The complete F1 Fanatic 2012 season review | 2012 F1 season review

As 2012 comes to an end so does F1 Fanatic's season review. Catch up on the complete review of 2012 below including all the features, statistics, pictures, quizzes and more.

Team-by-team reviews

A look at how each of the teams performed in 2012.

Red Bull bounce back to claim title hat-trick
Alonso fights to the end in another flawed Ferrari
McLaren's mistakes cost them championship success
Raikkonen helps Lotus to fourth with comeback win
Mercedes' season goes downhill rapidly after win
All change at Sauber after strong season
One step forward, one step back for Force India
Williams fail to get the most out of winning car
Toro Rosso's Red Bull rookies prove closely-matched
Midfield target remains an elusive goal for Caterham
No fairytale ending to tough season for Marussia
HRT's failure is a small but significant loss for F1

Driver Rankings

The F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings always provoke considerable debate. I chose Fernando Alonso as my Driver of the Year this season.

2012 F1 Driver Rankings part one: 24-15
2012 F1 Driver Rankings part two: 14-6
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #5: Nico Hulkenberg
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #4: Kimi Raikkonen
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #3: Sebastian Vettel
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #2: Lewis Hamilton
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #1: Fernando Alonso

Quizzes

Two 20-question quizzes to test your recollection of the 2012 season.

Take F1 Fanatic's 2012 Formula One season quiz
Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz

Features

50 things that made the 2012 F1 season great

My personal favourite moments of the year.

F1 Fanatic's 50 article highlights of 2012

A selection of the best, most popular and most hotly-debated articles from F1 Fanatic this year ' make sure you've seen them all.

Who had the fastest car? Performance data analysed

Crunching the performance data from 2012 revealed some interesting details about how competitive the teams were.

2012 in statistics part one: The year in context
2012 in statistics part two: Stats and facts

It seems you all can't get enough of F1 Fanatic's Stats and Facts features so here's two looking at the data from 2012.

The best of the 2012 Caption Competition winners

Your funniest caption suggestions of 2012.

Top ten: Schumacher comeback moments

Michael Schumacher returned to retirement after a three-year comeback. Though it didn't go accoridng to plan, it wasn't without some moments to cherish.

Pictures

The 2012 F1 season in pictures

Over 100 of the best pictures from every round of the 2012 F1 season, plus all of F1 Fanatic's top ten pictures from each race.

Vettel and Red Bull's title 'triple double' in pictures

Pictures of the team and driver who've been the dominant force over the past three seasons.

Lewis Hamilton's McLaren career in pictures

After six years racing for McLaren Lewis Hamilton is finally moving on. Here's a look back on their time together.

Michael Schumacher's F1 comeback in pictures

Images from Schumacher's three-year comeback stint at Mercedes.

Three years, zero points: HRT's short life in pictures

HRT quietly disappeared at the end of the season after three unsuccessful years.

Race reviews

Australian Grand Prix: Button starts season with victory in Melbourne
Malaysian Grand Prix: Alonso holds off Perez for superb win
Chinese Grand Prix: Rosberg races to emphatic first win
Bahrain Grand Prix: Vettel leads home Raikkonen to take first win of 2012
Spanish Grand Prix: Maldonado ends Williams' eight-year wait for a win
Monaco Grand Prix: Webber gives Red Bull third straight Monaco win
Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton wins as Alonso's gamble fails
European Grand Prix: Alonso clinches superb win in Valencia
British Grand Prix: Webber beats Alonso to British Grand Prix win
German Grand Prix: Alonso holds off Vettel and Button to win
Hungarian Grand Prix: Hamilton resists Raikkonen for win
Belgian Grand Prix: Button storms to Spa win after first-lap shunt
Italian Grand Prix: Hamilton wins as Perez charges to second
Singapore Grand Prix: Vettel wins as Hamilton drops out
Japanese Grand Prix: Vettel's Suzuka masterclass as Alonso hits trouble
Korean Grand Prix: Vettel takes championship lead with hat-trick of wins
Indian Grand Prix: Vettel wins but Alonso limits the damage
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Raikkonen wins as Vettel races from pits to podium
United States Grand Prix: Hamilton snatches victory from Vettel in the USA
Brazilian Grand Prix: Button wins intense race as Vettel recovers to seal third championship

The readers' verdict

Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year

Good to see F1 Fanatic readers picked the same top driver of 2012 as I did. Also Kimi Raikkonen was named overtaker of the year and won the vote for best pass.

Top ten passes of 2012: Vote for the best

The ten overtaking moves you picked as the best of the year.

Kobayashi's podium leads fans' top moments of 2012

What F1 Fanatic readers enjoyed most about 2012.

De Villota, Watkins & Bahrain: The low points of 2012

The moments to forget in 2012.

11 different Driver of the Weekend winners in 2012

Full results from all 20 Driver of the Weekend polls.

What F1 Fanatics thought of 2012: The year in polls

F1 Fanatic readers had their say about a lot more in 2012.

Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012

Find out who are the most popular drivers and teams at the moment.

Your 2012 F1 season predictions revisited

How well did we predict the 2012 season? Find out here.

2012 rated the best season of the last five years

Complete Rate the Race results for 2012.

Become an F1 Fanatic supporter

The F1 Fanatic Supporter programme launched during 2012 and I'm very pleased with the response so far.

Contributions from F1 Fanatic readers help cover the cost of hosting, running and developing F1 Fanatic. And, of course, producing articles such as these.

By contributing £1 per month to F1 Fanatic you can browse the site free of advertisements. You can pay per month or per year. See below for more information and to sign up.

• Become an F1 Fanatic Supporter
• F1 Fanatic Supporter FAQ

Image © Pirelli/LAT, Ferrari/Ercole Colombo, Red Bull/Getty images, Singapore Grand Prix/Sutton, Lotus F1 Team/LAT

Ricciardo: 'I need to be aggressive like Grosjean' | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Daniel Ricciardo says he needs to take a leaf out of Romain Grosjean's book.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Ricciardo braced for crucial season (Autosport)

'My Achilles heel is that this year, in the first part of the season, I wasn't aggressive enough in the races. In some aspects I was the opposite of [Romain] Grosjean. Now, however, I think I've found the right balance in showing my capabilities.'

50 not-so-famous personalities from sport's greatest ever year (The Guardian)

The inclusion of Ricciardo on this list is rather odd but it's good to see Jimmy Vasser get a mention (via Alex Zanardi).

Comment of the day

Can F1 survive without Bernie Ecclestone? @Joao-Pedro-CQ isn't sure:

When Ecclestone drops down, because he eventually will someday, I truly believe Formula One will make a mess out of it self. Bernie is the glue that keeps teams, FIA and FOM together, and the one who makes the relation work. When he goes, it will be hard to have stability. At least, that's what I think.
@Joao-Pedro-CQ

From the forum

• The how's your F1 2012 career going thread has hit 100 posts

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to AlvinK!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Having limped to sixth in the 2007 constructors' championship, Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashima said he had until 2010 to produce results.

Two years later the team left F1 having failed to score a victory in eight seasons.

• Toyota quits F1 after eight winless years

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

What F1 Fanatics thought of 2012: The year in polls | 2012 F1 season review

The 2012 season provided us with much to discuss including controversial penalties, Lewis Hamilton's move to Mercedes and the perpetual question of the sport versus 'the show'.

Find out what F1 Fanatic readers though of all these and more below, including your pre-season predictions of which drivers would hold the upper hand in each team.

What was the best-looking car?

Winner: McLaren MP4-27 (57% of the vote)

It was not a great year for those who like F1 cars to be attractive as well as fast. Already burdened with the oddly-proportioned wings introduced in 2009, most of the 2012-generation cars featured unsightly steps in their noses making them even harder to admire.

The most popular choice among readers was one of few cars which appeared with a smooth, sloping nose ' though even that was replaced with a higher version within a few races. The McLaren MP4-27 was the best of a bad bunch aesthetically.

• Who's got the best-looking car in 2012?

Should Pirelli produce more conservative tyres?

Winner: 'Keep them as they are' (46%)

The arrival of Pirelli to F1 in 2011 coincided with a desire from the teams to see more aggressive tyre compounds to produce more exciting races. That policy continued in 2012 and contributed to a season which saw many surprises.

