The grandest of all circuses that is out there is back again! Formula1 kicks off again this weekend at the traditional first race venue, Melbourne. There has been a few big moves over the winter, Domenicali with one title behind him has been more vocal and has been saying the right things, the Prince has been very quiet and doing things his unique way and the most unfortunate driver there is will hope to prove that the ‘1’ on a Ferrari will look good with a Brazilian at its wheel .
Before you rant that there are other teams on the grids, I would like to remind you that if the FIA had any balls and a certain ‘can do it all’ did not have such a heavy media backing, there would have been only 22 cars on the grid and the names of the 2 cars missing would not read ‘Super Aguri’. Well then, my best mate supports McLaren so for his sake I am quite happy to see them shamelessly compete with a photocopy Ferrari for yet another year. Its always that bit sweeter to rile him at the close season if they cant cut with all the help in the world! I honestly expect Kovalainen to outpace the ‘Right place at the Right time’ Lewis this year, if given the same car and the same support.
And for the rest, the pretender returning to his ‘family’ should be interesting, at the beginning of last year it did seem his move to the photocopiers brought them an extra second and the 3rd best car of the 2006 season was suddenly well ahead of others, a year on, we shall look forward to what gifts he has for his brothers and sisters at Renault. Williams and BMW have been showing good signs and look likely to push Renault very close for the third position. Ross Brawn’s return to Honda has created some excitement but I personally don’t expect any surprises this year, the only advantage is that he has two very good technical drivers and if the team sticks together, they can be the Everton of Formula1. Hats off to the big man for taking up the challenge of taking the big seat with a team struggling so badly, it’s a far cry from the giddy heights of race wins every other weekend. Finally to the dark horse amongst the pack, Red Bull, their times have been surprisingly fast over the close season, waiting to see what the Milton Keynes based outfit can do this year.
Finally - Force India. Nothing Indian about it except for the name, named so for the sole purpose of attracting the ‘patriotic’ supporters back home. Karthikeyan or Chandok not being given even a test seat on the team is very disappointing actually, Fisi is never a going to be a number 1, Sutil is not going to excite anyone, so we can only hope that they at the least stay ahead of the 'not very super' aguri’s and not share duties with Team India in disappointing a nation of very kind, easily satisfied fans.
Predictions
Driver Championship – Massa, Raikonnen, Kovalainen
Team Championship – Ferrari, McClaren, Renault (No surprises there)
Before you rant that there are other teams on the grids, I would like to remind you that if the FIA had any balls and a certain ‘can do it all’ did not have such a heavy media backing, there would have been only 22 cars on the grid and the names of the 2 cars missing would not read ‘Super Aguri’. Well then, my best mate supports McLaren so for his sake I am quite happy to see them shamelessly compete with a photocopy Ferrari for yet another year. Its always that bit sweeter to rile him at the close season if they cant cut with all the help in the world! I honestly expect Kovalainen to outpace the ‘Right place at the Right time’ Lewis this year, if given the same car and the same support.
And for the rest, the pretender returning to his ‘family’ should be interesting, at the beginning of last year it did seem his move to the photocopiers brought them an extra second and the 3rd best car of the 2006 season was suddenly well ahead of others, a year on, we shall look forward to what gifts he has for his brothers and sisters at Renault. Williams and BMW have been showing good signs and look likely to push Renault very close for the third position. Ross Brawn’s return to Honda has created some excitement but I personally don’t expect any surprises this year, the only advantage is that he has two very good technical drivers and if the team sticks together, they can be the Everton of Formula1. Hats off to the big man for taking up the challenge of taking the big seat with a team struggling so badly, it’s a far cry from the giddy heights of race wins every other weekend. Finally to the dark horse amongst the pack, Red Bull, their times have been surprisingly fast over the close season, waiting to see what the Milton Keynes based outfit can do this year.
Finally - Force India. Nothing Indian about it except for the name, named so for the sole purpose of attracting the ‘patriotic’ supporters back home. Karthikeyan or Chandok not being given even a test seat on the team is very disappointing actually, Fisi is never a going to be a number 1, Sutil is not going to excite anyone, so we can only hope that they at the least stay ahead of the 'not very super' aguri’s and not share duties with Team India in disappointing a nation of very kind, easily satisfied fans.
Predictions
Driver Championship – Massa, Raikonnen, Kovalainen
Team Championship – Ferrari, McClaren, Renault (No surprises there)
Dark Horse - Button (Driver), Red Bull (Team)
