In the winter of 2008-2009, Senna was on the verge of being signed by Honda after impressing in a test alongside Jenson Button. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, the move never materialised and Honda pulled out of F1 prior to the 2009 season.

A year later, Bruno Senna finally secured a seat in the sport. However his position as driver for HRT in 2010 ultimately proved unsuccessful. Despite striking spectators with his familiar helmet and facial features, the car prevented Senna from fully demonstrating his capabilites.

That disappointment was followed by a stint as test and reserve driver for Renault in 2011 and some observers began to wonder if Bruno Senna would ever amount to anything in the sport.

However, half-way through the 2011 season Senna was given a chance in the more competitive Renault car, replacing the sacked Nick Heidfeld. In his first race for the team he qualified in an impressive seventh position for the Belgian Grand Prix, ultimately finishing thirteenth on race day. Senna followed that achievement by finishing ninth at the Italian Grand Prix, scoring his first points as an F1 driver in the process.

Despite keeping pace with team mate Vitaly Petrov, and impressing many observers with the way he conducted himself, at the age of 28 Bruno Senna still remains somewhat of an unknown commodity; a fact which made many eyes widen when reports emerged that he had been offered a contract by Williams for the 2012 season.

Of course, equally, given that his uncle died driving for Williams in 1994, some also felt it is an odd choice for Bruno, who sought out the blessing of his family before penning the deal.

Reports from Brazil claim that Bruno Senna has brought to the table a whopping €14,000,000 in sponsorship money, largely from oil giant OGX, headed by billionaire Eike Batista. Autosprint reported that Adrian Sutil had also been considered for the Williams seat, but the sponsorship money Bruno Senna amassed tipped the balance in his favour. Prior to this, his commercial potential was already well-known. In September 2011, during his stint with Renault, Senna attracted four new sponsors to the team.

In the face of such evidence, it is therefore very easy for cynics to write-off his acquisition by Williams as a money-spinning move rather than a performance-orientated one. However, given the inconsistency displayed by his team mate Pastor Maldonado last season, they may in fact be relying on Senna to step up and revive their dwindling fortunes.

Bruno Senna  - High Pedigree

During his legendary racing career, Ayrton Senna once famously remarked “If you think I’m good, you should see my nephew.” While Bruno has yet to live up to those words, his talent is still remarkable in its own right.

Following Ayrton’s tragic death at Imola in 1994, Bruno put his racing career on hold for a whole decade before competing in six races of the Formula BMW UK series in 2004 at the age of 20.

Interestingly, unlike Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, his teenage years were not spent building up vital racing experience on the go-karting circuit. The fact that he has made it into Formula One is therefore a huge achievement in itself. It has also led some to speculate that the improvement in Senna’s driving in the next few years will likely exceed the improvement of other 28 year old drivers on the grid.

Despite this, it is what Senna is capable of now that will be of interest to Williams. On top of the glimpses of talent displayed during last season, Senna also impressed in GP2 in 2008, winning the Monaco Grand Prix meeting and finishing second in the championship. There have been enough brief flashes of talent to suggest he has a genuine chance of impressing with the team.

But such glimpses of talent mean little in the grand scheme of things and Formula One is an unforgiving sport. A prolonged period of consistency is required if Bruno Senna is to realise the potential his uncle saw in him as a young boy. That consistency must come from himself, first-and-foremost, but also from his team.

Unfortunately Williams, coming off the back of their worst overall performance in Formula One in over thirty years, are perhaps not best-placed to afford Senna the luxury of patience.

It is therefore essential that Senna hits the ground running. Both Senna and Williams will be hoping the switch from Cosworth engines back to Renault, who powered the cars of Mansell, Prost, etc. in years gone by, will allow the Brazilian to flourish and finish in amongst the points on a regular basis. If he doesn’t, he may soon find his stop-start career grinding to a halt once more.

From writer Jason Mitchell

We will also look at a way to watch every race live on Virgin as a great alternative if you really can’t bare the thought of missing a live coverage.

So the reason for all the upset is due to a new contract signed near the end of last season that saw Sky screen all 20 races with the BBC broadcasting half that number, as well as a highlights show for every grand prix.

