Well, the Schumi era has come and gone in F1, and now, it's all about the young bloods (or can the "geezers" like Coulthard and Fisi pull some tricks out of the bag?)

Here are what the teams are gonna look like for 2007:

Renault
Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy)
Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)
Felipe Massa (Brazil)

McLAren
Fernando Alonso (Spain)
Lewis Hamilton (Britain)

Honda
Rubens Barrichello (Brazil)
Jenson Button (UK)

BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld (Germany)
Robert Kubica (Poland)

Toyota
Jarno Trulli (Italy)
Ralf Schumacher (Germany)

Red Bull Racing
David Coulthard (UK)
Mark Webber (Australia)

Williams
Alex Wurz (Austria)
Nico Rosberg (Germany)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
(Drivers are to be confirmed)

Possibilities:

Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy)
Scott Speed (USA)
Neel Jani (Switzerland)

Spyker
Christijan Albers (Netherlands) - Confirmed

Possibilities for the second driver's seat:

Tiago Monteiro (Portugal)
Christian Klien (Austria)

Super Aguri
Takuma Sato (Japan)
Anthony Davidson (UK)

What I am interested in is seeing how the McLaren holds up in terms of reliability. Also, there is no longer a tyre war, since Bridgestone is the sole tyre supplier. Will this also play a major role in terms of performance, considering that teams like Ferrari have been on Stones for all these years, while teams like McLaren now need to adapt to a new tyre?

Lewis Hailton. With the pre-season testing, he has been the fastest driver, but is he gonna turn out to be another Jenson Button, and come into F1 with a lot of hype, and fail to really make a major impact?

This will also be the make or break year for Fisichella. If the veteran is once again gonna be upstaged by a younger, less experience driver, then he can kiss his seat at Renault goodbye.

Kimi, Kimi, Kimi. He should have had the title of world champion already, but sadly, the McLaren just couldnt live up to being a championship car. Now the bastard has moved over to Ferrari, and I am now FORCED to support a driver of the red car. BUT, this Ferrari team is not gonna be the same dream team Schumi prospered in. Jean Todt will not be as active in F1 as hge used to be, and isn't Ross Braun still gonna take a sabbatical. Well, in a still undefined role though, Schumi will still be keeping an eye on things at Ferrari - although that could only be remotely from his castle in Austria. And let's not forget that young Felipe Massa has also had the taste of victory, and will not just roll over the way he did for Schumi, so Kimi has his work cut out for him.

I am also keen to see if Robert Kubica will be able to shine more this year, starting out as a driver right from the beginning of the season.

Here is the calander for next year's races:

Will be interesting to see the rookies in action.

I think the team to watch out for will be McLaren. We'll have to wait and see if my prediction is correct or not.

This year's GP is going to be a great one to watch... most likely no clear cut winners but the team with the most reliable car would most likely come out tops... lets see how renault performs this year... hopefully ferrari won't be going down the toilet after Jean Todt decided to play a less active role

I had a dream last night.

Massa got injured in the off season... Schumacher said he would drive again until Massa was fit again but ended up racing the rest of the season.

Now I am not a Schumacer fan, I just can't imagine him not being there....

Anyways it should be an interesting, I don't know how entertaining it will be, but it should be interesting.

One gets used to it... ala Senna.


As a McLaren fan, I can only hope that the drought ends.

You can always support Kimi, and McLaren. If Kimi wins all the races and the McLarens come 2nd and third the whole season, and Massa does nothing, you could have the best of both worlds Lobo.

Ja no, cyfer, I am gonna be supporting Kimi AND McLaren this coming season... just gonne be tough.

Wtf do I do in a situation where Kimi and Alonso/Hamilton are going for first place in a race? On the one hand, Kimi should have kicked Alonso's ass last year, had it not been for reliability, so he deserves to be a champ, but on the other hand, Alonso/Hamilton are driving for my team... and on another hand, Alonso is already a double world champion...

For me it would be relatively easy. Kimi must win. I support the driver before the team. Second can be Hamilton, and Alonso can be 3rd. For me though, I would prefer it if Alonso would crash out. I don't like him.

I am rather one for supporting a team than a specific driver.

I support Williams, but with them being predictably nowhere, i am not as excited as i should be for the coming season.

Has F1 become a sport for the fan or the enthusiast? I wonder how many new fans F1 generates each year. I know for a fact that my interest has waned a bit. It will be interesting to see how Alonso does in the McLaren.

Sadly, it is more a sport for the fan. The enthusiast wants to see the cars go faster and faster, whereas these punks from the FIA have speed restrictions in place. I mean, they are gonna be using the same engines for the next four years if I am not mistaken.

That's from 2008, i think. Next year is the last year they are allowed engine development.

I am really looking forward to the 2007 F1 season. Ever since I first started watching F1 with my dad way back in 1993, I've been hooked. For me, Schumacher (equals) F1. He was the only reason I watched every Sunday. Now that he's no longer a driver, I thought that my interest in F1 would wane, but not so.
I've taken a liking recently to Kimi (The unluckiest man in Formula 1). He should have been champ last year, but, for breakdowns and tire issues.
I'm also keen on seeing how Alonso deals with no longer having the most reliable car in the field.
Roll on the circus....