Does this sacrifice the purity of the sport for the sake of the show? F1 Fanatic readers were divided, though the majority were happy with the direction the sport has chosen.

With 46% supporting the current tyres and a further 14% wanting even more aggressive tyres, the status quo had a narrow majority of support. But a significant minority ' 30% ' were in favour of slightly more conservative tyres.

This poll was taken in May and later in the year Pirelli did supply more conservative tyres. This coincided with some of the lowest-rated races of the year at Korea, India and Singapore.

• Should F1 change its tyre strategy?

Was Perez told not to pass Alonso in Malaysia?

Winner: No (65%)

At the second round of the season Sergio Perez was chasing down leader Fernando Alonso in the dying stages when he received a surprising radio message from his team instructing him to 'be careful' because 'we need this position'.

Was this normal caution on Sauber's part ' or evidence of collusion between Ferrari and their engine customer team, as had previously happened in the European Grand Prix in 1997?

F1 Fanatic readers gave Ferrari the benefit of the doubt with almost two-thirds saying they didn't believe Perez had been leant on to let Alonso win. Later in the year he passed both Ferraris on his way to second place in Monza, which endorsed the view that no foul play had taken place.

• Was Sauber's radio message to Perez a team order to help Ferrari?

Should Red Bull lose points for their 'illegal floor'?

Winner: No (55%)

Doubts were raised over the legality of the RB8 at various points in the season for different reasons. On more than one occasion it led the FIA to revise or 'clarify' its interpretation of the rules, leading Red Bull to change the offending part of their car for a subsequent race.

Monaco provided one of the most stark examples of this as a row broke out over the design of the RB8's floor. Red Bull won the race using a configuration they later had to change, but none of their rivals protested them.

Most F1 Fanatic readers were happy to see them keep their win, albeit by a less than emphatic margin of 55% to 43%.

• Should Red Bull lose points over 'illegal' floor?

What is the best F1 racing game series?

Winner: Codemasters' F1 2010 and F1 2011 (38%)

A lengthy process of elimination produced a shortlist of eight different F1 racing series which users voted on.

The current Codemasters series came out on top, though the classic Geoff Crammond Grand Prix series impressively attracted a quarter of the votes cast despite the last title in the line appearing over a decade ago. No other game got more than 9%.

• Vote for the best F1 racing game series
• Codemasters edge Crammond for 'best F1 game' honours

Who should Ferrari replace Massa with?

Winner: Sergio Perez (28%)

A dismal start to the season for Felipe Massa, following a poor year for him in 2011, raised speculation he would be replaced at Ferrari.

This poll conducted in May saw Sergio Perez lead a list of over two dozen potential replacements. But Ferrari maintained their development driver was too inexperienced to make the switch and he was eventually signed by McLaren.

The next favourite among F1 Fanatic readers was the injured Robert Kubica (12%) followed by Paul di Resta and his former team mate Adrian Sutil, both on 8%.

Just 4% felt Ferrari should keep Massa, as they eventually did. But his return to form in the final two races of the year showed Ferrari's decision may yet be vindicated.

• Who should Ferrari replace Felipe Massa with?

Did Vettel deserve his penalty at Monza?

Winner: Yes (54%)

Championship rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso faced each other in wheel-to-wheel battle at Monza as they had in 2011. On that occasion Alonso edged Vettel onto the grass but the Red Bull driver kept his foot down and completed the move.

This time the roles were reversed and Vettel put Alonso wide ' and was handed a penalty. It came after the stewards had twice clarified the rules on defensive driving.

In another close vote, the stewards had the support of F1 Fanatic readers by 54% to 41%.

• Did Vettel deserve penalty for Alonso move?

Will Hamilton win a championship with Mercedes by 2015?

Winner: No (61%)

This is going to be an interesting one to look back on in three years' time. The majority of F1 Fanatic readers believe Hamilton will not win a world championship with Mercedes before the end of 2015.

• Is Mercedes the right move for Hamilton?

Team mate battles

Before the season began readers were invited to pick which driver would achieve the best championship finishing position in each team.

Half of the results were predicted correctly. For some of those predicted incorrectly, the outcomes were affected by results which did not reflect the balance of power within the team throughout the year, such as at Caterham and HRT.

But there were some predictions that were wide of the mark. Bruno Senna was picked over Pastor Maldonado by over 70% of readers, yet Maldonado proved consistently quicker and out-scored Senna despite a string of incidents.

• Who will win the battle of the team mates in 2012?

Vote in these open polls

These four polls remain open for further votes at present:

• Should drivers get grid drops for gearbox changes?
• Should F1 race venues be rotated?
• Which races should DRS be used at?
• Which was America's best circuit?

2012 F1 season review

• The complete F1 Fanatic 2012 season review
• What F1 Fanatics thought of 2012: The year in polls
• The drivers and cars of 2012
• F1 Fanatic's 50 article highlights of 2012
• 11 different Driver of the Weekend winners in 2012

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

The drivers and cars of 2012 | 2012 F1 season review

As 2012 draws to a close it's time to update F1 Fanatic's information resources on drivers, teams and cars.

Here are the updated biographies for all 25 drivers who raced in F1 this year, plus pictures galleries of the 12 cars that contested the season.

The drivers' biographies cover each drivers' F1 career in detail as well as the path they took to reach the sport. The graphs showing their F1 points scores, wins and pole positions have been updated and new image galleries have been added (thanks to @Girts for doing the picture research).

Find them all below.

2012 F1 season review

• The drivers and cars of 2012
• F1 Fanatic's 50 article highlights of 2012
• 11 different Driver of the Weekend winners in 2012
• Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012
• Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team

Ecclestone admits he could be forced to step down | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone (pictured with Vijay Mallya) admits the Gribkowsky investigation could force him out of his role in charge of Formula One.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Ecclestone admits bribe case could end F1 reign (The Telegraph)

'Mr Ecclestone says CVC 'will probably be forced to get rid of me if the Germans come after me. It's pretty obvious, if I'm locked up'.'

Grosjean: Lotus will be stronger in 2013 (Autosport)

'We learned a lot this year about the car, the tyres, the set-up of an F1 car. We were quite good at the start of the year, but even in the last two grands prix we were looking good.'

Comment of the day

@RogerCamp also has high hopes for Lotus this year:

I'm sure Raikkonen thought it would be wiser to be cautious in his first comeback season.

I'm positive that next season will be a little different. He'll be more aggressive. He's now more comfortable with the team, the car, tires, etc'

I'm pretty sure Lotus will deliver a faster car. They spent a lot of effort last season with the double DRS, which was a waste, they should have focused on developing the Coanda exhaust.

In the last few races it seemed they started to catch on with that. If Grosjean sort out his demons, maybe Lotus can finish second in the constructors' championship, which will help them developing the car for 2014.
@RogerCamp

From the forum

• One reader has already got tickets for next year's Canadian Grand Prix

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Journeyer, NAZ3012, Rick and Liam Stroud!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Happy birthday to Francois Hesnault who turns 56 today.

Hesnault was part of the last three-car entry to a Grand Prix. He drove a third Renault in the 1985 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring alongside regular drivers Derek Warwick and Patrick Tambay. Hesnault's car was equipped with an early onboard camera.

F1 Fanatic's 50 article highlights of 2012 | 2012 F1 season review

The biggest stories, the best features and the most compelling debates. Here are F1 Fanatic's 50 most interesting articles of 2012.

Talking points

Is Mercedes the right move for Hamilton?

The big move on the driver market this year was Lewis Hamilton's switch to Mercedes for 2013.

Why covered cockpits and wheels may be F1's future

Could the desire to improve safety and the search for more efficient performance lead to cockpits and wheels on F1 cars being enclosed?

Will F1 make a success of its return to America?

'The teams are doing what they can and COTA are straining every sinew to make the event a success, but I don't see a fraction of that effort from the sport's governing body or commercial rights holder.'

Alonso moves forward as Massa takes penalty

Ferrari's controversial tactics in America provoked considerable discussion'

Ferrari accepts FIA view on Vettel dispute

'as did their request that the FIA 'clarify' whether Vettel broke the rules in Brazil.

Vettel proud Red Bull not distracted by 'dirty tricks'

After clinching his third championship Vettel alluded to rumours about him joining Ferrari being spread to destabilise his relationship with Red Bull.

Hamilton penalty hands Maldonado first pole position

A dramatic decision by the stewards in Spain provided the subject of the most-commented article of the year.

