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Caterham Formula 1

Cash for clunkers

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

We’re not sure if our headline should apply to Vitaly Petrov or his Caterham F1 car, but the point of the story is Petrov’s one year contract is unlikely to be extended unless he can show Caterham the money.

Similarly his employment prospects beyond Caterham would be bleak if he is unable to supply wads of cash to a prospective new employer. It’s the underlying shame of F1 in a way.

Speaking to RIA Novosti Petrov’s manager, Oksana Kosachenko, was quite clear: “If there’s no money, then there’s no drive. I’m not prepared to hold talks all winter like last time.”

She added, “We’ve taken a timeout now. I need time to consolidate all our financial possibilities and understand if there’s sense in continuing any talks.”

[Source: Planet F1 | Pic: Caterham F1 Team/LAT Photographic]

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2012 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

Photographers are presented a challenge under the artificial lights at the Singapore Grand Prix. But as you’ll see after the break they’ve done a great job of capturing the colour and excitement from one of the more unique races on the F1 calendar.

Many drivers took a few liberties flying across the Singapore Sling chicane and they’ve been captured for you here. There’s 106 photos in all, we trust you’ll enjoy them.

Also included below is a series of images featuring the winning design from Mark Webber’s Helmet Promo.

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2012 Belgian Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Belgian Grand Prix

We’re back! After a month of no Formula 1 races we bring you over 100 pics from the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix to get you back into the swing of things. It’s a bit of a mixed up gallery this time, though, missing a McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Sauber after the first corner shenanigans.

As you’d expect many of the photos feature the famous Eau Rouge corner and we reckon the photographers have done well to find a few new angles this year. It’s an epic stretch of tarmac and like many tracks, until you’ve been there you don’t fully appreciate just how steep the drop down and rise up the hill really is.

We trust you’ll enjoy these pics and the best part is there’s only a short wait for the next update, which we’ll bring after this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

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2012 Hungarian Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Hungarian Grand Prix

Here’s your pictorial update from the Hungarian Grand Prix. It’s the last recap you’ll get for over a month, so we hope you enjoy the 80+ photos on offer.

Thankfully for McLaren fans, given Hamilton’s win, they’re back in the game with high-res images; just click on the pic you like to load a 2000px super image.

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2012 German Grand Prix in pictures

2012 German Grand Prix

This morning we bring you around 90 images from the 2012 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Let’s hope the F1 circus finds its way to a happier and more stable Nürburgring in 2013.

Until then, enjoy your lot from Hockenheim. Sadly for McLaren fans there’s no 2000px photos from the Woking crew this week, we’re not sure why, but something was up with their site and we have to make do with what we’ve got. For fans of all the other teams you can click away to your heart’s content and view wallpaper-friendly super images.

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2012 British Grand Prix in pictures

2012 British Grand Prix

Mark Webber’s second British Grand Prix victory is still fresh in our minds. It’s probably one of the first races Webber has won where he has been able to strike when a win looked off the cards. In his own words he wasn’t sure he could pass Alonso until he was right on the Ferrari’s gearbox.

“It’s taking a while to sink in this one. I think it was the circumstances of the race—for most of it I was marking off second place,” explained Webber. “Fernando was not quite out of touch and after the last stop, my engineer Ciaron came on the radio saying that Fernando was not doing much on the option tyres. But I know Fernando is a wily old fox, I thought he was looking after the tyres and just waiting to pull the pin and go a little bit.

“But when I got within two seconds I thought maybe he’s in a little bit of trouble and it was real. It was completely game on when I knew the DRS was available, I made the move stick and our hard work paid off for the win. It was a cracking grand prix today; the spectators got to see a good race and I’m pleased for them.”

After the break we have a large selection of images to help you recount Webber’s ninth GP win. We do wonder what Mark was saying to Sebastian and Fernando on the podium.

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2012 European Grand Prix in pictures

2012 European Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso is fast becoming our favourite driver not going by the name of Mark Webber. His ability to continually put his car in a winning position—see Valencia and Malaysia—when the quality of his machinery has often not been deserving of such results is genuine Spanish grit. He has guts. We like that.

You may or may not share our view on Alonso, but we suspect you’ll enjoy the 100 photos of the European Grand Prix we have assembled on your behalf.

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2012 Canadian Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Canadian Grand Prix

Since becoming the seventh individual winner from the opening seven races, we suspect Lewis Hamilton is still in seventh heaven and celebrating his 2012 Canadian Grand Prix victory. If you couldn’t manage the 4am start, here’s 90-odd photos from the race to show you what you missed out on.

If nothing else, the bright sunny conditions were a welcome contrast after last year’s epic downpour.

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2012 Monaco Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Monaco Grand Prix

Hey, in case you missed it: MARK WEBBER WON THE MONACO GRAND PRIX!

We’re still pretty excited by the result and if you are too then we’ve got over 100 pics from the race to serve as a lasting memento.

Enjoy!

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2012 Spanish Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Spanish Grand Prix

Here’s our smoke-free look back at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. Did anyone outside of Williams give Maldonado a chance. Indeed, did anyone inside Williams even think a win was theirs for the taking?

Perhaps a perfect example of how open the 2012 F1 season has been so far can be seen by looking back to the Bahrain race. After qualifying the highest placed Williams was in P15; before half race distance both cars had retired. Vettel and Red Bull won in a canter.

In Barcelona, Maldonado lapped the Red Bull of Webber and wasn’t too far from repeating the dose on Vettel. It doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. But it makes for fascinating viewing. Bring on Monte Carlo!

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2012 Bahrain Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Bahrain Grand Prix

Finally, the Bahrain Grand Prix has been run and won. In our picture gallery we’re pleased that there’s mostly images of F1 cars doing their thing and not of local protesters causing disruptions.

After making a real effort to try and understand the root of the issues, we’re actually still not sure what to make of all the fuss in Bahrain. Was it opportunistic violence from a bunch of kids, or merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of genuine human rights concerns. While leaning towards the latter, perhaps it was a bit of both, maybe?

The biggest shame of it all is the world’s eye will probably stop keeping watch until the F1 circus is back in town next year. We hope and wish the people of Bahrain good fortune in finding more common ground with their ruling family and that it is a more peaceful environment when the sport returns.

There’s 80+ images for you after the break to help you remember the race. Of course, the first time Vettel finishes ahead of Webber this year he would have to bloody win, wouldn’t he!

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2012 Chinese Grand Prix in pictures

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

With only a few days until the F1 circus fires up in the troubled state of Bahrain we sympathise with Nico Rosberg that he’s not really had the chance to celebrate in his maiden grand prix win in the manner it deserves. Maybe, in a moment of down time, he can check in to AUSmotive and share a smile as he relives that win in our picture gallery. There’s 84 pictures in all for you Nico, enjoy!