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

Red Bull Racing Renault
1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
2 Mark Webber (AUS)

McLaren Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (GBR)
4 Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso (SPA)
6 Felipe Massa (BRA)

Mercedes
7 Michael Schumacher (GER)
8 Nico Rosberg (GER)

Lotus F1
9 Kimi Räikkönen (FIN)
10 Romain Grosjean (FRA)

Force India Mercedes
11 Paul Di Resta (GBR)
12 Nico Hulkenberg (GER)

Sauber Ferrari
14 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)
15 Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX)

STR Ferrari
16 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
17 Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA)

Williams Cosworth
18 Pastor Maldonado (VEN)
19 Bruno Senna (BRA)

Caterham F1
20 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)
21 Vitaly Petrov (RUS)

HRT F1
22 Pedro De La Rosa (SPa)
23 TBA (TBA)

Marussia F1
24 Timo Glock (GER)
25 Charles Pic (FRA)

I don't think DRS is a permanent solution. Really they just need to have the cars run less downforce in general again, which is highly unlikely. KERS seems to work fine but at the same time it seems to offset a bit of what DRS is supposed to help with. I'm not really sure what a replacement for DRS would be, so if they just refine the DRS zones maybe that will be better. There have been times this season where people are stuck behind someone anyway, despite using all their KERS/DRS. Mostly because of the dirty air behind the car.

I've found DRS to be an incredibly useful tool for spicing up the action. Its true there's been certain weekends where the DRS zone was a little too long or a little too short, but I feel they've done a pretty good job with it overall. There's rarely been a time this season when a faster car hasn't had at least the possibility of getting by the car in front, which is how it should be.

KERS, on the other hand, seems nothing but a lot of extra hassle for pretty much nothing. Until they allow a bit more development of the units, or at least give them a bit more energy to store and allow the teams to use KERS in different ways(say, as a fuel-saving device rather than power boost), I'd say KERS is there merely so the FIA can say they are using a 'hybrid powertrain'.

Glad to see KERS return, it helps to negate the automatic overtake that some think that DRS is with it being a good defensive tool against it at times.

As for DRS, it has unquestionably led to more overtaking but refinements need made to double DRS tracks where drivers were able to overtake one straight only to lose the place straight away again in the next zone, totally defeated the purpose of having DRS as it just ended up cancelling itself out. If they're going to employ double DRS again it needs to have a substantial gap between the two zones.

KERS is absolutely a welcomed addition, with only the time restriction, drivers are free to use it at any place which will require drivers skill when they're attacking/defending

DRS is too artificial and its been a hit or miss during this season. We've seen it either making overtaking too easy or almost not useful at all. Just like today's race in Brazil. Maybe next year it will be better with some tweaking after collecting all the data from this season. Personally I'm against it

KERS - good, but I wish it was mandatory and a consistant system.The bottom 3 not having it is a real disadvantage. DRS is here to stay - at times it work wonders, at times not - but with tweaking I am happy to see it stay.

I think it's not a bad idea but it needs some tweaking, both on the mechanics of it and especially the DRS zones on a number of tracks. Before anyone complains about it making racing "artificial,"every major racing series I follow has some sort of artificialness to it. NASCAR mandates designs for safety that also happen to make passing a lot more common on its tracks by allowing the field to be competitive; IndyCar has "push-to-pass", etc. No one wants a racing series where the race is determined in the first corner and you spend the next 70 laps essentially as a parade. KERS and DRS might take some of the skill away in some respects ... but it adds a lot more (where to use it, when to use it, etc.) so it all balances out.

Glad to see KERS return, but I feel DRS has proved too unpredictable to justify its place in the future of F1. A more powerful, standardised KERS unit would achieve the same goal.

I don't think that they are the perfect solution to overtaking problems in F1 as they definitely feel too superficial at times, especially when you have double DRS zones and the cars ultimately just switch roles for a brief time before taking back their original position, however it is undeniable that both have made the races more enjoyable to watch this year. I'm not sure what the ultimate solution to creating more overtaking is, but until a better alternative is found I'm happy with DRS and KERS being in the sport.

I , like many others, like KERS more than DRS. DRS made overtakes look far too easy, it's the other end of the extreme. I'd rather not see DRS and see KERS being used as an overtaking tool. That way drivers still get upclose but still take risk because they'd be side by side.

KERS: Technology which hopefully can rub off on the rest of the world and make the cars we drive everyday greener. Battery technology should also benefit in someway from the research done. Does it make the racing feel slightly synthetic with a push-to-pass button? No, I do not feel that way.

DRS: More overtakes is good right? Actually, yes, even though this tech makes them feel even more synthetic or one might even go so far as to label them "cheap". I think it spices up the racing.

Hard to definitively say how much effect these two have had. KERS has been a success this season I feel, though DRS should be abandoned. It has made the racing too artificial and isn't really required as the tyres produce exciting racing on their own.

I like both. I want DRS to be available everywhere instead of zones during the race. Why should practice and qualy be different from the race?

KERS is fine, it's a tactical tool available to everybody and allows some nice setting up for overtaking or defending.

DRS - what a disaster. Took the excitement and tension out of most races. In the words of some BBC goon: "it allows faster cars to be 'released' into their 'proper' position" (paraphrased). Which boils down to the races ending in 'proper' order in relation to the car speed. There are no surprises, if a slower car manages to get further up the grid during the race with clever strategy or bold driving, well surprise, DRS 'releases' all the faster cars past them.
DRS is artificial, boring and shit, worst thing that happened to F1 in a long time.

KERS I like, it is good to see new technology being used in F1 rather than banned. I do wish it wasn't regulated so strictly, so teams could explore more efficient setups. DRS is a massive failure to me. I think with tweaking it could provide good racing, but it should not be the solution pursed at the expense of other methods. I like the idea of driver adjustable aero devices, but again, the artificial way in which they are implemented is not doing anything other making an artificial spectacle.

KERS I like, because it is up to the driver to decide when to use, and only provides a little help. I can't really think of anything to make it better, but the BHP/Time might be looked at.

As for DRS, I'd rather see it removed than have it continue exactly as it is. I had several issues with it, mostly with the inconstancy of the DRS, from track to track. Another thing I didn't like about it was how a lapped car could trigger DRS for the lead car of a pack, making DRS for the following cars pointless.

Even though it is gimmicky, I did enjoy seeing more passing this year. Hopefully the new 2012 regulations increase passing via natural methods.

I am a huge fan of KERS but I think the regulations at the moment reduce its effect too much, six seconds a lap just isn't long enough. Maybe they have to think about increasing the power output as well. Still on the fence in regards to DRS, it does make some races more exciting but sometimes it's just too easy, there has to be a balance because it just feels a bit too artificial at the moment. I have no idea how they fix this though

DRS combined with KERS have been an interesting experiment this season. Combined they've definetly made the races more exciting this year if not a little too artificial on some tracks. Turkey was one example where I thought it was way too easy to overtake using the DRS, then you had some tracks like Valencia where it made little to no difference. I definetly think the sport is moving in the right direction and giving us exciting races with this new system, they just need to continue tweaking it to get it just right for the many different tracks. One area where I hope it stays the same is in qualifying, drivers pushing the car to the limit trying to figure out the best areas on the track to open the rear wing and deploy the kers without over doing it.

I think KERS, at least, has some value as an interesting new tech with interesting applications on road cars. It's also well balanced, so as to provide an interesting layer of strategy and not be too effective for either the defending or overtaking car. DRS, on the other hand, is the worst, most artificial push-to-pass bullshit. Depending on the circuit, it's either an absolute guaranteed pass once you're in range to activate it, or so ineffective as to not matter. I honestly think DRS hurts the quality of the racing, because what's exciting about a great pass isn't the pass itself, it's the setup. How the driver positions himself, how the defending car reacts. When you just push a button and suddenly are 20kph faster, that completely ruins what's interesting. I don't really care if KERS says or goes, but DRS is garbage.

I think drs and kers have worked quite well. There were some races where drs was too powerful and others where drs was too weak, but now that the stewards have data on how it works at each track they can adjust the zones next year to make it just right.

They've provided some scintillating action on the track, but the racing seems very artificial. But F1#s about entertainment after all and if these two pieces of technology keep on providing action on the track then so be it. We may well be lamenting their loss in a few years time.