Polls show fans more concerned about DRS than tyres

The lengths F1 is going to create exciting races using the Drag Reductions System and more rapidly degrading tyres comes up again and again in the comments.

Ferrari has 'run out of patience' with F1 rules

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo hit out at Bernie Ecclestone, saying 'old age is clearly incompatible with certain roles and responsibilities'.

HRT missing from FIA's 2013 F1 entry list

One of F1's newest teams died at the end of the season.

Grosjean ban 'not just for affecting the championship'

Part of the reasoning given by the stewards for Grosjean's ban after the Belgian Grand Prix was the consequences it had for the championship, which many readers objected to.

Caterham CT01 images revealed early

Caterham hoped to gain some attention by being the first to reveal their 2012 car in a magazine and they got exactly that, though perhaps not as they intended. First the pictures were leaked online a day early and much of the ensuing discussion was about how ugly the stepped noses had made the 2012 generation cars.

Comment

The Bahrain Grand Prix: A matter of conscience

'Those who go along quietly with what is happening, or chime in with another naive chorus of 'sport should not be political', are giving tacit endorsement to F1's support for Bahraini oppression.'

Why Ferrari would do better with 'two roosters'

Luca di Montezemolo said he doesn't want 'two roosters in the same hen house'. What does that say about Felipe Massa?

McLaren's mistake costs Hamilton too dearly

An error by McLaren meant Hamilton started last instead of first in Spain.

Rubens Barrichello: Sometimes nice guys finish first

On the end of Rubens Barrichello's F1 career after he lost his seat to Bruno Senna.

Schumacher's second swansong will be his last

Thoughts on Michael Schumacher's return to retirement.

The FOTA Fans Forum needs to ask the questions that matter

'It's easy to dismiss the FOTA Fans Forum as merely a talking shop ' but talking is important when you're speaking to the people who matter.'

Williams should give Senna his fair share of track time

It looked inevitable Valtteri Bottas would replace Bruno Senna at Williams in 2013 from the moment the team stated Bottas would drive Senna's car in most of the first practice sessions this year.

F1 finally cracks down on track limits abuse

The stewards finally got tough on drivers going off the track to gain an advantage, but track design should also discourage it from happening.

F1 should fix flawed rules before changing tyres

Early in the season there was much discussion over whether tyre degradation had made racing too unpredictable.

Top tens

2002 to 2012: Ten ways F1 has improved in ten years

Is F1 better now than it was ten years ago? Definitely ' here's why.

Top ten Suzuka showdowns

A selection of Suzuka's great championship-deciding moments.

F1's brushes with disaster: Top ten lucky escapes

Astonishing near-misses and brushes with disaster from the annals of Formula One.

Videos

Red Bull reveal interactive 360-degree video of their F1 car in action

Amazing interactive video of Sebastien Buemi driving at Rudskogen Motorsenter in Norway.

Adrian Newey drives two F1 cars he designed

Red Bull's celebrated designer Adrian Newey at the wheel of his own Red Bull RB6 and the earlier Leyton-House CG901B.

Kimi Raikkonen laps the Nurburgring Nordschleife with Kim Dotcom

Slightly odd F1 driver video of the year number one.

Sebastian Vettel appears in Melanie Fiona music video

Slightly odd F1 driver video of the year number two.

Cars

McLaren MP4-13: McLaren's last constructors' title-winner

It wasn't unlucky 13 for McLaren in 1998: The MP4-13 won the constructors' championship and Mika Hakkinen claimed the drivers' title.

Three cars, 18 tyres: F1 six-wheelers at Goodwood

Three six-wheeled F1 cars appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed: the Williams FW08B, March 2-4-0 and Tyrrell P34.

Williams FW08C: Ayrton Senna's first F1 test car

Ayrton Senna tested for Williams in 1983, eleven years before he joined the team as a race driver.

Renault RE40: Alain Prost drives car he almost won the title in

Alain Prost lost the 1983 drivers' championship in the final round driving the Renault RE40. It was also the first car to feature an exhaust-blown diffuser.

Porsche 804: Porsche's only F1 race-winner

Porsche left F1 50 years ago after finally winning a Grand Prix with the boxer-engined 804.

Reviews

'Poetry in Motion' ' Tony Brooks' autobiography

Really good autobiographies are rare but this long overdue book from fifties F1 racer Tony Brooks was definitely worth the wait.

'Team Lotus: My view from the pit wall' by Peter Warr ' review

Unfortunately unfinished, but still essential reading.

'Grand Prix Who's Who' fourth edition

Want to know everything about every F1 driver ever? Start here.

'I Just Made the Tea'

A candid and refreshingly funny read about life in the Formula One paddock.

'F1 Race Stars' by Codemasters

A different take on the usual F1 racing game from Codemasters.

Your questions

How many drivers have raced in F1?

This proved a surprisingly tricky question to answer.

How many first-lap crashes has Grosjean caused?

Romain Grosjean was accused of causing seven first-lap crashes after the pile-up in the Belgian Grand Prix. But was that figure accurate?

Black flags, unlapping and British Grand Prix refunds

Also, why Alonso didn't get a penalty in Valencia as Hamilton did at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Grand Prix flashbacks

1982

The turbulent 1982 season was the focus of three Grand Prix flashbacks this year:

• 1982 San Marino Grand Prix: Villeneuve and Pironi's fatal feud at Ferrari
• 1982 Belgian Grand Prix: Gilles Villeneuve killed at Zolder
• 1982 Canadian Grand Prix: Start line crash kills Paletti

1992 Hungarian Grand Prix: Mansell finally wins the title

After being runner-up on three occasions, Nigel Mansell finally lifted the crown 20 years ago at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

1962 Belgian Grand Prix: The Clark-Lotus era begins at Spa

Lotus and Jim Clark smashed the opposition with the Lotus 25 at Spa, the precursor to several years of success.

1992 Mexican Grand Prix: Schumacher's first podium and Mexico's last race

Mexico enjoyed F1 success again this year thanks to Sergio Perez. Their last Grand Prix took place 20 years ago.

1987 British Grand Prix: Mansell defeats Piquet at Silverstone

One of F1's great battles took place 25 years ago at Silverstone.

More features

Italy left without an F1 driver in 2012

For the first time in over 40 years there were no Italian drivers on the grid during the whole of the season.

Over 100 ideas in the 2012 F1 Fanatic Gift Guide

Need to buy a present for an F1 fan? Look no further.

Become an F1 Fanatic supporter

The F1 Fanatic Supporter programme launched during 2012 and I'm very pleased with the response so far.

Contributions from F1 Fanatic readers help cover the cost of hosting, running and developing F1 Fanatic. And, of course, producing articles such as these.

By contributing £1 per month to F1 Fanatic you can browse the site free of advertisements. You can pay per month or per year. See below for more information and to sign up.

• Become an F1 Fanatic Supporter
• F1 Fanatic Supporter FAQ

2012 F1 season review

• F1 Fanatic's 50 article highlights of 2012
• 11 different Driver of the Weekend winners in 2012
• Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012
• Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year
• Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Images © Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Red Bull/Getty images, HRT F1 Team, Red Bull/Getty images, Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, F1 Fanatic, Williams/Sutton, Williams/Sutton

Mercedes W04 passes crash test | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton's 2013 car passes its FIA crash test.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Auf der Suche nach 3 Sekunden (Auto Motor und Sport, German)

Auto Motor und Sport reports Mercedes' W04 has passed its crash test for 2013 ' and 'resembles the Red Bull'.

Paralympic handcyclist champion Alex Zanardi would not change his life for the world (The Telegraph)

'We did have a conversation about taking [the DTM] seriously further on but I decided it would be a little bit too much for me to be involved full-time for the whole season next year.'

Button: McLaren can move on from 2012 (Autosport)

'I liked [Pirelli's 2013 tyre], actually. It was very hot in Brazil so it's difficult to be sure, but the idea is that it generates heat a lot quicker and you don't struggle with warm-up, which a lot of teams did in 2012. That is good.'

Nigel Mansell, F1 champion turned secondhand car dealer (The Telegraph)

'While downstairs you may cast your eye over a second-hand Mini, upstairs you can see the Williams FW14B with which Nigel won the world championship in 1992. There are four race-winning cars from across his career as well as the trophies which, unusually, his contracts stipulated he would keep.'

