The season starts in ten days precisely. The opener is back to Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. The title contention however is likely to boil down to two teams, Mclaren; the favourites and Ferrari; the underdogs. Renault, the reigning world champions will be the best of the rest, along with Honda. Apart from this we have Williams, BMW and Red Bull racing to look forward to. However, this year’s title looks likely to be a close fought contest between two teams and three drivers, the men being Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa and Mclaren’s Fernando Alonso, the current World Champion.
Mclaren are clearly the title favourites, this season for a lot of reasons. To begin with, they have managed to rope in the World Champion driver, which they failed to do a decade ago, when Schumi was up for grabs. Having the car bearing the number 1 on its nose cone adds a lot to the team morale. Alonso brings with him the Latin flavour and the expectations of a champion, who has fought Schumacher to two titles and ended up winning, which I believe are necessary to push Mclaren to performance. They also have in their ranks, Lewis Hamilton only 22 years old, whose skills in the junior levels of racing have been spectacular. Certainly one debut I am looking forward to personally. However, the fact that he is English and the English media’s nasty reputation for meting out extreme treatment to its stars will be a factor to watch out. What also makes me sceptical is the way Nico Roseberg made his debut and where he ended up, last season. The best part for Hamilton is that he is in the hands of Ron Dennis, who at one time handled the volatile driver combination of former World Champion drivers, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. What also remains to be seen is whether Hamilton be given status of a contender or will he play second fiddle to champ Alonso. Both Mclaren and Engine suppliers Mercedes Benz will be entering this season without a win the previous one.
The sensitive topic of Mercedes Benz brings me to another question, one that talks of reliability. In recent years, it is clearly evident that reliability is the single greatest factor that can make or break a season. The glaring example was in 2006, when Alonso had an unassailable lead of 25 points over Michael Schumacher and the way he fought back, thanks to Ferrari’s reliability and lost the plot in the penultimate race at Suzuka, again due to Ferrari reliability or the lack of it. Mclaren’s reliability was questionable in 2005, where they had their best shot at title and lost narrowly and bitterly to Renault. FIA’s move to freeze engine development is not doing any of the big boys any good. Nor is the switch to a single tyre manufacturer. What the new tyre regulation does is that it takes a critical variable from the big championship equation, making life more predictable on the track. Formula One is no fun when it’s so transparent. This rule also has the potential of working against Mclaren who over the last few seasons have developed their cars to adapt to the behaviour of Michelins.
To sum it all up for Mclaren, positives are, World Champion Alonso and car numbered 1, an equally hungry engine supplier, Ron Dennis’ vision and talented and youthful Hamilton for backup. Negatives are, Hamilton’s lack of experience, British press, and Bridgestone tyres. Reliability is a neutral factor and can swing in any way.
What they have in their favour are, presence of Jean Todt higher up the ranks, watching over the proceedings and the expertise of Schumacher, whose role is still to be defined. They also hold a trump card as far as the tyre war goes. The scarlet chariots have always been shod on Bridgestones and the last five double titles owe a lot of gratitude to the Japanese tyre manufacturer. Nigel Stepney is still around in an elevated position, which without doubt is good news.
In Ice cool Kimi and fiery hot Felipe, they have potentially the best driver line up on the grid. On paper this line up looks perfect. It is very similar to winning rivalries in the recent past such as Prost & Senna, Kimi & Montoya, Schumacher, Massa and Schumacher & Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher & Montoya and of course Alsonso & Fisichella. A combination of a predominantly European driver and a predominantly South American driver, with the exception being Alonso, who is Spanish. Such a combination has produced some fantastic races and rivalries in the past combined with some brilliant examples of teamwork and driver coordination.
In the past, Schumacher’s place at Ferrari was taken for granted and all other drivers were there to assist him. Now there is a change of guard at Ferrari, where neither Massa nor Raikkonen can take his place as title contender for granted. They will have to fight it out hard and fair to establish superiority on the grid and in the team. Massa, being the cheerful, approachable and more importantly already the established driver with in the inner circles of the team, will certainly be a favourite in the team garage. What Raikkonen will have to do is to simply display commitment for the common cause by being warmer, friendlier and more approachable. True, Schumacher could carry, being rough, arrogant and ruthless, but with his teammates he was always gentle, polite and one of the lads. So Kimi has his task cut out. He has to deliver, crush the ice and be a little more approachable by the team. Massa on the other hand has to keep his momentum going and not be fazed by the arrival of Raikkonen, the star from Mclaren.
To sum it all up, Ferrari have the best driver line up, bridgestone tyres and an unquestionable reliability. What they need to focus on is channelling the new leadership, keeping driver rivalry at a tolerable and mutually complimenting level and getting used to the fact that they do not have Schumacher, Brawn and Todt as quickly as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment