Thursday February 21, 2008

2008 F1 season review

A quick review of this years season. Ahead of mega rule changes in 2009, there are several for 2008: gearbox lifetime enforced, removal of traction control and standard ECU's are the main ones of interest.

Ferrari have to be the team to beat. They started testing their new car almost before anyone else and despite complaints about having to use their rivals ECU they have set blistering pace both on single lap and race distances.

Mclaren appear to be on the back foot having undertaken self imposed development restrictions on potential Ferrari based innovations that would have appeared on this years car. In testing they appear to be the second fastest team out there.

BMW Sauber have designs on race wins this year - I think they will be lucky to get one. They admit to be trying to understand and find the sweet spot of their new car and have even stuck on antlers on the front of the car to improve its aero. Guys it is not a reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh..

The surprise package could be the William's car. Embarrassing their engine supplier was the norm in 2007 and this year they are not far behind the top three.

Renault had a torrid year last year and if Alonso shows his true grit he ought to be able to put them on the front row if he is a good as he claims. The problem he has is another rookie teammate who was faster than Lewis on certain GP2 weekends, so he will need to watch our for that.. Lets hope Flav has put strong hinges on the of team Redgie's motorhomes..

Red Bull have the potential to do well but they need reliability. Their sister team should do ok with the same chassis ( but with different engines) with the two Sebs driving for them but their long term future is unclear if car cloning is stopped.

Honda hand over their miserable effort of a car (2007) to Super Aguri who have tried delaying its arrival and who are also struggling financially. Honda themselves with Ross Brawn should move forward up the grid but at the moment the car is not fast. It is predictable and there are rumours the tea might head for respectability for 2008 and tried and make a big step forward for the 2009 season when the big changes come in.

Force India the latest paint and owner change for the old Jordan team might well punch above the other F1 minnows but that will take time. Having Renault Renegade Fisi was a good decision and benchmark for their second driver.

Toyota - well the least said about them the better. At least they had the decency to sack their overpaid driver and employ one who will try and make some effort to score points. With no changes in personal or strategy I think they will remain where they are..