Mercedes principal Ross Brawn says 2012 will be a closer ordeal than 2011 – Formula 1 news
Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn believes that 2012 will bring a lot of excitement as the season is shaping up to be a very closely fought contest.
The pre-season testing has been quite an exciting event this year, as teams redesigned their cars in accordance to the new regulations set by FIA. The 2012 season’s biggest change was the banning of the blown diffuser exhausts that has led to widespread
changes to all the cars.
Another change that has impacted the most this season is the stepped nose which is prevalent on almost all the cars except Mercedes and Marussia who have gone with a sloped nose instead of going for the step. The rule change is mainly due to safety measures
but it the design has become infamous for its ugliness. Although following the designs of the new cars, FIA has already hinted that the rule change may need some tweaking.
Brawn said that due to the rule changes the sport will not see the kind of domination Red Bull had in the previous season and it is hard to name a favourite at this point.
“I'm expecting the tightest start to a season we've seen for a number of years,” Brawn told reporters in Barcelona. “I think we're going to have a really exciting season.”
“[Form] varies from day to day so there is no definitive ranking. There is a group. Even with the new package the Red Bull didn't seem to stand out. But they may have been running a huge amount of fuel, we don't know. They're going to be competitive; McLaren
look pretty sensible - they look as though they have a good car - and I don't think we're too far off. It is so difficult to judge,” said Brawn.
The season is shaping up to be quite exciting as teams have prepared well through the three pre-season tests but it has also been a period of worry for some teams, like HRT and to name a big name of the sport Ferrari. The Scarlet team has so far suffered
poor results and technical difficulties throughout the pre-season tests.
The season begins on March 18, 2012 and it will show the true picture of how things will pan out.
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