Qantas Australian Grand Prix

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Who will win the Australian Grand Prix?

Sebastian Vettel
9
13%
Mark Webber
2
3%
Jenson Button
12
18%
Lewis Hamilton
21
31%
Fernando Alonso
7
10%
Felipe Massa
1
1%
Michael Schumacher
5
7%
Nico Rosberg
1
1%
Kimi Raikkonen
9
13%
Romain Grosjean
1
1%
Other
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 68

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KevC
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Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by KevC » 06 Mar 2012, 16:28

2012 FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Whooooop!
Here we go then.
The 2012 Formula One World Championship is GO!

iCal files of the race dates
http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/grandprix/
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/credits-and- ... -calendar/

Melbourne
Race Date: 18 Mar 2012
Circuit Name: Albert Park
Number of Laps: 58
Circuit Length: 5.303 km
Race Distance: 307.574 km
Lap Record: 1:24.125 - M Schumacher (2004)

UK Times
Fri 16 March 2012
Practice 1 01:30 - 03:00
Practice 2 05:30 - 07:00
Sat 17 March 2012
Practice 3 03:00 - 04:00
Qualifying 06:00
Sun 18 March 2012
Race 06:00

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Previous Winners
2011 - Sebastian Vettel (Reb Bull Racing)
2010 - Jenson Button (McLaren)
2009 - Jenson Button (Brawn GP)
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2006 - Fernando Alonso (Renault)
2005 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault)

Vettel's pole lap 2011




Teams and Drivers
Red Bull Racing Red Bull - Renault
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger)
2 Mark Webber (Aus)

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Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren - Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (GB)
4 Lewis Hamilton (GB)

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Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso (Spa)
6 Felipe Massa (Bra)

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Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (Mercedes)
7 Michael Schumacher (Ger)
8 Nico Rosberg (Ger)

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Lotus Lotus - Renault
9 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)
10 Romain Grosjean (Fra)

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Sahara Force India F1 Team Force India - Mercedes
11 Paul Di Resta (GB)
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)

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Sauber F1 Team Sauber - Ferrari
14 Kamui Kobayashi (Jap)
15 Sergio Perez (Mex)

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Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso - Ferrari
16 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)
17 Jean Eric Vergne (Fra)

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PDVSA Williams Williams - Renault
18 Pastor Maldonado (Ven)
19 Bruno Senna (Bra)

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Caterham - Renault
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)
21 Vitaly Petrov (Rus)

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HRT F1 Team HRT - Cosworth
22 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind)
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa)

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Marussia - Cosworth
24 Timo Glock (Ger)
25 Charles Pic (Fra)

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2012 Race Calendar

Code: Select all

01 	2012 FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 	16 - 18 Mar
02 	2012 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 	23 - 25 Mar
03 	2012 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 	13 - 15 Apr
04 	2012 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir) 	20 - 22 Apr
05 	FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2012 (Catalunya) 	11 - 13 May
06 	FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2012 (Monte Carlo) 	24 - 27 May
07 	FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2012 (Montréal) 	08 - 10 Jun
08 	2012 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 	22 - 24 Jun
09 	2012 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 	06 - 08 Jul
10 	FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012 (Hockenheim) 	20 - 22 Jul
11 	FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2012 (Budapest) 	27 - 29 Jul
12 	2012 FORMULA 1 SHELL BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 	31 Aug - 02 Sep
13 	FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2012 (Monza) 	07 - 09 Sep
14 	2012 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 	21 - 23 Sep
15 	2012 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 	05 - 07 Oct
16 	2012 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX (Yeongam) 	12 - 14 Oct
17 	2012 FORMULA 1 AIRTEL INDIAN GRAND PRIX (New Delhi) 	26 - 28 Oct
18 	2012 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina) 	02 - 04 Nov
19 	2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX (Austin) 	16 - 18 Nov
20 	FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2012 (São Paulo) 	23 - 25 Nov

Tyres

Hard - Silver
Medium - White
Soft - Yellow
Super Soft - Red
Intermediate - Green
Full Wet - Blue
The tyres now have a coloured band all the way round the sides to show up better on the TV.

Image


Team Changes
- Virgin Racing is now Marussia F1 and has a technical partnership with McLaren
- Team Lotus changes its name to Caterham F1
- Lotus Renault F1 changes its name to Lotus F1
- Mercedes changes its name to Mercedes AMG
- Williams have switched to Renault engines

Driver Changes
OUT
Jaime Alguersuari (STR)
Sebastien Buemi (STR)
Jarno Trulli (Caterham/Team Lotus)
Adrian Sutil (Force India)
Rubens Barrichello (Williams)
Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Virgin Racing/Marussia)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)


IN
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
Nico Hülkenberg (Force India)
Charles Pic (Marussia)
Pedro de la Rosa (HRT)
Narain Karthikeyan (HRT)
Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso)

