FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[killem2]

- Kimi puts Lotus into the area of where toro ross is now firmly.

I'm not sure why Kimi would hurt the team like that. In 2011 Renault finished 5th in the constructors standings, while Toro Rosso was down in 8th. I don't know how Kimi would drop them down to 8th for next year. (Kimi isn't driving for the 2011 Lotus team, which will be Caterham in 2012, but rather will be driving for the new Lotus team which was Renault in 2011.)[/quote]


I know, that's what I mean, he's been out of it for a while, so they will struggle but not drop off the face of the earth. Sorta like schumi in '10 he was ok, but wasn't exactly on form.

[LewEngBridewell]

Constructors Championship:
1) Red Bull
2) McLaren
3) Ferrari
4) Mercedes
5) Lotus

So, basically a repeat of 2011 then?

[andrew]

Constructors Championship:
1) Red Bull
2) McLaren
3) Ferrari
4) Mercedes
5) Lotus

So, basically a repeat of 2011 then?

Good show!

[LewEngBridewell]

Constructors Championship:
1) Red Bull
2) McLaren
3) Ferrari
4) Mercedes
5) Lotus

So, basically a repeat of 2011 then?

Good show!

Each to their own....

[scotty]

Thing with silverstone is the teams cars we're designed around the EBD so taking it away showed how much the teams relied on it yes, but I don't think it's a fair comparison to 2012 form. The 2012 cars will be redesigned to sport the new regs so we will see if they can design their way around it or not. I saw some teams were pointing their exhaust to the rear wing now...

Yeah i know what you mean. Here's something on where the exhausts will be, i'd be surprised if the effect on the rear wing is all that great from the distance shown especially with the mappings being changed. Maybe passive f-ducts like Mercedes supposedly ran on their front wings this season will be 2012's major innovation area.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

Just checked SkyBet for the 2012 season odds. They're giving 5/4 that Vettel will three-peat, with Hamilton 4/1, Alonso 6/1 and Button 7/1 to win WDC.

Odds are 66-to-1 against MSC winning his eighth world title, LoL.

Odds on Red Bull three-peating are 11/10 with McLaren 6/4, Ferrari 6/1 and Mercedes 28/1 to win the WCC. Skip two positions and they put Lotus at 150/1, with Force India and Sauber ahead of them.

[oaba09]

I'll post my predictions once testing has started....

[donpinar]

I can't believe how everyone is underestimating Mercedes AMG F-1. I predict Mercedes will challenge for multiple wins on a regular basis with wins for Shumi and Rosberg.I don't think Ross is ready for retirement just yet.

[Hammer278]

I'll post my predictions once testing has started....

[myownalias]

I predict there will be 12 teams, 24 drivers and I also predict that pre-season testing will have no bearing on what happens when the teams hit the track in anger in Melbourne in March!

[andrew]

I predict that there will be 20 races unless the US GP doesn't go ahead, in which case there will be 19 races. If Bahrain doesn't go ahead but the US GP does there will also be 19 races. If neither the Bahrain or US GP's go ahead there will be 18 races.

[LewEngBridewell]

I can't believe how everyone is underestimating Mercedes AMG F-1. I predict Mercedes will challenge for multiple wins on a regular basis with wins for Shumi and Rosberg.I don't think Ross is ready for retirement just yet.

There's been a few posts around this forum basically predicting last year's result...

I would certainly not bet against Mercedes enjoying an upturn in form. Who can say at this stage? It would be nice though, as their commitment may wane, the longer the period of not winning continues...

[McLaren]

McLaren to be closer to red bull next season,overtaking them by the end.Trouble is as RB only have one driver ,Seb will win the title again.As the McLaren boys will take too many points off each other.
Kimi to be a flop ,Mercedes to be pushing hard but still behind ferrari,Alonso will win a grand prix , Massa will just cry.
Rosberg,Senna,DiResta to be the best of the rest.

[Jabberwocky]

I predict Red Bull and Mclaren fight it out at the top again. (Webbers talented brother will be driving this year)

Ferrari slip back at the start of the season then come back strong by mid season. (Massas talented brother will still not be back)

Lotus/Renault will do well with a motivated Kimi (for the 1st year of the contract anyway) They will be nipping Ferrari's heels.

Williams will be woeful again, if they survive next year they will be stronger in 2013

Caterham will be the only team to make the leap forward and Kovy will start to make it into Q2

[scotty]

Kamui Kobayashi believes his Sauber team was hurt by the rule changes imposed during the 2011 season, something that he believes was the reason for the Swiss squad's difficult second half of the campaign.

The Hinwil-based team started the year strongly, but the FIA banned off-throttle diffusers from the British Grand Prix, and Sauber decided to stop its development.

The ruling body then backtracked and returned to the original regulations, leaving Sauber on the back foot, according to Kobayashi.

"We had a promising winter testing and a strong start to the season," said Kobayashi. "In the beginning we had every reason to be happy with our performance.

"Later, I would say from the British Grand Prix onwards, which was the ninth out of 19 races, we struggled due to the decisions made about the rules and our own technical development.

"We didn't follow the direction of the 'off-throttle exhaust blown diffuser' any further. Instead we worked hard on the direction of development we had decided to go in, but we could not make up for the disadvantage that came from not having the same technology as the other teams.

"I can be happy that I still scored points in the final two races. This was a good achievement under the circumstances."

The Japanese driver had to assume the role of leading driver at Sauber this year, as he was partnered with rookie Sergio Perez this year.

Kobayashi conceded it was a challenging year for him, but he feels he will be stronger next year as as result.

"Certainly it wasn't easy for me. I needed to improve a lot in various areas," he said. "Not only in driving, but also in making decisions with the engineers. The fact that we had to deal with the new tyres from Pirelli, which were different in character compared to what we had before, was challenging for me.

"It was important to find out what was best for the race and how to handle qualifying. There was a big difference in performance between Saturday and Sunday. I think I came to understand many things during this season, and I have got a clearer picture for next year."

Kobayashi finished the season in 12th place with 30 points.

So hopefully we may see Sauber return to their earlier 2011 form