2012 Formula One Season

[Root]

Come on, let's have Barrichello back in that Williams seat!

Valtteri Bottas, please.

[hopeful traveller]

Come on, let's have Barrichello back in that Williams seat!

Valtteri Bottas, please.

Rubens Barrichello. Many felt that he had a championship in him - if Williams switch focus to 2013 now and Barrichello does a deal early then surely he can take wins and reignite his career like in 2009? He said in 2010 that in 2009, Brawn GP was biased towards Button, "They didn't call me or Bruno for a seat fitting but they did call Jenson, so I raced with Jenson's for the first four races." He also said that in Honda, they did brake tests - one material for Barrichello was very good and very bad for Button, so they changed materials on both cars just to suit Jenson! Rubens hated those brakes.

Same tests happened in 2007 and 2008 and each time was the same outcome, although Rubens dragged that excuse of an F1 car to third in Britain 2008! In 2009 they never bothered with those tests and so Barrichello had old brakes until Silverstone! On that car, "Jenson's brakes" worked for him and then he never lost through any fault of his own to Button to the rest of the year.

[Root]

Barrichello was a great driver, and would not have been out of place in the roster of world champions. But his opportunity to become one was squandered when he put up with being a second driver to Schumacher for so many years. He hardly lit up the sport last year, did he? And how do you know that the 2013 Williams will be any better than their 2011 car?

His time in F1 has passed. I think even he has accepted that.

[hopeful traveller]

He wasn't "happy to finish second" - he said that after 2002 he was looking for an exit but all options were blocked so stayed with Ferrari. As he once said, "I was happier driving a shit Honda than I was at Ferrari."

His drive at Canada last year was amazing (although eclipsed by Button's) from 16th on the grid into the points in 9th. He scored 80% of Williams' points last year and more often than not beat Maldonado. Who can forget that qualifying effort in Brazil where the car wouldn't go, wouldn't stop, wouldn't turn and wouldn't change gear but he hauled it up to 12th on the grid! In fact, at Brazil 2011 he was so determined to be back in F1™ for 2012 that he invited all his guests back for the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Let's put this into a historical context - Maldonado is Andrea de Crasheris and Barrichello is John Watson.

[Root]

He wasn't "happy to finish second" - he said that after 2002 he was looking for an exit but all options were blocked so stayed with Ferrari. As he once said, "I was happier driving a shit Honda than I was at Ferrari."

I didn't say that he was ever happy to finish second, just that he put up with being a lower priority in the Ferrari team than Michael Schumacher. He might not have had many options elsewhere, but if he had been a really top-notch driver, someone would have taken him on.

Anyway, Hungary turned out to be a pretty dull race, save for a charge from Kimi Räikkönen around the half-way mark. Hamilton desperately needed that win, but Alonso still increased his lead in the championship.

My old school friend Matthew Underwood, who is not on the forum, won the round with 126 points. Garion and hopeful traveller are now tied at the top of the overall standings.

Sadly, it is now five weeks before the next round. Enjoy the Olympics.

[tubeguru]

So when I don't submit picks, my entry consists of "normal" drivers, and I score more points than I usually do?

[Root]

Because you didn't submit a new set of picks, the season-long picks you entered ahead of the first race were used. They were much more - how shall I put this? - sensible.

[tubeguru]

Ah yes. Next year, I am going to use a new method, but which will be more sensible than allowing a random number generator to simply choose Charles Pic for the win.

[hopeful traveller]

Personally, this is where I think everyone will end up in 2013 ([C] = confirmed):

Caterham Renault: Heikki Kovalainen, Vitaly Petrov

Ferrari: Fernando Alonso [C], Sergio Pérez

Force India Mercedes: Paul di Resta [C], Nico Hulkenberg [C]

HRT Cosworth: Pedro de la Rosa [C], Adrian Sutil

Lotus Renault: Kimi Raikkonen [C], Nico Hulkenberg

Marussia Cosworth: Timo Glock [C], Luiz Razia

McLaren Mercedes: Jenson Button [C], Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes: Nico Rosberg [C], Felipe Massa

Red Bull Renault: Sebastian Vettel [C], Mark Webber [C]

Sauber Ferrari: Kamui Kobayashi, Esteban Gutiérrez

Toro Rosso Ferrari: Daniel Ricciardo, Sébastien Buemi

Williams Renault: Pastor Maldonado [C], Rubens Barrichello

Allow me to explain.

Personally, I think di Montezemlo is pussyfooting around with Pérez and will pick him for 2013 as Massa is as useful as a chocolate teapot. He'll rock up at Force India as they need someone more impressive than Hulkenberg. By then, Schumacher will have re-signed for Mercedes so di Resta will re-sign with Force India by the time that Ferrari say that Massa will be dropped, meaning that Hulkenberg will rock up at Lotus, leaving Romain Grosjean out in the cold.

Adrian Sutil's time in F1 isn't over and I feel he'll be somewhere in 2013. HRT seems to be the only likely destination for him. With regards to the other "new" (is it still "new"?) team, Marussia, they'll take the GP2 winner, which looks likely to be Razia. The "GP2 route" will also affect Sauber, who will promote their test/GP2 driver Esteban Gutiérrez into Pérez's old seat.

Vergne has failed to impress and will be, unquestionably, dropped for Buemi.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/new ... ore-points <-- Barrichello's moan towards Williams has been taken on board. I don't feel he's peaked yet and is doing very well in IndyCar. Maybe, just maybe. After all, Bottas and Wolff aren't ready for Formula One yet. Root loves Bottas, however, I can fight him back with two words - "German Practice."

EDIT: The spacing does seem a bit much, doesn't it?

EDIT: Now that the Force India drivers have been confirmed, please recheck my post.

[tubeguru]

EDIT: The spacing does seem a bit much, doesn't it?

Yes, do you like my amendment to it?

[hopeful traveller]

EDIT: The spacing does seem a bit much, doesn't it?

Yes, do you like my amendment to it?

Not bad.

[Root]

Root loves Bottas, however, I can fight him back with two words - "German Practice."

You really are a hopeless traveller. When have I ever said that I love Bottas? I just think he looks impressive and would probably do a better job in a 2013 Williams than Barrichello. That's just an opinion, you can't "fight me back". You're welcome to have yours too. And if you are writing off a driver after one crash, why not go back and see how many times Barrichello crashed in his career?

[Steeevooo]

Indeed, on that basis, why did Barrichello ever earn another F1 contract after his Imola 1994 crash? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSI27en56tg

[hopeful traveller]

But Barrichello didn't crash after less than two hours in an F1 car!

[Steeevooo]

And Bottas did?