The Formula 1 Blog

After a frustrating season sitting on the sidelines as a third driver, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg will return to racing in 2012 after replacing outgoing Adrian Sutil in the team’s line-up.

Hulkenberg, who made waves during his debut Formula One season when he clinched a fantastic pole position in Brazil in 2010 for then team Williams, is thrilled to be back on the grid and is now targeting similar successes in 2012. The German…

HRT’s newly-appointed team principal, former F1 driver Luis Perez-Sala, shares his feelings, hopes and objectives following the official announcement of his role. It comes as the Spanish squad prepare for their third season in Formula One racing, a season that will mark many new beginnings for them, with new staff, new drivers and a new base

A day after announcing that his team are dropping their experienced 2011 drivers in favour of an all-new line-up, Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost explains the reasoning behind the decision

The Red Bull stable will field two Australians next season, one highly experienced, the other little more than a rookie. While elder statesman Mark Webber continues at Red Bull Racing, 22-year-old heir-apparent Daniel Ricciardo gets his first full F1 campaign with Toro Rosso. The day after receiving the good news, Ricciardo gives his reaction from his hometown of Perth…

Formula One has not had a French driver on the grid since Sebastien Bourdais in 2009. Next season it will have at least three: Romain Grosjean at Lotus, Charles Pic at Marussia and – as of this week – Jean-Eric Vergne, aka ‘Jev’, at Toro Rosso.

Great things are expected of Vergne as he resumes his partnership with fellow Red Bull protege Daniel Ricciardo. But what is the 21-year-old from Pontoise expecting of his rookie F1 season?

Results-wise, Force India’s Paul di Resta proved himself king of rookies this season, but while Sauber’s Sergio Perez and Williams’ Pastor Maldonado have already secured their drives for a second season, Di Resta is patiently waiting to hear whether he will race again in 2012.

With the Silverstone-based team securing a strong sixth place in the 2011 constructors’ standings, there’s no doubting the Scot and team mate Adrian Sutil proved to be an excellent pairing. Di Resta, however, isn’t counting his chickens for 2012 just yet, especially with third driver Nico Hulkenberg waiting expectantly in the wings…

For any young driver, a debut Formula One season is as challenging as it is thrilling. But Sauber’s Sergio Perez had a more eventful time than most after a heavy crash at the Monaco round severely dented his midseason chances.

Although he believes it took him four races to fully recover from the accident, overall Perez is pretty happy with his rookie year and his 15th place in the drivers’ standings. He reviews the high and lows of his 2011…

After a so-so season in which circumstance rather than strategy all too often dictated their course, Renault are looking forward to a new beginning in 2012, when the team officially becomes Lotus, and former world champion Kimi Raikkonen joins their ranks. It’s all good news for Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, as he looks to maximise the return on his F1 investment. After all, who better than a flying Finn in black and gold to sell his high-performance Lotus road cars?

It’s been a big year for Bruno Senna, drafted into a Renault race seat mid-season after the team opted for youth over experience when they dropped Nick Heidfeld. Retaining that drive for 2012 is now top of Senna’s Christmas wish list, but what else would he like?

Perhaps racing the Williams FW15 alongside uncle Ayrton around a Santa Monica street circuit, before clinching the world championship and heading for steak in Sao Paulo

Despite only six months’ notice before becoming Formula One’s sole tyre supplier, Pirelli delivered on all fronts in 2011, supplying compounds that changed race strategies and made for thrilling racing.

But Pirelli’s arrival was not only a success for F1, it also proved a huge boost for the Italian firm, who now see the sport as an integral part of their future commercial strategy. We spoke to motorsport director Paul Hembery about the perfect partnership