In Part Two of the 2007 FIA Formula One Championship Preview, I will introduce you to the teams and the drivers that are contesting for the Championship this year. Without further a due, let us take a look at the challenges that we can expect on the grid.
Fernando Alonso has been settling pretty well in his new team as showed during the pre-season winter testing where he almost always topped the testing sheet. His transition so far had been seamless. He immediately goes down to work to start his campaign to defense his title. If McLaren managed to solve their reliabilities issues, Fernando has a very good chance to score a hat-trick and we all know he is capable of it. However he might needs to look on his rear mirror more often for his team-mates Lewis Hamilton than on both Ferrari drivers. Lewis Hamilton is a long-time protégé of McLaren and its shows that he got real talent when the team trusted him to run alongside the Spaniard for the Championship campaign. It has been a long time since the team hires a rookie to fill in the race seat at McLaren. From the pre-season testing, McLaren MP4-22 is looking good for the championship. Their only worry would be the Ferrari…
There is no number one driver status at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro which is a very significant difference after the post-Schumacher era. The team had been said that both drivers are given the chance to prove themselves and earn the status. During winter testing, Felipe Massa frequently swapped places with Fernando Alonso topping the testing sheet while Kimi Raikkonen has been not as quick as people predicted he would be in the new F2007. These two are immense rivals. Pundits had been quick to say that Kimi Raikkonen might find a harder task to win the championship than he had anticipated if he did not familiarized to his new team soon. I just think that he was sand bagging. On the other hand, Felipe Massa is highly motivated and his experience with the team has paid off extremely well. With Michael Schumacher out of the picture he does not have to make way for his team mate on the track. He is one of the favorites for the World Drivers Championship title beside his team mate and Fernando Alonso. With two strong drivers, and their long and fruitful relationship with Bridgestone, I put my money on Ferrari to snath the World Title from Renault.
After the departure of Fernando Alonso, the World Champion ING Renault F1 Team is sticking with their Italian driver, Giancarlo Fisichella for continuity and stability. Another new rookie on the grid, Heikki Kovalainen will be his partner. Heikki has been impressive in GP2 and his results in testing convinced Flavio Briatore that he is ready for Formula One debut. No one doubts that Renault has a fast engine underneath their machine R27. It is their drivers that people have little faith in. Giancarlo Fisichella was destroyed by Alonso for the past couple of years which should not have happened with his abundance experience. Although the Finn is highly rated and might possibility be the next big thing, it is still not proven that he can be Alonso successor. Lets all agree, it is quite a darn big shoe he is filling in for. They will be lucky if they can finish third in the Championship.
Honda Racing F1 Team has been struggling in pre-season testing. They are sticking with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as their race drivers and hire a former Red Bull driver Christian Klien as their third driver. With Button finally score his first elusive win at Hungary last season, the team must be hungry for another such feat but judging from the RA107, which mostly lacks the aerodynamic grip, they need to do a lot more improvements before they can start challenging for the front spot. Barrichello does not set the world on fire either on his first year with Honda last season. He was frequently outpaced by his team mate and if things remain status quo at Honda this season, he might find it hard to find another team that is willing to hire him. Honda is supplying engine for the Super Aguri or also known as the Honda B team but since pre-season testing, the Super Aguri had been doing surprising well. Sometimes they even managed to out run the Hondas. Focus is now on the Honda team and many are scrutinizing them. Some even question, which is the real B team?
Through out pre-season testing, BMW Sauber F1 Team had been performing extremely well, quicker than expected. It also makes few pundits predicting the team to be up there challenging for the title. Why not? With the state-of-the-art windtunnel, the world fastest computer and two very good and capable drivers who will be driving the BMW F1.07, the World Title definitely is not completely out of their grasp. Nick Heidfeld is still driving and fully committed to the team. The German’s experience and expertise are very valuable assets. This could be the year he scores his first win especially with the team looking so promising in the pre-season testing. Robert Kubica who replaced Jacques Villeneuve for the last remaining six races of last season will be Heidfeld’s team mate. His impressive performances on his debut and a podium later on secure him the race seat. He is the most talk about rookie at the moment. Some even says that he will breathing down Nick’s neck and snatch the first win for the team. With him in the team, Nick certainly has up his game and the inter-rivalry between these two drivers is one of the exciting things we should look out for through out this season. As for the team itself, they are certainly has their eyes on the top three spots for the championship. The only setback at the moment is their reliability issue with their gearbox. If they can overcome that, we might see the BMW Sauber F1 drivers regularly on the podium, or challenging for the win.
