It was inevitable that the first images of Caterham’s 2012 racer would be in the public domain before F1 Racing’s attempt at an exclusive launch. Still, the CT01’s thunder was not lost and the nose in particular looks set to be the main topic of conversation for at least a week when McLaren’s challenger is the next to be revealed. However, what does 2012 have in store for the team formerly known as Team Lotus formerly known as Lotus Racing?

There’s not too long to wait until the start of the 2012 Formula One season but before that, I’d like to persuade you to get your thinking cap on, fire up that crystal ball and take part in Viva F1’s Mega Prediction Competition.

If you believed the rumours, just three months ago Williams were finalising a deal with former World Champion, Kimi Raikonnen. Three months later, and with the Finn now firmly ensconced at Lotus, it’s Bruno Senna who will partner Pastor Maldonado. How the mighty seem to have fallen.

For the last couple of years I’ve been playing a very enjoyable multi-motorsports prediction game over at Too Much Racing. The game is different from many prediction games in that you select drivers from the various series racing that weekend; part of the fun is in deciding whether to choose drivers from every series competing that week or choosing from just 2 or 3 of them, it’s the ultimate test of strategy.

The final part of the 2011 season qualifying analysis looks back at the performance of Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. In the previous posts I’ve looked exclusively at Q1 performance as, in general, the teams have not consistently been able to set times in Q3 at every race. In this post rather than compare performance over the last two years I’ve taken a closer look at how each of the three top teams have got on both in the initial session and during the pole shoot-out.

Part three in the qualifying analysis series of posts takes a look at the performance of Renault, Mercedes and Sauber, three mid-field teams hoping for performance gains that will take them closer to the front.

Everyone here at Viva F1 HQ hopes you had a great Christmas and we’ve also got one last Caption This… for 2011. This week it’s a shot of Sergio Pérez taken during Sauber’s training camp earlier in the year. All we need is an amusing caption for our delight and delectation and so it’s over to you – ladies and gentlemen, do your best worst.

Earlier in the year, Red Bull took their show car across one of the highest roads in the World. While there, test driver and this weeks’ star of Caption This… Neel Jani, met some monks at the Tikse monastery. All we ask is that you meditate and quietly contemplate the nature of this photo, and then hit us with a caption. So ladies and gentlemen, do your best worst.