PastyHusty

I cant wait! I keep having dreams about F1 every few nights. They're weird.. in some most of the cars fail to finish the races because the new rules make them unreliable and in others there are lower teams winning all the time! I also often dream that I forget my predictions, lol.

ElectronicWorm

LOL *pets you*

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Nelson Piquet junior says he plans to be in Formula One within the next two years. The teenage son of three times world champion Nelson Piquet, who won the British Formula Three title last year, says only a disaster will prevent him from moving up to F1.

"These are going to be my last two years out of Formula One," added the 19-year-old, who makes his debut this season in the new GP2 series that supports Formula One and replaces Formula 3000 at grand prix weekends.

"My idea is try and win and then go right to F1. If I win the GP2 championship in the first or second year, the plan is to be in F1 the following season," he said.

His father added: "He is going to get to F1 if he's the right guy at the right time. It's possible that he wins the championship this year and there's no place available in F1. He's gaining experience." The 52-year-old former champion owns a share in the GP2 team but does not intend to shepherd his son's career for much longer.

"I've spent 12 years out of Brazil, and now I want to live here," he said. "We have been helping Nelsinho, but when he gets to F1, it's over. He'll be by himself."

Nelsinho has already tested for Williams in 2003 and 2004 and for BAR this year and despite having nothing concrete just yet, Piquet senior is reluctant to opt for the grid's minnows as an alternative.

"Regarding tests, there's nothing concrete. BAR is an option, it's a team which is growing and I would have a chance to learn," he said. "The problem with a small team like Jordan or Minardi is that you can't compete and you don't have many chances to test," he explained.

PastyHusty

Schumacher expects tougher year

Michael Schumacher says he is expecting a much tougher year in Formula One than his cruise to the title in 2004. The Ferrari star, who won 13 races last year, told the Sunday Times: "I'm sure it will be a much more difficult year. Firstly, it was unexpected for us to be much stronger than the others at the start of 2004, and whatever mistakes they made they probably won't repeat. At the same time, it has been very tough to get to where we are and we'd like to hold on. I believe we can."

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn believes that Schumacher will have to change his driving style to adapt to the sport's new rules. The Englishman was talking about a new requirement to use only one set of tyres for qualifying and an entire race, rather than changing tyres several times a race. "One thing Michael does supremely is drive in stints - say, 20 laps flat out, then come in and change the tyres and start again," Brawn said. "This year, with only being allowed one set of tyres per race, he'll have to adapt. What's interesting is that he has always been harder on tyres than Rubens [Barrichello, his team-mate], so he's going to have to be much more measured."

Schumacher has previously said that Ferrari's decision to start the 2005 season with an updated version of last year's car could also hinder them initially. Ferrari believe they will benefit from the reliability of a proven car in the early races, while their rivals are learning about their new machines. They will also have more time to develop their definitive 2005 model, which is scheduled to make its debut at the fifth race of the season in May.


Where the updated Ferrari is likely to have an advantage in reliability, it seems to have a slight lack in speed compared to McLaren and Renault so far in testing - although we all know testing can be a bit of a flase image.

However stupid some of the new rules may be, I'm hoping it'll make 2005 a very interesting season.

PastyHusty

Two bits of news from today:

* McLaren are going to be sponsored by drinks giant Diageo, who will use the team to promote Johnnie Walker Whisky. The team will carry this brand name from the Turkish GP (21st August) onwards.

* Williams expect a slow start to their 2005 season. They've run into a few problems with the F27 in pre-season testing and say it won't be fast enough to win races just yet. They're confident of being reasonably competitive, but just not enough to be ahead of Renault, McLaren or Ferrari - which is kinda what I expected anyway.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Firstly firstly sponsored by cigarette manufacturers and now drink companies.

PastyHusty

10 reasons why Michael Schumacher won't win the title this season!

1 - Ferrari are using an updated version of their 2004 car for the first four GPs - which was already showing signs of age at the end of last season, when Williams and McLaren fought out the final race with Ferrari nowhere.

2 - At 36, Schumacher is F1's oldest driver. In the last two years he has shown several moments of weakness, including the odd weekend that can only be described as abject. Even great drivers lose it one day.

