2007 Formula One Thread

[R.Youden]

See next post

[R.Youden]

Can a mod please delete the first post I am trying to edit it but I can't, thanks.

As I was saying; the teams are starting to unveil their cars, the main dates are as follows:

Renault Jan 24
Ferrari Jan 14
McLaren Jan 15
Honda Jan 25
BMW Jan 16
Toyota Jan 12
Williams Feb 2

How will the sport get on without Schumacher? Will Hamilton be able to cope with Alonso? Will Kimi finally get a car capable of finishing every race? Will Massa have a chance of the title? Can Button build on the second half of last year?

My predictions for the championship:

1. Raikkonen
2. Alonso
3. Button
4. Massa
5. Barrichello
6. Hamilton

I really don't see Renault being at the races this year. I am sure Kovalainen will prove to be a good long term replacement for Alonso, but not next year. I think Honda will push on (I am bound to say that arn't I!) and Barrichello will be more able to put pressure on Button which will only benefit the team and hopefully they will grab the odd win. Hamilton will do OK but I fear that the McLaren will do its usual firework displays! I think that Ferrari will just have the edge over everyone else and they will have a very reliable car that is just that little bit quicker.

What does everyone else think

[Jasonbot]

As much as Raikonen is my favourite driver I really feel that he's a traitor moving to ferrai and all. I'll always stick with my team, Mclaren, and that means I will seem ike one of the many ALonso fanboys which I'm not.

[R.Youden]

Originally Posted by Jasonbot

As much as Raikonen is my favourite driver I really feel that he's a traitor moving to ferrai and all. I'll always stick with my team, Mclaren, and that means I will seem ike one of the many ALonso fanboys which I'm not.

I think that Raikkonen is going to Ferrari to win. The problem is Ferrari win no matter what the cost (ie cheating) and McLaren think they have a divine right to win! I think that Renault did a great job with a great atitude and made a great car for Alonso, I just don't know if he will fit in there very well. Not many people move to McLaren and do well, thats why I think Hamilton will do well in the long run.

[Jasonbot]

Originally Posted by R.Youden

I think that Raikkonen is going to Ferrari to win. The problem is Ferrari win no matter what the cost (ie cheating) and McLaren think they have a divine right to win! I think that Renault did a great job with a great atitude and made a great car for Alonso, I just don't know if he will fit in there very well. Not many people move to McLaren and do well, thats why I think Hamilton will do well in the long run.

I hear you man. The only thing I wanna know about the thing about Ferrari cheating, honestly in the world of motorsport I don't see how that can be tolerated. I'm not sure but is it due to Mclaren's unrelibale car last year that made Kimi sort of flouder with the championship?

[R.Youden]

I can't really so too much on a public forum but it you want me to PM you just let me know...

[MacDonaldsd]

I think alonso will struggle if the mclaren is anything like it has been over the last couple of seasons.

I think Raikkonen will win the championship this year.

I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I think Button is over-rated.

[SpookTheHamster]

Originally Posted by MacDonaldsd

I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I think Button is over-rated.

Haha, just a little. How long did it take him to get a win?! And the ITV commentators still think the sun shines out of his arse.

[dllavaneras]

What's wrong with Ferrari? I haven't been keeping up with F1, but I'm still a fan. What's this about cheating?

[Warbrain]

I think the championship is a bit up for grabs amongst the teams that always contend. It's not a two-horse race like last year was.

[adk]

Originally Posted by Jasonbot

As much as Raikonen is my favourite driver I really feel that he's a traitor moving to ferrai and all. I'll always stick with my team, Mclaren, and that means I will seem ike one of the many ALonso fanboys which I'm not.

If you ran marathons well but your nike shoes fell apart somewhere around mile 20 every race, would you consider yourself to be a traitor for running in adidas shoes the next year?

[Jasonbot]

Originally Posted by adk

If you ran marathons well but your nike shoes fell apart somewhere around mile 20 every race, would you consider yourself to be a traitor for running in adidas shoes the next year?

Well if you were running for Team Nike+ for many years and they had a bad spate for a year or two I don't think you would just suddenly chenge. It's all about sticking with your team to the bitter ends!

[philbeeney]

My tip for the coming season would be Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber.

I think he had an incredible start to his career in 2006 and will continue to impress in 2007. Definitely top six contender.

[R.Youden]

Toyota are the first team to unveil their 2007 challenger:

They say, again, that 2007 will be the year they win their first race. One thing I find very interesting is that their side pod looks very similar to that of Honda, their arch rival, in terms of the chimney and the bat wing flick-up

[R.Youden]

Why all the Jenson bashing?

Why do people say he is over-rated? Who over-rates him? The media, and you believe what they say?

I have no doubt that Jenson has the capability to win the world drivers championship. All he needs is a car to match. No-one in modern Formula One can win the championship without a fast car, it is impossible. If, and when, Honda give him that car, he will win. He is committed, fast, reliable and has the backing of teh whole team. His only weakness is that maybe he struggles to keep a faster car behind him but that is not a huge issue.

I agree he isnt a Kimi or Alonso, but he is as good as anyone else out there.

[desenso]

Villeneuve is gone... Schumacher is gone... Irvine was gone long ago. The sport has no personalities left. All hail Alonso, the most boring champion of all time!

I think I'll be hitting the snooze button on Formula Snore this year.

[R.Youden]

Originally Posted by desenso

Villeneuve is gone... Schumacher is gone... Irvine was gone long ago. The sport has no personalities left. All hail Alonso, the most boring champion of all time!

I think I'll be hitting the snooze button on Formula Snore this year.

Imagine what it will be like when Kimi is champion! Everyone will think Alonso is Mr. Charisma!

