Formula One: 2012 - (caution - may contain result spoilers just after a race...)

[Foxbat]

At least after everything that's gone on, we got a pretty decent race. That single finger is present once more (but hopefully not for as many times as last year). Great result for Force India with Di Resta. But, for me, the big news is that Kimi really is back. A fantastic second and third for Lotus (which also happens to be one of my chosen chassis in fantasy F1 - bagging me a fair few points).

This really does look like being a vintage year

[thaddeus6th]

Indeed. I wish Raikkonen could've won, but from 11th he still had a fantastic race.

And I agree with you regarding how good this year will be. It's got the close title fight of 2010 mixed with the close race results of 2011.

Makes me even more irked that the BBC refused to let Channel 4 have the rights and gave them to pay TV instead.

[Foxbat]

Interesting. Chelsea FC to sponsor Sauber. Apparently this is what the recent logos 'Out Of The Blue' and 'True Blue' alluded to. This is the first time a football club has sponsored an F1 team.

I'm not sure I understand the benefits behind this (would have understood more if it was a British team being sponsored).

[pyan]

With a Russian owner, a Swiss-born Italian manager, South Korean and German main sponsors and a squad with less than a quarter English players but including Portuguese, Serbian, Czech, Brazilian, Ghanian, Spanish, Cote d'Ivoirian, Nigerian, French, Belgian, Dutch, Mexican, Croatian and Israeli ones, I suspect that Chelsea have less right to be called a British team than Sauber does...

[thaddeus6th]

Aren't Sauber logos appearing on Chelsea's stuff too?

My guess is that Chelsea has a very big group of UK supporters who might now look at F1, whereas Sauber has a lot more global coverage which could help promote Chelsea overseas.

[Foxbat]

Alonso fastest in the first test day at Mugello. Perhaps the sun is starting to rise on the prancing horse (I hope)

[thaddeus6th]

I'm not taking the Mugello times too seriously. The last few years have shown that test times often don't bear too much relation to reality.

The sentiment emerging from the teams will be a better guide to how they're faring, I think.

[Foxbat]

Right now, I'll grab any crumb of comfort.

[thaddeus6th]

Crumb?

Alonso won in Malaysia and is just 10 points off the lead with a dog of a car!

The hyper-competitive nature of the season will help Ferrari out. If any one team/driver was doing what Vettel did in 2011 then the gap would be massive and increasing, but because it's so variable and unpredictable Ferrari are still in the chase, if they can get their car sorted.

If they can do it (and that's a huge if) Alonso may be best-placed, because he's clearly the Prancing Horse's number one.

[Foxbat]

Crumb may seem a strange word for me to use but I do believe that the season may be finished for Ferrari if they don't make major strides at Mugello. Although I have believed for many years that Alonso is the best on the grid (even in a Minardi, he showed promise) but there's only so much he can do by himself.

Anyway, to change the subject - pleased to see Grosjean topping the times today. I have high hopes for him this season (and even higher hopes for Kimi)

[thaddeus6th]

Grosjean's fast, but he needs to sort out his temperament/judgement. Unlike some unlucky drivers, he's missed out on many points due to his own mistakes.

[Foxbat]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99437

Schumacher renews his tyre criticism. I wonder if this is him planning his exit strategy?

[thaddeus6th]

If so, he hasn't told his brother. I read the other day that Ralf Schumacher reckons his sibling will continue beyond this year.

[Foxbat]

Watched Ralf in the DTM highlights this weekend - he had a nightmare, caused a few incidents and earned himself a drive-through. It was quite entertaining

[thaddeus6th]

Sounds like sniffpetrol.com's The Schumachers column might be updated soon then.

[It's a probably sometimes NSFW site that focuses on satirical F1 and other motoring news].