THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN

Source: gpupdate.net
By sessions
March 16 2012

Qualifying will finally cause the teams to shed the gloves and reveal their true pace. It looks like we may be in store for a closely competitive season.

Although we remain unsure going into the Australian GP there are tell-tale clues supporting the return of the usual suspects.  Red Bull with a different engine whine is again showing Newey somehow dances to a different drummer. Both RB drivers went through the practice sessions showing effortless handling characteristics. The Mercedes silver Arrows also showed stability they didn’t seem to have in last year’s car. Ferrari in the final laps of the practice session put a question mark into all the woes they claimed to be experiencing with decent lap speeds.

McLaren’s good news is they feel very competitive; the bad news is they feel they will not dominate. They have by far won the most esthetic looking car in the field.

Vijay Mallya feels his VJM05 is the best engineered car Force India has produced and it will produce a step forward for the team.

The Renault team, despite very limited practice laps, look as though they too have good pace.

Sauber also shows signs of making break troughs over last year’s car.

Hopefully Williams logging over 5330 kms in practice sessions will offer them a chance to up the ante for the 2012 season.

As for the other’s, only the rigors of hard work will show their fates.

In closing we must consider the unknowns that the season opener can provide. Australia is a track that always seems to offer up a knack of surprises. This year’s race also has the potential of rain; serving up yet another monkey wrench to all the newly developed cars.
It’s time to sit back and enjoy the need for speed. Good luck to all of your favourites.