Too early for '07 predictions?

I'm seriously feeling withdrawal about the season being over, so I thought I would make some predictions and give some thoughts about next year. I would love to read some of yours.

Renault: Obviously one of the best packages, if not the best. Impeccable reliability, as well as balance. Unfortunately, Alonso is gone. Fisico was never really able to get as much out of the car as Alonso did, but his experience will help the team as well as Kovalainen. Having said that, they will score enough points together to finish 2nd, possibly 3rd in the Constr. Ch., but neither will challenge for the Driv. Ch.

Ferrari: By far the best car in the second half of '06. Uncanny reliability(barring Japan and Brazil Q), fast as hell, and combined with the Bridgestones, practically unstoppable. In my eyes, they should be the favorite for the Constr. Ch. simply because they are a step ahead with the Bridgestones. But i think Kimi and Felipe will take too many points away from each other for either to win the drivers crown. If I had to choose, though, I would choose Felipe. He knows the car too well, even though Kimi drives like he was shot out of a cannon. The guy is incredible when he wants to be, and I'm definitely excited about seeing what he can do in the red car.

McLaren: This, for me, is a most difficult prediction. DaimlerChrysler recently proclaimed that McLaren must improve. Ronnie cannot tolerate another year like the last, and so the potential is there for magic, not to mention the world's number 1. But, and this is a pretty big but, the car has been a bit of a dog, and if the reliability isn't there, Nando may become unhappy, much like '06 when the championship was slipping away. That, in turn, may cause a downward spiral, but who knows. Prediction: Alonso finishes 2nd, possibly 3rd, the team finishes no better than 3rd.

Honda: Another unknown, but the bosses in Japan won't stand for more disappointment. I see Honda really making a push, and if the car is good, than both drivers should score a healthy number of points, if not a few wins between them. Barrichello has proven what he can do with a good car, and Button has finally gotten the monkey off his back. They should definitely be more respectable as a team next year.

To be continued, as I have to get back to work.

A little early but I'll play along.

Early in the season I think we'll see a strong push by Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, and Fisi to get as many points as possible while Alonso and Kimi are getting accustomed to their cars.

I would give the advantage to Ferrari because of their Bridgestone experience, but Massa has been fairly terrible in the wet. On the other hand Ferrari could also struggle a little bit because of the loss of the important leadership figures of Schu and Brawn, and the promotion of Todt. Kimi should begin to perform well around mid season, but will that be enough?

Renault seemed to have a strong package with Alonso, but Fisi struggled last year and Heikki's ability to win in F1 is unknown. Fisi didn't beat Massa last year and he is expected to be Renault's leader. He lacks the consistancy of an Alonso or Kimi.

Much like the last few years, McLaren has the driver, but will they have the car? Reliability could frustrate Alonso.

Honda has the most stability going into next year. They are the only high level team that has both of their drivers returning and they did well at the end of 06'. After the halfway point of the season Button really began to impress me. Hungary and Brazil were very good races for him.

BMW seems to be in very much the same situation as Honda. Two strong drivers coming off an excellent end of the year. They might not be able to win too many races, but I expect them to get more podiums then last year. Kubica could be the next great up and coming driver. I would love to see BMW do well this year, hopefully they will compete well with the likes of McLaren.

Toyota keeps throwing tons of money at F1 but can't break into the company of Honda, Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault. They seem to be just about the most mediocre team out there. Average drivers in an average car.

Part of me would like to see a split championship this year and I don't really know why. I will be rooting for Massa because he is more of a spiritual successor to Schumi then Kimi is and he is much more interesting and thankful to Ferrari and Schu. Kimi just hasn't won me over yet. I will also be cheering for Honda and BMW to beat McLaren and Renault.

These are really just shots in the dark and will probably change every other day

WCC-
Ferrari
Honda
Renault
BMW
McLaren

WDC-
Button
Kimi
Alonso

I'm up for a rant,

Renault - Not so good - The only reason they have been best for two years running was because the rules have pretty much catered for them. This includes engine mounting positions and dimension to do with the design of the vehicle. Its bloody hard designing something from scratch. Most other teams have spent all their time completely revising their cars to suit the new rules whereas Renault got it tailored to them (as admitted by John Hilton at an iMeche Presentation I went to) it were bloody funny. So everyone else has been playing catch up and by the looks of it look like they're gonna overtake Renault at some point soon. Hopefully next season because I hate them.

Maclaren - Now I really Hate this lot because Alonso went to them but with that multimillion pound National Grid sucking Wind tunnel of theirs (The National Grid has to be notified whenever they use the sucker because it draws so much energy) then you would think they'd catch up. They've been dogged with loads of failures and Rubbish performances. They lost someone to Red Bull and I think this is whats really hurting them.