DRS - To put it simply, it didnt work. On certain tracks it made overtaking way too easy - it was basically a 'push to overtake button' that the leading car could do nothing about.
It means the person behind is in a better posistion that the person infront - which should never be the case.
Also on tracks that really needed help with overtaking, DRS did nothing to help them. DRS cannot save poorly designed tracks.

Kers - Hard to judge as its normally used with DRS for overtaking. But I cant see how it can ever have much of an impact - one car will use it to attack & the other to defend therefore cancelling each other out.
But its one more thing on a car that can go wrong & was one of the few things that gave me hope at the start of last season that red bull could be beat. So for reliability reasons alone, I like it!

Both KERS and DRS have in my opinion made the sport this year tremendously exciting. Neither are liked by all but I think they both have aided in overtaking, and it proves just how cutting edge F1 truly is with technology.

KERS is good addition from the beginning (IMO), but DRS needs some additional tweaking. It made overtaking much easier, but in some cases DRS zones were badly placed. So FIA will have to decide, if they will pursue with DRS use and re-tweak the rules for it or will they drop it and stay with KERS only. But in this case, they should make it stronger (more HP, like 80+) and allow it being used for more than 5 seconds.

It wasn't a great idea to bring them both in at the same time, I think. While it was clear that something had to be done to

increase overtaking, maybe it could have been done with one or the other, keeping the number of artifical overtaking aids to the minimum.

KERS or DRS individually I could take or leave, but I find the combination of the two to make racing a little more interesting. If you pay attention you will see some drivers burning through all of their KERS to protect from an overtake in a DRS zone. This leaves them open to attack in another area of the circuit... which generally means for more varied overtaking. Sadly that's still reliant on the circuit supporting overtaking though.

I don't like double DRS... I got so sick of watching a driver pass and then get passed right back in the second zone. Also, they need to make it so you don't get DRS on cars you're lapping. Let's face it, it wouldn't exactly be hard to do in software.

The tires have been great in general. Just a few instances where commentators have said someone must be dropping off a cliff soon and they went on to complete an immensely long stint just fine. The one complaint is that it isn't much of an advantage to go balls out in qualifying and burning all of the sets. It's a trade off. Personally I'd rather have exciting races.

Pirelli has been a revelation. They've done exactly whats been asked of them, they've continued to follow up on developments despite being the sole tire supplier, and the faster-degrading tires really do add to the action on-track and allows for plenty of tinkering with strategy on-the-fly. I do feel that perhaps they could improve on consistency from set-to-set, as there's been too many times that a car would be at home on a set of tires, switch to a new set, and then flounder. Could be the car in some cases, or even the driver, but I think its happened enough to point fingers at Pirelli. All in all, though, a great job.

Pirelli tyres have been a mixed bag throughout the season. Initially they were fantastic, unpredictable in their durability with dramatic losses in grip once you go over the 'cliff' made for some great races, but it seemed by the end of the season their durability had improved and Pirelli had made the tyres a lot more resilient. Overall they've been a lot better than last season for entertainment, and I wouldn't mind seeing the return of the tyre war.

Surprisingly good. they've delivered in most of the races. definitely a plus to the sport and they've done a much better job than Bridgestone

Pirelli tyres have been a godsend, although I wish we saw degradation levels back to earlier in the season - seeing people hit 'the cliff' made the races more unpredicatable.

Kinda indifferent. They seen better than the Bridgestone tires and there's no real problems with them, so I'm OK with Pirelli.

Welcome addition. Glad to hear they're planning on being even more aggressive next year.

I think the tyres have under delivered in terms of creating unpredictable tyres that force spur of the moment strategy changes. I feel that as the the season has gone on the tyres have become more and more reliable and ultimately aren't too different from what we had last year. I liked it when they "fell off the cliff" without any warning and I want to see more of that.

The scrap teams had to go through at the start of the season because they didn't understand the tires was wonderful to watch, my technical highlight of the year. Prefer it over the blown diffuser as it had really changed the racing. Balance now is much better but looking forward to next year to see what Pirelli has in store.

The drivers need to manage them and they punish those drivers who aren`t. There`s a fine line to thread and I believe they introduce an interesting variable to the show.

Without a doubt Pirelli have been the best thing to happen to F1 this season, even without DRS and KERS the tyres would have produced exciting racing.

I really liked them this year. I hope next year is very similar.

Pirelli tires are one of the best things that happened to F1. Tyres matter, strategy matters, driving matters. Great stuff!

Pirelli tyres were good, again, I don't like the having to use both types, or the limited sets of types rules, but the tyres themselves were fine.

I loved the new tires. I absolutely hated the one stop races that we saw in 2010. If we can't have refueling during the race then having to make multiple stops at least adds some element of pit strategy to the race. I'd love to see refueling come back though.

Pirelli did a good job considering it was there first season, most races I feel had a good balance between degradation and grip and there was way too much fear that we would see 4-5 stop races which wasn't the case. Again, I think the rules need to be improved, give the teams more choice in which tyre they want to run instead of restricting them to two types per race weekend.

The Pirelli tyres have made a huge difference this year, many of the overtakes this season were because of the tyres. Pirelli have done an amazing job making it more difficult to call strategys due to the difference, in some cases huge difference between the different tyre compounds. There were some races at the start of the season where we had drivers pitting 3-4 times in the race simply because as soon as the tyres were losing rubber they lost time dramatically. It seems that Pirelli during the latter half of the season caved in to some of the continuing pressure from the teams to make the tyres more durable, although it could be that the teams have found a solution to the tyre wear and made them last longer. Personally I think they have found a good balance between durability and keeping the races entertaining.

Horner was recently lamenting Pirelli's decision to be so conservative after the first few races, and I agree. For the first couple, degredation was high and as a result teams had a lot to play around with for their strategy. When the tires are too hard then essentially we're back to the Bridgestone years. I think the tire wars were absolutely great for the sport, but Pirelli pushing teams with higher degredation could be exciting too. If not, then whoever provides the tires is irrelevant and the Pirellis become a non-issue.

Pirelli made probably the biggest contribution to the exciting racing last year and they should be applauded for doing so in a way that could have risked their reputation (viewers seeing pirelli tyres always fall to pieces etc).

Pirelli have provided some reasonable tyres over the season, but some have been downright awful and bordering on disgraceful. Again, it seems as though the tyre situation has been manipulated in order to up the entertainment levels.

At the start of the season they were great, they went from being amazing to complete rubbish in the space of 2 laps & teams/drivers had no idea how to deal with them. This lead to some of the most exciting F1 races for years. But as the season went on the tires improved & the teams learned how to use them. So although still better than bridgestone, they are still lasting too long in my opinion. But without a tyre war what tyre company are going to purposly make thier tyres rubbish?

Likewise the addition of Pirelli tires has helped with overtaking and making the sport more exciting this year.

Pirelli tires performed better than expected, but they could still make it better. But this is their first season, so they get some of this slack off their shoulders. But for the next year I hope that they will make difference between softer and harder compound bigger. So that soft tire will be much faster but it will degrade like crazy and opposite with harder compound.

Overall the tires have performed well, though it seemed earlier in the season the they would degrade much more suddenly, though perhaps this has lessened as teams have gained a better understanding of how they work.

Pirelli tyres were awesome... emphasis on were. I don't know if it's that Pirelli backed off a bit and made them more durable, or if the teams got a handle on them, but I loved the early races where it looked like some drivers were going to have to make 4 or 5 stops because they were destroying their tyres. I want to see those ultra fast, ultra delicate tyres back again next year.

 

[Leunam]

McLaren need to stop fucking up. Ferrari needs to hire Brits/Germans. Mercedes needs to stop being so far below the top 3. Renault have forsaken me. Sauber too. I'm looking forward to Lotus/Caterham next year, hopefully they can get their first point. Williams better sort their shit because this year has been dreadful. I don't know what to say about Virgin or HRT, they're crap?

RED BULL STOP PLAYING BIG BAD WOLF IN THE GARAGE AFTER WINS!

I think Red Bull need to be given props for developing not only a car that is unstoppable in the right hands, but also an entire team that is simply working better than the mighty Mclaren and Ferrari empires. It really is an incredible accomplishment, and more kudos to them for having invested in their driver development program as much as possible and finding talent like Vettel, while also keeping a quality, experienced driver alongside. Its really hard to find something bad to say about the team, cuz they do everything right nowadays.

