2012 F1 in HDTV - Page 26  

looks to be about as fast as this years car...

It looks like it could use more downforce...

That's not a man's Ferrari anyway. It has a purse attached.

lol... betcha newey could make it fast...

Two words:

Danica.

Patrick.

Proof that it is not going to be Vettel paired with Alonso in 2014 like all the pundits think is a done deal. :-)

BGL

I heard she got herself unhitched recently....you might have a shot.

It is an interesting rumor about Vettel + Alonso @ Ferrari.
Both sides vehemently deny it and I am not sure those 2 could play well together.
NOW, if Newey were to leave RB.....

It's an Italian Man Purse or maybe just the steering wheel case....

That has to be considered way off topic, because it has absolutely nothing to do with Formula 1 or racing of any kind for that matter.

10-4 on the Newey thing. Any driver that would walk away from a Newey car is taking a huge gamble.

I do note that during the last final Formula 1 Debrief, they reiterated that they though Vettel was going to be in the red car in 2014.

Personally, I don't see it happening unless Alonso is elsewhere. In the modern era of F1, two roosters in the hen house rarely works.

While I am not a member of the Tiffosi, I am a huge Massa fan, and was bummed that they did not have any Massa hats in the Ferrari store. I had to settle for this:

Alonso has admitted recently he has been thinking of life after Ferrari, perhaps as a team owner.

It seems to be the case....

Considering his results since the accident, I am surprised Massa has been allowed to stay this long with the team.
If Ferrari had got better results from their #2, they could have conceivably won the Team Championship.

The fact Massa is retained for next year, makes me think Ferrari DOES have someone lined up for 2014.....Hulkenberg, Kubica, or someone else?

^^^

as much as i'd like to see KUB in the red car, it doesn't sound like he will ever see the inside of a f1 car again... very sad, he had tremendous talent...

hulkenberg would be an interesting choice... kobayashi would be as well... i'd really like to see what he could do in a top tier car...

it also wouldn't completely surprise me to see ferrari shove alonso out that was the only way that they could get vettel... it wouldn't be the first time that's happened...

Did somebody say DANICA PATRICK??????



I really dont collect cards of racing drivers, but this one I thought was kinda nice.....

I don't know what she's covering up with her hands. I don't think there is anything there worth hiding.

Kubica probably won't be back....at least to his old self.
His career will probably become a cautionary tale of What Not To Do as an F1 driver....

That's wrong.....and probably true.

^^^

yea.., he quickly became one of my favorite drivers when he joined the scene... immense talent, and oh so likeable... if anything, he was TOO fearless though...

agreed on the "what not to do" part... there's good reason why major professional sports have contract notations that prevent athletes from playing other sports (or doing "dangerous" activities)... the "need to compete" in guys/gals at the very top level sometimes leads them to poor decisions...

re: danica... she should take some of that go-daddy money and spend it on a "chassis upgrade"...

fwiw, i like danica, and think that she probably is a better driver than many give her credit for...

Agreed.
One thing is sure...she is a tough cookie.

Here is a very interesting report on which team was the "fastest" this year:
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-analysis-mclaren-had-fastest-car-of-2012/

^^^

that passes the "eye test"... mclaren looked like the fastest car pretty much all year...

of course that reminds me of the old line, "he was the fastest car on the track until he hit the wall"...

Danica is a distraction to real motorsports. Even as a back-marker the media focuses on her for no other reason than to draw in a contrived viewership to the sport, but at the same time doing a disservice to the real fans who want to follow what's going on at the front of the pack, where the best and most interesting sport is going on.

I am very thankful she didn't like the Honda HPD car in ALMS because she would have been a sad distraction there too.

Considering the freefall slide of ALMS it probably couldn't have hurt or helped.
I used to love that series....

ALMS has had it's great moments and the down ones. My wife and I have been to a dozen or so races over the last 5-6 years, including all the Sebring and Petit in that period. We always enjoy attending, but the best times were the great Audi R10 vs. Porsche RS Spyder and the Risi Ferrari vs. Flying Lizard Porsche rivalries of the latter 2000 decade.

