Ferrari F2012 - Typically (and I hate to admit it) Ferrari usually make pretty Formula one single seaters…this year’s thing is an absolute abomination.

Nuff Said.

This weekend is the season finale of one of the most excellent formula one seasons in a great long while. I’m not going to say ever, because I thoroughly enjoyed 2005 which was the last time Williams were competitive and the 2008 season (with the whole Alonso/Hamilton rivalry and the whole last lap to decide the championship thing was also pretty cool).

So basically it all comes down to this weekend, this one race and really 3 drivers (although Hamilton does have a mathematical chance of winning, somehow it doesn’t seem really likely, but harsher things have happened in the past – ie his victory 2 years ago over Massa comes to mind).

So who do I want to win this thing? I’ll say it now, definitely not Alonso. While I think the guy is a phenomenal driver and really does squeeze things out of his car that his teammates can’t, I don’t like his attitude. It something about the way he handles himself, as if this is his right to be the champion, as if it is so bloody unfair that he doesn’t win every single race. He just lacks a certain amount of humility.

On the far end of that is Sebastian Vettel, whom I rate and like a great deal, ever since his debut with BMW Sauber a few years ago as a replacement to the then injured Robert Kubica (following his crash in Canada) he just looks like he LOVES being there.

The thing about this particular season however is that he’s basically been up against Mark Webber. When Webber came to Williams years ago there was this excitement going because I really rated him. This year he’s proved what he can do when given the right machinery. The issue here is that while Red Bull seem to have given him the equipment they’ve not given him the moral support he needs, or at least it’s clear to everyone whom Red Bull would rather see win this championship…which is really strange.

Mark has been with Red Bull and Jaguar before that for a while, so he’s a loyal guy and generally and affable kinda guy. He’s not big headed, he’s a bit gruff in an Australian sort of way, but he just seems like the sort of guy that gets on with things generally – but will fight for his rights if he thinks people have overstepped their bounds. He’s a consummate professional, and he’s coming to the end of his F1 career.

The thing is I know that Vettel is going to have many many years ahead of him where he can be challenging for the title, I feel that this is Webber’s last chance and he’s done well through it all to get here. Vettel doesn’t need to help him, and Alonso isn’t going to help him, but it would be nice to see an outsider claim it (I know last year’s Brawn was an outsider, but that’s different due to the changes in the regulations and the driver lineups were not as strong as this years).

Either way, this proves to be a facinating race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Lewis and Jensen - Awesome Vodafone ad with a decided F1 twist. Mclaren seem to always like this sort of thing (last time I saw a good F1 ad was when Alonso was at Mclaren).

F1 Calendar 2010 - Customised to your timezone. With all the practices (or without, it’s your choice). Most excellent.

How are Red Bull’s helmets painted? - Love this breakdown, especially coming of the new Vettel helmet that looks like a Red Bull can. Brilliant.

Lotus Racing Official site - The new site is up for the new era of Lotus. I think these guys could actually be one of the few new teams that stays the distance.

Love that photo of Adrian Newey, so I thought I’d share today seeing as the new Red Bull was unveiled.

On Williams Return - God I hope so, I really do.

Renault splits with Briatore and Symonds - Collectively now, FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!! See I really didn’t see that coming, but damn man that’s some crazy crazy shit going on down in Renault land. They are going to get there asses reamed for this. Getting a driver to crash on purpose, unbelievable. I was actually secretly hoping that Piquet was having one of his special moments of anger and stupidity, but clearly the boy was playing second fiddle in ways I didn’t think were possible.

Schumacher to make F1 return in Spain - Don’t know how I feel about this. Like when Jordan came back twice to the NBA, once you get past the euphoria of how amazing this could be, and the harsh reality sets in. I think it’ll disappoint many but that’s only because I’m a cynical bastard. I do wish he destroys all the whipper snappers, but I don’t see it happening. If he can just trounce Kimi that will be enough for me (lazy Finn).

F1 teams to launch breakaway series - Now this is kind of unexpected. Only because of some of the things that have been said and done in the past.

Diffuser debacle - I’ve been trying to get to grips with what the deal is with the diffusers. This is the best explanation so far, although to be honest with you, which isn’t saying much since it’s still pretty complicated.

A Racing Car Comes To Life - the film tells the story of the RB5 through the car’s experiences so far from factory to track with commentary by Sebastian Vettel. The more I look at this car the more I like it, although I am struggling to understand what the differences between this the Toro Rosso actually are (apart from the engines, one being a Ferrari the other being a Renault).

Sebastian Vettel explains the new F1 cars and rule changes - Easily my favourite part is the explanation of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), which up until now I wasn’t sure exactly how it worked (even though Ben, bless him has tried several times to explain it, it would go over my head, every time). (Via Mark)

For my own reference, the bottom table (can’t remember when I last used a table) is for the dates that the new 2009 F1 cars are launched (including their respective websites).

1. Ferrari - www.f60.ferrariworld.com/

2. McLaren - www.mclaren.com/f1season/

3. Toyota - www.tf109-premiere.com

4. Williams - http://www.williamsf1.com/news/view/813

The 2009 Contender - Interesting way to launch the new car from Toyota. I wish they’d sort out the livery on this car because it honestly makes it look worse than it probably is.

