The 2012 Formula 1 Season Gets Underway in Australia This Weekend (18 March 2012)

[gatagato]

2012 FIA Formula One World Championship teams and drivers


Team: Red Bull Racing
Constructor: Red Bull
Chassis: RB8
Engine: Renault RS27-2012
Drivers:
1 Sebastian Vettel
2 Mark Webber



Team: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Constructor: McLaren
Chassis: MP4-27
Engine: Mercedes FO 108Z
Drivers:
3 Jenson Button
4 Lewis Hamilton



Team: Scuderia Ferrari
Constructor: Ferrari
Chassis: F2012
Engine: Ferrari Type 056
Drivers:
5 Fernando Alonso
6 Felipe Massa



Team: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Constructor: Mercedes
Chassis: F1 W03
Engine: Mercedes FO 108Z
Drivers:
7 Michael Schumacher
8 Nico Rosberg



Team: Lotus F1 Team
Constructor: Lotus
Chassis: E20
Engine: Renault RS27-2012
Drivers:
9 Kimi Räikkönen
10 Romain Grosjean



Team: Sahara Force India F1 Team
Constructor: Force India
Chassis: VJM05
Engine: Mercedes FO 108Z
Drivers:
11 Paul di Resta
12 Nico Hülkenberg



Team: Sauber F1 Team
Constructor: Sauber
Chassis: C31
Engine: Ferrari Type 056
Drivers:
14 Kamui Kobayashi
15 Sergio Pérez



Team: Scuderia Toro Rosso
Constructor: Toro Rosso
Chassis: STR7
Engine: Ferrari Type 056
Drivers:
16 Daniel Ricciardo
17 Jean-Éric Vergne



Team: Williams F1 Team
Constructor: Williams
Chassis: FW34
Engine: Renault RS27-2012
Drivers:
18 Pastor Maldonado
19 Bruno Senna



Team: Caterham F1 Team
Constructor: Caterham
Chassis: CT01
Engine: Renault RS27-2012
Drivers:
20 Heikki Kovalainen
21 Vitaly Petrov


Team: HRT F1 Team
Constructor: HRT
Chassis: F112
Engine: Cosworth CA2012
Drivers:
22 Pedro de la Rosa
23 Narain Karthikeyan



Team: Marussia F1 Team
Constructor: Marussia
Chassis: MR01
Engine: Cosworth CA2012
Drivers:
24 Timo Glock
25 Charles Pic




2012 FIA Formula One World Championship Race Calendar

01
2012 FORMULA 1 QANTAS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 16 - 18 Mar



02
2012 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 23 - 25 Mar



03
2012 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 13 - 15 Apr



04
2012 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir) 20 - 22 Apr



05
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2012 (Catalunya) 11 - 13 May



06
FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2012 (Monte Carlo) 24 - 27 May



07
FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2012 (Montréal) 08 - 10 Jun



08
2012 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 22 - 24 Jun



09
2012 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 06 - 08 Jul



10
FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012 (Hockenheim) 20 - 22 Jul



11
FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2012 (Budapest) 27 - 29 Jul



12
2012 FORMULA 1 SHELL BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 31 Aug - 02 Sep



13
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2012 (Monza) 07 - 09 Sep



14
2012 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 21 - 23 Sep



15
2012 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 05 - 07 Oct



16
2012 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX (Yeongam) 12 - 14 Oct



17
2012 FORMULA 1 AIRTEL INDIAN GRAND PRIX (New Delhi) 26 - 28 Oct



18
2012 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina) 02 - 04 Nov



19
2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX (Austin) 16 - 18 Nov



20
FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2012 (São Paulo) 23 - 25 Nov




Rule changes - Technical regulations

• The 2011 season saw teams running "off-throttle blown diffusers", which created downforce by forcing fuel through the engine to produce exhaust gasses and directing it over the diffuser when the driver was not applying the throttle. This concept was originally banned in incremental phases, with increasingly restrictive rules on what teams could and could not do, with a full ban to be applied from the 2011 British Grand Prix onwards. However, the incremental ban was controversial, with several teams applying for and receiving permission to circumvent the total ban. After discussion between the FIA and engine manufacturers, the original regulations were restored, with the full ban delayed until 2012. The regulations in 2012 will govern the design of the exhaust with the teams agreeing to strict constraints on the position of the exhaust tailpipe. This will result in the exhaust exiting the bodywork much higher up than in 2011, and no longer in the vicinity of the diffuser. Several teams, including Williams and Mercedes used the Young Driver Tests in Abu Dhabi as an opportunity to test parts for the 2012 season in the face of the ban. In October 2011, a clarification to the amended rules was issued, effectively banning "exotic" engine maps; in November, further amendments were introduced, completely banning the practice of blowing exhaust gasses over parts of the car to improve downforce, following a bid by several teams to allow it under certain conditions. Further amendments were made in February 2012 when Mercedes alerted the FIA to a loophole in the regulations that would allow teams to continue using a partially-blown diffuser. The FIA responded by re-writing the software governing the engine's Electronic Control Unit to close the loophole.
  
  The banning of blown diffusers has meant all teams had to redevelop the exit of the exhaust.
  