3 - Michelin - which supplies McLaren, Williams, Renault and BAR - had a better qualifying tyre than Ferrari's supplier Bridgestone in 2004, and a more durable race tyre. So the "big four" challengers may have a rubber advantage under the new, long distance tyre rules, particularly as Michelin will have so much more race data to work with than their rival.

4 - McLaren have their strongest driver line-up in years. While partnering Kimi Raikkonen with Juan Pablo Montoya will doubtless create a few headaches, their intense rivalry seems sure to push the team to a higher level.

5 - The last time there was a major set of rule changes in F1 (1998), Ferrari were left standing by McLaren, whose technical director Adrian Newey understood the required changes better than anyone. After years of McLaren underachievement, Newey, who is expected to take a break when his contract runs out in July, is determined to go out on a high.

6 - The end of the "Schumacher superteam" is in sight. Ferrari's chief designer Rory Byrne (who, like Ross Brawn, has been a part of all seven of the German's world titles) is retiring in 2006 and has left the design of the latest car to his lieutenant, Aldo Costa. And Schumacher may also quit next season - which, as Sir Alex Ferguson and Tony Blair have already discovered, can affect a winning team's focus.

7 - The last time Michael S did not win the world title there was a royal wedding (Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones), a London football team caused a stink by fielding the first all-foreign team in the Premiership (now it is the entire squad), and there was a notable female sea-faring achievement when Tori Murden became the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. Spooky or what?

8 - The end of Schumacher's winning run is written in the stars. According to Hindu Vedic astrology, Capricorns will experience humility and a loss of respect at the end of 2005.

9 - Er... could you give me a few moments?

10 - A 36-year-old German with a dubious taste in leisure wear has never won the title in the Chinese year of the rooster. We think.

Source: The Guardian

They also have 10 reasons why Schumacher will win the title this season, for those of you who want 2005 to be the same as 2000-2004.

EliteHorse

You're pathetic.

I should find my Ferrari hat. It's around here somewhere.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Why not print the good reasons then? Its better to be fair.

PastyHusty

10 reasons why Michael Schumacher will win the title this season!

1 - Ferrari are the richest team with the biggest resources and the best facilities. They have won the constructors' title for the last six years (a record) and Michael Schumacher has won the drivers' title for the last five (a record). They get the biggest slice of the teams' rights money because of their success. They get more money on top of that just for being Ferrari. The key staff are all still in place. How many more reasons do you need?

2 - In his sporting and technical directors Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, Schumacher is backed by two of the best organisational brains ever to have graced a pit wall. Together they have worked the ultimate miracle (short of sorting out our postal system) by making Ferrari focused and efficient.

3 - The champions are not introducing their new car until the fifth grand prix, guaranteeing maximum reliability and so points scoring potential during the traditionally unreliable early races. It should also ensure Ferrari have the best possible understanding of 2005's dramatic new engine, tyre and aerodynamic rules.

4 - ... And besides, major rule changes always play into the hands of the richest teams, who can devote most resources to finding the best possible technical solutions.

5 - Ferrari are the only top team using Bridgestone rubber, ensuring their car and tyres have been specifically designed to suit each other without compromise.

6 - The new rules requiring one set of tyres to last for both qualifying and the race will put the onus on drivers with sensitivity and intelligence. In these areas, as so many others, Schumacher is peerless.

7 - Ferrari have refused to heed their rivals' calls to cut costs by limiting testing in 2005. So, while the other teams are voluntarily doing only 40 days of on-track development work outside races, the scuderia will do as many as they like.

8 - Ferrari recently outmanoeuvred their rivals by signing a unilateral £60m extension to their contract with F1 rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, further enhancing their political and financial stability.

9 - Expected biggest rivals McLaren have been busy shooting themselves in the foot. One driver, Kimi Raikkonen, has twice been the subject of the sort of tabloid allegations that have never been made about clean-living Mikey. And the Finn's new team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya, has been surprised to discover that his former bosses at Williams were not wrong when they suggested he was not fit enough.

10 - He's German and he's brilliant, OK?


Both sets of reasons have merit IMO..


You're strange.

Ooops.. I fed your Ferrari hat to the gerbils..