Here are my picks for this season 1 Ferrari 2 Williams BMW 3 McLaren 4 Renault 5 Toyota 6 Sauber 7 BAR 8 Jaguar 9 Jordan 10 Minardi Ok everyone lets chime in with your picks and see who has the most accurate crystal ball at the end of the season
Cool thread Rob. 1) Williams 2) Ferrari 3) Mc Laren 4) Renault 5) Toyota 6) Sauber 7) Jaguar 8) BAR 9) Jordan 10) Minardi Do I loose my FChat access after this post? The cool thing is, as a Moderator I can always come back here and fix my tip at any time, hehe.
Can't resist getting in on this thread.......must fight the urge......Darn it. I am a little surprised that most of you seem to have counted out McLaren as they appear to be rank lower within the big three overall. I actually thinks McLaren will finish ahead of Williams as I think they have a better theam overall, with better pit crew, better race planning, and with a whole year to develop MP4/19, the car is going to be hard to beat, especially with Adrian Newy on board there. I think team Ferrari and team Mclaren knows how and also, can win the WCC with a not so perfect car as to Williams, their WC so far I think, has always been with superior cars. I would love to hear what you guys think about this. And, what do you think about the WDC? I think DC is going to be more of a role racer as RB is at Ferrari. I think they are both GP winners, but not WDC caliber drivers. JPM is fast, but needs to learn how to be fast and at the same time, save his car. To me, he is more like Mansell, hell of a driver but a little lacking in the poise department. KR on the other hand, as young as he may be, he has been really impressive, to my untrained eyes that is. Even know he is not there yet but I think he is more along the lines of drivers such Prost, Senna and MS. These driver knows how to finish races even if the car is not set up properly or has developed problems during a race. I think it will be a close fight between MS, KR, JPM and maybe even RS.
I fully agree Anthony. I was actually struggling and thinking, whether McLaren should be #1, Williams #2 and Ferrari #3. From testing it looks like the Mc Laren is blazingly fast. However I consider the Williams a quantum leap in aero advancement. But yes, Mc Laren could be ahead of Ferrari, hard to say. As far as the drivers are concerned, I think it will be a battle between JPM, Ralf, Kimi and Michael. I don't see Rubens in that picture, unless Michael gets hurt. Williams might end up hurting in the WDC because they don't favor one driver. If they'd be operating like Ferrari or McLaren, I'd pick one of their drivers as champion (hard to say whom).
Mclaren and KR scare me going into this season. I think they will be very hard to beat. Ferrari and Williams have their work ahead of them. But Ferrari all the way!
1. Ferrari 2. Williams BMW 3. McLaren 4. Renault 5. Jordan 6. Sauber 7. Jaguar 8. Toyota 9. BAR 10. Minardi
I am still not sure if the Williams are truly so far ahead of the field, to me, their cars are all cosmetic until proven otherwise. So we will see about that. Part of the reason I am not picking Williams right off the gate is, not only due to my pathological dislike of BMWs is that their driver line-up will only work if the FW26 is way ahead of the rest. I just don't think JPM and RS knows how to nurse an ill-handling cars on an off-day. If the season turns into a dog-fight for the WCC and WDC, I think Ferrari and McLaren has the advantages in their camps. Also, this year may be different, but in the past, if there is any intimate GTG for the front runners during a race, you can almost bet that JPM is one of them. It it wasn't MS and JPM, then it will be either KR and JPM, JPM and RB, JPM and RS and even JPM and JPM. Therefore, I think team Williams has more of a likehood to self-destruct than the other top teams. Don't get me wrong, I like JPM and was actually hoping that he will go to Ferrari in 2005 and team with MS, as it seems impossible for Ferrari to lure KR away from McLaren. Anyway, I think if Williams wins it this year, it is due to their talented designers of the car, not as much as due to the team or the drivers. On the other hand, I feel McLaren is more on par with Ferrari in a overall team perspective. As they are more cohesive, more united and have more patience to develop and iron out the rough edges or issues.
