Calls for 2007 pre-season predictions

[<T-K>]

From underneath??

From a safe distance for one.

Is there such a thing?

[gkaytaz]

From underneath??

From a safe distance for one.

Is there such a thing?

A continent inbetween oughta do the trick

[Southernman]

My top ten drivers.

Raikkonen
Alonso
Massa
Fisichella
Barrichello
Kovalainen
Button
Hamilton
Trulli
Kubica

[gkaytaz]

My top ten drivers.

Raikkonen
Alonso
Massa
Fisichella
Barrichello
Kovalainen
Button
Hamilton
Trulli
Kubica

Trulli? Dude, these are predictions for points standings, not qualis

[Southernman]

IMHO Trulli is a better driver than some of his past results suggest. It's going to be interesting looking back at the end of the year seeing how far out with our predictions we are.

[Julian Mayo]

massa
kimmi
alonso
webber
kubica
hamilton
dc
barrichello
davison
nick

[Julian Mayo]

IMHO Trulli is a better driver than some of his past results suggest. It's going to be interesting looking back at the end of the year seeing how far out with our predictions we are.

I reckon I will be "Far Out, Man"

[JayVee]

I think Trulli needs to get his head straight all the time. Sometimes he gets brilliant results but most of the time he is the one holding people up.

I think people are rating Kubica too high and I really don't know why! He got a podium in Monza, great but it is just one race and it is actually unique among the other tracks or isn't it. He is a rookie just like Hamilton and Kovalainen and I am very very sure that both those two will beat Kubica, maybe not because they are better drivers but they will have better cars.

I can't wait till next week to see how all the cars compare in Valencia. I know I will be more confused but isn't that the purpose

[JayVee]

BMW and Toro Rosso are in their second seasons and will struggle to continue improving.

This I don't. The BMW part at any rate. They have had very few retirements last year (last engine failure at Indianapolis) and with the engine freeze and the Kube-factor they will probably score another top 5 finish. Their exact spot will heavily depend on how consistent Heidfeld will be. He can be fast but somehow fails to deliver when it counts. Kubica will only get better with experience.

Please help me define the Kube-factor ? Like I said in another thread, his podium result in Monza is a great acheivement but Monza is unique and relatively easy for a rookie. He has yet to learn some 10 new tracks and if he struggles he could be shattered after all the hype.
Remember poor Rosberg who made headlines when he set the fastest lap time on debut then .... he went to

I actually think Spyker will do better than Toro Rosso. I think Gascoyne is over there and he used to be good in small teams. And aparantly Sutil is good (just wikipeed him and he turns out to be an Uruguayan German )

Yep. Gascoyne is the CTO of Spyker for 2007. He'll surely be useful to the team. I have my reservations though. Spyker seems to be the only team left without the benefit of seamless shifting. They may borrow it from Ferrari at some point but until that day comes Spykers are doomed to lose precious 37.5 seconds every race. Sutil may be the greatest Uruguayan-German F1 driver ever yet he's still a rookie and needs to build up some experience. For that they need to do a lot of testing. Long story short, I think Spyker will only start to recover from mid-season on, if at all.

Now whether they will beat STR or not remains a big question mark. I guess we gotta wait and see STR's driver lineup before passing judgment. When two cars are quite close to each other, as in this case, a good driver could mean a world of difference.

Not sure how you came up with those 37.5 seconds but if Sutil turns out to be 0.5 seconds faster than anyone else he'll make up for that deficit (sorry Julian )

And let me ask you, did Renault run a seamless shift last year ? They still won the championship
They are running it this year so heaven help Ferrari ... 37.5 seconds boost to Renault ... how can Raikkonen handle that

[gkaytaz]

Please help me define the Kube-factor ? Like I said in another thread, his podium result in Monza is a great acheivement but Monza is unique and relatively easy for a rookie. He has yet to learn some 10 new tracks and if he struggles he could be shattered after all the hype.
Remember poor Rosberg who made headlines when he set the fastest lap time on debut then .... he went to

I have confidence in that guy. Perhaps he won't be a champion but he's prone to become another Button.

Not sure how you came up with those 37.5 seconds but if Sutil turns out to be 0.5 seconds faster than anyone else he'll make up for that deficit (sorry Julian )

That's the difference between a seamless shift and a traditional one. 0.015 per lap. On average a driver shifts 2500 times in race. Hence the 37.5 secs.