Since then 40,000 F1 fans signed an online government petition protesting the move. Sky then responded with the latest decision to provide Formula One next year without having to fork out for Sky’s full package which costs in excess of £60-a-month.

So as it stands 10 F1 races will be shown live on the BBC , the other 10 will be shown on the BBC with extended highlights a few hours later.

Also, ALL races will be covered live on Radio 5 live.

Option 1 :  How To Watch Formula 1 Without Sky in 2012 online

For the races not being broadcast live on BBC1, go online and find a tv channel from abroad that shows the F1 races live that enables you to watch their channel on live stream. There are lots of ways you can do this online for free, legally. I suggest German, Spanish or French tv channels, but you might wish to find channels in other languages.

Next, turn down the sound and then switch on Radio 5 live. Basically, you are now watching the race picture live via the internet, with live commentary from the radio in English.

Every race live in 2012 with English commentary, and legally too.  Sky not needed!  How To Watch Formula 1 Without Sky is truly possible!

Option 2 :  How To Watch Formula 1 Without Sky in 2012 on Freeview

Well not quite without Sky. The is a deal going through where you could watch F1 for around £10-a-month. This would be through  Sky having a dedicated channel available to Freeview.

Though Freeview if you pay for it isnt really Freeview!

Virgin Media’s struck a deal with Sky to broadcast its Sky Sports F1 channel from March, allowing you to watch every free practice, qualifying, and race live and uninterrupted. The catch is that you have to have the rest of the Sky Sports channels to get the F1 channel too. But Sky’s apparently working on having a cut down version just for F1 coverage.

Not that bad as its fullcoverage on BBC – just not always live

I have to say its not that bad really as all the races that aren’t live on the BBC will get a full coverage at a time more convenient for most in the UK.

So there will be no early alarm clock mornings for BBC viewers in 2012

Qualifying sessions and races live on BBC One and BBC One HD

One-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD

All races and qualifying sessions that start before 1000 to have full repeat on terrestrial TV later in the day

For example the 7am GMT race in Japan will be shown at 1pm in the afternoon on the BBC.

Full 2012 Race Schedule in GMT along with BBC Coverage times

So there you have it. Two options on How To Watch Formula 1 Without Sky in 2012

Unless you know of an even better way?

Defending his two times world championship Vettel will be looking for number 3. So will the RB8 Red Bull deliver?

Sebastian Vettel praised the RB8 Red Bull as “extremely comfortable”.
Red Bull admitted that some of the 2012 design regulations mean the latest model of car could be described as “slightly ugly looking”.

RB8 Red Bull Released

Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Sebastien Buemi talk about the RB8 and the forthcoming season.

Adrian Newey designer of RB8 described the latest innovations and modifications.
“We’ve kept more or less the same chassis shape, but had to drop the nose just in front of the front bulkhead which, in common with many other teams, has led us to a slightly ugly looking nose. We’ve tried to style it as best we can, but it’s not a feature you would choose to put in were it not for the regulation.”

Cloak and Dagger
What is the hole in the nose where the step is in the area of the front suspension? That’s what all the designers are asking as they study the constructors leading team. It looks like there is an air duct in there, but where does the air go and how does it benefit the aerodynamics of the RB8?

Of course Red Bull head into 2012 with a similar package as the previous two successful seasons using the renault engine.

Driver 1. Sebastian Vettel (Has contract)
Driver 2. Mark Webber (Has contract)

Test and reserve driver Sebastien Buemi

Three teams have changed names in 2012: Lotus has become Caterham, Renault has become Lotus, and Virgin has become Marussia.

Further reading on http://www.redbullracing.com/

Hamilton described the MP4-27, unveiled at the team’s Surrey base, as “the finest-looking car we’ve had for some time”. So it its not about the money, then maybe he will stay.

Is it all about the Lewis Hamilton salary or the speed of the car?

Yet in the middle of last season Martin Whitmarsh supposedly offered Hamilton a package to stay with McLaren until the end of his career, which could last for more than a decade.

Over that period Lewis Hamilton Salary would rake in an estimated £350million. When you consider Alonso is currently the highest paid driver with an estimated €30m a year salary, you can see McLarens commitment to Lewis.

