[Folken]

Well to sum up winter testing for you
Front End
1) Ferrari - but only by 1 race, maybe 2 races, of development before Mclaren catch them

2) Mclaren

3/4) Renault/BMW - BMW is super fast but hopelessly unreliable. Renault are slow but reliable so they should have the upper hand

Mid-Field
Hard to give them a particular order so in no particular order

Williams - been setting some nice times in testing, nothing super and they're still lacking in aerodynamics

Toyota - same old story. Hopelessly slow and unreliable, they'll be last in this pack thats for sure.

Honda - car isn't great, maybe on par with or a bit faster with Williams

Red Bull - Seems like Adrian Newey is too smart for his own good. The car keeps heating up and the its really tight making the drivers feel uncomfortable

back end
The usual three don't expect much from them
STR, Spyker and Super Aguri. Although STR and Super Aguri are racing almost duplicates of their sister teams, they haven't impressed at all.

Now a little discussion on drivers

Fisi is on his way out, if he fails to impress this season which he obviously will, Piquet Jr will be taking his seat next year. It could happen sooner even if Heikki blows him away, which he obviously will.

Kimi really needs this to be his year. He's already stated publicly that he is having troubles getting used to the new tyres, which is not a good sign. Two titles have been lost, through no fault of his own mind you, but they were still lost and he needs to win this year or else its over for him. His rep will be shattered if he doesn't win it this year.

Lewis, i don't know im pretty sure anything he does won't be enough for the media.

Rubens, well like Fisi its make or break for him. Though he has a better chance or retaining his seat because hes friends with De Ferran.

thats all off the top of my head.

[Bl1nder]

Shiara;164021 said:

What's F1? Is it that car racing thing?

You are a woman, so you are excused

Well, there aint no Shcumacher ( cant remember the spelling ), so there aint no point watching

[Tiste Simeon]

williamjm said:

No sport can have as incomprehensible a discussion as cricket, Formula 1 just doesn't have the same range of bizarre terminology to compete.

Plus something actually happens in F1.

Folken - You're a nerd.

Bl1nder said:

Well, there aint no Shcumacher ( cant remember the spelling ), so there aint no point watching

ARGGH!!!!! There is life after Schumacher!!! There are other people to watch!!
He ain't all that!!!
*runs away to hide*

[Folken]

No there isn't sim...no there isn't:p and he IS all that *slaps sim*

The remaining drivers are all corporate whores that work for the company who put image before racing. F1 will never be the same*wails*

And on the note of not watching F1 now that Schumacher is gone...an interesting development in Malaysia. Their race track holds around 120,000 spectators, the race is in little over 1month and they've only sold 11,000 race tickets:p And Malaysia is one of the best tracks to watch racing on...things are not looking good for other tracks with normally huge Schumacher fan bases.

[Tiste Simeon]

Meh. I think it will be an interesting season, without everyone drooling over Schumacher. Now if Alonso doesn't win this season, it's pretty much open to anyone, methinks.

[Folken]

well its likely that he will. The Mclaren is super fast and has been very reliable in testing thus far. So some grave misfortune and Ferrari playing politics set aside he will most likely win. Taking yet another record from Schumacher...

[Tiste Simeon]

Jen said:

Taking yet another record from Schumacher...

Is denied.

[kettle]

well I suppose we will see what Alonso is made of this season, the McLaren has always been fast, but how many time have we seen the reliability go down the pan especialy after a promising winter testing, Kimi could of and should have been a world champion by now if it wasn't for the unreliability factor!

as for Kimi, well he's got a helluva big pair of boots to fill, Ferrari was Schumacher, he had it running like a well oiled machine, now he, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt and to a lesser extent Nigel Stepney have left, who is going to be the driving force now? Massa seems to be doing a good job in testing, but he has got a year at Ferrari under his belt, I just hope Kimi lives up the the expectations everyone has placed on him, Alonso needs a serious challenger!

I can't see much happening with Renault, Kovy seems to be the one t watch, but poor old Fisi has had his day I think, this will be his swansong year, unless a miracle occurs...

BMW look interesting, and Kubica has it in him to do well, I will be watching him with intrest, Toyota seems to have a dismal car with mediocre drivers, the same for Honda, sad to say as I like Barrichello, Williams is much the same it seems, which means trailing just behind the top teams again, and as for the rest, well we'll get around to them when the season startsand there might be something interesting to say about them

[RaZjInSaR]

all this is too long to read..i really cant be bothered atm i will just sit and smile -->

[Bl1nder]

Aye, I also hope Kimi lives up to the challenge, I kinda like em, altought he used to drive for such a hopeless team as McLaren

[Folken]

kettle;164761 said:

well I suppose we will see what Alonso is made of this season, the McLaren has always been fast, but how many time have we seen the reliability go down the pan especialy after a promising winter testing, Kimi could of and should have been a world champion by now if it wasn't for the unreliability factor!

as for Kimi, well he's got a helluva big pair of boots to fill, Ferrari was Schumacher, he had it running like a well oiled machine, now he, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt and to a lesser extent Nigel Stepney have left, who is going to be the driving force now? Massa seems to be doing a good job in testing, but he has got a year at Ferrari under his belt, I just hope Kimi lives up the the expectations everyone has placed on him, Alonso needs a serious challenger!