2012: A truly remarkable sporting year to be relished over and over (The Guardian)

Richard Williams: 'Manchester City had produced a shattering denouement to the domestic season, Aguero's goal dashing the smiles from the faces of Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United players, who believed for a couple of breathless minutes that a win at Sunderland had allowed them to retain their hold on the title. Not since Felipe Massa enjoyed 38 seconds of euphoria in Sao Paulo in 2008 before Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to snatch the Formula One title had ultimate triumph been so brutally ripped away.'

Tweets

'@squelchuk: @michaelbyef1 Turkey, Korea, China'..?' China was better this year as they put in a rail link. 100k plus for race

' Paul Hembery (@PaulHembery) December 28, 2012

• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

Disappointingly, Rubens Barrichello will not be racing single-seaters next year. Chris (@Tophercheese21) hopes his vast experience doesn't go to waste:

I honestly think that Barrichello could do very well as an F1 driver coach/mentor to some of these younger drivers. Like Toto Wolff is at Williams.

Could be a good prospect if he isn't going to be racing next year.
Chris (@Tophercheese21)

From the forum

• Video: 2012 FIA Gala highlights

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to JSC and John Graham!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

December the 29th is the latest data a world championship has ever been decided, and it happened on this day 50 years ago at the East London circuit in South Africa. Eleven weeks and six days had passed since the penultimate round of the championship.

Jim Clark led until his Lotus failed on lap 62. That guaranteed the championship for rival Graham Hill, who took the race victory as well.

Here's footage from the race:

Di Resta 'disappointed' by top teams snub | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Paul di Resta admits he was disappointed to be passed over for a move up the field during 2012.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Fired-up Di Resta desperate to break his podium duck in 2013 (The Scotsman)

'Of course it was flattering to be linked to those seats [at McLaren and Mercedes]. But I won't deny I was disappointed when both teams opted to go down another route.'

2014 rules 'urge team collaborations' (Autosport)

Cyril Abiteboul: 'It is a bit new to F1, because the teams also have to compete against each on the track, but I think the future will be about collaboration ' and 2014 will urge us into considering more collaboration.'

2012: A mixed year for Indian motorsports (The Times of India)

'Two successful Formula One Indian Grands Prix might have put the country on the global motorsport map, but two deaths in the Mughal Rally brought into sharp focus the lop-sided development of the sport in the country.'

Comment of the day

@Girts names three more races you should have watched in 2012:

1. The DTM season finale at Hockenheim. It didn't involve a lot of overtaking but offered a great race-long battle for the win and the title between Bruno Spengler and Gary Paffett, two of the very best touring car drivers in the world.

2. The GP2 Series sprint race at Spa. I saw it from the stands and saw some good passes and bad spins at the chicane. Luiz Razia and Davide Valsecchi, both title contenders, collided on the first lap and next year's F1 rookie Max Chilton was out of contention, too. Josef Kral won his first ever GP2 race and Felipe Nasr overtook James Calado for second in the last metres before the chequered flag.

3. The WTCC Race of Austria at Salzburgring, race two. All three Chevrolet drivers suffered punctures in the last stage of the race and privateer Stefano d'Aste took an unexpected win.
@Girts

From the forum

• Very disappointing to see Rubens Barrichello confirm he won't race in IndyCar next year
• Oliver Webb to race in Formula Renault 3.5

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Lazzar!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Philippe Etancelin was born on this day in 1896. He was one of the 21 drivers who took the start in the first ever world championship Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950.

Driving a Talbot-Lago, he qualified 14th and finished in eighth place, though at the time points were only awarded to the top five finishers.

Etancelin started his final championship race at the age of 56 before retiring. He died in October 1981 in Paris.

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team

11 different Driver of the Weekend winners in 2012 | 2012 F1 season review

F1 Fanatic's Driver of the Weekend polls produced 11 different winners during the 2012.

Nico Hulkenberg won a very close poll in the final race of the season while Lewis Hamilton claimed his fourth win after the United States Grand Prix.

2012 Driver of the Weekend results

• Sebastian Vettel appeared in the top three in the final seven rounds of the season
• Vettel made the most top-three appearances of all with ten, followed by Alonso on nine and Hamilton with eight
• Eleven different drivers won the poll outright. Lewis Hamilton had the most with four. The other winners were Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi, Nico Hulkenberg

Driver of the Weekend: United States Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton emphatically won the Driver of the Weekend poll for the first race at the Circuit of the Americas with almost 63% of the vote.

Felipe Massa was ranked second ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Driver of the Weekend: Brazilian Grand Prix

The final round of the season saw the closest Driver of the Weekend poll yet. In total 851 votes were cast and the top four were separated by just 41.

Nico Hulkenberg came out on top having taken 21.1% of your votes.

Sebastian Vettel's recovery drive earned him second place in the voting followed by Jenson Button and Felipe Massa (16%). Lewis Hamilton was a little further behind on 13%.

2012 F1 season review

• 11 different Driver of the Weekend winners in 2012
• Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012
• Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year
• Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz
• 2012 F1 season statistics part two: Stats and facts

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Russian Grand Prix organisers happy with progress | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: The organisers of the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, planned for 2014, say the track is on schuedule.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Formula Sochi (Facebook)

The Facebook page for the 2014 Russian Grand Prix at Sochi has been updated with a new image of the track. The organisers say good progress is being made with the track.

New simulator won't change things ' Raikkonen (ESPN)

'I've never been a big fan of those and you never get as close to what real driving on the circuit is.'

Red Bull's 'heroic spirit' key to 2012 win (Autosport)

Christian Horner: 'The personal sacrifices the time that's given up away from home away from family and friends, particularly in Milton Keynes has been just remarkable.'

Never forgotten' (Peter Windsor)

Margherita Bandini: 'Lorenzo, you told me once that you felt you were born unlucky. Of course you were right, with the benefit of hindsight, but in your 31 years you became a great man with your modesty, your determination and your enthusiasm for a sport you loved more than anything in the world; and you have left for us an indelible memory.'

Comment of the day

Mo on why he believes Sebastian Vettel's efforts have been undervalued:

The only title he won easily was the 2011 one. This season hasn't been easy at all, and in 2010 he didn't lead the championship until the very last moment. How is that easy? Yes, the Red Bulls have been fast, but you still need to go out there and deliver as a driver.

Look at Mark Webber, even when Red Bull was at its best, he only got third place. Just because the Red Bull is a championship-winning car, doesn't mean it's a championship-cinning car in the hands of every driver. It still has certain characteristics that fit some drivers and don't fit others. In 2011 that all came together perfectly, in 2012 it didn't for the most part.

I do agree that he needs to mature some. If things aren't going his way he tends to start moaning or make mistakes. He'd be an even better driver if he could get rid of that.

I'm sure people would love to see a driver win a drivers' championship in an inferior car. Except that's not going to happen, even if Alonso had become world champion, the Ferrari wasn't that bad. What it lacked for qualifying pace (which might be setup related) it made up for race pace and reliability.
Mo

From the forum

• Rumours over Jaime Alguersuari's future

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Scott Joslin, Super_swede_96 and Dean McKinnon!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Happy birthday to former F1 driver Jean-Christophe Boullion who is 43 today.

Top ten great races you should have seen in 2012 | Top ten

Formula One served up a great season of racing in 2012. But there was a lot more great motor sport action beyond those 20 races.

Here's my pick of ten of the best races in other categories that F1 Fanatics should have seen.

10. Auto GP Morocco race one

You'd be forgiven for thinking the combination of seven-year-old ex-A1 Grand Prix chassis and a circuit composed mainly of bumps and chicanes would not make for a terrific race.

But the fifth race of the Auto GP World Series climaxed with a gripping wheel-to-wheel battle between Sergio Campana and Adrian Quiafe-Hobbes.

If this had been F1 DRS would have killed the battle dead immediately. Instead we were treated to Campana soaking up terrific pressure for lap after lap.

Time and again he sat it out with Quaife-Hobbes on the run down the long straights of the Marrakech street circuit and daringly out-braked him to cling to his lead. Although Quaife-Hobbes had to settle for second best, he went on to win the championship.

9. Superstars Mugello race one

The Superstars touring car series headed to Mugello in June and the first race was shaped by a pile-up at the first corner. While several drivers were eliminated, Andrea Larini emerged in the lead but his right-rear wheel was trailing sparks.

Ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert emerged from the pack to chase him down but Larini clung on to take a remarkable victory despite some lurid slides in his wayward handling car.

8. IndyCar Auto Club Speedway

I could have justified filling my entire top ten with races from this year's IndyCar championship but I restricted myself to just two.

The championship-deciding finale at the Fontana superspeedway (officially called the Auto Club Speedway) tingled with tension. Title protagonists Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay were swapping positions when Power's Penske snapped out of control and slammed into the wall. Rapid repair work by his team got him back on the track long enough to be able to claim 24th place ' meaning Hunter-Reay needed to finish fifth to claim to the title.

After a gruelling race pushing three hours in duration he made it, holding off Power's team mate Helio Castroneves for fourth to win the championship. No wonder race winner Ed Carpenter was given a video of the race as part of his trophy.

7. European F3 Open Spa-Francorchamps race one

The European F3 Open series may not be the most prestigious of the Formula Three championships but it produced one of the most entertaining races I saw this year at the fabulous Spa-Francorchamps.

Gianmarco Raimondo scored a narrow win over Mans Grenhagen after a frantic slipstreaming contest around the classic Belgian circuit.

6. GP2 Valencia sprint race

It was not a vintage season for GP2, with several top talents switching categories to drive Formula Renault 3.5's new cars.

Among the breakthrough new talents in the series was James Calado who gave new Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez a run for his money at Lotus ART.

Calado was robbed of victory in the Valencia feature race by the untimely appearance of the safety car. He looked set to make amends in the sprint race until he was hit by Rio Haryanto. Despite damage he continued to resist his attackers until Luiz Razia produced an incredible move to pass the pair of them around the outside and win.

5. DTM Norising

Germany's premier touring car championship was bolstered by the return of BMW this year. But the racing still too often erred on the dry and strategic side.

That was not always the case, and the series' iconic Norisring venue produced easily the best race of the season in wet conditions. First championship leader Gary Paffett was knocked into a spin at the first corner and drove a battling recovery to fourth.

But that was nothing compared to the efforts of team mate and Norising specialist Jamie Green. He passed Bruno Spengler for second with two laps to go and then snatched victory from Martin Tomcyk at the very final corner.

Did Norbert Haug enjoy that one? You bet he did!

4. ALMS Road America

The Circuit of the Americas is great but I'd still love to see F1 racing at America's answer to Spa-Francorchamps, Road America (Elkhart Lake).

That's probably never going to happen, so sports prototypes like these is the best we're likely to see on the great circuit.

This year's four-hour race culminated in a brilliant battle for position between Guy Smith and Lucas Luhr, the latter having recovered four laps due to a water leak earlier in the race.

In a conclusion which couldn't have been scripted better, Luhr fired his car down the inside of Smith's at the very last turn. But he came off second-best ' and there was less than a tenth of a second between them at the line.

3. GP3 Monza race two

The outcome of the GP3 championship swung back and forth during a showdown race at Monza that was so intense there wasn't time to blink. Mitch Evans held a 14-point lead heading into the race but lined up last on the grid while title rival Daniel Abt started eighth.

Evans made a gutsy attempt to climb through the field but when he went off in the Lesmo corners and Abt took the lead it looked as though the championship was lost.

Then, to Evans' considerably gratitude, Tio Ellinas took the lead off Abt and claimed the win ' sending the championship back to the Arden driver.

2. Formula Renault 3.5 Circuit de Catalunya race two

Another last-round title-decider, but this one boiled over into a controversial clash between the top two drivers.

Robin Frijns, Jules Bianchi and Sam Bird all went into the final race at the Circuit de Catalunya with a chance of claiming the title. With Frijns holding Bianchi at bay after the mandatory pit stops, it seemed the outcome was settled.

Then, in a blur of excitement, everything changed. Bianchi stunned Frijns, seizing his position at turn one. Now Kevin Magnussen loomed in Frijns' mirrors and was poised to strike.

Frijns retaliated by diving down the inside of Bianchi. The pair collided and Bianchi was out.

It looked like an optimistic move and Frijns cannot have failed to realise that contact between the pair would guarantee him the title. That's not to say he deliberately drove into his rival, but you'd have a hard time persuading Bianchi of that.

With Bird only managing seventh, Frijns was guaranteed the title even after the stewards slapped him with a post-race time penalty.

Meanwhile the deeply impressive Antonio Felix da Costa chalked up another win and RFR team mates Mikhail Aleshin and newcomer Aaro Vainio entertained with a no-holds-barred contest for second.

1. Indianapolis 500

There was an inescapably sombre air as the IndyCar field returned to Indianapolis for the 96th running of one of the greatest races in motor sport. Last year's winner Dan Wheldon, who tragically lost his life in a crash in Las Vegas in October 2011, was honoured during the event.

Dario Franchitti suffered a setback early in the race when he was knocked into a spin by the incident-prone EJ Viso during a pit stop. He fell to last place, which was a prelude to a performance his friend Wheldon would have been proud of.

Contrary to pre-race predictions the Honda-powered runners such as Franchitti came on strong during the race. Franchitti arrived on the tail of Ganassi team mate Scott Dixon. Behind them was another Honda-powered driver in the running for the lead: ex-F1 pilot Takuma Sato.

With two laps to go Franchitti dived to the inside of Dixon at turn one and Sato followed him, the pair demoting Dixon to third. Beginning the final lap Sato was still in Franchitti's slipstream and he tried to repeat his pass, drawing alongside Franchitti.

But Sato's car got away from him and as he headed for the barriers Franchitti somehow avoided being collected. For the second year in a row the Indianpolis 500 was decided by a dramatic last-lap crash.

The race, which saw a record number of lead changes, ended with Franchitti crowned a three-times Indianapolis 500 victor.

Over to you

Though my significant other may not believe it, I cannot and do not watch every form of four-wheeled motorsport so no doubt there were many more great races during 2012 I didn't see.

Now it's time for you to tell me what great races I missed during 2012 in the comments. And, if you saw them, what you thought of these ten.

F1 top tens

• Top ten great races you should have seen in 2012
• Top ten: Schumacher comeback moments
• Top ten: Suzuka showdowns
• F1's brushes with disaster: Top ten lucky escapes
• Top ten greatest Formula 1 designers (Part two)

Read more top tens

Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year | 2012 F1 season review

F1 Fanatic readers voted world championship runner-up Fernando Alonso as the best driver of the 2012 season.

Alonso won half of all the votes that were cast. Second place went to Lewis Hamilton followed by world champion Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

This meant the top four drivers reflected the four I chose in my rankings of the drivers.

Recent winners

• 2011: Sebastian Vettel
• 2010: Lewis Hamilton

2012 F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings

• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings part one: 24-15
• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings part two: 14-6
• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings #5: Nico Hulkenberg
• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings #4: Kimi Raikkonen
• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings #3: Sebastian Vettel
• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings #2: Lewis Hamilton
• 2012 F1 Driver Rankings #1: Fernando Alonso

Pass of the Year: Kimi Raikkonen on Michael Schumacher

Kimi Raikkonen's overtaking move on Michael Schumacher during the Brazilian Grand Prix was voted the best pass of 2012.

Another pass involving the same two drivers in the Belgian Grand Prix received the second-largest number of votes. The move was similar to Mark Webber's pass on Fernando Alonso which won last year's vote.

The third most popular pass was Felipe Massa's on Bruno Senna during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Recent winners

• 2011: Mark Webber on Fernando Alonso at Spa
• 2010: Robert Kubica on Jenson Button in Valencia

Overtaker of the Year: Kimi Raikkonen

Raikkonen was also voted the best overtaker of 2012, with 40% of the votes. He was followed by Alonso (18%) and then Vettel (14%), with Hamilton (14%) close behind.

Recent winners

• 2011: Jenson Button
• 2010: Kamui Kobyashi

2012 F1 season review

• Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012
• Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year
• Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz
• 2012 F1 season statistics part two: Stats and facts
• The best of the 2012 Caption Competition winners

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012 | 2012 F1 season review

As 2012 draws to a close, here's a final look at who F1 Fanatic readers were supporting this year.

Drivers

When we last looked at who F1 Fanatic readers were supporting Jenson Button had just become first to pass 1,000 supporters.