Mclaren deserve accolades for trying something different to topple the Red Bull dominance and producing a perfectly competent car once a traditional EBD was integrated, but it simply wasn't enough. I'd say Button has had his best year ever, and Lewis his worst.

Ferrari have been consistently 3rd best throughout most of the year and most would call that an utter failure. It is, in a way, but they're still up there fighting at the front, making life difficult for the more obvious podium contenders. It could be worse, and if Silverstone is anything to go by, the car isn't all that bad, its just they are unable to take advantage of the EBD's like Mclaren and Red Bull have, and I think thats largely down to their engine. While Alonso has been in absolutely top-form, Massa has been disappointing to say the least. The fight at the front is tough, and Massa hasn't proven capable enough to really keep in it.

As for the rest, I think Force India deserve credit for being a team that was hopelessly bad to a team that can fight for points regularly. Their drivers have been adequate, but not great.

Mercedes are showing signs they are still the Honda of old, not really able to make a dent on anybody when it comes to developing a car and relying on whatever head-start they can get before falling back. I dont see this team doing anything special til all-new regulations are introduced in 2014. And while Schumacher has had some moments here and there, its been another season where Rosberg has proven beyond a doubt the better and more mature driver.

Renault took a risk this year and it didn't work. The FFE(front-facing exhaust) was innovative, but turned into an idea that had very limited potential. They went from a podium-capable car to one that was occasionally in danger of not getting out of Q1. A massive down-turn in form. Petrov was adequate all season long, Heidfeld proved somewhat slow, but reliable, and then Senna has proven entirely unreliable, but has signs of potential, which is expected of a driver that joined half-way into the season with a car that not only is KERS-powered, but has other functions like DRS and whatnot to become acclimatized to.

Beyond that, I'd say that HRT have done a hell of a job from being by far the worst team last year, to overhauling Virgin, while having a pretty pathetic financial situation. Lotus have done a good job closing the gap to the mid-field pack, cementing them as the clear leaders of the new teams from 2010 and having an actual future in F1. Williams have been miserable. Toro Rosso have been predictably mediocre. Sauber have been predictably mediocre.

Ferrari need to improve, as do Mercedes. Both are capable of so much more and their drivers (even Massa) deserve better cars.

Is anyone going to be able to stop Red Bull as long as they have Vettel? I doubt it. The kid is just flat out amazing. He wants to be the best in everything he does, and he performs at a level we may not have seen since Ayrton Senna's heyday, just in the way he drives his car on the edge all the time. I'm not gonna be surprised if he gets three in a row next year.

McLaren still looks like the only team that can hang with RBR. They've had good pace most of the season and I think next year will be a good year for them. Button in particular is amazingly consistent and he may be Vettel's biggest threat in 2012. Hamilton just needs to spend some time in the off-season away from this all, get his mind clear, and come back in form. He looks and sounds like he's been bothered by something all season.

Ferrari is a team divided. On one hand, they have Alonso who has proven he is still one of the best. on the other hand, they're only at half-power because Massa just has not been the same since his accident. I don't fault Felipe for lack of trying or think he's dogging it, but I have no idea where he's gone.

Mercedes ... oh what to say about you. You should be better than you are? You should actually be winning races? Yes and yes. I don't understand how this team could basically go from Constructor's Title to mid-pack unless a.) Mercedes is meddling too much and messing things up, b.) it's the drivers or c.) Ross Brawn got hit on the head with a brick and lost his memory of how to build a top-of-the-line F1 track-killing machine.

I really hope Rubens gets one more season. If Massa weren't going to be at Ferrari (and it looks like he's staying), then I'd say give Rubens one more year at the wheel of the prancing pony (gives them time to get Kubica ready if they're hell-bent on having him on their team), both as a goodbye and because in the right car (see: Brawn 2009) he is still competitive. Hell, he's willed the crap they called Williams' machines the past two seasons to some points finishes that they had no business getting.

Maldonado is Spanish for "disappointing pay driver."

Should either Toro Rosso driver be back? No, not really, with Ricciardo and Vergne waiting in the wings.

Force India and Sauber should be better than they are. Especially with those drivers (well, not so much Sutil). They've progressed much but there's still a lot of room to grow.

Renault had better go get a time machine so they can go back to before Kubica got in his rally accident and kidnap him back to the future. Senna has had good mid-field runs marred by rotten luck and Petrov has had good mid-field runs marred by bad choices. Also, note to self: don't build an F1 car that can set itself on fire.

Lotus/Caterham is poised to break out if they can get everything together ... and get rid of Jarno. ROSSI FOR F1!!!!

If HRT could get some money and young talent, they could me much more competitive. Seems they will have neither anytime soon.

Virgin ... oh my. How did you get down here? You know something's wrong when the team that was the butt of everyone's jokes last year is not outqualifying you and outperforming you in races. Marussia had better get things fixed up and quick or these guys could be in deep trouble. Also, Timo Glock: you are an IDIOT for having chained yourself to this team. I know you want to race in F1 ... but wouldn't being Mercedes' test driver perhaps be a little bit better? You're just one mysterious pipe wrench to Rosberg's knee away from a better drive ... forget that I mentioned that ...

Red Bull have just been unbeatable. Whilst some may find the championship being won by Vettel so easily, I don't really have an issue with it. It's extremely impressive to see such a well crafted car and insanely talented driver at the top of his game. I wouldn't want it to continue for years, however I doubt that will be the case so I enjoyed it thoroughly. I do hope that Webber performs better next year, however.

McLaren may have had a shoddy start but I feel that they're the only team to have come close to threatening Red Bull's domination. Button is somewhat inconsistent but on the whole the one person next year I feel that can really take it to Vettel. Hamilton has obviously had a troublesome year but I think various posters and the media have made too much of it; I expect him to be back at full form next year and I don't buy in to the theories he's intimidated by Button's success. Overall, I still think they're the happiest family in F1 and I like to see it.

Ferarri's car or Massa's skills. What's the biggest joke? It's a coin flip for me!

Renault, Williams, Mercedes, Toro Rosso and Force India have made the mid pack extremely fun to watch this year. It would be nice to think that in the next season one or two of those teams will step up their game further and it will no longer be a three horse race at the top of the table.

HRT, Virgin and Lotus have done nothing for me yet again. At this point they're there just to make traffic situations interesting and provide some good crashes.

That's a lot to list but I just have to say; I'm really dissapointed in Sauber. They had a really good start to the year and their lack of development has really hindered their qualifying and race pace.

On the other hand, Force India have really impressed this year. They've had great race pace and they've reached Q3 on a number of occasions.

Lewis just needs to do a better job and somehow in the process not lose his edge.

Red Bull: 10/10
Vettel: perfection this season. Not a great deal he could have done any better.
Webber: Disappointing. Considering the speed of the RB this year he should have done much much better. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets dropped once his contract expires at the end of 2012.

McLaren: 8/10 Pushed RBR hard frequently, need improvement however, especially in qualifying.
Hamilton: Difficult season, done well on occasion, but needs to sort his head out during the off season.
Button: performed very well this season, if MRL could have closed the gap to RBR earlier in the season then Button may well have won the championship.

Ferrari: 6/10 If next season doesn't go well I can see Domenicalli getting the axe.
Alonso: Often made the Ferrari look better than it really is.
Massa: Needs drastic improvement next season if he hopes to stay at Ferrari. Though his clashes with Hamilton were entertaining.

MGP: 7/10 Moving forward well, comfortably in the gap between the top three and the midfield.
MSC: although not reaching his own high benchmark, shows he can still keep up and has performed well through out the season.
Rosberg: given a winning car Nico could easily become a champion in the future, performed very well this season.

Renault: 5/10 The start of the season looked promising, performance tailed off quickly after that.
All drivers (Heidfeld included) have been pretty decent. Petrov looks likely to be shown the door after his outburst though.

Williams: 1/10 Worst season for Williams ever, any more to add? 1 point for tiny rear end.
Barrichello: Would be sad to see him go, though if he does get a drive next season I think it could be his last anyway. Would hate to see him sacked rather than to end his career on his own terms.
Maldonado: Fairly anonymous. Pace of the car hasn't helped, but I can't really think of anything to say about him. Definitely brings in more money than talent if this season is anything to go by.

FIF1: 8/10 Frequently punching above their weight, both drivers performed well.
Sutil: Has been solid this year, if he loses this drive then he has done enough to get one elsewhere.
Di Resta: Never looked out of his depth and out performed his much more experienced team mate on the occasion.

