CONTENTS / APRIL 2012

RACING

COVER STORY

70

50

84

40

KOVALAINEN Caterham‘s cheery Finnish racer takes your questions

50

SENNA That familiar yellow and green helmet in a Williams again

FIRST SECTOR: THE REGULARS

8 PARADES: THE BEST IMAGES FROM MELBOURNE 14 FROM THE EDITOR: HATS OFF TO MR SCHUMACHER 17 INBOX: BBC Vs SKY… THE DEBATE RAGES ON 18 PITPASS: NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS 31 PAT SYMONDS‘ TECH MASTERCLASS: CFD EXPLAINED 33 JACQUES VILLENEUVE: ON RUBENS‘ F1 DEPARTURE 34 MURRAY WALKER: REMEMBERING JAMES HUNT 37 NOW THAT WAS A CAR: THE LANCIA D50 38 THE BEST RACE I‘VE BEEN TO: YOUR GP STORIES 102 WAY BACK WHEN: F1 AS IT WAS 12, 31 AND 33 YEARS AGO 104 SUBSCRIBE TO F1 RACING AND GET A McLAREN T-SHIRT

SECOND SECTOR: THE FEATURES

40 YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS Heikki Kovalainen on moving from McLaren to Caterham – and why it‘s not true what they say about Finns and vodka

46 SHOULD F1 RACE IN BAHRAIN? David Tremayne gives his personal assessment

50 THE SENNA NAME RETURNS TO WILLIAMS Following in his famous uncle‘s footsteps, Bruno gets a full-time drive… in the blue and white Williams FW34

56 IF YOU CAN‘T STAND THE HEAT …don‘t race in Malaysia. Find out how drivers cope with the scorching temperatures at F1‘s most gruelling event

60 13 YEARS AND COUNTING... Incredibly, McLaren haven‘t won a constructors‘ title since 1998. Can they end the drought in 2012?

62 INSIDE THE MARUSSIA FACTORY Race, design and marketing are finally in the same building 68 DREAM DEBUTS The most legendary maiden grand prix outings of all time

70 “IT GAVE ME SATISFACTION TO SHOW LEWIS YOU HAVE TO WORK A BIT HARDER THAN HE DID” Now into the third year of his comeback, beating his rivals is still pretty high on Michael Schumacher‘s agenda 80 THE MERCEDES F1 W03 UNVEILED We headed to Barcelona, as the Silver Arrows finally revealed what they had up their sleeve for 2012

50 Move over Rubens: Bruno Senna, is the latest Brazilian to accept a seat at Williams

62 It‘s very tidy in here. Marussia got the Mr Sheen out before we came for a nose round…

70

SCHUMACHER The legend explains the motivation behind his comeback

84 NOT JUST HERE TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS: WEBBER SPEAKS OUT The tough Aussie‘s still got unfinished business to attend to

90 WHEN MAURICE MET CHARLIE Race director Charlie Whiting‘s heard every excuse in the book – and was happy to share them with Maurice Hamilton

98 NOT WHAT YOU‘D CALL A LOOKER… You thought 2012 cars were ugly? Check out the JS5...

84

WEBBER After three years in Vettel‘s shadow, he‘s got something to prove

THIRD SECTOR: FINISHING STRAIGHT

108 AUSTRALIAN GP DEBRIEF A GREAT START FOR McLAREN 114 RACE PREVIEW CHINESE GP 116 RACE PREVIEW BAHRAIN GP 119 FRANK WILLIAMS ON CHANGES AT THE TOP 121 ALAN HENRY IN PRAISE OF LEWIS‘S BROTHER, NIC 122 AND FINALLY... WHAT BERNIE SAID TO GROSJEAN 90 FIA race director Charlie Whiting on life as the eyes and ears of Formula 1

40

Kovalainen takes time out from, er… a spot of golf, to answer your questions

70 As he embarks on his 21st season in Formula 1, Schuey has lost none of his drive

84 A sight Mark Webber‘s rightly looking a bit fed up about. But can he do anything about it?

46 Bahrain has been put back on the calendar for 2012.

We ask: should it stay?