Now Lewis Hamilton has passed that milestone too. And Kimi Raikkonen is not far off, having moved up into third place.

Fernando Alonso's efforts won him a lot of praise this year and he's moved ahead of Mark Webber in fourth place.

But success doesn't always lead to popularity. Sebastian Vettel only ranks ninth on the list despite his three world championships.

And despite scoring the first win for Williams in eight years, Pastor Maldonado's fans here number less than 100.

Jenson Button

1291

Lewis Hamilton

1041

Kimi Raikkonen

916

Fernando Alonso

749

Mark Webber

657

Michael Schumacher

647

Kamui Kobayashi

548

Paul di Resta

527

Sebastian Vettel

525

Heikki Kovalainen

390

Sergio Perez

356

Nico Rosberg

354

Bruno Senna

323

Felipe Massa

267

Daniel Ricciardo

210

Nico Hulkenberg

205

Romain Grosjean

187

Vitaly Petrov

113

Timo Glock

112

Pastor Maldonado

81

Jean-Eric Vergne

57

Narain Karthikeyan

42

Pedro de la Rosa

41

Jerome D'Ambrosio

32

Charles Pic

29

Teams

McLaren and Ferrari remain the top two teams but Mercedes fell behind Red Bull to fifth overall. Will Hamilton's move boost their popularity next year?

McLaren

1442

Ferrari

711

Lotus

644

Red Bull

534

Mercedes

499

Williams

437

Sauber

419

Force India

338

Caterham

299

Toro Rosso

124

HRT

65

Marussia

64

Over to you

Did you start supporting any new drivers or teams in 2012? Will you change who you're supporting next year? Have your say in the comments.

Show your support

Want to make sure your driver and team preferences are reflected in these charts? Here's how to do it:

• Log in with your F1 Fanatic account (if you don't have one you can sign up here)
• Select Edit My Profile from the top-right menu, then select F1 Teams and Drivers
• Make your selection then click Save Changes

You can now show your support for new 2013 drivers Esteban Gutierrez, Valtteri Bottas and Max Chilton.

2012 F1 season review

• Who F1 Fanatic readers supported in 2012
• Fernando Alonso voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year
• Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz
• 2012 F1 season statistics part two: Stats and facts
• The best of the 2012 Caption Competition winners

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Vettel believes he can 'do even better' with Newey | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel says it's an 'incredible experience' working with Adrian Newey:

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Vettel and Newey stay together (Sporting Life)

'This is where Adrian is so brilliant. He gives me confidence and he designs world-beating cars. It is an incredible experience to work with him. I think we can do even better.'

Button: Pace cost titles not glitches (Autosport)

'the most difficult part for us was before the summer break when we just didn't have the pace. The reason why we were not fighting for the title isn't just the reliability issues, the pace in that period of time wasn't good enough compared to our competitors.'

Better F1 sideshows can boost tourist spending: Iswaran (Today Online)

'Enhancing the side activities to the Formula 1 race here will be key to the Republic's aim to draw in more tourist dollars, Second Trade and Industry Minister S Iswaran has said.'

American football: Austin's obsession with college game (The Independent)

'You could host the whole F1 season in Austin and football would still be king. As [former National Football League] player Ricky] Williams puts it: 'If you want to be an actor you go to LA, if you want to be in fashion you go to Paris or New York if you want to play football you come to Texas.''

Comment of the day

@Tim believes the importance of the the different between engines is overrated:

The main differences between the engines (as described by David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello a few years back) is drive-ability, i.e. where the power is produced an for how long.

The engines have pretty much been the same since '06, the only change being a 1000rpm drop in the regulations. The engine suppliers are all most likely maxing out what one can get from a 2.4l V8.

The biggest factor that separates the teams top speeds is the amount of downforce they put on the car on any given weekend. The aim is to get as much downforce with as little drag as possible, so as to be quick down the straights and through corners. It's about time people give the whole engine-top speed thing a miss.
@Tim

From the forum

• Happy Holidays to F1 Fanatics!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Michael S!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

And happy birthday to Red Bull's star deigns Adrian Newey who turns 54 today.

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Lotus expects drivers to 'deliver more' in 2013 | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Lotus expect Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean to raise their game next year.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Lotus duo 'will be much stronger' in '13 (Autosport)

'I know both our drivers will be race fit and, let's say, delivering more than 12 months ago.'

Eid and Formula One season boost Abu Dhabi airport traffic (The National)

'The capital's airport in October recorded a 17.3 per cent surge in passenger traffic, boosted by the Haj and Eid season and the start of the Formula One season.'

Comment of the day

Where did HRT go wrong? Thoughts from @Prisoner-Monkeys:

Trying to create a 'Spanish' team was the problem with HRT in the first place.

Adrian Campos fundamentally over-estimated the private and public demand for a 'national' team in Spain. He sought to capitalise on the popularity of Fernando Alonso, but did not realise that other Spanish drivers like Jaime Alguersuari received very little support in comparison.

And from that point on, it seemed that every decision was intended to make the team Spanish, which led to them establishing a base in a country with no infrastructure and no resources to draw on.
@Prisoner-Monkeys

From the forum

• Happy Holidays to F1 Fanatics!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Louise.1987!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

One year ago today Sebastian Vettel was named the Driver of the Year as voted by F1 Fanatic readers:

• Sebastian Vettel voted F1 Fanatic Driver of the Year

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT

De la Rosa: 'There won't be another Spanish F1 team' | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Pedro de la Rosa is pessimistic about the potential for a successor to HRT.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

De la Rosa: 'No volverá a haber nunca un equipo español' (Marca, Spanish)

Pedro de la Rosa says he doesn't think there will ever be a Spanish F1 team following the failure of HRT.

Pirelli: Teams ready for aggressive tyres (Autosport)

Pirelli chief technical officer Maurizio Boicchi: 'What we would like to do in 2013 is to come back to be a little bit more aggressive in our compound choice in order to introduce more pit stops and strategy for the teams.'

Ferrari president di Montezemolo plans to remain head of race team (AutoWeek)

'The Ferrari boss, who met [Italian president Mario] Monti before Thursday's annual end-of-season address, acknowledged Thursday that it would be hard to combine the two roles, but said it's possible. 'I did it when I was president of Fiat and (Italian employers' federation) Confindustria,' he said. 'The first three tears were really hard, I don't know how I did it. But I managed to. For me, Ferrari remains fundamental.''

Nigel Roebuck's top 10 (MotorSport)

The top four's the same as mine but Felipe Massa at number ten?

Car Trekking: When Patrick Stewart met Stirling Moss (BBC)

Trailer for a new programme.

Tweets

Training for 2013. From 700 meters to the top of the 2000 meter mountain with snow shoes' twitter.com/nico_rosberg/s'

' Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) December 23, 2012

• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

@Younger-Hamii spotted an unfortunate trend for Hamilton's British fans who don't have Sky:

Out of all the race winners this season, Hamilton is the only driver not to have won a race the BBC have shown live, coupled with this fact here are his results in the races the BBC have shown live:

China ' 3rd
Spain ' 8th
Monaco ' 5th
Valencia ' DNF
Silverstone ' 8th
Spa ' DNF
Singapore ' DNF
Korea ' 10th
Abu Dhabi ' DNF
Brazil ' DNF
@Younger-Hamii

From the forum

• Who will be the Next new champion?

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Andrew, Richpeam WasiF1 and Willian Ceolin!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Four years ago we debated whether any of the drivers on the grid at the time would beat Michael Schumacher's tally of wins and world championships.

There were a lot of mentions for Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, but just a few for Germany's emerging new star who had just won his first race:

• Will any of today's Formula 1 drivers ever beat Michael Schumacher's records?

Image © HRT F1 Team

Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz | 2012 F1 season review

The 2012 F1 season featured a record 20 races. And as F1 Fanatic's quizzes usually feature 20 questions, there seemed an obvious thing to do'

This bonus quiz on the 2012 F1 season includes one question on every race of the year. Give it a go now and see how well you score.

And don't forget there's our regular end-of-season quiz to take as well. Find both of them here:

• New 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz
• 2012 F1 season quiz

If you've not taken one of our quizzes before, have a quick look at this quick guide first:

• F1 Fanatic Quizzes guide

You can compare your overall score with other F1 Fanatics and take more quizzes here:

• F1 Fanatic Quizzes
• F1 Fanatic Quiz leaderboard

If you don't already have one, you will need to register an F1 Fanatic account to participate in the quizzes. Details on how to get one can be found below:

• Register an F1 Fanatic account
• F1 Fanatic site and user accounts FAQ

How did you get on? Share your score in the comments ' but remember not to leave clues about the questions!

