[Girts]

Everyone is now busy with looking ahead to the first Grand Prix, there are a lot of 2012 season preview articles, and pundits are making predictions. I’ve decided to do the opposite and make an off-season review by reviewing and listing all the noteworthy F1 Fanatic news articles from November 28, 2011 until today (we can still add something to it until March 15).

So here are all the (in my view) noteworthy news of the 2011/12 off-season, somehow categorized and listed in chronological order.

What were your best and worst moments of this period?

2012 rules
7-Dec-2011 Four-hour time limit among new 2012 rules
7-Dec-2011 Lapped cars allowed to pass safety car in 2012
4-Jan-2012 FIA clarifies rules on defensive driving
9-Mar-2012 DRS rules get wet-weather safety tweak
11-Mar-2012 FIA explains defensive driving rules “clarification”

Car launches
25-Jan-2012 Caterham CT01 images revealed early
1-Feb-2012 McLaren MP4-27 launch – first pictures of McLaren’s 2012 F1 car
3-Feb-2012 Force India VJM05 launch – first pictures of their 2012 F1 car
3-Feb-2012 Ferrari F2012 launch – first pictures and video of Ferrari’s 2012 F1 car
5-Feb-2012 Lotus E20 launch – first pictures of Lotus’s 2012 F1 car
6-Feb-2012 Sauber C31 launch – first pictures and video of Sauber’s 2012 F1 car
6-Feb-2012 Red Bull RB8 launch – first pictures and video of Red Bull’s 2012 F1 car
6-Feb-2012 Toro Rosso STR7 – first pictures and video of Toro Rosso’s 2012 F1 car
7-Feb-2012 Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
21-Feb-2012 Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain
5-Mar-2012 New Marussia MR01 breaks cover at Silverstone
5-Mar-2012 New HRT F112 seen for the first time in Spain

Driver announcements
29-Nov-2011 Kimi Raikkonen to return to F1 with Renault in 2012
1-Dec-2011 Williams confirm Maldonado for 2012
9-Dec-2011 Grosjean takes Petrov’s place alongside Raikkonen
14-Dec-2011 Ricciardo and Vergne to drive for Toro Rosso
16-Dec-2011 Hulkenberg in, Sutil out at Force India for 2012
17-Jan-2012 Bruno Senna secures Williams drive for 2012
3-Feb-2012 Narain Karthikeyan takes final F1 seat at HRT
17-Feb-2012 Vitaly Petrov replaces Jarno Trulli at Caterham

Third drivers, test drivers & other team personnel news
15-Dec-2011 Perez-Sala takes over as HRT team principal
5-Jan-2012 Buemi becomes reserve driver for Red Bull
11-Jan-2012 Ferrari recruit top Bridgestone tyre technician
24-Jan-2012 Jerome d’Ambrosio joins Lotus as third driver for 2012
27-Jan-2012 Jules Bianchi gets third driver role at Force India
3-Feb-2012 Sauber technical director James Key leaves the team
4-Feb-2012 Caterham announce Giedo van der Garde as third driver
13-Feb-2012 Dani Clos to get track time as HRT test driver
14-Feb-2012 Kevin Magnussen given McLaren test chance
2-Mar-2012 Frank Williams steps down from board at Williams Grand Prix
7-Mar-2012 Maria de Villota joins Marussia as test driver
9-Mar-2012 Alexander Rossi to get F1 running as Caterham test driver

Testing
23-Jan-2012 Kimi Raikkonen makes his F1 return with Lotus
24-Jan-2012 Kimi Raikkonen continues his F1 familiarisation in Valencia
7-Feb-2012 Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
8-Feb-2012 Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
9-Feb-2012 Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
10-Feb-2012 Alonso ends Jerez test quickest for Ferrari
16-Feb-2012 Mercedes W03 spotted testing at Silverstone
17-Feb-2012 Picture: Mercedes W03 spied at Silverstone
21-Feb-2012 Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
21-Feb-2012 Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
22-Feb-2012 Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
23-Feb-2012 Maldonado quickest on third day of Barcelona test
24-Feb-2012 Kobayashi on top as second test ends in Barcelona
27-Feb-2012 Marussia to miss last pre-season test after crash test failure
28-Feb-2012 Ferrari change testing plan again after ‘rules clarification’
1-Mar-2012 Grosjean fastest for Lotus as testing resumes in Barcelona
2-Mar-2012 Grosjean tops the times again in disrupted session
3-Mar-2012 Perez quickest on rain-hit third day of testing
4-Mar-2012 Raikkonen leads final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona

Life after F1
12-Jan-2012 Karun Chandhok to race in World Endurance Championship
26-Jan-2012 Heidfeld to race in World Endurance Championship
10-Feb-2012 Buemi and Davidson to drive second Toyota at Le Mans
1-Mar-2012 Rubens Barrichello confirms move to IndyCar
6-Mar-2012 Jaime Alguersuari joins BBC Radio 5 Live

The first race
9-Mar-2012 Caterham bringing front wing and bodywork updates to first race
9-Mar-2012 Two DRS zones for first race of 2012
14-Mar-2012 Double DRS zones get single detection point in Melbourne
15-Mar-2012 Wet start expected for first practice session of 2012
15-Mar-2012 2012 Australian Grand Prix build-up in pictures

Other
2-Dec-2011 Ferrari confirms departure from FOTA
10-Jan-2012 Lewis Hamilton in GQ: “Layer like a player”
11-Jan-2012 Kubica suffers injury setback after fall
18-Jan-2012 Caterham to move to new Leafield headquarters
25-Jan-2012 Pirelli reveal softer compounds and new tyre colours for 2012
31-Jan-2012 Suspended jail sentence for Sutil
15-Feb-2012 Pirelli choose softer tyres for first three races
7-Mar-2012 Pirelli to use 2010 Renault R30 as test car
9-Mar-2012 Valencia and Barcelona to share Spanish Grand Prix from 2013
11-Mar-2012 FIA may further restrict exhaust-blown diffusers
12-Mar-2012 Customer cars could jeopardise midfield teams – Whitmarsh
15-Mar-2012 Kovalainen reveals new Angry Birds helmet design

[Keith Collantine]

My least favourite moment was Kubica hurting himself again.

My favourite moment was getting the first picture of the Mercedes W03 – to the best of my knowoldge, before anyone else :-)

[Anonymous]

My Favourite and least favourite were to see Bruno Senna get a seat where Rubens should be. :(

[Anonymous]

Wow, this is great, @Girts – thanks for compiling it!

Looking over the list, I’d have to say my favorite moment was the announcement that Kimi was coming back. I was jumping around with glee about that one for days. (I still sometimes am.) :-) My least favorite was Sutil’s “guilty” verdict.

[Slr]

Favourite moment was the annoucement of Raikkonen’s return.

Least favourite moment was probably hearing that Senna got a race seat above many drivers who deserve a seat more than him.

[BasCB]

I guess we should now add the news about Pirelli getting a car to test with to the Other category as well @girts
7-jan-2012 Pirelli to use 2010 Renault as F1 test car.

Great idea this post!

[Girts]

Thanks for the kind words, @aka_robyn and @BasCB !

Just added the latest Pirelli news to the list.

[Powderfinger]

My favourite moment was seeing the new moving chicane built by HRT, just joking I like the team, it’s good to see that they semm to be ready for the season ahead of FP1 in Melbourne

My least favourite moment was the announcement of Vitaly Petrov replacing Jarno Trulli.

[vinicius.jlantunes]

Favourite moment: Kimi return
Least favourite moment: Learning I will be on a plane during the first GP of the season as the company I work for wants me to travel somewhere, so I will be unable to watch the action live

[matt90]

My favourite was probably Raikkonen’s return, with Senna’s Williams drive in second.

Probably agree with Kubica’s fall being the worst.

[S.J.M]

Best
– Car unveilling part. Seeing new liveries and looks.
– Pre-season tests. Seeing and Hearing an F1 car (be it on a small ‘net video)

Worst
– Realising the 1st race still some time away (but getting closer)
– Jaime Alguersuari not having a race seat, I think he deserves one.
– Peugeot leaving Endurance racing (not F1 I know)

[Girts]

The off-season is obviously going to end in a few hours so I’ve just updated the list for the last time. I added the news after March 7 and also created a new category ‘The first race’.

My favourite moments of the 2011/12 F1 winter were Lewis Hamilton’s photo session and taking part in F1 Fanatic live blogs on testing days.

The least favourite moment was when some teams left FOTA. I understand that it’s just a part of F1 politics but I also think this sent a bad signal to fans and generally put the sport in an unwelcome light.

[Author]

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