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