[Fullrevs]

The Ferrari's reliability is definitely a concern. They have not clocked enough laps compared to the others and there are only 7-8 days of testing left until the season starts. Alonso was only about to do 39 laps on the last day until a Hydraulic issue ruined his progress.

It is great to see Kimi back. He doesnt seem to have lost much and the Lotus is pretty quick on qualifying style runs so far. I really hope he does well!!

[anachronix]

Some bits on the F2012 by Alonso from an interview to Marca (Translated by AF1)

-About 2012 regulations, You can fell the lack of downforce not only in one part of the curve, you feel it "a little" in the whole circuit. Traction is a little worse, the braking too, because you block the rear part of the car more easily, even in the fast curves you have too lift in zones where last year you could go full throttle.

-The front suspension when it comes to driving, it's just the same and it behaves very well with all the modification we have done in the last days.
-Driving position is the same as last year, the new suspension doesn't bother anything.

-About power steering. I took a lot of time to get it right, it's a new system and they didn't find the sweet spot (at the beginning). First it was too light and then too heavy. We worked a lot on thursday, and on friday it was way better, and with some extra changes we managed to get a "feeling" like the one from the year before.

-Everytime we did a set-up change, the car behaves similarly like the last year, the car respond like we expected.

-It's true that the car is more complex to understand in the aerodymanics and the mechanic part. Everything is weird with this one (the car). We only manage to do 35 laps on friday because this complexity. It's a weird (strange) car when it comes to get the maximun perfomance. The reliability is not at 100% yet and this is good, because it's only the first test. I remember that last year we did 136 laps on the first day, this new car has more room for improvement.

[deetjohn]

RBR and McLaren have an advantage. Their 2012 machines are iterations of last year' machines adapted to the 2012 regulations. Those were fast cars, so why change them substantially? And both teams deserve to keep that advantage.

I hope Ferrari will be able to get the best out of F2012 over the season. Sure, it looks damn ugly but I like the approach Ferrari has taken. The car is bold with a very aggressive design. And it is quite different compared to last year's machine. So SF may take some time to get grip with the F2012. And its absolutely alright provided SF doesn't take too long. And we never know, it may be very competent from the word go.

Remember how the MP4-26 evolved over the season and was one of the fastest towards the end. Heck, there were nowhere during the initial tests. But the turnaround and in season development for McLaren was absolutely amazing.

SF needs to do the same. And this will be make or break for Domenicali.

[StarrySky]

McLaren's troubles during pre-season testing last year were mainly tied to the fancy exhaust system they were trying, rather than anything fundamentally wrong with the car. The moment they ditched it and reverted to a more conventional system, they were on the pace and quite good in Australia.

Comments from Ferrari about going radical with the new car, the need to understand the car as it's so different from the earlier one etc remind me of 2003 season where, after domination by Ferrari in 2002, McLaren chose to go radical and came up with the MP4-18. It took them the best part of 1.5 years to understand the car and produce something which was fast and reliable enough to win (MP4-19B at Spa 2004).

[anachronix]

I am sure the F2012 has not given nightmares to the engineers who designed the car like the MP4-18 did for Mclaren atleast until now!

But yes, I am worried if it will as the season starts and I hope they do much better in the next test at Barcelona and fix those minor blips!

One more thing to be noticed in the F2012 is the new really thin floor around the rear of the car. There was a rumor last year about an F1 team contracting a Marine MFG'ing company in Valencia to make the new thin floor from a new material. It was thought to be RB at that time, but looks its the Ferrari.

And in Barcelone, Ferrari will be bringing in the new floor thats the brainchild of infamous Rory Bryne who is back in the Scuderia factory now!

[polopm]

What was the car (the 18 ? ) when Kimi retired midway in one of the races and threw his steering into the McLaren garage in anger. I think it was one of the Newey designed cars which were terribly fast and midway used to break down.

I have a sneaky feeling that the pecking order will remain the same for 2012 as well and that will be real bad if it happens....

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by polopm

What was the car (the 18 ? ) when Kimi retired midway in one of the races and threw his steering into the McLaren garage in anger. I think it was one of the Newey designed cars which were terribly fast and midway used to break down.

I have a sneaky feeling that the pecking order will remain the same for 2012 as well and that will be real bad if it happens....

As they say, You cant get 3rd time lucky

Maybe the same will happen to RBR's this season. Getting bored of seeing RBR's Blue machine winning every race.

Some excitement is what i expect for this season.

Any news about Mercedes GP car yet.?

