomorrow…

I fell out with Ferrari long ago and publicly declared I would never buy another of their admittedly beautiful (especially recently) products. Similarly, when Sky announced their F1 plan, I cancelled my contract and told them not to bother me again (a request they have persistently ignored) at the first opportunity. As far as I am concerned, Ferrari can go and sit in a Sky dish and they can happily interfere with each other!

 

Looks like Adrian Sutil is to stand trial for his nightclub incident with Eric Lux in China. I think he already took himself out of the frame at Williams because he only wanted a 1 year contract, but this certainly could mean that no team would touch him at the moment.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/16544865.stm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Looks like Senna is going to replace Rubens.

 

I'm still holding my breath on this one.

However, I cannot ignore the way Senna presented himself in an interview at the final race, and his home Grand Prix: Sao Paulo. There was a hint of 'knowing' he was safe rather than 'hoping'. Maybe it was a body-language thing but I certainly got the impression that at least he believed he was not out of F1…

 

I hope it's Senna, I'd like to see what he can do in a car for a full season, as Cosi says he's a bit untidy, but he's still fast. If he tidies up how fast will he be? He finally has a chance to show if he can do it or not after 2 seasons of half chances. I feel a bit sorry for Sutil though, another fairly decent German driver possibly out of F1 too early (frentzen & Heidfeld)

 

Sutil would be the better driver - I hope no-one disputes this - but it appears this court case has rather taken the decision out of Williams' hands. Also, I doubt they're going to turn down Senna's money. This is his make-or-break year. Personally I think he is a good driver, but only midfield standard at best, so he is not a long-term solution.

Is it unfortunate for Barichello? I'm going to say no. Neither he, Schumacher nor de la Rosa deserve to still be on the grid in my opinion. In particular, note that Barichello's experience was supposed to help develop the car. Instead, Williams went backwards.
I do wish he'd had the chance to have a farewell GP, but that's the way it goes.

 

Onnicorse are saying that Ferrari failed the crash tests for the second attempt.

http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/14588/f1-la-ferrari-non-supera-di-nuovo-il-crash-test-laterale

Very puzzling. I thought they'd passed it already.

 

Surely it's up to the engineers and designers to interpret his feedback and apply it? For example, you could watch a blu ray but if it's going though an arse TV then you won't see the benefits, no? Murray Walker made an interesting point at some point last year saying that if you have a proven race winner with 19 years experience and a rookie both scoring roughly the same amount of points in the same car, something has to be up with the car.

Going back to Senna, I would imagine that if he does indeed get the Williams drive and still manages to be erratic in his performances, he'll end up going to Le Man or somesuch.

 

Does it say why they're failing? Frontal or side impact tests? They have got that weird nose, and they may be trying L/U side pods... guessing.

 

I think it was the side impact but I'm not 100% sure. The article has been removed now for some reason so I can't check. I heard they passed the crash test on Wednesday - and I trust that source A LOT more than onmicorse. We can't know for sure, but I'm almost certain they wont have U-shaped sidepods.

 

Then Barichello should go into testing. But as a racing driver, beating Maldonado is hardly an achievement and I think fresh blood is needed at Williams.

 

Piola in La Gazzetta confirms that Ferrari did pass the crash test.

http://i44.tinypic.com/20h51tl.png

(End of first paragraph: "Intanto la nuova scocca, come comunica la Ferrari, ha superato il crash test.")

 

Strange.

 

I agree that Rubens isn't in any way to blame for Williams poor season, but his experience and technical knowledge was supposed to compensate for his lack of pace. Williams maybe feel his technical feedback wasn't good enough, and with him and Pastor going in different directions career wise you'd expect PM to be better this season, as well as bringing a stack of money to the team.

 

That is odd, probably five or so will be google "search drone" and then maybe a few others. I'd still say at least 20 are actual guests, ghost members come say hello

 

Only two now. I must have driven all the ghosts away.

[video=youtube;KvkKX035484]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvkKX035484[/video]

 

Hmm, I wonder if Andrew Benson walks his dog near the same tree.

 

It's a fair bet…

 

I think it 95% Senna's now.

 

If Senna gets it then he's going to have to give Mald a good beating to make a point. Will be his 3rd year in the sport and he needs to secure his place there.