So will the MP4-27 keep Lewis at McLaren? The car features a notably tightly packaged rear end, after the fashion of the Red Bull that has dominated Formula 1. Among other notable features, the car does not have the platypus-style nose that is expected to feature on many designs this year as a result of a change in the rules requiring a lower nose height. Lewis Hamilton won the drivers’ world title in a McLaren in 2008, with Jenson Button winning the championship in a Brawn a year later.

McLaren Team principal said: “It will be close, it’s a massively competitive championship. No-one in my view is going to run away with it. We don’t like losing, coming second in the last two years has been frustrating. We want to win races and world championships. We have two great racing drivers, everyone can see the chemistry between them but they want to beat each other. There are some very strong competitors out there but we are feeling at the moment as if we are in a good place and we’re looking forward to getting to Melbourne and competing for championships.”

Get ready for the 2012 Wacky Races

This season was one of the greatest seasons of all time. But I can’t help but notice some connections with the great Hanna Barbara cartoon Wacky Races.

In a light hearted manner I reveal the real characters behind the 2010 season

Formula One Wacky Races 2010

Car 00 – Fernando Alonso
Normally driven by Dick Dastardly and Mutley in the Mean Machine from Wacky Races
Certainly Fernando caused some real concern when it appeared that his predictions of “I’m going to win the championship”, when he was already46 points behind caused some concern as we had to wonder did he have a dirty trick up his sleeve? Well we didn’t see any oil slicks or diversion signs, but we did see team orders at Ferrari with the immortal words of “Alonso is faster than you” to team mate Massa. Sneaky tactics? Well maybe with the small fine, Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali was sniggering in the background like a true “Mutley” from Wacky Races.

Fernando Alonso and Stefano Domenicali

Car 1 – HRT team
The Slag Brothers in the Bouldermobile from Wacky Races
Unfortunately the new Spanish HRT team didn’t make much of an impact in its first season of F1. To suggest the car was a bit of a Bouldermobile would be cruel, but it certainly didn’t show a great amount of pace

HRT Boulder Mobile

Car 2 – Mark Webber
Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe.
Mark Webber was the peoples favorite for the majority of the year, but then suddenly he changed into the Creepy Coupe. Accusations of Vettel being the favored driver and some really awful qualifying and half hearted driving in the final race of the season made Webber turn from a potential champion into a downhearted rival to Vettel. Certainly the rivalry with Vettel gave Webber the number 2, the Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe

Mark Webber in the Creepy Coupe.

Car 3 – Rubens Barrichelo
Professor Pat Pending in the Convert-a-car from Wacky Races
With years of experience and with recent success at Braun in 2009, Barrichello seems to get the most out of any vehicle he is given. Of course several years back Alain Prost was known as the professor. But in his absence Rubens Barrichello has pulled levers and all sorts of clever tactics to stay near the top of his game of a number of years. He seems to Convert-a-car from being an average to a great car on more than one occasion this year.

Professor Barrichelo Shows Wisdom

Car 4 – Felipe Massa
Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer.
If ever there was a car that lacked personality on the track and was coloured in crimson red it must be Ferrari’s driver Felipe Massa in 2010. After a great few seasons the Brazilian has really lost pace and played second fiddle to the mighty Alonso. Understandably when the team keep telling you “Alonso Dastardly is faster then you!”…while a Domenicali mutley snigger is heard in the background.

Felipe Massa Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer.

Car 5 – Lewis Hamilton
Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat
Lewis has turned into a very pretty driver with his earrings this season. With his  pussycat doll girlfriend….. Penelope Pitstop – I mean Pussycat Doll Nicole – (actuallly thats now all of in 2012)

Dont cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me, must be ringing in his head as he drives around in the “Compact Pussycat car 5″ ready for the cameras at the finish line. Wasn’t his best season as maybe the glamour took the shine off his concentration at times. (advice – bring back dad!)

