"Cato Batista" 20/07/2012 5:38:24 ID #236

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are fast closing on the first half of the season with consecutive races in Germany and Hungary, the 10th and 11th rounds followed by the 4-week summer break during the month of August. This is the FIA-imposed holiday for all F1 personnel including factories and all development work.

The most interesting news in the last 2 weeks was the intent to clarify the rules when drivers are fighting for track position.  With racing so tight this season we’d seen controversial incidents and drivers are asking what’s exactly allowed when attempting overtaking. FIA’s Charlie Whiting response has brought a new perspective into this critical issue, he said: “any driver defending his position on a straight and before any braking area may use the full width of the track during his first move provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his”. To be more specific in regards to ‘significant potion’ he added: “...if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'”.

So all you need to stop the driver in front from blocking you is your front wing alongside his rear tyres. It sounds like another advantage point for the attacker, this when we already have lots of passing (and that’s got little to do the DRS). We’ll hear a lot about this whole thing, just wait and see....

The last GP in Hockenhein was in 2012, so this will be the first time Pirellis are used in this track, same for DRS. The Italian company has allocated its soft and medium rubber, a conservative choice. Without any previous data from this circuit tyres will be again the major talking point.

The Hockenhein track is a mix of everything although high speed corners don’t have a major influence in lap times like other fast circuits; the overall requirements are closer to Valencia’s. Braking stability and traction are keys, but you have to compromise with less wing because of the long straight where most overtaking takes place. The tarmac is very smooth and the temperatures are expected to be high, both contributing to high degradation.

To have a clear picture of how difficult is to forecast F1 racing in 2012 let’s do a quick comparison to last year: After 8 races we had a triple tie for 1st place at 83 points between Uwe, Manbos & Tim. This season the leader Uwe has 63, Rocco 60 & Maria 57. That’s 20 full points less for the leader or 32% below the 2011 average. Ouch!!

The good news is that tomorrow we have a whole new opportunity for redemption, let’s see how we do...

Cheers

Cato