Williams are the first to reveal their new modified wing package to the 2009 regulations - Looks pretty strange. The front wing is much lower and wider, while the back wing is pretty narrow and looks pretty tall.

Lewis Hamilton is the World Champion of 2008 and he had to work for it till the very last corner. Probably the most tense Grand Prix I’ve ever watched. Thank god we don’t have to endure the ITV coverage ever again. No more bollocks from Louise Goodman, Ted Kravitz or Mark Blundel. Hopefully the Beeb will get Martin Brundle over to new show and maybe grab Damon Hill in there as well.

Picture of the first Singapore F1 race from last night/afternoon - How the hell he got those Alonso shots I have no idea. Awesome stuff (via Daring Fireball).

Vettel wins at Monza - Awesome little driver (hey he’s only 21 years old) who thoroughly deserves this win and underlines where he is heading in the future.

Just got back from a lecture held at the most excellent venue of the IET in Savoy Place just off Embankment tube station where Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing gave a pretty good little lecture surrounding F1 in general, his experiences amongst other things.

For me, this was actually the first time I’d ever been to one of the lectures held by the IET. In the past there have been a couple of lectures that I would have wanted to go to but ultimately didn’t have additional interest around me to motivate me to go. It’s like going to watch a movie on your own in many respects. I’ve never been to the movies on my own but I’ve been to lectures or conferences, as it’s usually for something that of my friends I’m the only one that’s mildly interested. Thankfully several other Arupians (he or she who works at Arup) where also pretty keen on hearing what the man had to say.

Of interest is the fact that it takes them 55 lorries to move all their crap across Europe, for the motor home and all the other things. I really enjoyed Horner’s sense of humour which was very well timed, even though he did have a dig at Williams at one point claiming that the team got very lucky for the result in Australia. An interesting thing that came out was you definitely got that feeling that he felt that BMW was the second best team on the track after Ferrari. Another great little story was the fact that Adrian Newey still has the same drawing board he had at Williams and then at Mclaren, which I thought was very cool, much in the same way I use the same pencil that I started drawing with 10 years ago. It was cheap as chips but i can’t work with any other pencil apart from that (I’ve tried, something to do with the overall weight distribution).

Unfortunately there was not that much talk about the cross pollination of technologies between F1 and commercial car manufacturing which was a bit annoying. There was a lot of cynicism (and rightly so) with respect to the bullshit proposals that the FIA have in place to get F1 to become more ‘green’. Yeah whatever the fuck that means in a sport that requires cars to go around a track 56 times burning 2.5kg of fuel every lap (and don’t forget the 55 lorries).

I’ll definitely be on the look out for future lectures. The one that I would have loved to go to was the one held with Jeremy Rushton (the main guy that created Tiddlywiki) something I personally use on a daily basis.

Obviously this doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many who have been expecting this call for a while now, particularly after the whole Stepneygate scandal that rippled through Formula 1 this season. To be honest, this was a vintage year in formula one. It had just about everything, on the track and off the track. So it all draws to a close with Alonso being dropped by Mclaren. Obviously this throws a slew of new questions onto the table. Who is going to replace Alonso at Mclaren? Where will Alonso end up?

The man’s options are pretty limited.

1. Ferrari is completely booked for this year.

2. Not Torro Rosso (hehe, back to where he started, as they are the ex-minardi team).

3. Not to India Force or whatever that last team is called this year and is bound to change sometime next year or the year after that.

4. Not to Toyota, as they've never been a contender...ever.

5. Not to BMW as they've booked their drivers.

6. R

   edbull could be an option. Got themselves some Ferrari engines. Got themselves and Newey designed car after he's realised what went wrong with his latest one. Problem is that they've got to get rid of one of their two drivers. It won't be Webbo, so bye bye Coulthard. Don't know if this is really realistic, but stranger things have happened. But this would require people to be moved around.

7. Maybe to Honda, although can't help but feel it'll be a definite step back since they've really dropped the ball, back when it seemed like they might actually have gotten some momentum. They might reach a mid-field status in 2008 so I don't see Alonso jumping to get there too soon.

8. Maybe Renault. Hey, it's the team that he built things around him. The team that gave him two championships. They like him and I think respect him and well to put it bluntly, can tolerate his primadonna nature. Also they have seats available.

9. Williams is another viable option. And one that people are talking about more and more. Without a second driver, Alonso and Rosberg would make a pretty interesting partnership. Thinking about it, you've got two drivers that would drive the pants out of any car. Now hopefully Williams (whom I support btw) have learnt a lot this year moving into the next year. It's been a good year all around considering the abysmal 2006 season. So they're definitely on an upturn. Will they be able to challenge for the top seats? I can't see that happening, but third place could most definitely be a possibility. So going to Williams wouldn't be such a bad move for a year.

So he’s got really two higher probability options in Renault and Williams because they have seats available. He’s also got two other smaller options in Honda and RedBull although they would need to get rid of one of their two drivers.

To keep things on a relatively positive note, here’s that ad that the guys did sometime this year. While the acting is dreadful the idea is a good one. Too bad it really didn’t last more than a year. It was kinda fun seeing the squabbling on the track and reading the made up remarks online. Added another dimension to the sport.