Lewis turning into a Pussycat Doll

Car 6 – Michael Schumacher
Sarge Blast and Pvt. Meekleyin the Army Surplus Special from Wacky Races
We were pleased to see the Sergent back in Formula one, but no-one expected it to be a season of smashing and crashing other cars. I lost count of how many crashes Schumacher caused, but it was if the race became a war zone until the last few races of the season where some old form was found. Sarge Blast Schumacher blasts anything within range…..was the talk of the paddock. Under the direction of Captain Ross Schumacher may still be a threat next season – hopefully due to out-driving and not blasting the opposition.

Michael Schumacher Sarge Blast under Ross' orders

Car 7  - Sebastian Vettel
Ant Hill Mob in the Bullet Proof Bomb (Chug-a-Boom).
If ever a German looked like he had more Chug-a-Boom then the rest of the field when it matters, Vettel was that man. He really had a car than ended up being bullet proof – just. A worthy champion under an incredibly difficuly season of Wacky Racing. Though with the complete Red Bull Mob behind him sorry Imeant Ant Hill Mob behind him he had to succeed according to Webber

Sebastian Vettel Re Bull Mob in the Bullet Proof Bomb

Car 8 – Nico Hulkenberg
Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear in the Chug-a-bug.
How can the Incredible Hulkenberg act as if he is a world champion contender at one race and the next minute he’s barely making qualifying round 2? Maybe a bit of Lazy Luke? So did he have a lot more than he let us believe? Williams obviously thought so with his departure!

Hulkenberg as Lazy Luke in the Chug-a-bug.

Car 9 – Jenson Button
Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific from Wacky Races
Previous world champion Jenson Button is the only man who can drive a race on soft tyres for almost the whole race as seen in Abu Dhabi. Button is very kind to his car and often has perfect tyres in contrast to team mate Lewis.

Jenson Button in the Turbo Terrific.

Car 10 Jarno Trulli
Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth in the Buzzwagon.
Trulli didn’t have his most exciting races, but he does always look like he needs a shave. He mad up the field a little like Rufus Ruffcut in the Buzzwagon

Jarno Trulli as Rufus Ruffcut in the Buzzwagon.

More on Wacky Races at Skooldays

Encouraging further tyre strategy and clarity with the new colours we really are looking forward to seeing these on the 2012 cars. We think distinguishing between the hard and medium will be made a lot easier and certainly will help spot the correct tyre at high speed. The P Zero ‘Yellow’ should be softer than previously seen, but with less blistering.

The slick compounds will have less difference per lap. Paul Hembery explains they are aiming for more like 0.8 second difference per lap unlike the average 1.5 seconds seen in 2011. While intermediate compound remains unchanged from 2011, the Cinturato ‘Blue’ has been significantly altered. The changes relate to the rear tyres, which use a different profile in order to optimise the dispersal of water in case of aquaplaning and guarantee a greater degree of driving precision.

Pirelli’s Paul Hembery explains the 2012 F1 tyre changes

2012 F1 tyre changes for slicks

Dry weather tyres, known as slicks, are characterised by a tread pattern that is devoid of blocks or channels. They come in four compounds: supersoft, soft, medium and hard. The different compounds mean that the tyres are well suited to a wide variety of circuits, according to the type of asphalt, the number and severity of the corners, and the top speed on the straights. This allows the teams to make use of an ample range of strategies.

P Zero Red, a supersoft for street circuits: Of the four slick tyres, this is the only one to remain unchanged from the 2011 season. It showed itself to be particularly versatile, offering high peaks of performance over slow and twisty circuits that are characterised by slippery asphalt and low lateral loadings. This is the ideal compound for street circuits or semi- permanent facilities.

P Zero Yellow, softer with less blistering: The new soft tyre is well suited to circuits with low tyre wear. It is designed to offer a high level of grip coupled with a significant amount of degradation, resulting in a comparatively short lifespan that will give the teams a greater number of options with pit stop strategy and even closer racing. Compared to the equivalent tyre in 2011, the new soft offers greater thermal resistance to reduce the risk of blistering. Tested for the first time during free practice at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the new soft tyre is set to be one of the most frequent nominations in 2012, together with the new medium tyre. This combination offers a great deal of flexibility and also a rapid warm-up time.

