It is time to start answering the questions we have been asking
for months. Will Sebastian Vettel in his RB8 continue to dominate
F1? Or will McLaren and Ferrari bring it back to the world
champions of Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso? How
will Kimi Raikkonen do after 2 years away from the sport? And has
Schumacher got the chance to be competitive again? These questions
will all at least start to become answered over the coming weeks,
starting this Tuesday in Jerez.
It's felt like a very long time since we saw the sun set over Abu
Dhabi back in November, but Formula One is back. The off season may
have been fairly quiet with only a few movements. The only big news
being Rubens Barrichelllo being pushed out and Kimi Raikkonen
returning from a lacklustre go at rallying. The return of Kimi
means that for the first time ever, there will be six World
Champions on the grid, and hopefully, a very close grid too.
McLaren and Ferrari have promised to fight Red Bull a lot more this
year, and Mercedes and Lotus are confident they can make a move
towards the top.
We've all got a new look car to get used to this year, with the
stepped nose being forced in to the regulations to improve safety,
most of the cars have adopted some very odd front ends. McLaren
have kept with a more usual nose, but we won't be sure until after
the testing who has made the right decision. Other than the front
wing however, the cars are still quite similar to last year with
only a few less obvious alterations to show, mainly at the
rear.
Like other years, Formula 1 turns to Jerez to kick off the
testing. The forecast is dry, but rather cold, around 12-15°C. This
may affect the speed of the cars, and probably won't give a great
idea of the car's true speed as most races tend to be warmer. The
only thing that really matters though is that F1 is finally back
and we're all looking forward to seeing the cars back on
track.
The first test will feature eleven of the twelve teams, with only
Marussia not attending. Mercedes and HRT have opted to use their
2011 challengers as they aren't quite ready, presumably for
slightly different reasons. The new Mercedes is expected before the
second test in Barcelona on the 21st of February. As usual, only
one driver from each team will be testing each day. On day one
Massa, Button, Webber and Raikkonnen will be driving. You can check
out the full line-up below.
Pirelli have tinkered with their tyres, making them squarer so
that more of the tyre is in contact with the Tarmac, allowing for
better high-end performance. This should make the tyre work better
for longer, whilst also keeping the infamous drop-off point that
has made the races so enjoyable. This may be good news for Lewis
Hamilton, who tends to push the tyres to limit for longer than most
other drivers.
There are many unknowns this year and all we really know is that
Red Bull will most likely be at the front, but the main issue we
are waiting to find out is how close the other teams will be.
McLaren will be hoping they get off to a good start, as Lewis
Hamilton's contract ends this season and he's told the media he
wants a contract signed after the first few races. Likewise Felipe
Massa will be looking for a better season, he showed great promise
last season but he hasn't been the same since his accident in 2009,
and now Ferrari are starting to look at a replacement over the next
couple of seasons.
Another interesting area is whether Caterham will be able to
challenge the midfield this season. They were able to mix it up
with the Williams last year on a couple of occasions, but really
they want to be looking at regular points at least. Marussia and
HRT probably won't be as close either way, but they should be
making good progress now they've both been in the sport for a
while. However with both teams having a lot less test time than the
other teams, it's hard to predict a strong season for them.
This could well be the very last time we see Michael Schumacher in
F1. He showed some quality last season but still struggled compared
to his teammate Rosberg. If this year doesn't meet his, or
Mercedes' expectations then we could the seven-time world champion
leave once again.
Whatever happens, I'm sure this season will be spectacular. Six
world champions says it all, with many other brilliant drivers too
in the mix. All the info and analysis of the testing will be here
on PortalF1. So here we are: 2012 starts here!
Full Driver Line up (Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri)
Red Bull - Webber, Webber, Vettel, Vettel
McLaren - Button, Button, Hamilton,
Hamilton
Ferrari - Massa, Massa, Alonso, Alonso
Mercedes - Rosberg/Schumacher, Schumacher,
Rosberg, N/A
Force India - Di Resta, Di Resta, Hulkenberg,
Hulkenberg
Lotus - Raikkonen, Raikkonen, Grosjean,
Grosjean
Sauber - Kobayashi, Perez, Perez, Kobayashi
Toro Rosso - Ricciardo, Ricciardo, Vergne,
Vergne
Williams - Maldonado, Maldonado, Senna,
Senna
Caterham - Kovalainen, Kovalainen, Van der Garde,
Trulli
HRT - De la Rosa, De la Rosa, N/A, N/A