Sauber: 7/10 Started out pretty well, couldn't keep up with development throughout the season.
Both drivers have been solid, given a faster car then they could both be challenging for points every race.

Toro Rosso: 7/10 Struggled early on, but improved very well in the 2nd half of the season.
Hard to split the drivers, both performed fairly well. Nothing worth shouting about though. It seems likely that both look like they are being dropped, but perhaps change will kick the team forward?

Lotus: 8/10 By far the best of the new teams. Looking good going forward.
Heikki: Looks like he is enjoying it, hope the car can repay his enthusiasm.
Trulli: Doesn't seem too happy, though has had his problems with the power steering. Will probably stick around for the whole of next season before Caterham decide for a change.

HRT: 4/10 Just making up the numbers, they've done well to last two seasons, but show no signs of improvement.

Virgin: 5/10 Disappointing. Look very professional though the car doesn't have the performance to match.

Good balance, I hope Ferrari and McLaren field good cars from the start so RB doesn't run away with it. I would like to see someone replace Massa though.

RBR - A team, at their absolute peak
Vettel - Godfinger
Webber - RBRs Massa - easily the most disappointing driver this season. Vettel has the championship pretty much in the bag half season in and he ends up fourth?

MCL - Weak start, but good effort.
Button was great, probably his best season ever. Hamilton was a little bit underwhelming but still ok.

Ferrari - Really struggling to keep up with RBR and MCL,
Alonso probably drove the car way above its potential.
Massa didn't have a good season, struggling quite a bit with the car.

Renault The Management made it a total joke team.
solid performances from all three drivers.

Mercedes
Struggling, Micheal made a few too many mistakes, but still ok i guess.

Force India
solid midfield team.
Sutil was good, bringing in the points. Di Resta was a good rookie.
They'd be BATSHIT CRAZY to drop Sutil for Hulk.

Toro Rosso
car wasn't very good, the drivers mixed...

Sauber
car wasn't very good, solid performances from both drivers

Lotus
Getting there, Kovalainen was great, Trulli not so much

Virgin
Glock is waaaaaaaaay to good for that team

HRT
nothing to see here

Such a big question. RBR is simply dominant, next year will be more of the same since it seems they almost stopped developing this years car by mid season. For the first time in my life I find myself hoping McLaren build a great car... bizarre. I hope Sauber can get their shit together and get back into the top of the midfield, and maybe start to challenge the bigger teams. I hope Williams finds something, they are one of my favourite teams, and they have been nowhere for so long now.

Drivers. Well, that boy Seb is fast, no doubt. Seems his racecraft is getting better, but he is still far from proven when not leading or when needing to resist pressure.

Button has moments of brilliance, but he doesn't seem to get as much out of an average car as Hamilton, they do make a good team though.

Kobay has been a bit disappointing, maybe trying too hard. And Webber. What is there to say? Such a bad year for him, his starts in particular.

Senna has done better than I expected, but not as well as some have been saying. Solid driver, but not much more.

Schumi vs Rosberg has been interesting, but it is hard to know how good Schumi is now, so maybe not such a feather in Britneys cap.

I loved the that even though there wasn't a battle for first in either the drivers or constructors championship, there were things that kept the season interesting. Hamilton/Massa, Sauber/Toro Rosso, ect. I also enjoyed watching qualifying, hoping one day to see Kovalainen break into Q2. I also enjoyed watching the battle for second develop over the course of the race after Seb had driven off into the sunset.

Vettel and Red Bull have been incredible, the way he was able to drive that car and pull out the laps when it mattered was incredible. My doubts about vettel have been put to rest, in comparison Webber has awful, in one of the most dominant cars we have seen and he had one race win and was absolutely destroyed by his team mate. I don't get the love he gets from GAF and I'm Australian!

Mclaren certainly recovered from their pre-season form and Button showed that he can match it with Hamilton but I still think that Lewis is the faster driver and I would love to see him @ Ferrari one day

Alonso showed this season what a fantastic driver he is, in a dog of a car and he pulled out some remarkable performances, Massa was terrible, how does he continue to drive for this team?

Schumi.....continues to damage his legend , I really hope he wins at least one race or gets on the podium at least

Ferrari: Like Alonso said I would give them a 5/10. Horrible car at the start of the season and played second fiddle to the Red Bulls and Mclarens all the way up to and including the last race. The only exception was thier one and only win at Silverstone due to the whole Blown exhaust situation. They really need to up thier game next year if they want to stand a chance of competing for the championship.

Mclaren: Again didn't have a very good start this season but somehow Hamilton managed to win the race in China. They have steadily improved as time went on and towards the end of the season have built a car that can at least challenge the Red Bulls for the race victorys. 6 race victories this season isn't at all bad

Red Bull: The class act this year, dominanted both championships with a car thats been untouchable most of the year. The only problem they had coming into the season was reliabilty, that was a non issue this season meaning they ran away with the championship. They have Adrian Newey who is frankly a cheat character, his a genius who builds race winning cars year after year. Theres nothing more to say, totally dominant.

Mercedes: Was expecting more from this year, maybe some podium positions. They are comfortably ahead of the midfield pack but not as fast as the top three. 5th, 6th, and 7th places were the best they could do this season with the exception of canada with Schumacer having a great race finishing 4th. I'm not sure wether they will be challenging the top three next year, but I expect them to get closer.

Alonso: Exceptional driver, out performed the car all season. 10 podiums and a win is not bad for 5th fastest car on the grid. Would place in the top three for driver performances this season.

Massa: What can you say, not a single podium all year, mistake and mistake, DNFs and being beaten by his teammate consistently in the same car. Why he is still at Ferrari I'll never know, his lucky he still got another year to prove himself with I doubt he will do. Poor season.

Button: Defintely rank him as the best or close second driver of the year. Proved himself, to me anyway, that he is as good as driver as anyone. Amazing drives such as Canada and hungary. Kept consistant throughout the second half of the season and has a great personality. He seems to be having the time of his life on and off the track, always smiling, definetly a championship contender for the future.

Hamilton: Well its another reflecting season for Hamilton. Each year since he won the championship seems to be one. This year was no different, has some amazing drives like china and germany. Then you had all the bad sides of Hamilton, penalties and DNFs where he made mistakes. His mood swings all over the place but when his on it his one of the best out there, his aggression and race craft is something I always look forward to and hopefully next year he has a better season so we can see some of the overtakes and aggressive driving he his known for.

Webber: Lackluster season for me. Was consistant with some podiums but had some terrible races and terrible starts which went on for a while. His team mate in the same car winning race after race in the same car really illustrated how much he got truly beat. He needs a very good year next season, its probably his last chance to race in a championship winning car. His a great driver but he needs to improve and beat his team mate more than a couple of times if he wants to improve on this year.

Vettel: What can you say. Utterly dominant. Had a car much faster than the rest of the field and he took full advantage, pushed his already fast car to the limits with fasted lap after fastest lap, pole after pole, race win after race win. Even with the fastest car on the track he still proved his one of the fastest drivers in recent times with some of his race performances where he was consistantly pushing the car every lap. I'm not sure how he would fair in a car thats more or less equal with the other top contenders, but with a car like the Red Bull his unstoppable.

Vettel, Button and Alonso are clearly at the top of the field. Vettel hardly put a wheel wrong all year. You can attribute his pace to the car, and that certainly helps, but comparing his performance to Webber and you see exactly what that extra bit is that he brings. He's tremendously quick and, for a driver who not long ago had a reputation as being a liability, is now extremely consistent. As long as Red Bull can continue to make at least a decent car for him, he'll be a threat for a very long time.

Button must be incredibly proud of what he achieved this year. When he signed with McLaren, everybody thought he would quickly be relegated to a number two position. Last year he showed that he's at least as quick as Hamilton, but this year he thoroughly beat him. He's been getting better every year recently, and his driving this year far surpasses his championship run. Should McLaren make a WC car, I'd put money on Button over Hamilton to claim it.

Alonso is the only driver on the grid that I'd possibly put over Vettel right now. Unfortunately, he's still stuck in a Ferrari team that has no idea what they're doing. He's made a mediocre car look very competitive several times this year, and you can tell that if his seat were filled with another Massa, Ferrari would be fighting with Mercedes and not McLaren.