The dumbest ones were Corvette racing each other with no other competition in GT1. We laughed at the enthusiasm of the Corvette corral as they rooted for their team to win.
Edited by RaceTripper - 12/9/12 at 2:58pm

I have been to several Portland races (when here) over the years and always enjoyed them immensely.

Everyone likes a parade, right?

On a serious note, where ALMS went wrong was going with too many classes for the fans to keep track of on track, not separating the Prototype category into diesel and gasoline cars, starting P2 and GT2 categories, and selling the broadcast rights to ESPN.

There should have been an only a Prototype class, a GT class, and a "experimental" class for cars like the Deltawing or Hybrids.

I actually liked the idea of a P1 class and a Prototype (LMPC) spec class, plus a GT class and a spec GT (GTC) class. I didn't mind having P1 and P2 when there were enough cars to fill both classes.

The dominance of diesel (Audi Peugeot) over petrol was stupid. Audi kept threatening to leave if IMSA balanced the classes, but ended up leaving anyway. I loved the Audi drivers, but the hell with Dr. Ulrich. He and ALSM/IMSA management hurt the series over it. Ditto for Corvette in GT1. They drove everyone else away in the same way.

There wasn't enough cars for both P1 and P2, because the prototype class was split.
ALMS racing could only really handle one P-class.

Agreed.
The ALMS became the AudiLMS and the series management is to blame.
And diesel should never have been allowed in the first place.

Rather than leave, at least Corvette re-tooled and entered the new GT class.

Sure they did, after they drove their competitors away and became the laughing stock of every spectator not wearing a Jake shirt.

I think I have just discovered where MS is going:
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-mercedes-formula-one-boss-norbert-haug-to-leave-company/

Could be. Schumacher might be a good fit as Mercedes Head of Motorsport with Lauda as Chairman of the Board of Mercedes F1 team. It will be interesting to see who does replace Norbert Haug. The guy has been at Mercedes for an ice age, especially by F1 standards.


Watch your tongue! I had a couple of Corvettes back in the day but have never worn a Jake shirt in my life.

hmmm... michael and niki, that would be an interesting combination...

does michael really want to:

a) put in the type of work it would take to do the job? is he even cut out for it?
b) deal with the inevitable meltdown by hamilton over the next 2 years as he is repeatedly trounced?

Off and on, I have thought about buying one (the current ZO6 is an excellent performer).
However, the new Viper has the attention of my car-lust (maybe in a year, when the prices become sane).
Until then, I am having plenty of fun with my Black Raven CTS-V Coupe.

I have to agree it doesn't seem likely MS has the stomach for such an undertaking, but he does love F1....so who knows?

^^^

yea, no doubt he does love f1... and imo, it'd be a good move for mercedes if he would take that spot... no secret i'm a big fan of his, and the power of his personality might be just what they need there...

that's gonna be a HARD job though... between the car being 4th fastest, at best,(although who knows what next year will bring) and that i expect hamilton to be patient with that for a total of say, 2 grand prix, there's gonna be some ugly moments coming on that team... for example, lewis's "power of personality" is going to completely overwhelm nico next year... it's been relatively "easy" for nico the last couple years, all he had to do was stay ahead of the old guy in qualifying, and he was immune to criticism...

but two things are going to change greatly for him next year... as much as i love schumi, lewis is WAY faster than he is at this point in time, and he is likely to make nico look very bad... and lewis completely dominates nico when it comes to "aura of f1 driver", if you get my point... lewis may crush nico emotionally, in addition of crushing him on the track...

what i'd REALLY like to see michael do is buy out bernie... THAT is the job he needs, and by relieving us of bernie, he'd be making a contribution to the sport that would really put a cherry on his career... i have faith in michael that he wouldn't make decisions based solely on how big of a check someone writes him...