F1 2007

[Juan Powerblow]

Just thot of starting this thread to yak about the upcoming F1 2007 season as testing is well underway. From what I've heard, McLaren is leading the timesheets, Ferrari is fast but Kimi jinx is prevalent, the BMW seems mediocre again!, Honda is keeping very quiet, Renault may not be as dominant this year? and Super Aguri got new cars (again!). What's your take guys?!

 

[3er]

2/2 F1 NEWS: TOYOTA SHAKES WINTER TESTING ORDER.

Toyota upset the winter testing formbook at Valencia as Ralf Schumacher put its new TF107 car at the top of the timesheets on just its third full day of running.

On the first rain-free day at the Spanish circuit this week, the German knocked over a second off Fernando Alonso's best time of the week so far to head both Renault R27s by over 0.2s.

Schumacher had only driven the new Toyota on two previous occasions, which included a pre-launch shakedown test earlier this month, but underlined the team's impressive winter performances so far by powering to a 1m11.284s.

But despite his headline-grabbing performance, the 31-year-old is keeping things in perspective.

"We had a few minor issues today but in general it was a positive day," he said. "The car again felt good and I had the chance to work on set-up which seemed to go quite well."

 

[mini_jeff67]

I think it'll be Mclaren's year... if their cars can last the distance!

 

[chairoger]

BMW will prevail....

 

[Juan Powerblow]

BMW's press releases don't sound optimistic (again!). I dunno whether to construe that as being realistic or just plain modest. I hope it's the latter cos their powerplants are fine and they had a full year to revamp the chassis with new wind tunnel facilities. Besides, I alwiz thot Sauber was more aggresive in chassis innovation than Williams. Honda has been very quiet though.

 

[RedZ4]

I just wanted to say that Malaysia has Fauzy as a test driver for small F1 team called Super Aguri.
Not too shabby Mr.Fauzy... Good for you. Thats a way to get into the sport. I think starting out as a test driver and if he proves himself can work his way up as a second driver... much better way that our other Malaysian that was in F1.

 

[Silver]

Without Schumacher - the playing field is now level.... Would be interesting to see how Hamilton (McLaren) would compare vs his teamate - current world champion Alonso.

 

[kelvinp]

Well Kimi always brings his jinx along, he needs to be a lil' patient with his driving characteristics. Unlike alonso, who knows how to pamper his car in race conditions and set consistent lap times thru-out.

I strongly feel the mercedes-benz engine will suit Alonso's aggresiveness very well and we'll be seeing Ferrari limiting kimi's revs pretty frequent..

I can't wait!!

 

[supergripen]

I just wanted to say that Malaysia has Fauzy as a test driver for small F1 team called Super Aguri.
Not too shabby Mr.Fauzy... Good for you. Thats a way to get into the sport. I think starting out as a test driver and if he proves himself can work his way up as a second driver... much better way that our other Malaysian that was in F1.

i thought the SA team was renamed Team Spyker?? cuz saw the news today and Fairuz is the test driver for the team.Spyker is a dutch outfit that makes a very outlandish but fast supercar.my guess is a dutch will be their main driver..what's that fella's name? drives for the dutch A1 team.

 

[buddy]

I reckon it'd be a 2-horse race between Alonso and Kimi. Honda's pretty quiet but i'm sure they are not too far behind, it'd be interesting to see if Button eventually adds to his 1 GP win.
The 2007 McLaren and Ferrari looks fantastic by the way!!!

 

[ALBundy]

Alonso will win his third title in a Mclaren. Kimi will be pissed when he finds out the Ferrari is slower than the McLaren in 2007. And given the reported problems amongst the Ferrari technical persons, it will indeed be a difficult year given the departure of Schumi and a host of other stalwarts.

I think BMW Sauber,Honda and Renault will be challenging for the final podium position, given the fact that Renault is severely weakened by Alonso's departure. Just look at Fisi's results over the last couple of years in the Renault.

BMW Sauber could spring a suprise or two. Anyone remember when BMW re-entered F1 and by the third year they had the most powerful engine on the grid. Similarly based on their results, they are on the right track.

