2004 F1 opinions and forecast

[fpv_gtho]

anyone remember the first lap at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002?

[Dino Scuderia]

Looks like they got a few testing runs in afterall.

Just reported by gazzetta.it:

1'19"664 set by Schumi in the afternoon!!

That's 0.747 off the previous record set by MS in 2003 in the F2003-GA.

[Homem de Gelo]

And the records keep being smashed over and over. Can't wait for Melbourne...

[Ferrari Tifosi]

First lap of Melbourne in 2002, Barichello catches his front tires with R. Schumachers rears. Barichello then goes air-born.

[Alfahollic]

I f*cken hate melbourne their track is sh!t compared to ours. get the formula one back in Adelaide!!!!!!!!! Its the only thing we ever had, and melbourne had to take it. Pricks.

[fpv_gtho]

First lap of Melbourne in 2002, Barichello catches his front tires with R. Schumachers rears. Barichello then goes air-born.

i remember it more for Webber sneaking into the top 10 in a minardi of all things, and ending up finishing 5th

[Rusty]

My vote is for ferrari because I still think they are the team to beat. And if bridgestone and Kees do their work proparly I seem MS taking home an other Driver title.

Williams will probably take home the Constructors title although I hope that either Renault or BAR (long shot though) can take a big step forward and challenge the big 3.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

ahhh, great drive by Webber. I see him being a threat in the future. He did great things last year with a mediocre car.

[fpv_gtho]

well webbers been linked to pretty much all the major teams for the 2005 season....being a ford fan i hope he stays at jaguar but ive even heard people suggesting he might be the successor to M. Schumacher at Ferrari when his contract dries up with them. most common though would be hes going to Renault

[Deckard]

well webbers been linked to pretty much all the major teams for the 2005 season....being a ford fan i hope he stays at jaguar but ive even heard people suggesting he might be the successor to M. Schumacher at Ferrari when his contract dries up with them. most common though would be hes going to Renault

He's been quoted several times that he is going to stay at Jag till the end of his contract (end of 2005). However..... apparently there is a clause in his contract which states that if the car doesn't perform well enough to put him in a points position, he can break the contract. Which would mean he would most likely go to either Renault or Williams (assuming whinging Button doesn't get the seat).

[swainomac]

I am off to the melbourne on thursday for the gpand am really looking forward to seeing what the 2004 season has to offer. Its good to see that all the teams are actually using their 2004 cars for the 2004 season. It was always an anticlimax to see the big teams using their 2003 models for the first few races of the season.

Hopefully Williams will really step up this year and offer a real challenge to Ferrari. However Ferrari have been together as their current team since 1997 so its difficult to see them taking a nosedive this season. Schumacher will still be hungry, if he wasn't I can't see him doing it anymore. Ferrari's change in form will be when Schumacher leaves, as he will take alot of expertise with him (including Ross Brawn probably). Mclaren seem to be going to through a transition season and it will be a real test for Kimi Raikonnen if he can be competitive right at the top of the table this year.

The only achilles heel i can see that will dog Ferrari are their tyres. They are paying for Bridgestone devoting all their time to them in their quest for the World Championship. One team can only provide a limited amount of testing data.

However, things will shake themselves out on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how many finishers we get with this being the first weekend that the teams have ony been allowed one engine for the weekend. Effectively doubling the time they have to last.