  
• In January 2012, the FIA banned the use of "reactive ride-height". The system, first proposed by Lotus in 2010 (but not applied until 2012), used hydraulic cylinders located in the brake calipers and suspension push-rods to make minute adjustments to the ride height of the car, thereby keeping the ride height at an optimal level throughout the race and providing stability during braking. The FIA initially approved the device as being legal, and several teams, including Ferrari and Williams, submitted plans to the FIA for their own versions of the device before it was banned one week later. The FIA later confirmed that the reactive ride-height systems violated Article 3.15 of the technical regulations, which states that "any aerodynamic effect created by the suspension should be incidental to its primary function" and "any device that influences the car's aerodynamics must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car" and further noted that the system's primary purpose was achieving aerodynamic gains as opposed to providing stability under braking, and that the use of reactive ride-heights could also be challenged under Article 10.2 of the technical regulations, which govern suspension systems.
  
  
  The reduction in the height of the nose led to several teams using a "platypus" nose design, as seen in the Force India VJM05 (top). However, McLaren and Marussia did not use this design, as evidenced in the McLaren MP4-27 (bottom).
  
  
• Technical regulations for 2012 include the reprofiling of the car's nose. The pre-2012 regulations allow the nose to be as high as 62.5 centimetres (24.6 in) above ground, but the revisions to the sporting code lower the maximum allowable height to 55 centimetres (22 in) 150mm ahead of the front bulkhead. This resulted in cars being launched with a "platypus" nose, as teams designed cars with a visible change in height along the nose assembly of the car. Mercedes AMG team principal Ross Brawn explained the distinctive nose shape as having come about from "several teams" wanting to use their 2011 chassis as the basis for their 2012 cars.
  
• At the meeting for the Formula One Commission in Geneva in November 2011, the use of helium in air guns used to change tyres during pit stops was banned. Despite increasing the rotation speed of the air guns by up to 30%, the use of helium was deemed to be too expensive with little competitive gain.
  
• All cars must now pass their mandatory FIA crash tests before being allowed to take part in pre-season testing. Previously, passing the crash tests was only a requirement prior to the first race of the season. Crash tests for the 2012 season will also be more rigorous than in previous years.

Rule changes - Sporting regulations

• After being banned in 2009, in-season testing will return in 2012, with plans for a test to be held at Mugello on 1 May ahead of the European leg of the 2012 championship. As teams will only be permitted to do fifteen days of testing over the course of the season, the pre-season winter testing schedule has been cut back to accommodate the Mugello test.
  
• At the September 2011 meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, representatives of the member organisations voted to amend the rules for double-waved yellow flags in all FIA-sanctioned championships. The amendment means that double-waved flags will be shown when a track marshall is working on or beside the circuit.
  
• Tyre supplier Pirelli revised their tyre compounds for the 2012 season in an effort to encourage teams to use each of the compounds supplied for individual races. Pirelli predicted that the changes would translate into 0.7 seconds' difference per lap between the harder and softer compounds, down from 1.5 seconds per lap in 2011.
  
• Faced with several constructors applying for name changes, teams have requested a clearer definition of what constitutes a "constructor". Under the rules set out in the Sixth Concorde Agreement, several teams have been forced to compete under names that do not necessarily reflect their ownership – such as Sauber competing as "BMW Sauber" in 2010, despite BMW withdrawing from the sport at the end of the 2009 season – in order to preserve their status as a current constructor and their claim to a share of the television rights paid to teams that placed in the top ten in the final World Constructors' Championship standings.
  
• At the final meeting of the World Motorsports Commission in December 2011, a series of amendments to the sporting regulations were published. Chief among these is the re-introduction of a rule that will allow all lapped traffic under the safety car to be released from the queue before the car returns to pit lane, allowing the drivers to unlap themselves and to ensure a clean re-start.
  
• Drivers will not be permitted to leave the confines of the circuit without a justifiable reason, following a spate of incidents in 2011 when drivers were sighted using access roads around the circuit to shorten their reconnaissance and in-laps in order to preserve their fuel and tyres. Similarly, drivers will not be allowed to return to the normal racing line should they choose a defensive line going into a corner.
  
• Races will have a maximum four-hour time limit to prevent the indefinite suspension of a race. This will stop the theoretical possibility of a race lasting more than eight hours. This rule was introduced in response to the rain-interrupted 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, which set a record for the longest race in Formula One history, at four hours, four minutes and thirty-nine seconds.
  
• Any driver in the pit lane when a race is suspended will be permitted to return to the circuit and take up the position on the grid that they were running in at the time of the suspension.

2012 F1 Technical Regulations - published on 09.03.2012 (.PDF)

2012 F1 Sporting Regulations - published on 09.03.2012 (.PDF)

Formula 1 - Official Website

Live timing

[The Dark]

Top post, nice work to bring all that detail here.

May I be blessed with Lewis "Spoilt Brat" Hamilton to suffer mechanical failure or total brain fade every race this season.

Option 2 seems more likely given his shambles of 2011!

[catpoop]

a formula one fan...i knew there was decent folks on this site.

[PoetsOfTheFall]

Impressive list of your interests 'gato

[The Dark]

Is pleased to see the "spoilt brat" sulked like a fucking bitch after he got his ass handed to him again by his team-mate.

Keep it up you tool, and you can soon fuck off to Nascar!