Ferrari - Massa Proved he was a muppet for not taking out Alonso and everyone else that was in front of Schumacher. I admit I hate Schumacher but come on the guy won loads of races the best driver ever and should've won the last season it would've been genius. PS whoever moans that he's a cheat is a sore loser. They all cheat its called being a competitive thug induced rage and if you if you're all curtious who the heck are you trying to kid? People want to Win.

Honda - *SIGH* one of the biggest dissappointments WTH are the trying to do they need to crank up their game - their package is a dissaster and i still think their aerodynamics is up the creek. (side pods)

Toyota - WITH THAT MUCH MONEY HOW ARE THEY NOT WINNING RACES!! STOP HIRING PRODUCTION CAR PEOPLE (same thing happened with Ford and their F1 stuff) The head of engineering before i forgot his name and don't care for him was a muppet

Red Bull - Gonna have to say they are going to win its a matter of time they have poached all of the BEST engineers and are turning into a black hole of sucking all the engineering talent to them. They stopped improvements on their car ages ago to concentrate on next seasons car, I MEAN COME ON THEY THROW MONEY ALL OVER THE PLACE
Red Bull is insane and I love em


************************************************** ***
All opinions of race drivers expressed are consisting off:
They all suck the same amount,
they all worry too much about their own hair dos to properly care about anything else.
It doesn't matter what they do cuz a Great Driver in a bad car is not going to beat an Average Attention seeking whore of a Driver in a Brilliant Car as Magic isn't real its just ya brain too messed up on the smoke from burnt oil tyres and fuel.
Not to mention getting brake fluid all over the car running rich and then feeling really ill..........

Engineers working together with the driver to develop the car and reduce every single piece to give the best performance and the best package will win the day. (Money Helps)

: End Rant

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I'd be interested in what anyone else thinks

:)

PS: One other thing came out from that Seminar: If F1 teams spent as much money on Aerodynamics as they do on Engines (thanks to stupid manufacturers) the cars would be O SO Much faster.
:2cents: X Eleventy Billion


O I forgot about the tyres.......... meh they're all on the same rubber the only difference will be whoever picks the best set the stupid *NEW RANT*

It's really difficult to say how the teams are going to perform since this depends much on who can get the new Bridgestones to work. Bridgestone have a new, or more correctly, gone back to an old design which they have made some modifications to. This tire is designed to be about 2 seconds slower per lap, and no team has used these tires in the past.

As for Ferrari, how much wil they be affected by the departure of Jean Todt, Paolo Martinelli and Ross Brawn?

McLaren hasn't disclosed their second driver yet, but unless some miracle happen, I guess the seat goes to Lewis Hamilton

But as last year I expect the top three teams to be Renault, Ferrari and McLaren, but possibly not in that specific order.

To me Paffett looks more likely for that second Mac seat.

As for overall '07 predictions - Massa for champion! Or Kimi, doesn't really matter. That said, it's not so much a prediction as what I hope for.

To me Paffett looks more likely for that second Mac seat.

:icon16: :banghead:

It's been officially confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will be partnering Alonso at McLaren next season.

:icon16: :banghead:

It's been officially confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will be partnering Alonso at McLaren next season.

It's definitely an interesting move - wonder whether there was any 'political' motivation to it, if you follow my meaning.

YAY another british driver....
and whats so bad about a new driver =p

Tyre manufacturers have a massive array of different tyres that teams can choose from its not who can get used to the bridgestone time as so much who can pick the right one =p

If you follow the press releases, Bridgestone is only making one compound available to all teams through winter testing until Melbourne.

Based on that, teams aren't going to have much time to get to know all the different compounds and how they perform.
What they will be able to learn is how the different tread patterns perform when they are cut on the same compound - probably a greater learning advantage in the short term anyhow.

As a webber fan and a new member to this forum i'll throw my hat into the ring and say that Red Bull is going to be a mid to upper contender this year, maybe a few podiums and hopefully at least 1 win. i predict at Monaco. we'll see.

other than that, there is so much talent between Ferr, Ren and McLa that they will be hard to split, however, if forced to call i'd say raikkonen from alonso from massa. Ferrari to win constructors

As a webber fan and a new member to this forum i'll throw my hat into the ring and say that Red Bull is going to be a mid to upper contender this year, maybe a few podiums and hopefully at least 1 win. i predict at Monaco. we'll see.


Webber did look great at Monaco last year until his car failed on him. Red Bull could be a big suprise this year. Between DC and MW, they have as much talent as anybody and more experience then most. It will be interesting to see if they can compete with the manufacturer backed teams like Toyota and BMW.

As long as this season is wide open and competitive I'll be happy.

I think its going to be a very interesting year. So many new variables with driver switches and such. I really am anxious to see if Renault continues to impress. Ferrari seems to have made a commitment to a new start..I think they are going to be strong...if Kimi can stay focused which I think he will.