It will not be long before the stirring chords of the Fleetwood Mac song “The Chain” announce the beginning of the 2012 Formula One Championship and this year we also have the opportunity to watch the races on Sky, though the downside is that, as the BBC will screen only half of the races live, many Formula One fans who do not subscribe to Sky will have to make do with watching just the highlights.
The opening race sets the scene for the rest of the season, for it is the first opportunity we get to see all of this year’s formula one cars put through their paces. We may have seen many of the cars during pre-season testing, but it is not really possible to predict how competitive the cars are from the lap times achieved during testing, especially as teams are often reluctant to show their true colours; sandbagging is part of the game. It will not be until the first qualifying session that we can see how successful has been all the work that has been put in developing this season’s cars.
Although it is dangerous to make too many predictions, early indications seem to suggest that no single team is going to be much ahead of the pack. In 2010 and 2011 the dominant team by far was Red Bull Racing with McLaren snapping at their heels, particularly in the late 2011 season, and although it is reasonable to expect that this year’s Adrian Newey designed Red Bull will be an excellent car, the new McLaren seems to be at least equally as strong. McLaren driver Jenson Button believes that the new car is perfectly balanced, and he should know.
Elsewhere we should anticipate strong challenges from Ferrari, Lotus Renault and possibly Mercedes. Ferrari have been smarting following a poor showing in 2011, though their number one driver Fernando Alonso has been making a serious contribution to getting the new car into shape; perhaps it won’t be the fastest out of the blocks at the start of the season, but it is likely to improve quickly as the season progresses.
Mercedes never seemed to quite make it during 2011 though there were times when the team looked very strong. They have an excellent driver in NicoRosberg, though so far Michael Schumacher’s performance has been a little disappointing. With the genius of team Principal Ros Brawn again at the helm, perhaps 2012 will be their season.
BIO: For more information please see McLaren.com.