F1 Fanatic Quizzes

• Take the new 2012 F1 season race-by-race quiz
• Take F1 Fanatic's 2012 Formula One season quiz
• 500 F1 Fanatic Quiz questions to test your knowledge
• "No one remembers who finished second." Or do they? Take the quiz
• Take the F1 Fanatic United States Grand Prix quiz

Browse all F1 Fanatic Quizzes

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

2012 F1 season statistics part two: Stats and facts | 2012 F1 season review

Rounding off our look at 2012 in statistics, here are the most significant stats and facts from the season.

Triple champions

Of course the headline statistic for 2012 is Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull winning their third consecutive drivers' and constructors' championship titles. More on those here:

• Vettel clinches drivers' championship hat-trick
• Red Bull win third constructors' title in a row

A competitive season

It was a closely-fought season which produced many different race winners, pole sitters and more:

• Eight different drivers won races, the most since 2003
• Seven different drivers started from pole position
• Thirteen different drivers led races

Massa's podium drought

Felipe Massa ended a 36-race spell without a podium finish at the Japanese Grand Prix. This is the longest a Ferrari driver has gone without finishing in the top three.

Of the five longest such streaks, three are clustered around the beginning of the 1980s when Ferrari produced two particularly poor cars.

Gilles Villeneuve had the misfortune to drive both the 312T5 in 1980 and the 126CK in 1981. Jody Scheckter raced alongside him in 1980 and and Didier Pironi replaced Scheckter the following year.

During Massa's 36-race streak without a podium finish, team mate Fernando Alonso finished in the top three 17 times.

Maldonado 15th after win

Pastor Maldonado finished 15th in the championship which is the lowest ever finishing position for a driver who won a round, with the exception of Michael Schumacher in 1997.

Schumacher won five races and scored enough points to be classified second overall but was excluded after deliberately colliding with Jacques Villeneuve in the final race.

Previous drivers who finished outside the top ten in the championship in years they won races include the following:

• Jimmy Bryan finished 13th in 1958 after winning the Indianapolis 500 ' he didn't start any other rounds
• Jean-Pierre Jabouille finished 13th in 1979 after scoring Renault's first win at Dijon, but not scoring in any other rounds
• Giancarlo Fisichella was 12th in 2003 after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix and only scoring points on one other occasion
• Michele Alboreto did the same in 1983, winning in Detroit
• Jean-Pierre Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix but did not score in any other round and ended the year 11th
• Jim Clark was killed after winning the first round of the 1968 world championship and was also placed 11th at the end of the year

NB. Does not include drivers who won races as part of shared drives when this was permitted by the rules.

More 2012 season statistics

Sebastian Vettel is the first driver to win the world championship without scoring a victory in Europe. His five wins this year came in Bahrain, Singapore, Japan, Korea and India.

For the first time since 1969, no Italian driver started a race during the entire season.

Kimi Raikkonen has now won races for three different teams: McLaren (nine), Ferrari (nine) and Lotus (one). Only 14 drivers have won races for three or more different constructors, including Alonso (Ferrari, McLaren and Renault) and Button (Honda, Brawn ' who were previously Honda ' and McLaren).

Raikkonen came within one lap of completing every lap of the season. The only driver to do this was Schumacher who completed all 1,090 laps in 17 races in 2002. Raikkonen did 1,191 in 20 races this year.

Ferrari failed to set a fastest lap during the season for the first time since 1994.

Australian Grand Prix

• Red Bull's streak of 24 consecutive front row starts ended. This is the fourth-longest ever in F1
• The Australian Grand Prix had two home drivers for the first time ever: Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo
• All five of Ferrari's pit stops were quicker than everyone else's
• HRT failed to start the first race of the season for the second year in a row
• More Australian Grand Prix stats and facts

Malaysian Grand Prix

• Sergio Perez was the first Mexican driver on the podium since Pedro Rodriguez in 1971
• Second place was Sauber's best result as an independent team
• Nine different teams scored points, equalling the record for the 2010 European Grand Prix
• More Malaysian Grand Prix stats and facts

Chinese Grand Prix

• Nico Rosberg became the third son of a Grand Prix winner to score a victory for himself, joining Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve
• Rosberg took 111 starts to score his first race win, the fifth-longest wait
• Mercedes achieved their first victory since Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1955 Italian Grand Prix
• More Chinese Grand Prix stats and facts

Bahrain Grand Prix

• Two Lotus drivers finished on the podium for the first time since the 1979 Spanish Grand Prix, when Carlos Reutemann and Mario Andretti did so driving different models
• Four Renault-engined cars finished in the top four for the first time since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix
• Force India led a race for the second time, thanks to Paul di Resta
• More Bahrain Grand Prix stats and facts

Spanish Grand Prix

• Pastor Maldonado scored his first F1 victory and pole position, and the first of each for a Venezuelan driver
• Williams 130-race win drought was the second-longest of all time
• Five different teams won the first five races of the year, matching the record set in 1983
• More Spanish Grand Prix stats and facts

Monaco Grand Prix

• For the second time in his career Michael Schumacher was quickest in qualifying at Monaco but did not take pole position ' as also happened in 2006
• Rosberg made his 114th Grand Prix start, equalling the number made by father Keke
• More Monaco Grand Prix stats and facts

Canadian Grand Prix

• A record seven different drivers won the first seven races of the year: Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Pastor Maldonado, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton
• McLaren marked their 300th start using Mercedes power with their 73rd victor together
• The F1 podium was filled by GP2 graduates for the first time ever: Hamilton was joined by Romain Grosjean and Perez
• More Canadian Grand Prix stats and facts

European Grand Prix

• Alonso scored his second home victory, the other coming at the Circuit de Catalunya in 2006
• Schumacher became the oldest driver on an F1 podium since Jack Brabham in 1972
• Vettel equalled Jim Clark and Alain Prost's tally of 33 pole positions
• More European Grand Prix stats and facts

British Grand Prix

• Ferrari's first pole position since the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix
• Button failed to reach Q2 for the first time since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
• More British Grand Prix stats and facts

German Grand Prix

• Alonso became the fifth F1 driver to reach 30 Grand Prix wins, joining Schumacher, Prost, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna
• McLaren achieved the fastest ever stationary pit stop time, changing Button's four wheels in 2.31s
• Schumacher became the oldest driver to set the fastest lap in a Grand Prix since Brabham 42 years earlier, and is the seventh-oldest of all time
• More German Grand Prix stats and facts

Hungarian Grand Prix

• McLaren set their 150th pole position. They would have had it in Spain, but Hamilton lost pole position due to a penalty
• Grosjean made his first front-row start, the first for a French driver since Jean Alesi in the 1999 French Grand Prix
• More Hungarian Grand Prix stats and facts

Belgian Grand Prix

• Grosjean would become the first driver to serve a race ban since Schumacher in 1994
• Alonso's streak of 23 consecutive points finishes ended one short of Schumacher's record (although Schumacher did so when points were not offered down to tenth place)
• Maldonado collected three penalties in one weekend
• More Belgian Grand Prix stats and facts

Italian Grand Prix

• McLaren passed Williams' tally of front-row lock-outs reaching 62, with Ferrari ahead on 70
• Ma Qing Hua became the first Chinese driver to participate in an official F1 weekend
• More Italian Grand Prix stats and facts

Singapore Grand Prix

• Vettel's 23rd win tied him with Nelson Piquet in tenth place in the list of most prolific winners
• Hamilton's 24th pole position tied him with Piquet (and Niki Lauda) in tenth place in the list of most prolific pole-sitters
• Marussia/Virgin scored their best result with 12th for Timo Glock
• Schumacher made his 300th start
• More Singapore Grand Prix stats and facts

Japanese Grand Prix

• Vettel's second career 'grand slam' ' he won, led every lap and set pole position and fastest lap
• He set his fourth consecutive pole position at Suzuka, maintaining his 100% record
• Massa scored his first podium finish in 36 races, and Kamui Kobayashi his first ever
• More Japanese Grand Prix stats and facts