 

[fabianyee]

I just wanted to say that Malaysia has Fauzy as a test driver for small F1 team called Super Aguri.
Not too shabby Mr.Fauzy... Good for you. Thats a way to get into the sport. I think starting out as a test driver and if he proves himself can work his way up as a second driver... much better way that our other Malaysian that was in F1.

I do think that Alex was driving under too much pressure, didn't work well for him..
As for Fauzy, I thot he's the other Malaysian A1 team driver but didn't see much of him in action as Alex Yoong was the one behind the wheels most of the time.

 

[ALBundy]

Off topic,

The problem with Alex was he didnt have enough track time with a F1 car. And driving for Minardi wasnt helping either as they were too starved for cash in order to have enough testing programmes. At the end of his F1 career in his last race, Alex was matching Mark Webber in his lap times before a DNF. Alex isnt great, but he is not as bad as he is potrayed to be. Last season's Super Aguri second driver was a lot worse!

 

[pussy]

what about toyota.. the best budget than the other teams..

 

[supergripen]

i'll be supporting the BMW Sauber F1 team... don't matter if they win or not,just need to make a stand.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

i'll be supporting the BMW Sauber F1 team... don't matter if they win or not,just need to make a stand.

Yeah, me too! I admire their guts in re-entering this great sport, first as a partner to Williams, challenging for podium finishes in their 2nd year and then taking that even bigger step with Sauber! If they're successful this year, it would be well-deserved. This is so unlike the VW Group, despite their Porsche and Audi marques, are too chicken or skeddy kat to mount a challenge, afraid their face turn as red as Ferrari's challenger! Bah!!

 

[Zoggee]

and I still miss Mika Hakkinen.

 

[JDY]

I reckon ferrari would not do as well this season.Can't imagine them doing well without schumacher ... BMW has got some potential this season.Not too sure about Mclaren though...but their car looks awesome..anw i think this season is going to be one of the most exciting due to the fact that schumacher will not be there to hog the limelight ?.hahaha..its going to be a very fair season with more people having a realistic chance of winning the title .unlike previous seasons.

 

[ALBundy]

Massa: BMW ahead of Ferrari and McLaren

By Michele Lostia and Pablo ElizaldeFriday, February 9th 2007, 10:22 GMT

The BMW Sauber team are looking like the team to beat, judging by pre-season testing form ahead of the 2007 season.
That is the view of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who has been impressed with the German squad's performances with their new F1.07 car.
"The McLaren surely looks fast, but in my opinion the BMW Sauber is the best of all at the moment," Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I'm saying this by not just looking at the fastest time of this last day, but by seeing their consistency over their long run simulations.
"For me, the BMW Sauber at Valencia was impressive, and at Jerez they've done some very interesting tests too," added the Ferrari driver, who reckons BMW are ahead of Ferrari and McLaren so far.
"The McLaren is the fastest over a single lap, but as far as consistency is concerned the BMW is impressive even though they perhaps haven't the best reliability yet. For now I put them ahead of Ferrari and McLaren."
Despite his rivals' impressive form, Massa claims there is nothing to worry about, and he believes Ferrari are right where they expected to be at this point.
"We are in the situation we had expected," he added. "The car is demonstrating to be certainly quick and reliable too, even though we had some problems. However, we know how to solve them.
"We leave Jerez with some good things and some others not as good. The car is quick and there's nothing to worry about. We manage to easily do quick times and we are close to the guys who go faster at the moment."
The Brazilian admitted the rain that has hit this week's test at Jerez has hindered their preparations with the F2007 car, making next week's test at Barcelona crucial to get things right for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
"Saying it's a pain is an understatement," Massa said. "We came here to put miles in the car and to get to know it, but with the rain we aren't able to always complete the program: you can't push like in the dry, and you can't always understand whether the new things you are testing are working or not.
"Next week's test will be important for everyone. The car we are using now is very different to the one we'll use in Australia, at least aerodynamically. At Montmelo we'll begin to see some changes."