And let me ask you, did Renault run a seamless shift last year ? They still won the championship
They are running it this year so heaven help Ferrari ... 37.5 seconds boost to Renault ... how can Raikkonen handle that

Neither did Ferrari. The only teams running on seamless shifting were Williams, Honda, McLaren and Super Aguri. But that was the early version. Now people are working on a better unit, which will allow for that 0.015 s advantage. Ferrari, Renault and BMW are testing it as we speak.

[JayVee]

Please help me define the Kube-factor ? Like I said in another thread, his podium result in Monza is a great acheivement but Monza is unique and relatively easy for a rookie. He has yet to learn some 10 new tracks and if he struggles he could be shattered after all the hype.
Remember poor Rosberg who made headlines when he set the fastest lap time on debut then .... he went to

I have confidence in that guy. Perhaps he won't be a champion but he's prone to become another Button.

It would actually be good to have a World Champion from a different country. As for Button, do you mean he'll get his first win after some 100 races

Not sure how you came up with those 37.5 seconds but if Sutil turns out to be 0.5 seconds faster than anyone else he'll make up for that deficit (sorry Julian )

That's the difference between a seamless shift and a traditional one. 0.015 per lap. On average a driver shifts 2500 times in race. Hence the 37.5 secs.

That assumes a perfect drive. No going wide, no locking up, no backmarkers etc ...

And let me ask you, did Renault run a seamless shift last year ? They still won the championship
They are running it this year so heaven help Ferrari ... 37.5 seconds boost to Renault ... how can Raikkonen handle that

Neither did Ferrari. The only teams running on seamless shifting were Williams, Honda, McLaren and Super Aguri. But that was the early version. Now people are working on a better unit, which will allow for that 0.015 s advantage. Ferrari, Renault and BMW are testing it as we speak.

Oh I thought they did

I guess McLaren will be at a disadvantage then but Alonso will make up those 37.5 seconds anyway

[gkaytaz]

I have confidence in that guy. Perhaps he won't be a champion but he's prone to become another Button.

It would actually be good to have a World Champion from a different country. As for Button, do you mean he'll get his first win after some 100 races

Well, kinda Button is good but not great. I believe Kubica will go down the same road, maybe score a win before his 100th race though. He'll become a solid 4th place material. He'd become more if the opposition wasn't made up of Kimi, Alonso, Massa and the likes.

That's the difference between a seamless shift and a traditional one. 0.015 per lap. On average a driver shifts 2500 times in race. Hence the 37.5 secs.

That assumes a perfect drive. No going wide, no locking up, no backmarkers etc ...

Yes but these are valid for all drivers.

Neither did Ferrari. The only teams running on seamless shifting were Williams, Honda, McLaren and Super Aguri. But that was the early version. Now people are working on a better unit, which will allow for that 0.015 s advantage. Ferrari, Renault and BMW are testing it as we speak.

Oh I thought they did

I guess McLaren will be at a disadvantage then but Alonso will make up those 37.5 seconds anyway

I just love your confidence in Alonso. I hope he'll live up to that

As for seamless shift fear not as there may not be a huge disadvantage for McLaren. First tests show that the unit's life span could prove to be shorter than 4 races (new regulations dictate that). They will make up their minds soon. I guess if one team goes for it a host of others will follow.

[Julian Mayo]

I think Trulli needs to get his head straight all the time. Sometimes he gets brilliant results but most of the time he is the one holding people up.

I think people are rating Kubica too high and I really don't know why! He got a podium in Monza, great but it is just one race and it is actually unique among the other tracks or isn't it. He is a rookie just like Hamilton and Kovalainen and I am very very sure that both those two will beat Kubica, maybe not because they are better drivers but they will have better cars.

I can't wait till next week to see how all the cars compare in Valencia. I know I will be more confused but isn't that the purpose

I rate him very highly for:
car control, wet track, n dry track
reflex speed,
ability to force a pass
ability to drive as slowly as needed
good car/tyre conservation
ability to adjust tactics on the move.
I rate
Bruce McLaren
Chris Amon
Larry Perkins
Harald
and many others as fast fine drivers
Stirling Moss was a fine fast driver
Was he over-rated? After all he never won the WDC
So, I rate Kubica as a fine fast driver,
I rate him as faster n smarter than
Fisi
Ralf
Barra
Nick
Sato
DC
Button
Trulli
Of Course this is my personal opinion.
Just as my personal opinion of Webber exsists because I have seen him blow everyone away in a 2 yo car over the opening 4 laps, then nurse the thing home with a clapped out, smoking engine, because he couldnt afford a pre-race rebuild.
And when it rained, n the car was not subject to as much stress,

[JayVee]

I think Trulli needs to get his head straight all the time. Sometimes he gets brilliant results but most of the time he is the one holding people up.

