Ferrari, McClaren or Williams ?

[fredman]

In 2004, of course.

 

[angelize56]

I think I'll use the write in vote. Take care. angel

Interesting this is your first post in six months. Welcome back!

 

[RSM123]

The Red Baron will do it again

 

[angelize56]

The pizza guy?

 

[pyritechips]

Huge F1 fan here.

I can't see any team dethroning Ferrari just yet. There have new rules enacted to reduce the level of spending and narrow the gap between Ferrari, Williams/McLaren, the midfield and the backmarkers. Ferrri and Schumy will be champ/champ again but they will not dominate as they did in 2002. I predict 12 Ferrari wins in 2003.

***Footnote***

I am absolutely disgusted that due to a "business decision" the best race track of the competition and arguably in the worls has been dropped from the schedule! A pox on Ecclestone, Mosely the FIA and the Concorde agreement!!!

 

[bigh47]

Can't see anything changing from last year. If Bernie/Max are serious about driver aids being withdrawn then maybe Ferrari (Micheal) may slip up. Shumi's major weakness has always been starting and that was effectively removed with launch control.
Any way the good news this side of the pond is that American Sports Network Channel (420 Sky) are showing live NASCAR starting with Busch clash(dash)? About bloody time.

Regards

Howard

 

[steamwiz]

Who cares ?

Since the FIA started bending over backwards to please ferrari, its become too predictable and too boring to watch

I mean, what other team could win a grand Prix while sat in the pit lane ?

steam

 

[pyritechips]

Who cares ?

I care. Just because one loudmouth "I can do anything" dominates the centre of attention at a party, I'm not about to deny myself the pleasure of the other attendees just to avoid him.

The best racing is rarely at the front of the pack anyway. For those people that can see only P1 I say they are not ready for F1. The best racing always takes place in the middle of the pack. Watch Fisichella scrap it out with Villeneuve. Watch Coulthard pull off a move on Frentzen. There's lots of good racing happening and I predict that it will be far more entertaining than last year also.

And odn't forget that this year there is one shot only at qualifying. Rarely does a driver make his best run on the first try. If Shumy or Montoya make one little slip off the kerb, you can see them back in 6th or 12th spot on the grid. No longer will you see the 2 of them up front every race and rocketing off into the distance. Imagine a Jordan and a Sauber on the front row. Only 6 weeks to the start of the season and I can't wait!

*Footnote*

I am a long time Ferrari fan. The unprofessional antics they pulled off last year was embarrasing and more harmful to F1 than them winning nearly every race. If they pull of similar stunts this year I will root for Renault and Minardi. Ferrari dominance isn't the greatest criticism of F1- team orders is.

 

[$teve]

i think skoda will surprise everyone

 

[Dark Star]

I'm looking forward to the new F1 season. I don't think were done with the "who had the race line" going into the first turn controversy.
I hope this year Williams reliability is somewhat improved and either way I still think that JPM is the better of the two drivers on the Williams team.
JPM did one hell of a job in the 2003 season, and all things being equal at Williams I think that we'll see more podium finishes for him this year.

Shumy....... what can you say? The guy is awesome. I don't personally like the guy but he's a great driver. He wins races and when Shumy has his Ferrari dialed in .... and that's pretty much all of the time, every time then "great" becomes "untouchable".

The best racing always takes place in the middle of the pack. Watch Fisichella scrap it out with Villeneuve. Watch Coulthard pull off a move on Frentzen.

Jim .... yeah ok fine .... I agree it's all heart pounding excellent wheel to wheel driving and all that good stuff.... but no matter how you slice the cake there's only 3 podium slots. Last year we got to see two red suits and some "other guy" standing up there with "them" as the rule and not the exception.

IMO guys like Fisichella and Villeneuve would fair out much better if they had a red car with a prancing horse under em.... otherwise they do what they can with what they have.... again the podium is only for the first, the second and the third place finishes.

I haven't looked at the F1 website yet so I'll ask this in here what's the deal with Jaguar? ... and will Toyota be a pretender or a contender?

DS

 

[pyritechips]

Jaguar can and will improve, but the entire feild improves somewhat so they won't see a dramatic placement improvement, probably just more points overall. Toyota had a first year somewhere between good and so-so. They are a big question mark right now. I don't see them improving very much.

Williams were very closr to challenging Ferrari except for 2 problems. They had poor aerodynamics for the corners and they had to "overclock" their engines to compete with the Ferraris. That caused a big reliability problem. I believe this year Williams and McLaren will narrow the gap to Ferrari.

 

[pyritechips]

Being a big F1 fan, I plan on posting here all season long, until the last race in Suzuka in October.

To start, I will post the driver lineup for this year. Retiring drivers: Mika Salo (Toyota) and Eddie Irvine (Jaguar). Eddie was an opinionated pain in the arse but quite the character on the grid! His type (along with Jean Alsei, my fave) seem to be a dying breed. The second seat for Jordan is yet to be filled.
<hr>
Ferrari :
01. M.Schumacher
02. R.Barrichello

Williams :
03. J-P.Montoya
04. R.Schumacher

McLaren :
05. D.Coulthard
06. K.Raikkonen

Renault :
07. J.Trulli
08. F.Alonso

Sauber :
09. N.Heidfeld
10. H-H.Frentzen

Jordan :
11. G.Fisichella
12. TBA

Jaguar :
14. M.Webber
15. A.Pizzonia

Bar :
16. J.Villeneuve
17. J.Button

Minardi :
18. J.Wilson
19. J.Verstappen

Toyota :
20. O.Panis
21. C.Da Matta

 

[pyritechips]

Austria 2002

Latest reports are indicating that Austria will have their contract cut early by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone after issues concerning tobacco advertising. The A1-Ring was scheduled to host the event until the 2006 season, however this year's event slotted in for the 18th of May will be the last time the F1 cars roar around the countryside as Ecclestone's decision is final.

"We'll be racing for the last time in Spielberg on 18 May this year, then it's over," the 72 year old told Kronen Zeitung. “We had a contract with Spielberg until 2006, but with an exit clause that's now come into effect. Austria's health minister is the one to blame because he agreed to bringing forward the ban on tobacco advertising."

Spa-Francorchamps recently lost its race due to the laws restricting tobacco advertising as well, leaving just 16 events on the 2003 calendar. However, there is no shortage of venues for next season with Bahrain and China set to join the fun, followed by Istanbul in 2005.

"In 2004, we're racing in Shanghai and Bahrain, 2005 in Istanbul, then in Russia. It's possible that we then only have five or six races in central Europe," Ecclestone added.

 

[cammi]

Ferrarri... but hopefully Williams and McLaren will do better this year

 

[pyritechips]

The new Ferrari 2003-GA. LIke last year, it will not run at the beginning of the season. Ferraris are at least a year ahead of the competition and they are confident that last year's model will compete with the competitions' newest challengers.

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