P Zero White, the medium tyre that is well suited to all conditions: This extremely versatile tyre adapts itself well to all sorts of track conditions, particularly when asphalt and circuit characteristics are variable. The brand new P Zero White is intended as the ‘option’ tyre on tracks with high temperatures or abrasive surfaces and as the ‘prime’ tyre on tracks that are less severe with fewer demands on the tyres. The new medium compound was tried out last year during free practice at the German Grand Prix and made another appearance during the young driver test in Abu Dhabi.

P Zero Silver, hard but not inflexible: The new hard tyre guarantees maximum durability and the least degradation, together with optimal resistance to the most extreme conditions, but is not as hard as the equivalent tyre last year. The P Zero Silver is ideal for long runs, taking more time to warm up, as well as being suited to circuits with abrasive asphalt, big lateral forces and high temperatures. The new P Zero Silver was tested at the Barcelona circuit by Pirelli’s test driver Lucas di Grassi, and is the only one of the new compounds that the regular drivers have not yet experienced.

2012 F1 tyre changes on wet weather

Wet weather tyres, characterised by grooves in the tread pattern, are split into two types: full wets and intermediates. The full wet tyres can be easily recognised by the deep grooves in the tread pattern and sipes to drain off water on wet asphalt. The intermediates feature channels that are less deep and are designed for damp or slightly wet surfaces, as well as uncertain weather conditions.

Cinturato Blue, the full wets: Of the two wet tyres, only the full wet has been significantly altered compared to the 2011 version. The changes relate to the rear tyres, which use a different profile in order to optimise the dispersal of water in case of aquaplaning and guarantee a greater degree of driving precision. Characterised by deep grooves, similar to those seen on a road car tyre, the wet tyres are designed to expel more than 60 litres of water per second at a speed of 300 kph: six times more than a road car tyre, which disperses about 10 litres per second at a much lower speed.

Cinturato Green, the intermediate for light rain: After the excellent performances seen from this tyre throughout the 2011 season during particularly demanding races such as the Canadian Grand Prix, Pirelli’s engineers decided not to make any changes to the intermediate tyres. The shallower grooves compared to the full wet tyres mean that the intermediates do not drain away as much water, making this the ideal choice for wet or drying asphalt, without compromising on performance.

Sebastian Vettel has won the Formula 1 World Championship for the second year in a row. Vettel’s achievement sees him become the ninth driver to win back-to-back world titles and the youngest ever to do so.

Sebastian Vettel 2010 F1 champion

While Lewis Hamilton continued to find his car magnetically tangling with Felipe Massa, Jenson Button got on with the win at Suzuka circuit , Japan,  while Vettel collected enough points to be crowned as the worlds champion for the 2nd year running.

Vettel with new white helmet at Suzuka Japan

Earlier in the F1 season, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton remained, the pick of the field. Its very different, and not just because Hamilton’s flaws have become a regular blight and Alonso has been so very subdued of late. Vettel, crowned a two-time champion at the culmination of a 12-month period of sustained, near-perfect dominance in which he has taken approximately 80% of all the available points, has earned the right to be considered the ultimate champion: the best in the world. And in an era that hosts five different champions, that is some accolade.

Some are predicting that Vettel could be the new, improved Schumacher. We will have to wait and see, as the difference is the quality of the competition is a lot higher in my view for Vettel with Alonso, Button and Hamilton all searching for another world title.

Although it looks like Vettel has already sown up the season, no one can forget how over recent years the man in front can often falter. The last few races, we have seen the mighty Webber and Alonso improve as well as McLaren have won the past two races.

20 years in F1 for Schumacher at Spa

Hamilton Vows

Hamilton told reporters: “Going into the break we did the team proud and that was good for everyone. We have arrived here with a spring in our step and I don’t see why we can’t keep it up. If we had been faster at the start of the year we would have put a lot less pressure on ourselves but I’m not trying to hang around. I think we can win races and we have to. It’s clearly possible to catch up. I’m sure Vettel can’t have it all his own way. The luck is going to sway between certain drivers.”

