Formula 1 Season 2012 Preview

So the 2012 season of Formula 1 is (almost) upon us. This weekend is the kick-off in sunny Australia. 1,5 months after the dramatic finale of Ausie Open, Melbourne hosts the other worldwide famous sport event on the continent.

Image Copyright: Gem Tennis

The Albert Park race is one of twelve this year that will not be hosted in Europe. In a bid to make the Formula truly global, Bernie Ecclestone's management team has secured contracts with tracks in Asia, Australia, North and South America. This year the number of races hosted in Europe and in Asia will be the same - 8 each. A representation equality that FIFA cannot afford in its World Cup. As Formula 1 race visits remain prohibitively expensive for most developing countries, except for the Asian Tigers and BRIC, there will be  no races in Africa (the last race on the continent was in 1993). This season will be the longest in the history of the championship with 20 (expected) races, spanning more than eight months between the middle of March and the end of November.

Image Copyright: Wikipedia

 Despite no major rule changes, this is a year of firsts. Besides the length of the competition, this will also be the season with most former champions starting on the grid. The title of Sebastian Vettel will be contested by five other former champions and maybe Massa, Webber, and Rosberg. The overall winners of 14 titles will meet to determine the "King of Kings."

Image Copyright: Yalla F1

The Champions

Sebastian Vettel

Image Copyright: Bettor

Titles: 2 (2010, 2011)

GP wins: 21

Pole positions: 30

Nickname: Baby Schumi

The 24-year-old current F1 champion holds most youngest ever records in the series. He was the youngest driver to score points in a race, to achieve a pole position, to win a race, to win the title, and to become a double world champion. In the fight to become triple world champion, Vettel will race Michael Schumacher, whose first title was one in 1994 when Vettel was 7(!). Being a German and an evident F1 fan, Sebastian grew upon supporting Michael. However, once he gets on the track all feelings of respect for MS and Ferrari disappear and Vettel is ready to do whatever it takes to win. He has mixed feelings towards the nickname given to him by some fans. While Seb is pleased to be compared with the Great Michael, he obviously wants to leave his own mark on the history of the formula. 

Funny Quote on the subject: "Well, its just a joke. I've asked my mum and Michael really isn't my father."

Further to being the fastest man on the grid in the last two years and a really great driver, Sebastian is also a "media darling." He willingly gives interviews, always with a big smile on his face. He seems to be able to hold his liquor quite well, an ability necessary to survive the post-race pressures of the F1 grid. The funny video below demonstrates this and his talent of a stand-up comedian.

Expectations for 2012: The pre-season performance seems to suggest that Vettel will gain be very hard to beat. I expect him to retain the title, even though the challengers will be closer than last year.

Jenson Button

Image Copyright: Daily Postal

Titles: 1 (2009)

GP wins: 12

Pole positions: 7

After spending eight uneventful years in F1, Button seemed almost content that he would never be one of the selected few, who become champions. Until the new regulations in 2009 came along and his Ross Brawn-designed car brought him the title. He joined McLaren in 2010 to start a British dream team partnership with Lewis Hamilton. Despite Hamilton's seniority in the team, Jenson managed to repeatedly outperform him in the races and reach the runner-up spot in 2011 (Vettel was untouchable at the top). 

Expectations for 2012: He will be a lot closer to Vettel but not good enough (the qualifications are his big weakness) - a runner up.

Lewis Hamilton

Image Copyright: Ezine Mark

Titles: 1

GP wins: 17

Pole positions: 19

A real F1 prodigy. Hamilton's first two years on the grid were particularly eventful. He lost the title in the last race of 2007 and won it 2008 in the last corner of the last GP. After that, however, his form has slumped. A conflict with his father and problems with on-again, off-again singer girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger only amplified his on-track tendency to participate in crashes (usually with Massa). He managed to achieve 3 wins last year but was never even close to challenging Vettel, who won eleven races.

Expectations for 2012: If he sorts his personal problems out maybe he will begin regaining his old form. Since he announced his second brake-up with Nicole last year, he was seen again with her, suggesting that the book is not closed there. This means that he might still be out of it mentally this year. I don't think without his full focus he can be a real competitor this year - third place.

Kimi Raikkonen

Image Copyright: Ausmotive

Titles: 1 (2007)

GP wins: 18

Pole positions: 16

Nickname: Iceman

After coming close to challenging Schumacher in 2003, Raikkonen finally managed to become champion himself in 2007 by the narrowest of margins. Kimi won the title for Ferrari by 1 point in the last race, even though just before it he was third. His drop of form in 2008 and especially 2009 led to his retirement from F1.   Two years of WRC disappointment, however, have driven him back to Formula 1 for a meet-up with his old rivals Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso and the (barely adult) prodigy Vettel. Most other F1 stars seem quite excited that Kimi is coming back as he is notorious for his drinking habits. Kimi is known for being specifically economical with word so taking an interview with him is always a formidable task.