This is the fifth year Panasonic Toyota Racing contested in the FIA Formula One World Championship and basically we expected more from them especially with their unlimited resources. Last season was not a good season for the Toyota team. This year they hope to recuperate and start their challenge on the big boys. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher remain to help the team achieving their goals in the TF107. Jarno Trulli had just signed a three-year contract with the team and his long-term commitment will definitely help Toyota progress in team of experience and continuity. Ralf Schumacher on the other hand is eager to prove himself as his contract will end at the end of this season. He will push to his limit and if the results are anything like the Toyota had hope for, he might be looking at a contract renewal deal. I am sure Toyota does not have any difficulty to pay his ridiculous amount of salary. The team is eager to make sure the team they supplied their engine to, WilliamsF1, will not finish ahead of them in the Championship. The task is actually harder than it looks.
WilliamsF1 team finished the Championship at seventh place last season. It was the worst results in their F1 history. Probably the absent of BMW engine were hurting them more than they are willing to admit. Now, with Toyota engine at the back of FW28, the whole team is fire up to make sure it will never happen again. With Mark Webber now moved to Red Bull Racing, Nico Rosberg will be partnering Alexander Wurz who had been promoted from the third driver status. Rosberg was one of the rookie that disappoint me last year after so much promised and hype that had surround him before he enters the Formula One scene. The only highlight of his season would be the fastest lap that he set at the Bahrain GP. Other than that his performances were pretty much forgettable. This season he have to make sure to up his game and proved not only to the world but as well to himself that he truly earn his race seat. If he can do this, I believe the German will improve tremendously. As for Alex Wurz, he has a lot of work to do. Racing and testing are two different things and if he can conquer the racing part, WilliamsF1 team definitely would not be in the slump for much longer. They definitely will be satisfied if they can beat Toyota to the Championship.
Red Bull Racing will be running the RB2 with a Renault engine at the back of the car. RB2 much anticipated car that was designed by the former McLaren guru, Adrian Newey. This car is believed to be the key for the team to challenge for the Championship. How much truth is it, we just have to wait and see. From what I have seen so far, I think Newey has lost his magic touch. David Coulthard is still leading the team with Mark Webber as his teammate. Both have been very enthusiastic about the prospect of the new season but realistically they probably will be fighting with the like of Toyota and Williams to claim the fifth spot in the Championship.
Spyker F1 Team is relatively a new team after they bought the Midland F1 Team last season. They will be running Christijan Albers and a rookie from Germany, Adrian Sutil. Their main focus for the Championship would be not to finish last in every race weekend. Also, I would not be surprised if they sold this team to a new owner before the season ends. This team has changed two owners since it was bought from Eddie Jordan back in 2004.
Scuderia Toro Rosso will be using a Ferrari engine. STR2 is using the same chassis as Red Bull. Many are disputing this issue as it is contra to the regulation which stated that every team needs to build its own chassis. Of course the Toro Rosso claimed they built their own chassis but even the blind can see the uncanny similarity between the chassis. So far the issue has settle down but we will hear about it again if the Toro Rosso starts outrun the other teams. Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed are staying as their race drivers for this year. The announcement of the drivers were hold off until just before the season start which made both Liuzzi and Speed shed some sweats, worrying about their future in Formula One. Toro Rosso’s goal for the Championship is to beat their big brother Red Bull Racing team and if they can do this, it can prove one thing: Ferrari is the faster engine than the Renault.
Last but not least, let us take a look at Super Aguri. This team could be the surprise of the year. They will be running with Honda engine at the back of SA07 whose chassis was handed down by Honda. This mean the Super Aguri is using last year’s Honda chassis. Nonetheless the chassis were rebuilt by Super Aguri and this made it pass the FIA scrutiny. SA07 first run at the Australian GP were more than impressive considering it was never run before beating both the Honda cars in practices. SA07 was launched couple of days before the GP and had zero miles on its track record. Takuma Sato even managed to put the Aguri in top ten for the qualifying. There are already talks of dissatisfaction among other teams and if Aguri impressive performance continues, we might see a law suit to be brought up. I bet my 2 dollars that Super Aguri will win the case if there is happen to be one. Anthony Davidson is the other driver in the race seat. He had done brilliantly in pre-season testing and his performance last Sunday has put him back on the racing map. Jenson who?
My predictions for the World Constructors Championship in order would be Ferrari with McLaren coming in close second. BMW Sauber will take the third spot and Renault finishes behind them. Fifth spot is a toss between Toyota, Williams, Aguri and Honda. Then in ninth place it will be Red Bull while Toro Rosso and Spyker F1 battle it out not to be in last place.
As for the World Driver Championship, I predict either one of the Ferrari drivers to win it because Ferrari are the most dominant team out there on the grid but at the same time I am not discounting Alonso. The Spaniard had won two titles in not the fastest car underneath him so I certainly think he can do it again.
That is all for my 2007 season preview. Till next time...
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Do it!