[anachronix]

Source: Twitter@joseluisf1

• In telemetry test indicated that the F2012 lost downforce in curves inexplicably, lost balance and traction
• These sudden losses of downforce were random, because they did not always occur in the same part of the same curve
• During a pit stop to solve a problem of reliability, Alonso and Fry spoke in depth about this strange behavior
• Apparently, during the conversation to Fry 'is turned on the light', I call Tombazis and began to make some laps
• They've "armed" the car with 'aerodynamic markers' and were loheking back to back flow and suspicions from Fry seemed to be confirmed
• In Maranello confirm the cause: several pieces of 'material progress' yielded to the pressure and the flow was diverted improperly
• That was the reason that the problems were not detected in the tunnel, parts of the model did not have that problem
• In production people are spending sleepless nights to see why those pieces behaved so, failure to manufacture and / or calculation?

I havent read much about the MGP-W03 except for the front wing that Ross wants to hide till the last moment and the time set by Michael/Rosberg with the modified MGP-W02 is a sign of good things to come or atleast thats what I hear from what the track observers have tweeted! Michael is talking a lot about how happy he is with the 2012 Pirellis too. Thats again a good indicator too!

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by anachronix

I havent read much about the MGP-W03 except for the front wing that Ross wants to hide till the last moment and the time set by Michael/Rosberg with the modified MGP-W02 is a sign of good things to come or atleast thats what I hear from what the track observers have tweeted! Michael is talking a lot about how happy he is with the 2012 Pirellis too. Thats again a good indicator too!

Well it is rumored to be hiding a F-Duct system for the front wing which unlike the previous rear wing version will not need any driver input. The drivers using their hands to block the earlier F-Duct was the reason it got banned. Some interesting reading regarding the front wing F-Duct.

UPDATE: Mercedes F-Duct Front Wing | Scarbsf1's Blog

[anachronix]

Pilotoons is back for 2012!

I love the one that he has made for Rubens






Notice the fix on Massa's helmet! Lol!


Target Massa




Source: Pilotoons

[polopm]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Well it is rumored to be hiding a F-Duct system for the front wing which unlike the previous rear wing version will not need any driver input. The drivers using their hands to block the earlier F-Duct was the reason it got banned. Some interesting reading regarding the front wing F-Duct.

UPDATE: Mercedes F-Duct Front Wing | Scarbsf1's Blog

So much fun
Btw, Merc have got the most stars when it comes to putting up a team. They have hired and poached every single person available. All it needs is cohesion and start delivering.

How I wish I could hear Ross come on radio and say "Michael, This is Ross.....make sure you don't leave any space for Seb, Lewis , Nando or...........Nico !!!!! "
Enough of the drinks company car, too boring.

Cheers !!

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by anachronix

I havent read much about the MGP-W03 except for the front wing that Ross wants to hide till the last moment and the time set by Michael/Rosberg with the modified MGP-W02 is a sign of good things to come or atleast thats what I hear from what the track observers have tweeted! Michael is talking a lot about how happy he is with the 2012 Pirellis too. Thats again a good indicator too!

If it's just the front wing that they want to hide, can they not launch the new car (F1 W03?) with the 2011 wing? Or have they found a "new double diffuser"?

From what I read, they were running the MGP W02 with all 2011 ammunition, the EBD etc. They were gathering data on the new Pirellis and for effective comparison with 2011, Merc keep the car intact. So that EBD is making the car very quick. But yeah, Michael looks good.

Edit: Alonso says he has seen positive signs from the new F2012 that it is able to generate heat into its tyres more quickly. If true, this is a major breakthrough and will end the Q3 troubles at least.

As of now, the F2012 looks like a big puzzle. And will the 2012 season be long enough for Ferrari to fully understand the F2012. I hope so.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

If it's just the front wing that they want to hide, can they not launch the new car (F1 W03?) with the 2011 wing? Or have they found a "new double diffuser"?

From what I read, they were running the MGP W02 with all 2011 ammunition, the EBD etc. They were gathering data on the new Pirellis and for effective comparison with 2011, Merc keep the car intact. So that EBD is making the car very quick. But yeah, Michael looks good.

I have seen videos where the Merc mechanics run quickly to cover the rear of the W02 supposed to be running with the 2011 EBD. I am sure you dont want to believe all that Ross or Merc say that they are doing in testing

Look at this...



Expect the new front wing to look something like this

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by anachronix

I have seen videos where the Merc mechanics run quickly to cover the rear of the W02 supposed to be running with the 2011 EBD.

Well, you don't have to look at a car to know whether it has EBD or not. Listening to the engine note on the turns will do.

Originally Posted by anachronix

Look at this...

What is it? Are those strips temperature sensors?

[polopm]

Originally Posted by anachronix

I have seen videos where the Merc mechanics run quickly to cover the rear of the W02 supposed to be running with the 2011 EBD. I am sure you dont want to believe all that Ross or Merc say that they are doing in testing

Look at this...

Attachment 887973

The photo looks like a side profile of a tiger shark
Being a McLaren fan, somehow... I wish Michael to do well this year. He has not lost the bite or the hunger.

Didi Mateschitz tells the press that he will treat Webbo equally with Seb. Am not sure on that. How many failed starts can he have every year !