 

[Leunam]

Red bull:

Masterclass from Vettel from start to finish. If anyone wants to stop him winning 3 in a row they will have to massively step up their game.

Webber disappointing.

Mclaren:

Button made a believer out of me. Definitely more impressed with this season than his title winning year.

Hamilton was obviously affected by his troubled relationship this year, but with the news of recent reconciliation perhaps he and massa can be happy again in 2012.

Ferrari:

Alonso probably did as well as you could expect from a car that was obviously worse than the RBR and MCL. If ferrari can turn things around in 2012 he can give vettel an epic fight.

Massa: Seat warmer for whoever they pick in 2013. I suspect if Kubica was fit he would already be gone. 1128 days without a win.

Mercedes:

Schumacher has finally started to show promise with several good results and many brilliant starts throughout the season. A shame that the mercedes is woeful.

Rosberg quietly outscoring schumacher again, though not by as much this time. It would be interesting to see these two really go at it in a competitive car.

Force India:

Its a shame that they lost out to renault by 4 points in the constructors because they probably deserve it more. For a small team they have performed well and have brought in new talent to the sport in the form of Di resta. If the rumoured lineup for next year of hulkenberg and di resta is true then they look set for a great 2012.

Renault:

Of course the loss of Kubica hurt them this season, but that doesnt excuse a poor season all round. The car did not develop and their drivers performed poorly.

Sauber:

At the start of the season they showed a lot of promise but sadly they fell off towards the end. As a small team this can be forgiven but if they want to keep their talented driver lineup for much longer they will have to do better next season.

Torro Rosso:

After a poor start they managed to scrape together a decent enough season, no doubt helped by the exhaust blown diffuser they definitely didn't get from red bull and came up with all by themselves. Alguersuari put in some good performances this season and hes still only 21, perhaps one to watch in the future.

Williams:

Worst. Season. Ever. Its all well and good to take the lovely pay driver money but you actually have to spend it properly to help the team. Its also probably a good idea to have at least 1 driver who knows how to lead the development of a car.

The no scorers:

Did they get better, or did other teams such as sauber and williams drop back towards them? Its hard to know but after 2 years in the sport its probably fair to judge that HRT and Virgin are simply not good enough, Lotus are perhaps making some headway.

Red Bull - Improved reliability and better teamwork have contributed to their most successful season to date. The RB7 in a word is; supreme.

Ferrari - Another season of disappointment for the Scuderia, they cannot afford another season like this or heads in higher positions will roll. A beautiful car though, it must be said.

McLaren - Best of the rest, but again flattering to deceive. They really surprised everyone in the pre-season with the wacky sidepod design and it still remains to be seen whether they had any significant effect. They must start 2012 on the pace or they may be playing catch up once again.

Mercedes - Once gain finishing behind the might of the top three teams. They improved in many areas, but still had to much of a deficit to make-up. They have recruited some very talented people for 2012, but they may not reap the immediate benefits until 2013. They were constantly battling in the mid-field and certain fans accused them of favouritism in Schumacher's direction. It's clear for all to see the the Red Baron is building another dream, but will it be part two of a glorious era of success r will Schumacher finally call it quits. Tune in to find out.

Vettel - Mighty, nuff said.

Hamilton - Erratic.

Webber - Disappointing.

Alonso - Fighting spirit, but to no avail.

Massa - On a downhill spiral into the Malebolge of ex-F1 drivers.

Button - Proving doubters wrong in the best way possible; inflicting Lewis Hamilton's first defeat by a team-mate. Truly, a top tier driver now.

Vettel was Faultless all season, if Red Bull keep making great cars he could easily become the most successful F1 driver of all time.
But I still have my doubts - could Vettel have won a race if he was driving the ferrari this year like Alonso did?

Speaking of which - Alonso needs to get a good car - He is one of the greatest F1 drivers in recent years & he deserves more than 2 world titles. With his talent he should be getting 4 or 5. Ferrari needs to sort themselves out quickly.

Mercerdes also need to sort themselves out as I want to see schumacher get on the podium one last time (or more!) before he retires again.

Although Buton was impressive this season, I do think if McLaren create a competative car then he will not stand a chance against Hamilton _ I think Hamilton cant be bothered battling it out if he does not have a chance to win. Once he has a chance of 1st place he will destory Button.

Virgin are a joke of a team, thank god they are changing thier name to erease thier shameful past.

McLaren is definitely my favourite team in the sport, with Red Bull, Mercedes and Force India closely following behind. My two favourite teams of the 90's (Williams and Ferrari) have disappointed me an incredibly amount this year, and I certainly lose more and more respect for Ferrari with each passing year given how they operate.

RBR - dominant car this season with dominant driver (Vettel). Webber could do much better, but i fear that his prime is already over.
Mclaren - quite well recovery after that winter testing fiasco. But manly due to EBD exploitation. But they proved once again that they can develop the car. Button had great season, Lewis 'Love hurts, love scars' will try to forget about it asap
Ferrari - they would be lost without Alonso, Massa had abysmal season and i really do not know why is he still at Ferrari. Car should be much better, but we will see in 2012...
Mercedes - expected more and I think that they wanted the same. Both drivers should be rated with C
Renault - good start until financial problems kicked in, awful 2nd half of the season. Being too radical is not always good. They should thank Heidfield, because his 3rd place from Malaysia kept them on 5th place in WCC.
Force India - slow start, but gained a lot of ground in the 2nd half. They ended mere 4 points behind Renault, so they should continue with this trend in the next season.
Sauber - Good until Silverstone, nowhere after Silverstone. Solid start for Perez and not good season for Kamui.
Toro Rosso - too many mistakes in the first half, but showed some potential in the 2nd half of the season. Both driver could do better.
Williams - one word : Disaster. 5 points in 19 races Rubens should retire and there are better drivers than Maldonado. But they do not have so much money....
Lotus - making progress through whole season, almost scored first points...
Virgin, HRT - moving chicanes, 2nd year.

Red bull are not a team with a long history, so it's difficult to give them a personality. It's like some corporate entity came out of nowhere and is suddenly dominating the sport.
Vettel's finger is annoying.
Webber has a very square chin.

McLaren on the other hand have been around as long as I've been watching the sport. With two British drivers, it's hard not to think of them as the 'home' team.
Hamilton has been terribly inconsistent and seems to have been letting his personal life get in the way of his racing.
Button continues to surprise everyone with how good he is in a good car.

Ferrari are as old as the sport itself. I would be proud to be a tifosi if I was Italian, but I'm not!
Alonso hasn't been as dour this season. Getting his head down and bringing in some better results than the car really looks capable of.
Massa has done nothing interesting all season. Average driver in an average car!

Mercedes are a team I had high hopes for, and still do. Hopefully all the new people they have brought in will elevate them to fighting for podiums and wins next season.
Schumacher has greatly improved on last season, shows occasional flashes of the old brilliance, and was desperately unlucky not to get on the podium in Canada.

Renault are a team I dislike, or rather I should say Eric Boulier I dislike simply because of the way he punted Heidfeld out.

The rest of the teams and drivers I have to say merge in my mind into a big jumble of also-rans. The only exceptions really being Lotus/Caterham who I hope to see being the first of the new teams to really take big strides forward. I'm hoping for some top 10 finishes from them next season.

And also Williams, whose steady decline continues to sadden me. I really hope they can get themselves sorted out.

Red Bull - I've got a feeling they're going to be hurt a lot by the ban on blown diffusers next year... but you just can't count out Newey. The guy has been a magician of late.

McLaren - If they can get to the grid with a competitive car I think they'll stand a good chance of winning the season. They've proven, for better or worse, that no-one can develop in season like they can.

Ferrari - I think they need to start from scratch, and not just in terms of the car, but in terms of the engineering team. They just don't have what it takes and have spent most of their time copying the innovations made by other teams. That said, I do think that the ban on the blown diffuser is going to help Ferrari a hell of a lot, as evidenced by Silverstone.


Vettel - I think he's still got another gear... which is sort of scary. Don't be surprised to see him trying to earn a reputation through racing next year. I wonder if he'll regain his crash kid reputation back from Hamilton.

Webber - The Webber fanboys will hate me, but he reminds me of Coulthard in his later McLaren days. The guy's done, he just doesn't know it yet. Vettel has broken him this season and I don't see a way back.