I think people are rating Kubica too high and I really don't know why! He got a podium in Monza, great but it is just one race and it is actually unique among the other tracks or isn't it. He is a rookie just like Hamilton and Kovalainen and I am very very sure that both those two will beat Kubica, maybe not because they are better drivers but they will have better cars.

I can't wait till next week to see how all the cars compare in Valencia. I know I will be more confused but isn't that the purpose

I rate him very highly for:
car control, wet track, n dry track
reflex speed,
ability to force a pass
ability to drive as slowly as needed
good car/tyre conservation
ability to adjust tactics on the move.
I rate
Bruce McLaren
Chris Amon
Larry Perkins
Harald
and many others as fast fine drivers
Stirling Moss was a fine fast driver
Was he over-rated? After all he never won the WDC
So, I rate Kubica as a fine fast driver,
I rate him as faster n smarter than
Fisi
Ralf
Barra
Nick
Sato
DC
Button
Trulli
Of Course this is my personal opinion.
Just as my personal opinion of Webber exsists because I have seen him blow everyone away in a 2 yo car over the opening 4 laps, then nurse the thing home with a clapped out, smoking engine, because he couldnt afford a pre-race rebuild.
And when it rained, n the car was not subject to as much stress,

I realise that this is your personal opinion but what amazes me is that someone with your knowledge and critique of F1 and motorsport in general can conclude from 6 races that Kubica is a fine fast driver rating him above those drivers you listed.

Yet:
- We hardly have seen him actually race (TV footage) so unless you have inside info from BMW then how did you know about his abilities.
- One thing that I have seen is that he spun at least twice in the wet in Hungary. Don't know if that is good car control

To me it is way way too early to start praising someone after 6 races (that only 2 of them he improved from his starting position!!)

Anyway, good luck to your Kubica and I hope he doesn't disappoint you this season ....

[Julian Mayo]

I think Trulli needs to get his head straight all the time. Sometimes he gets brilliant results but most of the time he is the one holding people up.

I think people are rating Kubica too high and I really don't know why! He got a podium in Monza, great but it is just one race and it is actually unique among the other tracks or isn't it. He is a rookie just like Hamilton and Kovalainen and I am very very sure that both those two will beat Kubica, maybe not because they are better drivers but they will have better cars.

I can't wait till next week to see how all the cars compare in Valencia. I know I will be more confused but isn't that the purpose

I rate him very highly for:
car control, wet track, n dry track
reflex speed,
ability to force a pass
ability to drive as slowly as needed
good car/tyre conservation
ability to adjust tactics on the move.
I rate
Bruce McLaren
Chris Amon
Larry Perkins
Harald
and many others as fast fine drivers
Stirling Moss was a fine fast driver
Was he over-rated? After all he never won the WDC
So, I rate Kubica as a fine fast driver,
I rate him as faster n smarter than
Fisi
Ralf
Barra
Nick
Sato
DC
Button
Trulli
Of Course this is my personal opinion.
Just as my personal opinion of Webber exsists because I have seen him blow everyone away in a 2 yo car over the opening 4 laps, then nurse the thing home with a clapped out, smoking engine, because he couldnt afford a pre-race rebuild.
And when it rained, n the car was not subject to as much stress,

I realise that this is your personal opinion but what amazes me is that someone with your knowledge and critique of F1 and motorsport in general can conclude from 6 races that Kubica is a fine fast driver rating him above those drivers you listed.

Yet:
- We hardly have seen him actually race (TV footage) so unless you have inside info from BMW then how did you know about his abilities.
- One thing that I have seen is that he spun at least twice in the wet in Hungary. Don't know if that is good car control

To me it is way way too early to start praising someone after 6 races (that only 2 of them he improved from his starting position!!)

Anyway, good luck to your Kubica and I hope he doesn't disappoint you this season ....

He raced a few cars in different formulae prior to F1.....Hamilton and I have a concensus on his ability.
The fact that he spun a couple of times in the wet.....why did he spin, driver error? engine mapping glitch? Gearbox snafu? Tyre imbalance?
Maybe sheer driver skill, exploring the limits after the first spin......."hhmmmmm so I came in to the corner doing xyz.......lets see....xyz........spin.......okay,......z should have been S+E.." ......and having the faith in his ability to keep it off the fence while so doing........just like us, aged9 n 10, in the FC out on a wet paddock with a dam in the middle...........guess that explains why I am a darned good swimmer.