Hamilton says there is a chance Vettel can be caught, although it’s not impossible, it will prove exciting top see if Hamilton can raise the stakes and keep the pressure on throughout the rest of the F1 Season

Mark Webber kept his eye in yesterday by recording the fastest practice time at Spa

Schumacher at Spa

This weekend Michael Schumacher is celebrating his 20th anniversary in Formula One since he joined Eddie Jordan’s outfit in 1991. To celebrate, the record-breaking German legend is set to throw a party to which ‘the whole paddock’ will be invited.

Michael Schumacher has 91  grand prix victories under his belt. But things havent been so sweet since joining Mercedes F1 Grand Prix team.  Schumi vowed to see through his three-year contract with the Brackley-based outfit, and aside from producing a special black-and-gold cap to commemorate two decades in F1.

We spoke to some F1 fans to see what they would like to see in the new release. You can secure your copy here for release day F1 2011 for PS3 or F1 2011f or xbox

Without a doubt the multiplayer part of th game was by far the area that needed most improvement. Codemasters have promised to redeliver the multiplayer experience as well as an improvement to the career path and split screen.  Codemasters has promised more players for a multiplayer season and the ability to make it up to a full 24 car grid using AI. They have also introduced the ability to raise for the same team in multiplayer mode,  so this brings a whole new concept to the constructors title

Other suggestions for 2011 F1 Codemasters release  included:

• Ability to have points over a multi-player championship season with a save game facility
• Definite need to have the safety car when the race has had an incident, currently the race carries on as the car turns invisible and finally dispappears.
• Facility for a complete TV replay with commentary and built in capture YouTube upload would be a great way of sharing the F1 fun.
• Not just in theory but visible upgrades throughout the season.
• Interactive stewards room, can you sweet talk your way out of the penalty.
• Components break if pushed too hard.
• Moveable wings and ride heights that show the type of setup you are using.
• Visor tear offs with build up of grime.
• Formation/recon/parade/victory laps
• Interactive podium
• Driver/helmet editor
• Online practice sessions
• Improve/tweak weather and damage systems including side wind effect
• Pitboard crew members leaning over walls during race
• Full mechanical failures, as realistic as possible
• Hotseat-Mode offline multiplayer

I do beleive many of these will make the release for 23rd September

What will Codemasters 2011 include

In production at Codemasters Studios Birmingham, F1 2011 is being developed using the EGO Game Technology Platform, Codemasters’ proprietary tech that powered the critically acclaimed, 2 million-plus selling F1 2010™, GRID and currently driving DiRT 3.

F1 2011 will be released September 23rd 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Games for Windows with handheld editions to follow.

The Official Game of the 2011 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™ coming to HD consoles and PC on September 23rd

Get it on the day of release here F1 2011 Codemasters for PS3 and here for F1 2011 Codemasters on the xbox

Team Lotus is a race team dedicated to nurturing young driver talent; an ethos that Trulli appreciates – the Italian showed no grievances when asked about his feelings on being replaced, “I’m looking forward to working with Karun this weekend and doing whatever I can to help him get the most out of his opportunity in Germany”.

Chandhok's last time racing for HRT at Silverstone, 2010

Chandhok will be the only Indian on the grid at Germany, as HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan recently made way for Red Bull hopeful Daniel Ricciardo. My worry is that not having competitively raced since Silverstone 2010, will Chandhok be able to re-acquaint himself in time to be competitive.

To prevent the slower back markers causing hold-ups for the championship contenders, the FIA created a ruling that all drivers must qualify within 107% of the pole-position driver. Although Lotus’ dedication to nurturing young talent is commendable, it’s risky – and could land them with 50% less car on the grid come Sunday afternoon.

“I have not had much running in the car and my aim will be to get more comfortable with the car and add as much value as I can to the team”, Chandhok said.

Lotus announced improved steering ahead of the German GP, an issue Trulli struggled with in the the T128. With the steering problems resolved, Lotus may have been too hasty to bench their veteran driver.

Trulli is confirmed to regain his seat for Round 11’s Hungarian GP. Chandhok is also expected to race at the debuting Indian GP later this year, although which driver he is likely to replace for the event is unconfirmed.

We welcome Mike Okeefe, a new member to the fplanet team. A fan who loves the ins and outs of Formula 1.