Yeah, Alonso does need a serious challenger...otherwise it'll just be a trade for a younger Schumacher to go and dominate F1 which will be boring as well:p. You know people always said that the 2005 season was interesting, but truth be told that was one boring season. Each race was won on Friday latest Saturday. Sunday was just there for us to actually see the person chosen to win pick up his trophy. We never had any racing between Alonso and Kimi, every race either Alonso ran away wit it or Kimi ran away with it. BORING...they're both boring...I DEMAND THEY BRING BACK GOD!!:folken: (goes of to kill Montezemello)

As for Ferrari and the top management changing...an interesting development has come about. Ross Brawn was supposed to come back next year to take over Team Manager roll, but Ferrari have just hired Red Bull man Dany Bahar to take a "big top level job" at Ferrari. And a few days prior to that rumors, from seemingly out of the blue, came about that Ross Brawn was infact joining Mclaren...:eek:...I dont see Ferrari returning to its winning ways. If they fail to win this year...I don't believe it'll happen anytime soon, this new management structure is just too corporate and you don't sense that iron fist of control that was present during the Schumacher Regime.

[Called-by-the-Voices]

McLaren-- well, they have Alonso, the fastest driver, and the 2-time WDC, they have improved their reliabilty and gained significant financial boost from their Vodafone sponsorship. They should be the title-contenders.

Renault- Well, obviously the car will be good. Reliable and all. But, yeah, the drivers. Heikki's a rookie, and Fisico is still recovering from the blows given to him by Fernando in the past 2 years. I doubt they will be retaining their titles this year.

Ferrari- Well, they obviously have a great car. They will probably gain from their long-time partnership with Bridgestone, but I reckon they will get worse as the season approaches it's end. Schumi's and Brawn's missing will have a major impact. And Kimi is a fast driver, but notheing more, he' not a team leader as michael. As for Massa, well he is fast, but only when the car is superb. I think 2nd/3rd place in both championships.

Others? BMW seems to be improving, which is to be expected given that they've gained such a driver as Kubica. I reckon wins will come in 2008.

Williams, well, with such a crap line-uo (Wurz? c'mon And Nico sucked bigtime last year) and doubtful engine supply (Toyota..) I doubt they will pull out more then a few lucky podiums.

Res Bull? Newey brings speed, but also terrible reliability, and it seems that the Renault powerplants are having trouble settling in the Newey chassis. I say, the biggest dissappointment of 07.

Toyota? As always. No comment needed.

Honda? I really don't know... They seem a mystery, but I say that they won't carry the raw speed from late 06 into the 07. The car seems to be pretty slow in the testings.

Toro Rosso, Super Aguri, Spyker... Well, they're all B-teams.. So what to expect from them? Not a point...

[Called-by-the-Voices]

So, Kimi takes the first pole... Hamilton is impressive, 4th on his debut, Alonso looking solid as ever, and the two BMW drivers shone as Heidfeld took 3rd and Kubica 5th, breaking the two Macca's.... To me, Kovalainen was the biggest disappointment, failing to make it to the top 10. But, on the other hand, given the form that the Renault's have shown this far, Fisico was pretty impressive, taking the 6th place, right behind the dominant Kimi's Ferrari and the two McLarens and BMWs.

It's going to be a thrilling sunday morning... I don't remember the last time I was looking forward to the new seasons as much as I do this one..

[caladanbrood]

Nice to see Hamilton doing well - thats the only interest I have in F1 this season.

[Dancer+]

Same as with me brood, i'm supporting him all the way as long as he's in with a chance

[Dag]

I see now it was a mistake to peek into this thread. It just reminds me how lonely and frustrated I will be tonight.

I've been watching F1 for ages, never missing a race, always dreaming of a Schumi-free-season - you know, him winning all the time was a bit boring - and now... And NOW...

I don't have a TV.

And even worse - I don't have any friends generous enough to let me park myself on their couch at 04:00 AM and shout things like: "Geh! Wos ist des? Du fährst wie meine blinde Großmutter! Gib gas, Kimi! Ganbatte, Sato-san!" (I can get quite emotional with F1, you know...)

So, errm.. To all of you out there who own a TV set:

One-night-stand, anyone...? :heyhey:

[Tiste Simeon]

Dag - I was going to say you could come and watch it at mine, then you offered a one-night stand. Sorry... (Unless of course you are a very HAWT girl, in which case, feel free! :heyhey:)

[Dag]

Well, we can make it purely platonic...

[Dancer+]

What's everyones predictions for the rest tomorrow/today (whereever you're from)

I think it's going to be a Ferrari win, with Raikkonen, if the form books are in order. A Mclaren two-three (Alonso, Hamilton). A BMW sauber fourth (Heidfield), Massa fifth, Kubica sixth, Fischella seventh and Kovalainen eighth. It's a fairly conservative prediction, as the only place swops would be between Hamilton and Heidfield with Massa's and Kovalainen's ascensions. This also assumes that reliability problems are neglible. I do doubt whether Kovalainen will make it upto eighth however.

[Tiste Simeon]

Dag said:

Well, we can make it purely platonic...

That means you are not an uber-sexy girl, right?