Button - I think he's done a lot of damage to Hamiltons psyche (no matter what he says) and his reputation, whilst building up his own. I will admit that I thought Button was a bit of a paper champion, but he's impressed me a lot this year. Amazing that he's coming into his own when everyone expected Hamilton to demolish him.

Hamilton - He needs to mature massively. The attitude is all wrong and the arrogance is off the scale. If he could learn that you don't need to pass everyone in the first 5 laps then he could be one of the greats. How he handles next year will determine if he becomes a legend, or just another bunch of lost potential.

Alonso - Alonso has come on so much in my opinion this year. He's stopped being petulant (at least in public) and has just been getting on with the job. He's made the best of an average car (consistently) and has cemented his position as at least one of the best 2 drivers.

Massa - I say this as a (huge) former fan... You're done Massa. Pack it up and move on into obscurity.

Schumacher - This season decides if he gets to leave as a true legend or if he becomes a former prize fighter that has had 10 fights past his prime.

I suspect that Rosberg is going to make him look ordinary again... and that's a crying shame.

.

 

[Leunam]

Di Resta and Perez have been great. I don't know what happened to Kobayashi the last half of this season but Perez has been kicking his pants. I can see both getting good results given a top tier car in the future.

Disappointed? I wasn't expecting anything of these rookies, but Maldonado is the worst. Hope he's out soon.

Its a hard pick to say who the best rookie driver has been. All except D'Ambrosio have shown genuine sparks of potential, but none have really kept it up over the whole season. Funny enough, most of the rookies impressed more early on, while their more experienced teammates seemed to get a handle on things as time progressed. If I had to pick, I think I'm gonna say that Di Resta has shown the best consistency of the bunch(as would be expected by his experience and age), so should take the nod for Best Rookie, but Perez could ultimately be just as promising, as the Mexican looks to be very fast on his day.

I've been most impressed by Di Resta, the maturity and composure he's shown this season has been sensational. He's competed well when he's needed to and held back and not fought silly battles when not needed.

Most disappointing would probably be Hamilton. Too many rash decisions and too much going on off-track distracting him, he's not been focused and hasn't hit the heights he's capable of.

Paul Di Riesta was fantastic.. I can't say I'm disappointed in any rookie as I haven't really paid close attention to them.. non of them basically pulled a Hulk like last year

Best rookie has been Perez. Matched and beaten Kobayashii for most of the season. Paul Di Resta I want to support, but he seems boring and Sutil has done better than him lately. Next season he must prove himself more.

Sergio Perez and Paul di Resta (tie). Both showed a lot of promise, and if Force India and Sauber could actually build machines that were a bit more competitive, these two would be fighting for more points along with their respective teammates.

Most impressed with Di Resta, he's taken to F1 remarkably well against an experienced team mate. Most disappointed with... Di Resta, he seemed to be overshadowed by Sutil in the latter half the season.

Di Resta is undeinably the most impressive rookie of the year in terms of sheer performance, however Ricciardo has to be my favourite as every time he opens his mouth he reminds me of a young Mark Webber... just a lot less dashing.

Even though Perez was shaping up for a great first year, the rookie of the year goes to Paul di Resta. Consistent through out the year, out qualifying his team mate in a number of occasions. Felt like a veteran at some races rather than a rookie.

Maldonado was a great disappointment this year. It's not easy to judge a driver in a bad car but he only managed to score one point in 19 races.

Paul DiResta was good also Bruno Senna.

Paul di Resta was great. I think he has a great future ahead of him. Pastor Maldonado annoys me. He's not a terrible driver; I just don't like him, lol.

Perez. Did really good with sauber in a sub par-car, not some hotshot that throws away possible points.
Most dissapointing? Hearing Di Resta talk makes me want to strangle him.

Probably Di Resta. He was in a better car than the other rookies, but he kept up well with the faster cars in many races.

Paul di Resta was the rookie that most impressed me this year, but I wonder how much of that has to do with the car he was provided. Saying that, there was a marked improvement in his performance over the course of the season. d'Ambrosio was the rookie who least impressed me, but again, I have to wonder how much of that is due to the car he had to drive.

I would say Di-resta and senna have impressed me the most, both fairly consistent and shown flashes of speed. Maldonado has definitely been the most disappointing

The rookie who has impressed me the most this season would have to be Paul Di Resta. His has some good drives this year and scored a few points, his been consistent and beaten his experienced team-mate on a few occasions. The other rookies have not been as consistent as Paul, which is one of the reasons why his impressed me much more. The rookie who has dissapointed me the most is a difficult one, haven't seen much of D'Ambrosio and there isn't much you can do in that virgin. Out of Perez and Maldonado I would have to say Maldonado. The car might not be that good but his been too inconsistent, making so many mistakes and consistenly not fighting for any points. 1 point during the season and hasn't made a good impact in the 2011 F1 season.

It would probably be Di Resta. He's shown decent promise, but he's also the best in a field of, sadly, some very unimpressive rookies. Maldonado is definitely the worst of the bunch, clearly a driver getting by on what he brings in terms of sponsorship. I understand that Williams could really use more funding, but ultimately they need drivers who can give them results, and Maldonado isn't one.

Most impressed: Di Resta. He has shown he can compete with a highly rated team mate in Sutil and has shown he is willing to follow different race strategies and keep a cool head and know his time to attack is later in the race.

Least impressed: Maldonado. Must be nice to have the backing of shady Venezuelan oil companies.

Di Resta has been revelation in his rookie season: beating Sutil in the first half and been very close in the second half of the season as Sutil fought back from adversary and off track controversy. A future race winner and potential champion in the making.

On the other end of the spectrum; Pastor Maldonado, hasn't really done enough to impress and has courted a lot of controversy with his antics and confrontations with Lewis Hamilton. He wouldn't be in F1 on sheer talent, but his backers have the finances, which is becoming ever increasingly the norm in F1. Must do better than to match a Rubens Barrichello in the twilight his respectable career.

Most impressive - I assume most are going to say Di resta, but i think Sergio Perez mainly because I thought Sauber only recruited him for his sponsorship money. But he has some great results & looks like he could be moving to a top team in the future.

Most disappointed - Maldanado of course! Yeah the williams car wass rubbish - but he just never looks in control of his car, he is always fighting it and looks like he could spin off at any time. The fact that williams are keeping him on for another season just shows whats wrong with F1 (damn pay drivers...)

Paul di Restra has impressed me an incredible amount this season, but I really don't have an answer for who has disappointed me. It's hard to tell who is and who isn't competitive given the weaker cars the rookies are in, so I honestly can't say.

Most impressed by Di Resta, most disappointed with Maldonado. Di Resta proved that he has a lot of potential, 27 points in his first season is very good start. I would like to see him in better car.
Maldonado's results speak for themselves. Where money talks, bullshit walks.

Paul di Resta has impressed with a fine season with some solid points finishes.
Less impressive has been Maldonado, with only a single point, and the Hamilton incident at Spa showed some poor judgement.

I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority here, but I haven't really been impressed by any of the rookies this year. I appreciate that limited testing means that they have very little experience, but none of them managed to really put their team mates under massive amounts of pressure. Hopefully next year will be better... though right now I'm only aware of Pic as a new rookie driver.

Petrov air, Button stopping in Red Bull's pits, Petrov mounting Schumacher, Alonso gifs from India, fucks sake Felipe, all of the Montreal GP.

This year, I got to see my first F1 race live. Went and visited my mom in London in July and knowing how much of an F1 fan I am, she got tickets for the British GP. Awesome. We camped out for the weekend, which was a fun experience in its own right, but having Ferrari have their only win of the season at my very first race was something seriously special for me. Especially after going through all the highs and lows of the race. I've gotta go with this race weekend due to how amazing the whole experience was, from setting up our tent in between periods of heavy rain, to the action-heavy GP2 feature, to the exciting F1 finale and a Ferrari win.

Canada, it can't be anything else. Brilliant BBC coverage and brilliant drama right at the end with Button getting past Vettel.

It's funny, I can't think of something really special happened this season

Favorite moment has to be the steam chat during the Canadian GP. Seeing the wiki page for the red-shouldered blackbird altered to show DC's affection for it, brilliant.

Canadian Grand Prix. Easily the most exciting race of the year. I need to get to Montreal at some point!

The clashes between Hamilton and Massa.