[MacDonaldsd]

Button is over rated, yes its the medias fault.

Kimi and Alonso are a step above him.

I think id rather massa aswell.

[R.Youden]

See them here first...

The new Renault during a shake down at Silverstone prior to the launch in Spain next week:

They are running the wing mirrors on the side pods similar to Ferrari last year:

Sorry about the poor quality but at least you wont have seen them anywhere else.

[stuh84]

I'm tipping Alonso because I think he has a better mindset than Raikkonnen. Remember Nurburgring 2005 (I think it was Nurburgring anyway)? He drove round like a maniac, flat-spotted his tyre, and the vibrations broke his wheel off and he got no points. Thumbs up for determination, thumbs down for intelligence.

He has the if I don't come in first place I wont race mentality, and as we've seen with Alonso who's won TWO titles based upon consistency as well as wins, not a win or nothing approach.

No denying Raikkonnen is fast, and I would love to see him win because he does deserve a title, but I wouldn't be that surprised if he didn't either.

I am tipping Alonso for the treble.

[R.Youden]

Originally Posted by stuh84

I'm tipping Alonso because I think he has a better mindset than Raikkonnen. Remember Nurburgring 2005 (I think it was Nurburgring anyway)? He drove round like a maniac, flat-spotted his tyre, and the vibrations broke his wheel off and he got no points. Thumbs up for determination, thumbs down for intelligence.

He has the if I don't come in first place I wont race mentality, and as we've seen with Alonso who's won TWO titles based upon consistency as well as wins, not a win or nothing approach.

No denying Raikkonnen is fast, and I would love to see him win because he does deserve a title, but I wouldn't be that surprised if he didn't either.

I am tipping Alonso for the treble.

I agree with what you are saying, BUT in 2005 Kimi had 5 mechanical failures whilst leading races (inc. Nurburgring, in which he wanted to stop but the team told him to carry on). If he had finished reach of the races in the top three he would have been champion. I think with Ferrari next year he will have the most reliable car whilst McLaren will still be chasing its tail.

Should be great racing, I hope!

[iGav]

Originally Posted by R.Youden

The problem is Ferrari win no matter what the cost (ie cheating)

I think they pale in comparison to the stunts that Renault, Honda and Toyota have gotten away with over the last few seasons personally.

Renault employing illegal team orders for the past 2 seasons (caught on pit-to-car radio, or disgustingly blatant like at last years U.S. or Chinese GP's) also some observers have suggested that they've been employing at the very least a borderline launch control system when these have been banned for several years, which accounts for the fact that they can often start from several rows back, but end up 1st or 2nd come the first corner.

Honda... well we all know that they should've been kicked out of the sport after the "we did a full drain, it's completely empty, honest guv..." debacle of 2005, a system that they were also using in 2004 too.

And Toyota... well Toyota. They're real cheating bastards. Using the actual technical data of another team, in their windtunnel to design and develop their car, and then they refuse to return and delete the data. Toyota should've been handed an infinite ban from competing in ANY form of FIA sanctioned motorsport.

Anyway, the F2007 launched today.

That's one seriously tight rump.

Kimi... your title awaits you.

[R.Youden]

The new Ferrair does look a very good car, but I think that it what we expected.

The issues that you mentioned regarding cheating. It is well known that ever Formula One Team "cheats" but much of that is regarded as being part of the game. What annoyed a lot of people who worked inside the sport and one of the things that made me leave formula one was that Ferrari cheated whilst racing to take a 'slow' car and make it 'fast'. I dont mean any of that team order rubish. Teams should be allowed to do what they want, that is why we have a constructors championship. As for the Renault start system, it is just a very well designed car with a very well designed system, trust me

[iGav]

Originally Posted by R.Youden

What annoyed a lot of people who worked inside the sport and one of the things that made me leave formula one was that Ferrari cheated whilst racing to take a 'slow' car and make it 'fast'. I dont mean any of that team order rubish.

But I felt the way that it was originally implied, was that Ferrari were the only ones either cheating or willing to cheat to win. I agree that Ferrari are no angels, and are certainly more than capable of employing... shall we say 'dubious' behaviour and tactics for example.

But I think it's unfair to single them out alone, when AT LEAST the 4 big main teams are equally (if not more so) guilty of cheating. The worst culprits being Honda and Toyota for example. Honda knowingly ran there car underweight giving them a distinct advantage for over a season, Toyota design a car, based on ACTUAL technical data from another cars design.

Originally Posted by R.Youden

As for the Renault start system, it is just a very well designed car with a very well designed system, trust me

I've read all sorts... everything from a mechanical based system involving the clutch, to the rear weight bias of the R25 and R26 coupled with good low down torque from the Renault engine. One would have thought though, had the solution to their standing start performance being as obvious as that, that other teams would've employed similar solutions on their own cars, considering the current importance of on track position and the difficulty in overtaking on track. That the other teams couldn't... well, is odd.

They do have some form in including illegal launch control though.

[R.Youden]

The point about the lauch control is a difficult one. What is lauch control? We used to have a system where the driver activated the lauch control system by pressing a button on the wheel. This has been banned and from what I understand, not what Renault do, or did.

They have a very good car design which is based around good weight distribution and good engine design. From what I have worked out Renault initiate a "launch control" technique by pushing the car back on the grid prior to teh formation lap starting. This will then be combined with a launch sequence mapping for the gear box control so that the gearbox and engine work in a set way only for the first shift through the box. This is just a setting on the control system and I am almost 100% sure they dont have an automated shift sequence. Infact I was involved in some analysis a few years ago showing that they didnt and all gear shifts co-inside with driver shift commands.