Text: Maurice Hamilton. Pics: Action Images. Article from the April 2012 issue of CAR Magazine.
Here’s why 2012 will be a season for the spectators
1. Mercedes
This year is crucial for Mercedes. Daimler AG has invested a great deal in what was the Brawn team and the patience of the board in Stuttgart will be stretched if podiums and at least one victory do not materialise for the British-based team this year. The first season in 2010 was seen as settling in; last year was written off very early on because of a fundamental flaw with the car; in 2012, Ross Brawn and what has become a very strong technical team must get it right.
2. McLaren Nose
McLaren is alone among the leading teams to opt for a conventional nose rather than follow the 2012 trend of designing a stepped front to deal with new regulations stipulating a lower nose profile married to the front of the chassis, the height of which remains the same as 2011. The ultimate aim of the high nose is maximising the passage of air beneath it. In which case, McLaren appears to be at a disadvantage. McLaren has made mistakes before (most recently, the useless exhaust layout seen at the start of 2011). Has it got it right this time?
3. Exhausts
There’s always a technical silver bullet that teams need to have or, at least, understand. We’ve had double diffusers, F-ducts and exhaust-blown diffusers. This year it will be exhaust exits. The key to an edge in performance will be each team’s interpretation of new rules requiring exhausts to exit in a clearly defined upper region of the rear of the car (to rule out the exhaust-blown diffusers). What the engineers and aerodynamicists are looking for is regaining lost downforce.
4. Schumacher and Rosberg
A fascinating sub-plot at Mercedes will be how its drivers stack up against each other. Michael Schumacher is showing no sign of making this season his last, which could be worrying for Nico Rosberg. If Schumacher shows a consistent version of the old form seen towards the end of 2011, then his team-mate will have his work cut out.
This will be Rosberg’s seventh season in F1. In the absence of startling champion-in-the-making performances thus far, Nico needs to back up his claims of being hungry and aggressive to be taken seriously.
5. Massa
Ferrari has officially thrown its support behind Felipe Massa, but only as far as extending his contract until the end of 2012. Put simply, if Massa does not deliver, he’s out. That’s a huge millstone for the little Brazilian, particularly in a team desperate for results. Last year, Massa failed to score a single podium, the first time a Ferrari driver has done that since 1992. He may be unofficially the number two to Fernando Alonso, but that means, at the very least, keeping the brilliant Spaniard honest.
6. Pirelli
Pirelli has made changes, the most significant being stepping down the three harder compounds by softening them by just under one step. The aim is to make the gap between tyre performance of the four compounds closer than before, thus adding more intrigue to tyre tactics rather than simply running the faster tyre for the majority of the race. It is hoped this will bring more variety in the races as teams adopt different strategies.
7. Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton’s performance last year was heavily compromised by personal problems, which he never fully explained.
While McLaren team-mate Jenson Button sailed through the season with a sunny disposition, Hamilton looked like a tortured soul and drove without that wonderful free spirit. If Hamilton is going to take on the likes of Vettel, Alonso and Button, he needs to be on top form.
Can he sort himself out in 2012? If he can’t, that championship in 2008 is going to retreat further into the distance.
8. Ferrari
Ferrari is in danger of turning in on itself if the Italian team has another season like 2011 with just a single win. Ferrari is regrouping in a major way under the technical direction of Pat Fry, who arrived last season.
The ex-McLaren man has a major task as he tries to shake off the conservatism of previous design ethics while, at the same time, changing the way the entire team works.
The full effect might not be evident until 2014.
9. Kimi Raikkonen
Apart from making it six world champions on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen’s return to F1 is welcome news. Whatever your views on the phlegmatic Iceman, he is always good value on the track as he wrings the last fraction of a second from his car.
But, with the best will in the world, the Lotus-Renault will hardly be capable of a podium, never mind winning a race, something Raikkonen became accustomed to during his days with McLaren and when he won the title with Ferrari in 2007. How long before the Finn loses interest?
10. Return to the USA
F1 returns to the USA on 18 November and a new circuit outside Austin in Texas. This will be the 10th different venue for the US GP in various guises; a sign that F1 has never been fully accepted in North America despite the nation’s importance to the sport’s commercial and technical partners. F1 appeared to have found an acceptable home on an adapted layout at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway but, after eight races, financial disagreements led to the 2007 event being the last. Austin will be the first purpose-built track used for the US GP since Watkins Glen in 1980.
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