Expectations for 2012: The real speed of the new cars is still unclear but it is unlikely that Kimi's Lotus would be able to match Red Bull and McLaren. A position somewhere in top 10 would not be unrealistic. 

Fernando Alonso

Image Copyright: Sports Blog

Titles: 2 (2005, 2006)

GP wins: 27

Pole position: 20

A couple of years ago, Alonso was the also the youngest double world champion. His domination with Renault in 2005 and 2006 were among the reasons for Michael Schumacher to retire in 2006. After a disappointing spell with McLaren in which he was never treated with the respect that the reigning double world champion deserves and a brief return to Renault, Alonso ended up taking MS and Raikkonen's position as Ferrari's lead driver. He narrowly missed the title in 2010 and in 2011 managed to completely outperform teammate Massa. 

Expectations for 2012:  Ferrari's new car has probably the most revolutionary of the so called ugly noses but seems not to be fast enough to compete with the Red Bulls during the testing. I expect Nando to be on top of the car again but I'm not sure he can really advance further than forth.

Michael Schumacher

Image Copyright: F1 Zone

Titles: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)

GP wins: 91

Pole positions: 68

Almost all Formula 1 "most" records belong to one man and that's Michael Schumacher. He is undoubtfully the greatest F1 driver ever and my personal favorite since the very first races I saw back in the 90's. He has the most titles, the most wins, the most pole positions, and ....the list goes on and on. He is the King of F1 but he seems lost lately. MS retired in 2006 but decided to come back in 2010 because Formula 1 is more than a job for him, it is his life - it is what he loves doing. I think the decision to drive for Mercedes is part of the reason why Schumi seems unhappy. Ferrari was his family and being in Mercedes simply cannot compete with that. Both after his first title with Ferrari (2000) and sixth overall (2003) Michael stated that he was not as happy for himself as he is for Ferrari. Driving for Mercedes just seems wrong: MS does not belong there and his heart will always be in Maranello.

Image Copyright: Visit Switzerland

On the funny side of things - Michael is probably the only F1 star that can successfully match Kimi Raikkonen's drinking abilities. MS is a beautiful memory of the romantic Formula 1 of the past - rougher, tougher, less media-friendly. 

Expectations for 2012: I don't think MS has the car to make a successful title challenge but I do hope he will manage to snatch at least one victory before his contract with Mercedes expires at the end of the year. And after that I hope he will just go back home to Ferrari.

If you liked this post, you might like also my post on the new online motorsport show The Grid: The World After TV: The Grid. 

Who is your favorite among these six current and former champions?

The World after TV:The Grid

Ok, this was started as a blog about sports so as the Formula 1 season start looms close, I'll be slowly getting back on track with the sports side of "Movies and Sports." Today while browsing for F1 info, I came across a great online show about everything motorsport. It is called "The Grid." It is one of those shows tha make me think that (offline) TV is indeed dying.

Episode 1

The show is hosted by Neil Cole and Kevin Shepherd. Neil runs the blog Motorsport Bloke, while Kevin is a stand-up comedian and a podcaster for Another F1 Podcast. The two spent most of the time discussing the off-season gossip in F1 like Lewis Hamilton's peculiar choice of facial hair and the ugly/crazy nose designs for F1 2012. They were joined via Skype by former British rally driver Andrew Coley who will is running the rally-side of the show. Cole and Shepherd's jokes on the noses and the new female driver in GP3 where so outrageous that they made me cry. Definitely a must see for all that suffer from F1-withdrawal syndrome.

Episode 2

The best part of the second episode of The Grid is Kevin's description of his first NASCAR viewing experience. Priceless! Montoya's crash takes center stage - not unlike his Formula 1 days. Thankfully, now we have Lewis H doing the same job so we do not miss the crazy Colombian on this side of the pond but it's great to see that he still has what it takes to set a car on fire. 

Episode 3

This is the latest episode of Neil and Kevin's new gig. It is dominated by talk about Ferrari's somewhat dismal performance in testing. The two host are joined by the Italian sports journalist Tancridi Palmea. Palmea's take on Ferrari and Luca di Montezemollo make the third episode almost as funny as the first one. By this episode Kevin seems to (not surprisingly) have given up trying to watch NASCAR races.

The Grid is broadcasted every Tuesday on the Youtube channel Sports Tonight Live. If I could get in touch with the producers, I'd suggest that they also broadcast the show as a live Hangout on Air in Google Plus. Otherwise for F1 fans I have just one conclusion - this seems even better than the BBC studios last year!

If you have already seen the first three episodes of The Grip, what did you like the most?

What's Hot and What's Not: Shoes

I have always been a big fan of pumps. I wish that the arch and form of my feet could allow me to wear more of them but at least this does not stop me from writing.

What's Not Hot: 15 cm/6'' Pumps

This is one of the cases in which more is not better. Wearing pumps makes female legs attractive only as long as their owner can actually WALK with them.

