2008 Formula One Season Official Thread

[Jack_Bauer]

After the dust has finally settled on 2007's highly dramatic and highly controversial F1 season, we are now little more than a fortnight away from the start of the new season. The final official testing session will conclude today at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. From there the teams will begin packing for the grueling trip half way around the world for the season's opener in Melbourne, Australia.

It is expected that the sport's usual protagonists will be fighting it out for both Championships. Ferrari and McLaren have looked in a different class to the rest of the field in testing, and the sanctions imposed on McLaren last year don't appear to have hindered them as much as some were predicting. So will it be another battle between Raikkonen and Hamilton for the WDC, or will Felipe Massa or Heikki Kovalainen be able to cause an upset?

The battle in the mid-field looks too close to call. BMW, an Alonso-led Renault, Red Bull, and an apparently resurgent Williams will be squabbling between themselves for the "best-of-the-rest" honours. Toyota too will be looking to join that battle, but it seems like it will be a step too far for Honda who have continued to struggle throughout testing, despite having Ross Brawn holding the reigns.

Force India will be the season's big unknown quantity, but they will have their sights set on being able to challenge STR and Honda. Sadly it is looking unlikely that Super Aguri will be able to build on their outstanding performance last year. They are struggling with dreadful financial woes, and at the moment it is not even certain that they will be able to make the grid in Melbourne. It would be a sad loss for the sport if the grid were to drop to just 20 cars after it had been promised that there would be 24 cars, with the now-defunct Prodrive team.

For the first time in 8 years the drivers will be having to contend with none of the driver aids that have been making their lives easier, which will throw another great unknown into the mix. Who of the current crop of the drivers will be best able to cope with the change? Will anyone really stand out from the crowd with their throttle control? Will anybody struggle to adapt and be left red-faced? We can also look forward to two very interesting looking street circuits making their debuts on the calendar this year in Valencia and Singapore, as the legendary Nurburgring has dropped from the schedule for the first time in 13 years. All the many unanswered questions we have will be answered over the coming 9 months. If the season can match the levels of competitiveness and excitement of last year without the awful off-track controversies then F1 fans are certainly in for a treat!

1. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...rand-prix.html - March 14-16
2. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...rand-prix.html - March 21-23
3. Bahrain Grand Prix - April 4-6
4. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...rand-prix.html - April 25-27
5. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...rand-prix.html - May 9-11
6. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...rand-prix.html - May 22-25
7. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...rand-prix.html - June 6-8
8. French Grand Prix - June 20-22
9. British Grand Prix - July 4-6
10. German Grand Prix - July 18-20
11. Hungarian Grand Prix - August 1-3
12. *European Grand Prix (Valencia) - August 22-24
13. Belgian Grand Prix - Sept 5-7
14. Italian Grand Prix - Sept 12-14
15. *Singapore Grand Prix - Sept 26-28
16. Japanese Grand Prix - Oct 10-12
17. Chinese Grand Prix - Oct 17-19
18. Brazilian Grand Prix - Oct 31-Nov 02

* = new circuits

Standings after France:

Constructors:

1. FERRARI 91
2. BMW SAUBER 74
3. MCLAREN-MERCEDES 58
4. RED BULL-RENAULT 24
5. TOYOTA 23
6. WILLIAMS-TOYOTA 15
7. RENAULT 12
8. HONDA 8
9. TORO ROSSO-FERRARI 7

Drivers:

1. FELIPE MASSA Brazil Ferrari 48
2. ROBERT KUBICA Poland BMW Sauber 46
3. KIMI RAIKKONEN Finland Ferrari 43
4. LEWIS HAMILTON Britain McLaren-Mercedes 38
5. NICK HEIDFELD Germany BMW Sauber 28
6. HEIKKI KOVALAINEN Finland McLaren-Mercedes 20
7. MARK WEBBER Australia Red Bull-Renault 18
JARNO TRULLI Italy Toyota 18
9. FERNANDO ALONSO Spain Renault 10
10. NICO ROSBERG Germany Williams-Toyota 8
11. KAZUKI NAKAJIMA Japan Williams-Toyota 7
12. DAVID COULTHARD Britain Red Bull-Renault 6
13. TIMO GLOCK Germany Toyota 5
SEBASTIAN VETTEL France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5
RUBENS BARRICHELLO Brazil Honda 5
16. JENSON BUTTON Britain Honda 3
17. SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2
NELSON PIQUET Brazil Renault 2

[Jack_Bauer]

2008 Entry List

Ferrari - K. Raikkonen (FIN), F. Massa (BRA)



BMW-Sauber - N. Heidfeld (DEU), R. Kubica (POL)



Renault - F. Alonso (ESP), N, Piquet Jr. (BRA)



Williams - N. Rosberg (DEU), K. Nakajima (JAP)



Red Bull - M. Webber (AUS), D. Coulthard (GBR)



Toyota - J. Trulli (ITA), T. Glock (DEU)



Toro Rosso - S. Bourdais (FRA), S. Vettel (DEU)



Honda - J. Button (GBR), R. Barrichello (BRA)



Super Aguri - Takuma Sato, Anthony Davidson

Force India - G. Fisichella (ITA), A. Sutil (DEU)



McLaren-Mercedes - L. Hamilton (GBR), H. Kovalainen (FIN)

[fpv_gtho]

Its looking like there'll still be the same midfield competition as there was last year, except theyve collectively taken a few steps closer to Ferrari/McLaren.

