What we know from Melbourne

Too close to call in the midifeld

McLaren - In a very good position, the car's good in a straight line and has a downforce advantage over the Red Bull, they're in a good position to fight for the title.

Red Bull - Need to work on qualifying pace, not far off in the race but may struggle at tracks where downforce is needed, compared to the McLaren.

Ferrari - Will struggle even more at Malaysia, just doesn't have the rear downforce of the McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes or Lotus, Williams and Sauber will be right on them I'd expect.

Lotus - Can fight Red Bull if they hook everything up, a good qualifying at Malaysia could well mean a podium finish.

Sauber - Not far off Lotus, a great job by Perez after starting last shows that the car is there or there abouts, we'll have a better idea of their pace at Sepang.

Williams - Nip and tuck with Ferrari, would expect them to be fighting for 7th and 8th at Malaysia.

Toro Rosso - Should be fighting Sauber

Force India - Might just sneak ahead of Williams and Ferrari in the hands of Nico Hulkenberg.

Mercedes - A good qualifying car with the "super DRS" but it's eating its rear tyres, the harder compounds at Malaysia may favour them, but they've got work to do if they want to challenge for wins.

Catherham - A bit of a push and they could be closer to the midfield, but the gap between the midfield teams means its unlikely Caterham will luck into a point.

Marussia - A solid base, but not expecting them to challenge Caterham.

HRT - Hopeless.

Australian Grand Prix predictions - Qualifying

This is going to be a hard one to predict, we learnt nothing from FP1 or FP2, but here goes:

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Rosberg
4. Button
5. Schumacher
6. Webber
7. Alonso
8. Grosjean
9. Massa
10. Hulkenberg

Really can't see anyone stopping Vettel, they're definitely holding back, McLaren and Mercedes will be close, with Hamilton and Rosberg coming out on top. Webber's struggles will continue in my opinion, leaving him down in P6, Ferrari will struggle as predicted, with Hulkenberg sneaking in the top ten.

Feel free to comment with your predictions, or send them in via Twitter @ACooperF1

Thanks,

Alex
Alex@CooperF1.co.uk

Barcelona test 21st-24th February combined times

1. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari 1.22.312
2. Pastor Maldonado - Williams-Renault 1.22.391
3. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes 1.22.608
4. Sergio Perez - Sauber-Ferrari 1.22.648
5. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault 1.22.891
6. Paul di Resta - Force India-Mercedes 1.23.119
7. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 1.23.180
8. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes 1.23.200
9. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes 1.23.384
10. Felipe Massa - Ferrari 1.23.563
11. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes 1.23.590

12. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.23.618
13. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault 1.23.774
14. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.23.792
15. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes 1.23.843
16. Bruno Senna - Williams-Renault 1.25.711
17. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Renault 1.25.738
18. Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham-Renault 1.26.035
19. Vitaly Petrov - Caterham-Renault 1.26.448
20. Timo Glock - Marussia-Cosworth 1.26.173*
21. Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Renault 1.26.809
22. Charles Pic - Marussia-Cosworth 1.27.343s*

Unable to see if Lotus are really fast due to their chassis problem, that'll hinder them.
McLaren and Red Bull yet again looking very close, with Red Bull probably having a few tenths over McLaren in the hands of Sebastian Vettel. Force India are the surprise package and looking in very good shape.

Jerez times combined

Here are all the times from the Jerez test :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 17.613s*
2. Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Renault 1m 18.419s
3. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 18.561s*
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 18.877s
5. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault 1m 19.184s
6. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault 1m 19.297s
7. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes 1m 19.464s
8. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 19.587s
9. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 19.597s
10. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus-Renault 1m 19.670s
11. Sergio Perez - Sauber-Ferrari 1m 19.770s
12. Paul di Resta - Force India-Mercedes 1m 19.772s
13. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari 1m 19.834s
14. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes 1m 19.977s
15. Bruno Senna - Williams-Renault 1m 20.132s
16. Jules Bianchi - Force India-Mercedes 1m 20.221s
17. Felipe Massa - Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 20.454s
18. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes 1m 20.688s
19. Pastor Maldonado - Williams-Renault 1m 21.197s
20. Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham-Renault 1m 21.518s
21. Pedro de la Rosa - HRT-Cosworth 1m 22.128s*
22. Jarno Trulli - Caterham-Renault 1m 22.198s
23. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham-Renault 1m 23.324s

Lotus looking in very good shape, like last year. Ferrari seem to be struggling, Red Bull and McLaren looking very evenly matched but we'll see different form at Barcelona I'm sure.

Jerez pre season test LIVE

From around mid-day, regular updates will be provided right here or on Twitter @CF1Live :

Live updates and times from all pre season tests

CooperF1.co.uk will be providing live updates and times from all of the 2012 pre season winter tests as the countdown to the 2012 season begins, you can follow via Twitter @CF1Live, alternatively a post will go up with a list of tweets, if Twitter's not your thing.

Coverage begins tomorrow (February 7th) at the first test, in Jerez.

Line up for the test :

Red Bull

Mark Webber - February 7th-8th
Sebastian Vettel - February 9th-10th

McLaren

Jenson Button - February 7th-8th
Lewis Hamilton - February 9th-10th

Ferrari

Felipe Massa – February 7th-8th
Fernando Alonso – February 9th-10th

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – February 7th (am), 9th
Michael Schumacher – February 7th (pm), 8th
Won't run on February 10th

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen - February 7th-8th
Romain Grosjean - February 9th-10th

Force India

Paul di Resta - February 7th-8th
Nico Hulkenberg - February 9th-10th

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi – February 7th and 10th
Sergio Perez - February 8th-9th

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo - February 7th-8th
Jean-Eric Vergne - February 9th-10th

Williams

Pastor Maldonado - February 7th-8th
Bruno Senna - February 9th-10th

Caterham F1

TBA - February 7th-10th

HRT

Pedro de la Rosa - February 7th-8th
Won't run February 9th-10th

Marussia

Won't run at all

John Surtees Knighthood petition

Slightly off topic post here, but I'd like you all to be aware of the John Surtees Knighthood petition, put together by Alex Goldschmidt :

"No-one has achieved the success of John Surtees on both two wheels and four. Having won four 500cc and three 350cc titles in the 50s and 60s with MV Augsta, as well as dominating the Senior TT from 1958 to 1960, John went on to win the Formula One World Championship in 1964 with Scuderia Ferrari.

John has done a massive amount over the years for all forms of motor sport, particularly with his own production of excellent F1, F2 and F5000 cars, and these days is very focused on young motorsport talent.  He is an ambassador for the Racing Steps Foundation and a tireless campaigner for road safety - particularly for the fleet of "Henrycopters" that will help to improve emergency accident extraction on Britain's roads. By any standards, John represents the bedrock of the British motor racing industry.

Peter Windsor wrote a few weeks on his blog (http://peterwindsor.wordpress.com) that his New Year's wish would be for a knighthood for John.  Inspired by that, and with Peter's encouragement, I have decided to put together this petition.  I include also the excellent interview that Peter conducted with John just before this year's Belgian GP at Spa.  You only have to look into John's eyes to see his ongoing passion for the sport."

If you, too, believe that John deserves a knighthood for his services to the British motor racing industry, please sign HERE

Follow Alex on Twitter - @Eyeofalexg1977 or visit his blog at alexgoldie.wordpress.com

Alex
Alex@CooperF1.co.uk