A draw between Vettel losing it on the last lap of Montreal and Webber/Alonso going up Eau Rouge side by side. The former because it was the perfect end to one of the most memorable races I've ever seen (not to mention I put on a lucky bet for Button to win and netted £80!) and the latter because, like Coulthard, I couldn't believe the balls for them both to do that. I'd be too scared to try that in F1 2011, let alone real life.

It's the only moment I ever shouted on my TV this season, that was at Canada when Jenson passed Vettel on the last lap. I couldn't believe it and went Alonso 2005 crazy.

Jenson coming through the field to win Canada was awesome.

[strikethrough]Any time Vettel doesn't win, get pole or finish.[/strikethrough]
Best moment would be Q1 at Melbourne, after the long winter break its the first time we will see the cars running in anger and first glimpse of how the season will go, plus getting up at the crack of dawn adds to the spectacle. Although this happens every season it always feels special.

Button's wins at Suzuka and Montreal. The Montreal race was great, still need to go back and watch the black flag bird watching session.

Vettels absolute dominance. crazy crazy stuff.

In a sad statement on the state of F1, my favourite moment was probably the rain in Montreal. The GAF and commentary banter during that hour was brilliant. As for actual racing? Probably Webber taking Alonso at Eau Rouge. Brave stuff.

I don't know about a favorite moment, but my favorite race was the Belgian Grand Prix. Red Bull was running the extreme camber that caused issues with their tires, the run into La Source for the first time (and the collisions), seeing the cars run flat out through Eau Rouge, the passing on the straight (Kobayashi and Hamiltons collision), ect. Such an iconic track and a great race.

Alonso's start at the spanish grand prix closely followed by his start at the Italian grand prix. Both were unbelievable

So many its hard to pinpoint one. Alonso's victory at Silverstone, Webber overtaking through eau rouge, Alonso and Button hunting Vettel down at Monaco, Hamilton and Massa through the last turn at Silverstone, Vettels puncture at Abu Dhabi, many BBC moments including Vettels almost crying on the forum. If I had to chose one it would have to be Button in Canada, running 21st at one point he made his way up the field with a stunning drive, pressuring Vettel into a mistake on the last lap. I was jumping up and down in joy during those last few laps and the victory was marvelous, such an amazing race and drive from an amazing driver.

Massa and Hamilton were probably the most entertaining thing this year. In Practice, Qualifying or the Race, every time those cars got close you just knew something bad/great was about to happen. Still, the most impressive drive of the season had to be Button in Canada. That was easily the most incredible comeback in a race since Kimi won in Japan 2005.

Canada. This will go down as one of the classics of modern f1.

The Canadian GP as a whole, the camaraderie that F1 GAF shared with each other, where all of our differing opinions were put aside for the briefest of moments. But a moment that reminds us all of the reason we love this sport so passionately. Long live those moments of joy and exhilaration.

The whole canadian race was the best moment of the season, The whole mix of DRS, Perelli Tyres, Rain made of one of the greatest races of all time.

By far Canada. Not only because of Button's insane win, but because it was the first race of the season where I fully got back into F1. I've been watching F1 on and off for years, but this year is the first time in recent history where I've sat down and enjoyed the races.

Hamilton and Massa in 'Gimme all the lovin' all your front wings and some bodywork too'

Vettel spinning off on the last lap in Canada.

1 - The laps leading up to the massive crash and safety car at Monaco. Watching Vettel on wrecked tyres desperately keeping Alonso behind him was utterly captivating. It was only going to be a matter of time, but still, he was managing to cope with the pressure. Then, as they came up to the back markers you knew it was going to get interesting... just possibly not as interesting as it actually got!

2 - Canada. It was nonetheless an amazing race, especially at the end. Vettel knew full well that if Button had managed to get in the DRS zone it would have been all over for him, so he was pushing the car like crazy. He was going to lose the place one way or another, but I'm sort of glad it didn't end up being another soulless DRS pass.

That Button came back to win after all the misfortune he had in that race speaks to his massive amounts of character.

3 - Hamilton vs Massa... what a pair of complete clowns. It's like watching two little girls pulling each other's hair in a playground fight. It would be sad if it wasn't so hilarious.

4 - Coulthard's reaction when Webber passed Alonso in Spa... and the pass itself of course. Top quality F1 by two drivers who know how to drive without taking others off (Take note Hamilton and Massa).

Hopefully a tighter grid again, as well as Kimi's return. A new year of Shaneus-Webbsy optimism followed by deep heartfelt tears. Oh wait, it's Sky next year isn't it? Well shit.

The new rules have the potential to create a more competitive grid. Ferrari will likely be closer to the front and the poorer teams wont need to worry as much about complicated EBD's being a major factor in being competitive. Other than that, things will largely be the same.

Williams seeing a dramatic improvement after moving to Renault engines, Mercedes and Ferrari to come good and Caterham to be a surprise package.

More competitiveness. a single team dominating is not fun

Looking forward to Webber dominating the world....

Well, if the U.S. Grand Prix does not go forward, then I won't be looking forward to that. In particulat, I will be looking forward to seeing how the three new teams have progressed, whether any of the midfield teams (Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams, Renault and maybe if they improve enough, Lotus?) can break from the pack and really give a team like Mercedes a challenge.

Having more time free on Sunday afternoons.

McLaren starting strong from the first race and bringing the fight to Red Bull. I think Vettel has to be the favourite to take the title next year, but you'll never know what will happen. I'm definitely going to be putting some money on Button and Hamilton at the start of the season as those are the two drivers I could see taking the title next year.

I'm also somewhat looking forward to seeing what Sky do with the coverage, as well as how the BBC react having only half the season. Unfortunately, I think I'm much more apprehensive than excited about this element of the sport, though.

To see if McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes keep their promise and improve what they did wrong this year. I can't wait for the first testing day to see the new Red Bull and McLaren.

And to see if Kimi is still as fast as he was before leaving!

Hopefully some proper competiotion to S.Vettel. As Eddie Jordan said, more guys on the podium, different guys needs to win. The championship needs to feel alive and vibrating.

Hopefully next season provides a bit less predictability and more competitive racing at the front of the grid. Although it looks unlikely at the moment an F1 race in America would be very good for the sport. Also getting rid of the horrible off throttle engine modes that have been used this season.

McLaren and Ferrari starting the year with good cars and not playing catch up. I would say the return of the US GP but it doesn't look like that will happen (or from the latest I've seen which is a couple weeks ago).

KIMI and VETTEL dreamteam!

Not much, sadly. The new tracks for the past few years have been pretty underwhelming, RBR/McLaren will remain the front runners I think, and then there is the Sky coverage debacle. I think it is my least anticipated season for a while. I Ricciardo gets a STR drive that will be interesting. I hope Kobay can find some of the form we saw last year and in the first half of this season.

I'm really looking forward to a closer field next year. No idea if it will happen yet, but man would it be nice if we didn't know who was going to be the champion until the final race with multiple drivers still alive and fighting for it. I'm also kinda excited because I plan on attending my first F1 race at Montreal next year (I was planning on going to Austin... oh well)

A more competitive year, especially from Ferrari

Hopefully Alonso winning the championship. One thing I do hope is that the championship is not over before the last race and we get the same exciting races we had this year combined with the championship fight of last year.

Kimi Motherfucking Raikkonen

Raikkonen, ERB being banned and cars sounding nice again, is it too much to hope that someone can compete with vettel?

The new look of the cars, with lower noses and the ban of the off throttle diffuser ban. The continuing rise of Paul di Resta, the moment when Schumacher finally trumps Rosberg and leaves him in the shade. And the Return of the King in Lewis Hamilton. The return of Kimi Raikkonen also gets the juices flowing. Finally, some new liveries, which are much needed in the stagnant arena of F1 livery design.

Im looking forward to proper racing again, I found it hard to get excited about the last few races as the Driver & constructors championship was decided long before the end.
Im also hoping for more competative Ferriris, McLarens & Mercedes to bring the fight to Red Bull & hopfully get a 4/5 way title fight.
Old Hamilton coming back!
And one of the new teams to finally score a point!

I'm looking forward in seeing how the other teams cope against Red Bull, and I hope it's not another year of dominance by Vettel (despite me liking the guy). I'm also looking forward in seeing 6 world champions in the season, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I'm sad however by the lack of the Austin race and the full BBC coverage, so those are my two disappointments for next year.

I hope for better Mclaren, Ferrari and Mercedes and not so dominant RBR.
And Kimi, of course

A season long fight between McLaren and Red bull.

