The Actual 2012 Mercedes W03

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about blogging and sharing information over the Internet, it’s that you’d better have your facts straight. If you don’t, someone will call you out on it. Last week I did a post on the “new” Mercedes Formula 1 car. I had commented about how there was never an official press release from the team. There was indeed a very good reason for that, which I came to find out yesterday from a couple readers. The 2012 Mercedes W03 hasn’t actually been revealed yet. I’d firstly like to say that I was wrong and I didn’t have my facts straight. I’ve since taken down my previous post on the car, I assumed was the W03. It was in fact last year’s W02 with certain modifications for testing at Jerez.

A Class can be pretty content heavy from time to time. I do my best at making sure I have my story straight before sharing it with the Internet. But I can still be wrong, so I appreciate the heads up. Anyway, the Mercedes W03 is scheduled for an official release, next Tuesday February 21. In the meantime, they’ve released some footage of Nico Rosberg behind the wheel during a shakedown at Silverstone.

This spy shot was also taken of the car during its Silverstone testing.

Right away you’ll notice a prominent step-nose, very different from the car seen at Jerez.

It appears that McLaren are the only ones not to adopt the new styling change for the 2012 season. Instead they’ve decided to keep the whole nose of the car lower, limiting the airflow traveling underneath. This decision could go either way and we won’t truly know until the season begins next month.

I’ll have more on the Mercedes W03 next Tuesday.

Photo and video courtesy of Roy Powell & Mercedes GP.

Sorry Champ, Not Today

Call it how you like: pit stop error, team orders, whatever it may be. Sebastian Vettel wasn’t able to secure a win today at the British Grand Prix.

I’m over this Red Bullshit. I sat in front of my TV last year as Christian Horner said, there would be no team orders for Red Bull. So then what did I just witness this morning when Mark Webber, who was clearly faster, was told to “hold the gap”? Seems as though the boys over at Red Bull are becoming increasingly over protective of their prodigal son.

Today’s events sent a grim message that Mark Webber is the number two man on the team and that’s never going to change. Webber, clearly pissed during the post-race press conference, had some curt words for Speed’s Will Buxton when asked about Christian Horner’s 2010 team orders proclamation.

“I think they were used last year, mate.”

I’m willing to bet today has further encouraged a parting of the ways between Red Bull and Webber, who’s contract is up at the end of this season.

McLaren continued their train wreck today with Jenson Button out of the race due to an unsecured right, front wheel and Lewis Hamilton was in danger of running out of fuel. The team will also be fined for an unsafe pit stop during the Jenson Button mishap. This is a team that really needs to get it together. It seems like less and less, the driver’s problems and instead everything else. It should be a very interesting race at the Nürburgring in 2 weeks.

From Bad To Worse

After blaming a slow car on his dismal performance 2 weeks ago, Lewis Hamilton now says sponsorship obligations are the reason for his poor driving.

I just finished watching qualifying at Silverstone and this is looking to be another dramatic weekend in Formula 1. The British Grand Prix is tomorrow afternoon and neither of the two hometown McLaren boys are in the first (or second) rows of the starting grid.

This weekend has been plagued with unpredictable weather, which has made consistency difficult for all teams. The new performance regulations have also caused lot a of controversy, specifically between McLaren and Red Bull. Red Bull remains on top with Mark Webber taking his second pole of the season. Right behind him, are teammate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, rounding out the top 3.

There’s been a lot of speculation that Ferrari has something to do with the new engine performance regulations the FIA implemented over the weekend. This stems back to an older event in which Ferrari couldn’t get their active suspension to work properly, which was soon banned from the sport. Nevertheless, Ferrari has continued to be increasingly competitive in the last few weeks.

But the big story is McLaren. What the hell is going on with this team? After two awful performances by Lewis Hamilton, he qualified 10th on his home track of Silverstone. The weather is certainly a factor for his lackluster Q3 session, but I think there are much larger issues brewing for Hamilton, both on and off the track. UK newspaper, The Guardian printed this article, in which Hamilton blames a stacked media schedule as his latest cause for bad performance on the track.

While I can agree with his frustration, it’s all a bit confusing. I’ve been following Lewis Hamilton on Twitter since his race in Montreal and in the 2 weeks leading up to Silverstone, he’s been very positive about his preparations for this weekend and his busy media schedule. He’s even been posting pictures from various press events and tweeting about how great it felt to be back in England. So you can imagine, it’s tough to know where his head is at, especially with all of these new revelations about needing more free time and slapping McLaren with list of demands for his contract renewal next season.

Lewis Hamilton is no doubt looking for things to blame as a result of the MP4-26′s poor performance on the track. His teammate Jenson Button has even come to his defense on numerous occasions about the performance of their cars. Despite both teammates being unhappy, Button has taken a much more conservative approach in the media.

A lot of people are growing tired of Hamilton’s attitude and his brash comments. He’s embarrassed his team on more than one occasion already this season. I can’t blame the guy. He’s frustrated because he’s being limited by the car. After spending an entire race at Valencia conserving tire wear and a DNF in Montreal, you’d expect the guy to be a little miffed. I think at this point McLaren shouldn’t even be thinking about World Championships. They just need to focus on winning some races. Finish the season strong and work on fighting for the top in 2012.

Red Bull isn’t going to stay fast forever. Mark Webber is in the later half of his career and Sebastian Vettel has yet to prove how good he really is. Driving the fastest car with no one to overtake doesn’t say much in terms of driving skill. I’m just waiting for the day that Hamilton comes up and snaps off Seb’s index finger when he does his stupid I’m number one again pose for the cameras.

It’s going to be a very interesting British Grand Prix tomorrow and I can’t wait.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

McLaren MP4-12C

This is really exciting.

The new McLaren MP4-12C GT3, doing some laps at Silverstone Circuit. Just on first impressions, the car looks great. I wish more of the racing styling cues had been injected into the road version, which seems tame in comparison. The car seems very quick, but sounds much different than I expected it to. I’m curious to see how the MP4-12C holds up in GT3 this season. I guess we’ll find out in May.

Video courtesy of McLaren.