Image Copyright: Ayakkabi Sandalet

As if it is not bad enough that you are effectively standing on your toes (hopefully only for a couple of hours during the evening), the pressure on your ankles can cause a serious injury. It has been frequently said that beauty requires sacrifice but this should not be taken to mean that women should sacrifice their ankles for an extra inch or tow that is rarely noticed. Unless you participate in an S&M party, wearing 6 inches is unnecessary torture that will come back to haunt you and if you want to spent a respectable amount of time on your toes - the local yoga class is definitely a far better option. 

Furthermore, being 5.7 (173 cm), I have noticed that if you are above 5.8 (176 cm) with your heels, you are already as tall as some of the men (at least in Southern Europe) and there is nothing that bothers a man's ego as much as dating a woman that is taller than them. It's genetically programmed in men to expect to be taller than their partners - just remember how Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's marriage ended. Unless you are below 5.3 (158), wearing 6 inch pumps would not help you look more attractive in the eyes of the opposite gender.

What's Hot: Finding the Right Shoes

Not all shoes are created equal. The arches of the feet of women differ. Some can tolerate 4-4.5'' (10-12 cm), some (like yours truly) find everything above 3'' (7.5 cm) a torture. What fits your feet is relative. So jumping after the next fashion trend that tells you to wear 6 inches and pray you would not fall on the street, is just stupid. Take you time to find the type of stilettos and heels that make your arches feel comfortable instead of hanging in the air. The market is filled with different kind of shoes for every taste, do not sacrifice your comfort in walking (and possibly your back in the long run) just to blindly follow fashion trends. Trends are important but personal style is even more important.

Image Copyright: 12 Ounce Prophet Forums

Inspiration for this post: Victoria Beckham at the Royal Wedding last April

Made for Mums

Pregnant and on very high pumps!? Not only do those kind of shoes put the baby in danger but pregnancy is putting enough pressure on your ankles anyway to aid it with having an unstable support from your heels.  Even if you are not carrying a baby, this pair of shoes is definitely not a good combination with Vicki's dress - the contrast between the free flowing dress and the stilettos is not a welcome one.

Do you agree with Victoria Beckham's fashion choice?

If you like this post, check also my posts on the Oscars, Make-up, and Cocktail Dresses, or just leave me a comment :)

We, the Europeans?

When drawing a dress, a designer faces the choice to draw the dress first and then think about the body of the model or the other way around. In designing the European Union, we have the same problem. We chose the first approach and now we wonder why the dress does not fit. Most of the issues exposed by the crisis were already there before it - the EU just tried to avoid them praying they would go away by themselves.

The first step to solving a problem is admitting there is one. The second step is finding the CAUSE. This takes a lot more courage and honesty. We prefer to cure the symptoms of financial crisis by "bailing out" and "quantitative easing" because actually looking at the roots of the problem can expose that the system needs changing, that our understanding of how the economy works needs a radical rethinking and that there is something rotten and corrupt in the wall street controlled main street and city hall. It is always easy to say - well, it just happened, it is an aberation, a statistical mistake!

Guess what - miracles do not happen. If the Greek debt crashed it is for a reason. If the Netherlands is in a recession, it is for a reason. The cause, however, are never the foreigners, the different. Just ask the Germans what good brought to them believing a mad man that the Jews were the problem. I fear we have forgotten the lessons of the past. The young people nowadays do not remember the Second World War and the Cold War. They do not remember there was an Iron Curtain and a concrete wall separating the east from the west. They do not respect the victims of the past, not the mistakes of the past.  

In time of crisis, the Europeans are losing hope. While during the Great Depression there were two ideologies for those that lost hope, nowadays there is only one. Communism was exposed for the inhuman utopia it is, and one would think the same should have happened with fascism. It did not, it is sneaking back into the hearts and minds of the Europeans, convincing them that the OTHERS are the problem: i.e. the Muslims, the Poles, the Bulgarians, the Romanians.

The great idea behind the EU is that it is about "us, the Europeans" and not about 27 countries connected by an "and." As long as good people in Western Europe allow crazy conservatives/neo-Nazis to convince them there is "us&them," Europe is in danger: the danger to go back to how it was during the last Great Recession. We all remember how badly the things ended for ALL of US back then, do not we?

If you liked this post, check also my other posts on economy: Economy and Math and The Recession: Volatility and Positive Feedback.

If I Were a Star

If I were a star,
I'd wish to shine shortly but brightly.
I'd wish to die a fiery death
and give birth to other stars and planets.

If I were an universe,
I'd wish to have life.
I'd wish to have creatures
to admire my beauty and rejoice.

If I were an atom,
I'd wish to be carbon.
I'd wish to combine
and create life and reason.

I'm a person,
I dream about the universe,
it's beauty. And I wonder,
"Is it only me?"

This was my little poem (blank, completely non-rhythmical verse).

The Crab Nebula

Image Copyright: Science of Starcraft

If you liked this, you might also like my post on Cool Exoplanets.