I'm not looking forward to much at all next season because of the Sky situation. I am hoping to take my elderly mother (In her 70s) to her first F1 race ever though, which could be pretty special as long as she's feeling up to it. I'm annoyed that we can't watch all the races together any more though.

If I had to pick one thing to look forward to, it would probably be the new US GP... except of course it looks like it's not going to happen. That, or the opening race of the season, that's always pretty special.

 

[AcridMeat]

Holy hell, that's a lot more interviews than I expected. Well done as always.

I also want to say the Renault comment was before they signed Kimi. They're better now with their new driver line up. Hopefully that team has a competitive car, though I'm pretty sure they won't.

 

[Leunam]

Yeah, might have to tone it down next season.

 

[jey_16]

Good stuff.... am I going to be hunted down for my comments on webber?

 

[S. L.]

Good stuff.... am I going to be hunted down for my comments on webber?

why? Webber pretty much had the biggest discrepancy on the field between car potential and actual results. In that sense he was last seasons worst driver.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Brilliant as always Leunam.

Can't wait for the new car reveals.

 

[Psychotext]

Haha... talk a lot don't we?

Top job Leunam.

 

[Chris R]

I like seeing all those responses. I just want to see Austin happen next year. I'm working on saving up and will be there. Need to see the grandstand setup before I decide on where I'll be sitting and don't know if I can afford to stay in Austin with those insane hotel rates.

 

[Dead Man]

What a great response, some interesting stuff in there from F1GAF, thanks for putting it all together Leunam. Brilliant work. Love the little additions like the wikipedia page on Coulthards bird

 

[Shaneus]

Fuck, my sincerest apologies for completely forgetting about Leunam's questionnaire. Don't take it personally that I didn't contribute, folks... I'm just a guy who's been blessed with the world's worst memory

PS. So damn glad that I'm going to the first race of the year and the first race that both Webber AND Ricciardo will have official drives in. Fingers crossed the STR is at least as good as it was this year, so we can expect (hopefully) a top 10 finish for both, if only to make their home race a memorable one.

Shit, Webber's debut at Melbourne in the shitty Minardi was something to behold. Ricciardo should be fine.

 

[Salacious Crumb]

Yeah, might have to tone it down next season.

Don't, that was a fun read. Fantastic work.

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

woohoo

thanks Leunam, great job as usual


Do you guys think Sutil will get the Williams seat?

 

[olore]

Excellent Mr L, and now I feel special and chosen as well

 

[Shaneus]

why? Webber pretty much had the biggest discrepancy on the field between car potential and actual results. In that sense he was last seasons worst driver.

Yeah, despite being a massive fanboy I'm not disagreeing with any of the comments regarding his (relatively) poor performance. Some obvious flashes of brilliance (China, dat Eau Rouge) made the rest of his season frustrating to watch. With any luck the EBD will bring the two RBR drivers closer together (though I doubt that will happen, Vettel's a quick learner) or Webs will severely lift his game to the point where he's the best starter (ahahahahaha) as that clearly cost him at least 2nd in the WDC. So many fucking places lost.

Reallyl curious to see how Ricciardo will do, too. Obviously not great results in the HRT but he was managing to bring the car home consistently as well as perform quite well compared to his more experienced teammate.

 

[Dilly]

Nice job on the OP, forgot to answer your questions, got a lot on my mind lately. So sorry about that!

 

[Adamm]

Good job Leunam, Great OP!

Now for the long wait until testing

 

[NihonTiger90]

Should either Toro Rosso driver be back? No, not really, with Ricciardo and Vergne waiting in the wings.

(Because I wrote my response well before they both got sacked)

Also, one of my buddies lives in Austin, so you can bet your sweet ass I am going to the USGP. Between this and my trip to Indy in May for the 500, gonna be a lot of open-wheel fun in my future!

Also also ... I really need to get to work on that 2012 Motorsports OT thread. :x

 

[Zeppu]

Awesome OP. Great job guys.

 

[Dead Man]

I think F1GAF is all aboard the Di Resta train for next year

 

[Adamm]

I think F1GAF is all aboard the Di Resta train for next year

As long as he stops blaming everything else for him not being world champion

 

[Dead Man]

As long as he stops blaming everything else for him not being world champion

Well yeah, his personality is not so top notch, but as long as he keeps driving fast it will be good to see a new guy up towards the top.

 

[Xun]

My responses are so lame haha.

Anyway great thread as always Leunam!

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Also, one of my buddies lives in Austin, so you can bet your sweet ass I am going to the USGP. Between this and my trip to Indy in May for the 500, gonna be a lot of open-wheel fun in my future!

Also also ... I really need to get to work on that 2012 Motorsports OT thread. :x

Yeah, that's good because Subzero's thread from 2009 is getting a bit long in the tooth.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Leunam is a machine.

Great work!

 

[arena08]

Damn that's a lot of text.

 

[AdventureRacing]

I don't usually like super long OT's but i think it's kinda neat that you included all these responses from GAF members. I might have to get involved next year looks like a bit of fun.

 

[Ark]

Amazing thread!

I completely forgot about your PM about thoughts of the year, sorry!

 

[rithvikgv]

It bugs me that “tyres” has been misspelt in one of the banners. Can't wait for the deluge of car reveals in February!

 

[SunhiLegend]

Awesome, loads of answers to read through. Great thread, hopefully we get F1 news regularly through out the pre-season. Also I think I might have to cave in and buy SKY HD, I need to watch all the races live, it also means I can post gifs during all the races.

 

[Dilly]

It bugs me that “tyres” has been misspelt in one of the banners. Can't wait for the deluge of car reveals in February!

Tires isn't wrong.

 

[DrM]

Mclaren MP4-27 will be ready for the first test

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

Mclaren MP4-27 will be ready for the first test

good news..

I want to hear more about Lotus (renault).. EB said there would be more surprise announcements in the technical team as well..

 

[NihonTiger90]

Yeah, that's good because Subzero's thread from 2009 is getting a bit long in the tooth.

Yeah. The goal is to have it up after the holidays at some point. Preferrably by Jan. 15; I have big plans.

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

No FiA Gala season highlights yet??!!!!!!

Did they have one?

 

[Dead Man]

Tires isn't wrong.

Of course it is!

 

[Adamm]

Why is the Official F1 season review DVD/BR out so late this year?
Isnt it usually out for Christmas?

 

[Seanspeed]

I think F1GAF is all aboard the Di Resta train for next year

I like him, but I like most of the F1 drivers. I'm certainly not a supporter of his or anything.

I wish him well, but I wont be shedding any tears if the Hulk shows him up.

EDIT - Great thread by the way. I've read a good portion of the responses.

 

[Shaneus]

Merry Christmas, bitches.

Lots of love,
Webs.

 

[Xun]

Merry Christmas, bitches.

Lots of love,
Webs.

If only we had such a life, eh?

 

[brotkasten]

Great thread, Leunam!

Like others, I forgot to submit my answers. Such a shame, when I had so many nice things to say about Webber.

"Vettel praise
...
His Aussie sidekick isn't worth to be mentioned. Lets just pretend he didn't participate in this season. Pretty much like he did."

And lol @ everyone who said that Perez was better than Kobayashi this season. Perez is boring and got only half the points Kobayashi got.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

New Johnnie Walker ad featuring Mika and James Bond...er I mean Jenson Button.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53CtlIVTmNE&list=PLA428C02BDDA6EC0B&index=1&feature=plcp

Two thoroughly nice gentlemen.

 

[Leunam]

Cool ad for sure.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Glad you're all getting a kick out of the responses. No worries if you couldn't answer the questions, I know this is a busy time of year for many people.

 

[kharma45]

Sensational OP! Must get a read through everyone's answers in the morning

No FiA Gala season highlights yet??!!!!!!

Did they have one?

Not yet to my knowledge.

 

[Psychotext]

I just read the whole thing. Epic.

Still not sure where all the praise for Di Resta is coming from though. I can only assume a lot of it is because of the car (though in the same car, Sutil finished top of the drivers not in the top 4 teams).

 

[duracell017]

wow awesome OP. good job! 3 months away...

 

[Dead Man]

Hamilton was obviously affected by his troubled relationship this year, but with the news of recent reconciliation perhaps he and massa can be happy again in 2012.

Okay, this cracked me up.

 

[Shaneus]

Okay, this cracked me up.

I'm confused. I never knew there were two of you!