You are pretty much correct about the engine. They may change it some other engine that runs off different fuels though. That could be pretty exciting.

I am so excited about this season, its going to be a ripper.

Interview with Kimi: http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_new...es_art_id=30259

Reading that article makes me wonder how Alonso is going to fit in with McLaren. It sounds as though Kimi is enjoying his time at Ferarri more already. Then again, he could just be saying that. I think it is going to be one of the best seasons yet. I may actually get excited about a race or two...

Fantastic!
I love Kimi, but I hate McLaren, and I love Ferrari!
Couldn't be better for me

Im also glad the Rubens has been given a little time in his own spotlight.

Cyfer: you haven't said who you like ....

Being a Ferrari supporter it is a toss up for me between Kimi and Massa.

Kimi is a good driver but has not really excelled as well as he could have and lacks the personality to become a real icon, Massa on the other hand is also very good (already with a win) but is much newer to the sport and with habits like wearing the same underwear all weekend I am not sure his icon status would be in a good way.

I have said it a few times. I don't support anyone since Senna left the sport. I do however support anyone that is beating Alonso, and now renault, seeing as I can't stand Briatore.

Can I jump on the bandwagon, and lets create a "I don't like Alonso!" club?

Great. You and I are members already. Anyone else care to join our club. I suspect that CyberStorm may also want to join.

Don't let cyberstorm anywhere near the club
He has killed me twice now

urm guys wrong section...

No it isn't. We are making a HATE ALONSO CLUB. This is the correct section Fishfly.

IM IN, where do I sign up for my sniper rifle and anti Alonso camo?

You just did. away good man.

Looks like the club is growing fast!

Maybe Ill have a small offshoot branch, called the Hate Montoya club! Anyone with me?

Why hate him. He left formula 1. We did our job well.

Oh, was there a club already? Damn, I missed out

I think the club was :I love Montoya. It was a small club...

Only one member? With a death wish?

Bah, Monty was awesome when he first appeared in F1. PIty that he sorta got so lazy towards to end of his F1 career

+1 to the anti-alonso club! I cant stand that spanish fool!

Sorry, gitano! But you just had to die!

I used to be a fan of Montoya's once upon a time - He had a very likeable quality - In recent seasons though he has become a bit arrogant.

He was exciting to watch in his first season, maybe 2. After that it was more exciting to watch a snail go around a race track. Quicker as well.

True. But his car also gave up on him many times.

That being said, his crazy overtaking antics also contributed greatly to his numerous non-finishes!

I think he finished one race that whole season, fool crashed almost every time. His car gave out on him once or maybe twice but the rest of the time it was all him!

So Alonso did some testing in this years car...



Hmm... Already they having problems. haha hopefully they carry on during the season, just so Alonso doesn't win the championship.

Not a hell of a lot faster than that Sauber. Wonder how the rest of the fields will compare, esp that rad car.

Lol:



Source

Hehehe. This is something that I am looking forward to - seeing how the Ferrari engine withstands Kimi's hard ride.

Ferrari will build their car around Kimi. They are good at that.

Thats right.
Mosty teams have a one size fits all approach to car building. Not ferrari!

Kimi's car will be built to his strengths!!

The only issue i have with this is that i expect them to do the same for Massa. I somehow doubt that

You never quiet know with Ferrari. When Schumacher was with Ferrari, he would give the engineers huge amounts of information while he drove around the track. He would constantly monitor how the car was performing, where he thought he could gain extra time, where he made mistakes, try to determine the best line to take round the track and a hundred other things.

Using this information, Ferrari were able to give MSC a car that was almost tailor made to his driving style.
The car was setup with mountains of input from MSC.

Barrichello had much the same and was also instrumental in setting up the car to his unique abilities.

I dont think that Ferrari would not do the same for Massa. If anything, his time with MSC as his partner would have given his valuable insight into how the Schumacher machine operates and I'm quite certain that he would be using this same "tailor made approach" today!

Oh.. also, there is no longer a preferred driver at Ferrari, Kimi has stated that he will not be a No. 2 driver to anybody!

So both Kimi and Massa should both have the same privileges at Ferrari!!!!

So in essence, even though both cars have exactly the same components in them, they were both unique!!

I hope that Massa wont adopt the same selfish/paranoid tactics though. Schumi wouldnt allow his team mates to see his data, but it was ok for him to see wtf his team mates were up to (or that is how the story goes).

I was gonna say just that Lobo

What's good for the goose is good for the gander...

The MSC rumours have been doing the rounds for years.

I must admit, I hadn't heard this one before!!

If this was indeed the case with MSC then I sincererly hope that Massa won't do things the same way!

I am really looking forward to watching Kimi and Massa fight it out this season!

Be amazing to see a Ferrari 1-2 in the championship!

lol, what rock you been hiding under

I'd love nothing more!!!!!