1. McLaren: I think Mclaren have their act together now and when they do...watch out. Plus, with a sole focus on Kimi... 2. Ferrari: I think Bridgestone will let them down again, and not dominating as before will cause the team and Michael to lose their way and focus (look at the last parts of the 2003 season...) 3. Williams BMW: I think too much in-fighting (both on and off track) will go on which will lose points 4. Renault: If their new engine is good, maybe even third place 5. BAR: Wildcard, if the Honda engine stays together 6. Sauber: Even with Ferrari backing I don't think their act is together enough for a higher position 7. Toyota: I think the chassis may still be too conservative (good engine?) 8. Jaguar (I still haven't heard a good optimistic word from ANYONE in the team, what a shame, I want them to place higher) 9. Jordan (A team who definately lost their way...) 10. Minardi: Hell hasn't frozen over yet so backmarkers will be backmarkers. I wish March would hurry up though, after the great last season I can't wait! -Kevin
Good analysis (with the exception of BAR, I think you overrate them). Not sure I like my own list or yours better. My problem with Mc Laren is, that they tested in seclusion from the rests of the teams which makes comparisons quite hard. But you might have found the crystal ball.
I think my only reservation in my analysis between picks for the two top teams(Mclaren and Ferrari) would actually be Raikkonen's fitness level. I think if the Mclaren and Ferrari are close in terms of speed and driving ease, I think I would give the nod to Schumi. I think Raikkonen had to push very hard last season to keep the car competitive (Schumi too) as both cars had flaws, Mclaren old-tech, Ferrari-B'stones, but Shumacher could do it the whole race distance, whereas Raikkonen always fell off around 3/4 distance and would get passed or could not charge up the field, and it was always blamed on "a bad set of tires". I think it was actually his fitness level, and his resulting loss of ability to hold the car at the ragged edge and getting sloppy. Although, I have read he is very fit, he alway looks like a truck ran him over at the end of the race. Whereas drivers like DC and Schumi look like they have only driven around the block. I think Schumi has the ability to go all out for the whole race if he and Kimi are battling for the lead, whereas Kimi??? I think Kimi must learn, as Senna eventually did, and Schumacher does, that this is a BIG key to winning races when the playing field of top cars is more equalized. -Kevin
1. Ferrari: have to stay loyal to the scuderia...FORZA FERRARI!!!! 2. Mclaren: mainly because of KR 3. Renault: the team/car are running well and FA is full of confidence 4. Williams: Like mentioned before...RS and JPM can't stand one another..will be trouble if things don't go right. 5. BAR: time for Honda to shine 6. Toyota: should be a good toss between the japanese giants 7. Sauber: if BAR or Toy falter they could give a pleasant surprise 8. Jordan: can't make up their minds on drivers, will cost them dearly 9. Jaguar: hopeless...not even MW occasional brilliance can save them 10.Minardi: lots of repect for the little guys...hopefully, they'll pass Jaguar and jordan!!!
ok let's see, without looking at anyone else's posts... 1. Ferrari 2. BMW 3. Renault 4. Mclaren 5. BAR 6. Sauber 7. Jaguar 8. Toyota 9. Jordan 10. Minardi
Let's see... 1. FERRARI 2. Minardi 3. Toyota 4. Sauber 5. BAR 6. Renault 7. Jaguar 8. Jordan 9. McLaren-Mercedes 10. Williams-BMW Mmm, that won't be it The next one is 4 real. 1. FERRARI 2. McLaren-Mercedes 3. Renault 4. Williams-BMW 5. Toyota 6. Sauber 7. Jaguar 8. Jordan 9. BAR 10. Minardi
For makes points (e.g. team points): 1. McLaren 2. Ferrari 3. Williams 4. Renault 5. Jaguar 6. Sauber 7. Toyota 8. Jordan 9. BAR 10. Minardi I suspect MS will still get the top individual points, but unless Rubens got a heckuva rabbits foot for xmas, ...
What is really funny about these predictions, actual sad for some, is that Jaguar and Jordon SUCK in both!!!!! , hahaha Pete
Guys Im terribly sorry as Im sure the topic has been covered, but do you think that Ferrari's strategy may have been to make aerodyn improvements because of the durability of a proven design otherwise? Arent the rules different this year (Im no expert) in that as the whole weekend needs to make the engine last, thus improve durability quite a bit eh? I think ferrari is the winner this year, it just feels right with Shuey still racing.
1. Williams 2. Ferrari 3. Renault 4. McLaren 5. BAR 6. Sauber 7. Toyota 8. Jaguar 9. Jordan 10. Minardi
1 Ferrari 2 McLaren 3 Renault<--------- Hope 4 Williams BMW 5 Jaguar 6 Jordan 7 Sauber 8 BAR 9 Toyota 10 Minardi