MOVED
Daniel Ricciardo (to Toro Rosso)
Bruno Senna (to Williams)
Vitaly Petrov (to Caterham)


Rule/Technical Changes
- Ban on exhaust gases being used to blow over aerodynamic devices
- Changes to the nose height for safety reasons. The pre-2012 regulations allow the nose to be as high as 62.5 centimetres (24.6 in) above ground, but the revisions to the sporting code lower the maximum allowable height to 55 centimetres (22 in) 150mm ahead of the front bulkhead.
- Pitlane speed limit reduced from 100kph to 60kph ***TBC***
- Helium powered wheel nut air guns banned.
- In season test at Mugello on May 1st
- All lapped traffic under the safety car to be released from the queue before the car returns to pit lane, allowing the drivers to unlap themselves and to ensure a clean re-start.
- Drivers will not be permitted to leave the confines of the circuit without a justifiable reason, following a spate of incidents in 2011 when drivers were sighted using access roads around the circuit to shorten their reconnaissance and in-laps in order to preserve their fuel and tyres.
- Drivers will not be allowed to return to the normal racing line should they choose a defensive line going into a corner.
- Races will have a maximum four-hour time limit to prevent the indefinite suspension of a race.
- Any driver in the pit lane when a race is suspended will be permitted to return to the circuit and take up the position on the grid that they were running in at the time of the suspension.
Last edited by KevC on 09 Mar 2012, 13:18, edited 6 times in total.

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KevC
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by KevC » 06 Mar 2012, 21:33

Feel free to correct me on anything. It's a big post to write so I'm bound to have missed something.

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antyk
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by antyk » 06 Mar 2012, 22:24

Kevin Clark wrote:
Lotus Lotus - Renault
9 Romain Grosjean (Fra)
10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)

Kimi car#9
Romain car#10
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by KevC » 06 Mar 2012, 22:30

Thanks. Swapped.
If that's all I got wrong it's a miracle :D

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Edi96
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by Edi96 » 06 Mar 2012, 23:15

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (Mercedes)

16 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)
17 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)

Driver Changes
OUT
Sébastien Buemi (STR)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
Nick Heidfeld (Renault)?
Karun Chandhok (Lotus)?

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by KevC » 06 Mar 2012, 23:39

Edi96 wrote:Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (Mercedes)

16 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)
17 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)

Driver Changes
OUT
Sébastien Buemi (STR)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
Nick Heidfeld (Renault)?
Karun Chandhok (Lotus)?
I've changed the merc name and driver numbers.

Buemi was already on the list.
I'd forgotten Liuzzi cos I wrote it before he was officially out.
I skipped the other two because Heidfeld was gone already and Chandhok only did one race anyway.

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Edi96
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by Edi96 » 07 Mar 2012, 00:00

Kevin Clark wrote:
Edi96 wrote:Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (Mercedes)

16 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)
17 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)

Driver Changes
OUT
Sébastien Buemi (STR)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
Nick Heidfeld (Renault)?
Karun Chandhok (Lotus)?
I've changed the merc name and driver numbers.

Buemi was already on the list.
I'd forgotten Liuzzi cos I wrote it before he was officially out.
I skipped the other two because Heidfeld was gone already and Chandhok only did one race anyway.
okay, but Sébastien Buemi is still misspelled on that list :O Anyway, nice work! :)

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phil1993
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 07 Mar 2012, 08:33

Narain is driving #22, Pedro #23.

- Christian Horner says Red Bull is bringing the B spec car to Melbourne...

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by frubbs » 07 Mar 2012, 11:53

Dont forget to send tips on predictions league!
Image 322 gps | 14 pp | 11 1st

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by BMW_320_IRL » 08 Mar 2012, 16:36

Drivers will not be allowed to return to the normal racing line should they choose a defensive line going into a corner.
Even less racing. I think those rules reduces racing. And that is what we all want to see. Driver who fight and give everything.

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by MavF1 » 08 Mar 2012, 18:31

BMW_320_IRL wrote:
Drivers will not be allowed to return to the normal racing line should they choose a defensive line going into a corner.
Even less racing. I think those rules reduces racing. And that is what we all want to see. Driver who fight and give everything.
The FIA clarified and therefore straightened out that rule later, thankfully.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/741 ... le-changes

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by iceman1 » 09 Mar 2012, 06:22

Oh no :( I have a lot of work to do. I am not looking forward for the first GP :P

Please guys don't forget to join the 2012 F1 Prediction game for this season: formel.php

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donald29
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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by donald29 » 09 Mar 2012, 10:13

Done. :p Just for you.

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 09 Mar 2012, 10:23

In press release news, Sauber won the Australian GP previews followed by HRT & Caterham (the latter separated by 1 minute). A feat unlikely to be repeated next Sunday.

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Re: Qantas Australian Grand Prix

Post by iceman1 » 09 Mar 2012, 10:49

donald29 wrote:Done. :p Just for you.
Good boy :p you can win a prize at the end of the season.

Mercedes:
Michael Schumacher: "Finally, we can stop trying to read the tea-leaves from testing and actually go racing. Melbourne is a perfect location, and the ideal place to start the season. The city loves Formula One, the fans create a great atmosphere and obviously, as drivers, we feel that too. And because we've already got a buzz about what's to come, it just makes you want to get out there and start driving. During winter testing, we completed lots of miles and built up a really complete set of data, which should put us in a good position for the first race and to develop the car even further in the right direction. We're ready for the 2012 season to begin..."

Nico Rosberg: "I'm really looking forward to the start of the new season in Australia next weekend. I had a perfect winter break with plenty of rest, a good training camp and a successful pre-season test programme where we were able to put a lot of mileage on our F1 W03 car. So we are really ready for the first race. I always love the atmosphere in Melbourne; it's a great city and the fans are fantastic. After all of the hard work, and all of the speculation, it will be really interesting to see where we are on Saturday afternoon after qualifying. Before heading to Australia, I will be in New Zealand for a bike training camp to help me adjust to the time difference and the climate 'Down Under'."
Sauber:

Kamui Kobayashi: "I am very much looking forward to what will be my third season in Formula 1, and at the same time my third season with the Sauber F1 Team. We had promising pre-season testing with the C31 and the car feels pretty good. This, together with the experience I gained last year, makes me a lot more confident now. For me the main target is that we are more consistent this year. In 2010 we had a difficult first part of the season, and only recovered in the second half. In 2011 it was vice versa - we had a great start but struggled later in the season. If we can consistently display our best potential, we could score consistently. It must be like this. Personally I did a lot of training during the winter break and feel very fit now. Melbourne is a great place to start the season because the people there really like racing and Formula 1. The city is very much alive and, as soon as you get there, the atmosphere tells you: Yes, here we go again, it's time to start! I hope the weather will still be nice and warm during the Grand Prix weekend, as there the summer is almost over. The Albert Park Circuit itself has a very nice lay-out. The fact it isn't a permanent race track, and therefore very slippery at the beginning of the weekend, doesn't make the set up work for the first Grand Prix any easier, but to adapt to the improving grip level is a challenge for everyone."

Sergio Perez: "I just can't wait to go racing again. My feelings ahead of this season are quite different to last year, when everything was entirely new to me. Now, with one season in Formula 1 under my belt, I feel physically and mentally capable of doing the job. One year of experience isn't that much, but even this will allow me to focus more on performance than I was able to last year. I got used to a variety of circumstances which come along when you are a Formula 1 driver. This goes for procedures and communication inside the team, but it also includes that I found a good personal life balance with all the travelling. My target for 2012 is to make the most of the car in every given situation and to fully establish myself in Formula 1. We have made really good progress during testing and learnt a lot about the new car. Nevertheless, the track in Melbourne can still come up with surprises. Last year, for example, we would never have expected it was possible to get away with only one pit stop for the race distance because testing suggested higher tyre wear. So we will see how we manage the first Grand Prix and, although the track in Melbourne is a special one and not that representative, we will get a first indication of where we are with the C31 in terms of performance."
Caterham:
Heikki Kovalainen: “After three pretty solid weeks of testing we’re heading to Melbourne in good shape. We’ve clearly moved on from where we started in 2011, and are a long way ahead of where we were in 2010 but we’re still all staying very realistic about what we can do this season. Apart from a few issues in the second test, which were all sorted out for T3, our reliability has been good, and both Vitaly and I put in laps that showed we are close to the pace we want to be. But as everyone knows the tests don’t really tell you anything about where you are against everyone else, so we won’t really know anything until Saturday in Melbourne.

“Whatever happens when we get there, I just want it all to start right now. I’ve had a great winter, worked hard and am heading into 2012 feeling fitter than ever. I’ve made a couple of changes off track that will help me focus even more on my job with the team and with the step forward we’ve taken with this year’s car, I’m more keen than ever to get out on track and see how we’ve progressed again this year.”

Vitaly Petrov: “Melbourne is obviously somewhere that will always be very special for me. Last year I scored my first F1 podium there and was given a really good welcome by all the Australian fans so I’m sure it will be the same again this year. I think it’s pretty clear we won’t be in a position to fight for a podium again but I think the goal will be to push the midfield teams as hard as we can and who knows what could happen.... Usually there are quite a few retirements in Australia, and there are a couple of areas of the track that don’t leave any room for error, so I hope we’re there at the end of the race and able to take advantage of whatever’s happened ahead.

“It will also be a good weekend for me generally as I’m really enjoying life with my new team. It’s still early days, but I’ve been given a great welcome by everyone and I’m starting to build a good relationship with my engineer, so i think we have a good year ahead of us, whatever happens. We spent quite a lot of time in Barcelona looking at how to fine tune the setups specifically for me, and while we do have more work to do in Australia we definitely made some real progress at the last test which puts me in as good a position as we could hope for when we get to Melbourne.”

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