Korean Grand Prix

• Webber set the 200th pole position for a Renault-engined car
• Pedro de la Rosa started his 100th race, though he chose to mark the anniversary three races earlier in Italy
• More Korean Grand Prix stats and facts

Indian Grand Prix

• Vettel led 205 laps in a row in Singapore, Japan, Korea and India, the fifth-longest streak of all time
• He also scored the 150th win for a Renault-engined car
• McLaren set their 150th fastest lap
• Schumacher set a new record for most laps completed by a racing, passing Rubens Barrichello's tally of 16,631. By the end of the season Schumacher had reached 16,825
• More Indian Grand Prix stats and facts

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• First win for Lotus in 25 years ' the last was Ayrton Senna's at Detroit in 1987
• Kimi Raikkonen scored his 19th win and first since returning to F1
• Vettel recovered from a grid position of 24th (though he started from the pits) to finish third
• More Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stats and facts

United States Grand Prix

• Like Mika Hakkinen before him, Hamilton won his penultimate start for McLaren in America. Hakkinen did so at Indianapolis in 2001
• McLaren scored their 181st win, giving them more victories since they entered F1 in 1966 than any other team
• Vettel started his 100th Grand Prix in the same country where he made his debut in 2007
• More United States Grand Prix stats and facts

Brazilian Grand Prix

• Schumacher finished his last Grand Prix in seventh place in car number seven. The seven-times world champion started his first Grand Prix from seventh place
• McLaren achieved their 58th consecutive points finish, covering every race in which Button and Hamilton were team mates. They surpassed the record previously held by Ferrari
• Hulkenberg led a race for the first time
• More Brazilian Grand Prix stats and facts

Over to you

Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the 2012 season? Share them in the comments.

2012 F1 season review

• 2012 F1 season statistics part two: Stats and facts
• The best of the 2012 Caption Competition winners
• Red Bull bounce back to claim title hat-trick
• The 2012 F1 season in pictures
• Take F1 Fanatic's 2012 Formula One season quiz

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Images © Red Bull/Getty images, Ferrari/Ercole Colombo, Lotus F1 Team/LAT, Red Bull/Getty images, Williams/LAT, McLaren/Hoch Zwei, Ferrari/Ercole Colombo, HRT F1 Team, Red Bull/Getty images, Daimler/Hoch Zwei

Red Bull hit record revenue level in 2011 | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Red Bull hit a revenue record in 2011 as they won the constructors' championship for the second time.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Revenue record for Formula 1 championship-winning team Red Bull Racing (This Is Money)

'Energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull gave its championship-winning Formula 1 team a £3.5m marketing boost last year, driving its revenue to a record £108.5m, according to Christian Horner, the boss of the racing outfit.'

Rosberg: Mercedes progress 'massive' (Autosport)

'If you would walk through the factory today, you would see a massive improvement compared to three years ago.'

Austin's F1 race also financial boon for San Antonio (Austin-American Statesman)

[Local limousine and charter service George] Mery said that, because race traffic was handled so smoothly this year, there's no reason why Circuit of the Americas couldn't accommodate more fans next year.'

Tweets

Still looking for a present for an #F1 fan? Our exhaustive gift gude is here to help:f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/12/01/201'

' F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) December 22, 2012

• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

Mantresx picked up on an interesting claim form Ferrari yesterday's round-up:

From the Ferrari article:

'By the time he had signed for McLaren, Mexico's Sergio Perez had already left the Academy.'

I don't believe that, at the time it was never mentioned he had 'left' the Academy before signing and actually I remember Baldisserri saying that he was too aggressive, blah blah blah, so he must've been involved one way or another at the time.
Mantresx

From the forum

• What's it like watching F1 in Australia?
• @Olliekart is doing a series of video track guides for Codemasters' F1 2012

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to BasCB and Olliekart!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Happy birthday to former F1 driver Bertrand Gachot who is 50 today.

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Tickets to Autosport International 2013 to be won | Competition

F1 Fanatic has three pairs of tickets to January's Autosport International show to be won.

Held at the Birmingham NEC on January 12th-13th, the show will features appearances from Sir Jackie Stewart, Paul Di Resta and outgoing BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey.

Other motor racing stars set to appear include Le Mans 24 Hours winners Derek Bell and Allan McNish, World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff and British Touring Car Champion Gordon Shedden.

There will also be a tribute to the late World Rally Champion Richard Burns and displays of Jackie Stewart's racing cars and the F1 grid.

Tickets for Autosport International cost £31 for adults and £20 for children aged five and over. For more information and ticket sales call 0844 581 1420 or visit www.autosportinternational.com.

For your chance to win on of three pairs of tickets, send in your answer to the question below and be sure to include your email address and postal address.

Please note that winners will have to arrange their own transport to the event.

How many times did Jackie Stewart win the Formula One world championship?

Competition terms and conditions
1. Maximum one entry per household.
2. The competition is not open to employees, friends or family of F1 Fanatic or Haymarket Publishing.
3. In the event of a dispute the editor's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
4. No cash alternative is offered for any of the prizes.
5. Deadline for entries is midnight GMT on 2nd January 2013. Winners will be notified by email.

You can also win a copy of the official F1 season review annual. See here for details:

• Win the Official F1 Season Review Annual 2012

Di Resta says Singapore was his season highlight | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Paul di Resta says his fourth-placed finish in the Singapore Grand Prix was his highlight of the year.

Vote for Driver and Pass of the year

Time is running out for you to cast your vote in our Driver of the Year and Pass of the Year polls. Head over here now to add your vote:

• Vote for the best F1 driver of 2012
• Top ten passes of 2012: Vote for the best

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Paul Di Resta looks back on his F1 season (Daily Record)

'The high of the year was definitely Singapore. Narrowly missing out on the podium because of a safety car and finishing fourth was a crucial result and certainly a lot of hard work went into the year to achieve that.

'Certainly the likes of Sauber were getting the podium finishes and our team were being a bit left behind. I think that moment was obviously crucial for us on a track that tends to suit our car going into the last remainder races.'

Symonds' return a boost for Marussia (Autosport)

Timo Glock: 'To have Pat at the races will definitely help because he has so much experience, can step back and have a look from the outside, and he's won championships.'

Formula One, Red Bull in talks about possible night race in Thailand in 2015 (Autoweek)

'It is understood that 40 percent of the annual costs of the Grand Prix will be met by Red Bull and by the Singha beer brand, which were the two prime sponsors of the annual The Race of Champions event when it was held earlier this month in the 50,000-seat Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. The remaining 60 percent will come from the national government and the city administration.'

• F1 to race in Thailand in 2015, says Ecclestone

The Ferrari Driver Academy year (Ferrari)

'Jules [Bianchi's] objective for 2013 is naturally to find a firm place in Formula 1. 'That is fundamental for our project,' said Luca Baldisserri, the head of the FDA, 'that he reaches this target. It could see him have a great future in red.''

Tweets

Today I saw this machine!! My dream car!! This is just porn. Who agrees? twitter.com/RFrijns/status'

' Robin Frijns (@RFrijns) December 21, 2012

Shame the F1 winter testing no longer in South Africa could do with some sun. Too expensive . How did they afford it then ?

' Paul Hembery (@PaulHembery) December 21, 2012

• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

@Ilanin envisages how BBC and Sky's negotiation for the rights to next year's live race broadcasts went.

The BBC go first and pick Brazil, Silverstone and I guess maybe Spa. Sky, going with the strategy they used last year of taking the first two rounds, pick Australia, Malaysia and Monaco. The BBC grab Canada, Italy and Japan and Sky take the US, Singapore and Germany.

The BBC go for China, Spain and India, leaving Sky with Abu Dhabi, Korea and Hungary, and then finally the BBC decide that quite possibly not having a race at all is a better bet than Bahrain.
@Ilanin

From the forum

• Thailand circuit: Your layout ideas
• Some great British Grand Prix pictures and video from @PJTierney

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Arun Srini, Fastmovingthoughts and Stig 3!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Trevor Taylor won the non-championship Natal Grand Prix 50 years ago today in a Lotus 25.

The event at Westmead circuit was run over two races and a final. Jim Clark suffered car problems in his stint and finished 12th, leaving him 22nd on the grid for the final.

Nonetheless he raced through the field to finish second, six seconds behind team mate Taylor.

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team