woooooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, 1st reply!

Edit: This year will probably be my least fav since Schumi retired
Edit2: Fuck you Alonso.
Edit3: The new Mclaren looks good, Ferrari is ugly.
Edit4: Great thread Paradork.

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Last edited by Cloud on Jan-15-2007 at 22:23

2nd!

Go the worst team

As for Cloud, it'll be very dull for me with no Schumi. I'll need a few years to get used to the situation and start appreciating the Ferrari squad again like the last few years. Dont get me wrong, i'm still a huge fan of the team but it wont have the same intensity as during the schumacher era.

You just cant start cheering all of a sudden for a man who was a rival the years before (Raikkonen) although i have to admit that i still consider him as one of the best drivers from the pack. Curious to see what he's capable of now that he'll finally have -hopefully- a reliable car under him.

Nice thread, again

Mclaren is fuckin sexy this year.

Forza Ferrari and Forza Massa I want to see Kimi crash

quote:

Originally posted by InterMilan31 Forza Ferrari and Forza Massa I want to see Kimi crash

what about any broken bones?

My predictions and analysis (warning, VERY long):

Current champions Renault are NOT expected to retain the title this season, as their driver line-up has become much weaker - a double world champion has been replaced by a rookie, and the new team-leader is the guy that underperformed the past two seasons, Fisichella. Then again, apart from Alonso's departure, the Renault staff are clearly very competent and there aren't any news of key members leaving - there's some degree of continuity in the team. I expect a car capable of winning races, but the pair of drivers won't take it to full potential. I also expect Fisi and Kova to be very close to each-other, as Kovalainen has demonstrated some qualities on lower formula and has a full year of testing. But is still a rookie.

Ferrari are the big favourites IMO - they had a package almost as good as Renault last season, and although they do lose a legendary driver, I dare to say the replacement is just as fast. And if for some strange reason Raikkonen fails, Massa has shown himself to be mildly competent in the latter half of 2006. I think the finn will come out on top and will at last win the drivers title which is already deserved. The only major doubt over Ferrari IMO is whether Ross Brawn will be missed. But, there are other things in Ferrari's favour: namely Bridgestone's special relationship with them, which might be handy since the entire grid will be on japanese rubber. I will be cheering for Ferrari this season as I'm more of a drivers supporter than teams supporter, and my favourite driver is Kimi.

I don't know exactly where to place McLaren. Alonso is obviously very, very good but will he fit in? Mac is such a dull robotic environment, Ron Dennis is known for being a control freak - I can picture the drama queen Alonso being fed up of everything fast. But even assuming Fernando will perform at his best, how good will the car be? Things have been very hit and miss the last couple of years in the team, they've always been either slow or unreliable. And as for Lewis Hamilton, there's no doubt he's a huge prospect, but is it good to be in his rookie season faced with the top driver in current F1? If he's going to be smashed by Alonso, his career could be ruined from the start. The positive side of all this is that the last winter tests have been seemingly good for McLaren.

Honda are the underdogs who could take everyone by surprise. The first win last season by Button in Hungary could just have been the extra motivational injection they needed to bump up further. They are the only team from the top 4 who remain their driving line-up unchanged - stability, continuity. I don't think they're doing any steps behind, and I'll even risk saying they could do as big of a jump as Renault did from 2004 to 2005. It's true they've been here for several seasons (as BAR) and never made the jump, but has there been a better time? Possible title contenders IMO. Oh, and Button will definitely beat Rubens.

I like BMW a lot, and they impressed a lot on their debut season, but there's a tradition in F1 than when teams do great on their first season they struggle in the 2nd. And the gap to Honda and Mac was still pretty big, I don't see them overcoming it. Unfortunately, I think BMW is doing a small step behind in 2007. A couple years from now, they should be getting race wins. For now, it'll be interesting to see how Kubica does - will he improve further and beat Heidfeld, or will things remain matched between the two of them? Hard to answer.

It is fairly hard to predict where Toyota will fit - after all, they still have an absolutely huge budget, even if they never make really good use of it. I don't see them winning races this year, but surely things can't go any worse than 2007?! It was starting to be pathetic. Especially since I rate both Ralf and Trulli very high, which means the car was an absolute dog to have had such poor results.

The expectations for Red Bull are very high since this will be their first car designed by Adrian Newey, and the engines are Renaults. I also expect them to move forward, but not a massive improvement. Mark Webber did well by moving out of the sinking Williams to this promising new team, but being faced by Coulthard is.. dangerous. David is a fairly strong driver, and if Mark beats him it won't necessarily mean his reputation will go up - it will be easy for everyone to say Coulthard is too old. Still, I expect Webber to come out on top.

As for Williams, it's always sad to see a former great team going downhill. Unfortunately, I can't forecast any future successes for them, unless something major happens. Their most direct opponents have good arguments to move forward, while Williams has.. customer Toyota engines. Nico should confirm his potential this season, but for that he needs to beat Wurz - a strong experienced driver, while not fantastic.

Toro Rosso should move up if they are allowed to run slightly modified Red Bulls, but I can't help but feel that there's something fishy with the team, especially given the delay on announcing the drivers. Will they need to go for a paydriver like Monteiro or Karthikeyan? I still expect Speed to pair Liuzzi - this is a pair of crazy young drivers who crash a lot, yet might be both under-rated in terms of raw pace.

Spyker are the team that gets the leftovers from the complete failure that was Midland, and they'll need to do a lot of work if they want not to be the dead last team. It's fairly unknown how fast Sutil really is, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him close to Albers.

Super Aguri, despite finishing last in the 2006 championship, can be said to have had a great debut year. They were racing with a 4 years old car, remember? And by the end of the year they were finishing in front of a lot other cars on merit. Obviously Honda's help is a big part on that, and if they're allowed to race with something very similar to Honda chassis', they should be quite strong. They say they're aiming for points this season. I don't think they "can" get points. I think they will!

This are only generic predictions, it's still very early to say anything with a good degree of certainty. Pre-season testing should make things a little bit clearer, but we will only know for sure how strong each team are in Melbourne.

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sempre contra a corrente do jogo

quote:

Originally posted by Cloud woooooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, 1st reply! Edit: This year will probably be my least fav since Schumi retired Edit2: Fuck you Alonso. Edit3: The new Mclaren looks good, Ferrari is ugly. Edit4: Great thread Paradork.

mine too... but cause of fucking raik going to ferrari :/

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quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On OOKA-OOKA ME NACHOS ME PRESS KEYS ON COMPUTER GOOD

quote:

Round 1 - 18th March - Australia, Melbourne

awwww

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No Suzuka No Imola Have the FIA gone mad?!?! Imola and Suzuka are two of the most entertaining circuits on the calender how can they forget the schumi-alonso battles in 05 and 06 at imola and suzuka's R30 300km/h corner???? Besides that Ferrari looks ugly but ive heard the car is a blinder. Mclaren looks good and quick too. As any Schumacher fan would be, it will be a bit sad not seeing Michael on the track might take a little while to get used to. Cant wait for MELBOURNE!!

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1934, 1938, 1982, 2006

Good to see Formula 1 without Michael Schumacher. Finally it's worth to watch again. Schumacher sucks.