F1 2012

[Daniel 7]

Some new cars have been revealed.

The Ferrari is an eyesore - worst looking Ferrari I have ever seen. Its a horror.



I'm guessing McLaren didn't see the need to go for a split level nose, I wonder if that decision might come back to bite them. Much nicer looking car, but will it be quick? Can't imagine a nose redeisgn would take much doing



Force India is a split level too - really horrible designs these. The aesthetic is not good.

[Daniel 7]

THis is why I love BBC F1 coverage - real insight. A million miles away from Hansen and SHearer on MoTD - these are form Gary Anderson. I love techy nerdness.

"The step on the top of the Ferrari chassis mystifies me. What it does allow them to do is to have the underside of the chassis higher because, unlike other cars, they do not need to mirror the concave top surface with a convex bottom surface. But a curved underside is actually more efficient in terms of airflow than a flat-bottomed one. The exhaust clearly points at the rear wheels, but they'll need a very narrow-diameter pipe to get enough gas velocity to make a difference in terms of downforce. Pull-rod front suspension does have some centre-of-gravity benefits but they are very small compared to the aggravation of the design"


"This is a test car - as McLaren have been saying fairly loudly - and there will be developments coming along, but at the moment nothing stands out as a concept other teams would struggle to match. But McLaren have had difficulties early on in the last two seasons, so maybe they want to have a solid base to start from. Right now, though, there is nothing on this car that would make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up"

[RichC]

McLaren car looks pretty nice the force India and the Ferrari look awful but if it works McLaren might be kicking themselves (again) for not following suit.

Car to watch out for is the Red Bull as it was so good at the start of last season

[Daniel 7]

Caterham have gone for the split level nose as well. It really is ugly.

[Daniel 7]

Ferrari sound baaaaaaad

Can't usually tell much from pre-season, but the talk seems to be that Red Bull are odds on to be out in front again, Ferrari have a car they don';t understand and Jenson Button says the McLaren will need a couple of races. So... Vettel for number 3?

[Gaz]

I think it will be a lot closer between Red Bull and McLaren this year, Ferrari never seem to start off the season with a good car but it does sound like this years car is ridiculously bad and could see them finishing well down the pecking order in Melbourne. Lotus seem to have had a good pre-season and Mercedes don't look too bad either. I think the real surprise could come from either Sauber or Force India in the first race as from what i've read about the pre-season tests they're both doing better than anyone thought they would be doing at this stage

[Daniel 7]

Sauber always fuel light pre-season though, I'd discount them completely. Every year they do that. Force India have a really good driver line-up and have been steadily progressing for years now. Proper dark horses for challenging the top 4.

[RichC]

Looking forward to this season, still think the redbulls are going to be very difficult to beat but pre-season hasn't really told us too much apart from Ferrari are struggling.

[Daniel 7]

I'm trying to be open minded about what the Sky coverage is going to be like. On the plus side, Brundle has gone to Sky. On the negative side - its ****ing Sky.

[RichC]

Sky do the visual side of their coverage so, so well but then the commentators start to talk and you remember why you hate Sky!

Brundle going there is a massive plus I just hope they leave him to do his thing in his own style!

[Chazza]

Will it not just be advertastic? the same if not worse than when it was on ITV?

[RichC]

I think they've agreed to no ads during the races BUT I'd imagine all the build up etc... will be full on with the ads.

[Chazza]

Bet they had to fight hard on the no ads in the race part, SKY would have been all over that as a massive money spinner

[RichC]

ahhhh massively mate, Sky I am sure will try something to eek out the ads they show.

[Daniel 7]

I'm hoping the build up to the races are going to try to make celebs of the drivers and follow their lifestyle, like the lowest common denominator ****ing excrement we were force fed by ITV.

Yeah, the races aren't going to be interrupted by adverts but I'm more concerned about the over exposure. I mean I love F1, but I used to love football too before I couldn't get away from it. Its all encompassing. Can't help but think that Sky are going to make big stories out of trivialities like they have with football. A whole channel dedicated to F1 would suggest that they are going to have to top up the toilet bowl with a fair amount of ****e to justify it.