[ScionDriver]

I have been anticipating this for months and I am excited! I hope Kimi can repeat but I also want it to be competitive, it was so great last season.

[Suka]

I like the nose design on the front of that Renault. How have they been doing with that in testing? It seems like it might be quite a clever way around the problem with the drag created by the pillars holding onto the wings from the nose cone.

[faksta]

These new cars are just awesome. I have already posted my thoughts about the 'new era' somwehere, actually, but it's really what it seems to be. It's like 67-69 seasons, when wings came into norma, but now it's all about those tons of additional aerodynamics.

[Kitdy]

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Ron Dennis has been fired by the shareholders of McLaren and is going to be replaced by Martin Whitmarsh.

This has not yet been confirmed by McLaren.

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Ron Dennis has been fired by the shareholders of McLaren and is going to be replaced by Martin Whitmarsh.

This has not yet been confirmed by McLaren.

And according to both Mercedes and McLaren it's "rubbish" - PistonHeads Headlines

I think it's fair to say that Dennis/McLaren/Hamilton aren't the most popular in Spain, and that the tabloid media will do anything to try and drag their name through the mud. Quite sad really, but it sells papers so they probably don't care...

[Homem de Gelo]

Spanish fanatism is particularly embarassing.

Anyhow, after Ferrari tested at Bahrain, I was afraid Raikkonen would simply walk over everyone from the word go. But the lasts days of testing have left me more confident in Massa and McLaren. Right now I think the season will begin as it ended last year with Raikkonen at advantage.

About the two new street circuits, yay. I'm sure they'll rock.

[fpv_gtho]

There seems to be several thoughts as to the performance grouping of the teams. Some believe that Ferrari are ahead with McLaren about 1-3 tenths behind, with BMW/Renault/Williams/Red Bull about 5 tenths behind them. Some others believe McLaren are in the same group as BMW/Renault/Williams/Red Bull. Theres also the chance Renault are behind BMW/Williams/Red Bull and will be with STR/Toyota/Honda.

[Zytek_Fan]

Be a nice fight at the front this year

Oh, if Toyota doesn't get positive results this year, the F1 programme will be axed.

[itsos]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

Be a nice fight at the front this year

Oh, if Toyota doesn't get positive results this year, the F1 programme will be axed.

OH dont tell me that. TOYOTA is one of the rizons to seeng f1

PS sory for the bad engise i am from greece

[go.pawel]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

Be a nice fight at the front this year

Oh, if Toyota doesn't get positive results this year, the F1 programme will be axed.

AFAIR, they have until the end of 2009 season to show results. So we have at least 2 more years of seeing them underperform on the track

[fpv_gtho]

They dont have any set deadline. The new boss of the team did say he had 2 years to get results (starting from 2008, meaning a 2010 deadline) but nobody from Toyota Corp. has said its anything solid other than a personal goal.

[Jack_Bauer]

Also, if Toyota were to throw the towel in it would make much more sense to back out at the end of 2008. The 2009 cars are going to be massively redeveloped which will take a massive amount of R & D investment. They would be mad to commit all that capital into designing their 2009 cars only to scrap it after one season. I think Toyota will be in F1 for the long-term.

In other news, it seems as though Super Aguri have finally been able to confirm their place on the 2008 grid after an eleventh hour takeover deal was secured with the Magma Group. They have quickly moved to confirm Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson as the team's drivers, and all the team's equipment is in Melbourne ready for the weekend. It could be a long hard slog this season though, as they've had virtually no testing, and some of the other perennial strugglers have seemingly made good progress this winter.

Originally Posted by ITV-F1.com

Super Aguri's Formula 1 future – and Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson's 2008 race seats – have been secured after the the team completed a deal with new investor Magma Group.

Magma has acquired Aguri Suzuki's team, and reaffirmed its technical partnership with Honda.

There had been speculation that Davidson or Sato could lose their drives if new backers preferred to install their own drivers, but Suzuki confirmed that both men would stay on for 2008.

"I am pleased to announce our new partner and drivers finally at this late stage," Suzuki said.

I am looking forward to a successful and long lasting collaboration with Magma Group.

"About drivers, as I have wanted them to continue their work in our team, I was not worried at all about our drivers for 2008.

"It will be a big advantage for us that we can continue working with them this year.

"For Anthony, as this season will be his second as a racing driver, I am expecting him to achieve some points.

"For Takuma, I would like him to repeat the excellent work he did last season.

"It will be an interesting season and we will try our best to help them achieve these goals."

Super Aguri's future had been in doubt after defaulting sponsors left it extremely short of finance last season.

The team sat out most of winter testing, but Sato reckons his ever-determined squad can shrug off this disadvantage.

"Our winter preparation has not been as comprehensive as we had wished; however we always get over these difficulties and keep pushing forward with our fighting spirit," Sato said.

"I hope that we can maintain this through the coming season and make up for some lost time."

Davidson is also looking forward to the new season after his late confirmation.

"I'm really looking forward to my second season with the Super Aguri F1 team and to building on what we achieved last year," he said.

"The testing we have been able to do has gone well and we are continuing to make improvements to the car in conjunction with the new MES (McLaren Electronic Systems) system.

"I've concentrated on my training and preparation over the winter and I'm fully motivated for the challenges that this year will bring.

"Everyone in the team has been working hard and I'd like to thank them, and Honda, for the continued support."