2007 Preview - [Part One]

With only six weeks to go before the start of the new Formula One season, it is a big jump into the unknown. Gone is the legendary Michael Schumacher, Michelin tires and the biggest shake-up in driver line-up in recent years. It promises to be an exciting year. As winter testing and car launches are coming out thick and fast, it's a good opportunity to evaluate the challengers for the Fernando Alonso's title.

Team-by-Team:

McLaren

McLaren's acquisition of Fernando Alonso from Renault was quite a coup for Ron Dennis this time last year. After the season Mclaren had last year however, Alonso must of been wondering if he had made a poor choice. Juan-Pablo Montoya made a similar move back in 2005, which was over-hyped and produced little result. Alonso's move to McLaren is similar to the one taking by Schumacher back in 1996. If Alonso can return McLaren to their winning ways, he will cement his place in F1 history amongst the legends.

Lewis Hamilton begins his F1 career by entering the lion's den. There will be allot of pressure on the young Brit and it will be interesting to see how he copes. A rookie season alone is enough pressure for one to deal with but to have the world champion as your partner and racing for McLaren only increases it. To their credit, McLaren have groomed Hamilton from early age and having watched his career rise from strength to strength, there is no doubt he can make it on the big stage.

So far in winter testing the new McLaren has looked promising with, both Alonso and Hamilton topping the time sheets at various stages. As always with winter testing these performances have to be considered with a pinch of salt. The real test will be Melbourne on March 18th.


Renault:

If it wasn't for Alonso moving on from Renaul, I believe Giancarlo Fisichella would not still be with the team anymore. I've always rated Fisi' in the highest regard but when the time came that he got a world championship car, he's blown his opportunity. He now runs in the same vein as Jarno Trulli, deciding to show up and race every now and then with a great turn of speed before disappearing back into obscurity.

Heikki Kovalainen is a driver I am excited to see over the coming season. Like Hamilton he enters his rookie team with a top-line team and his mettle will be tested during the season. On his way to the top, Heikki has shown a fantastic racing pedigree and has duked it out with the best. This is the man who beat Schumacher in the International Race of Champions a few years ago. I'm predicting that Heikki will be more of match for Fisichella. He'll put the Italian in the shade similar to how Kimi did to Coulthard in McLaren in 2003.

It's a massive year for Renault as a constructor. They have to prove that there is life after Alonso, much in the same way they had to when in their Benetton guise in the post-Schumacher era. Of the top teams they have the weakest driver line-up with the unreliable Fisichella and the unproven Kovalainen. Renault recently said they would remain in the sport providing they remained competitive which only increases the pressure on the team to be competitive in 2007.


Ferrari

When Felipe Massa was announced as a Ferrari driver last season, it was widely regarded that he was keeping the seat warm for either Raikkonen or Rossi. The way he started the season laid credence to that with a number of shaky performances and excursions off the track. During the mid-season the Brazilian picked up his game and challenged his team-mate on a regular basis. Never before have I seen a driver improve so much during the course of a season, which he capped with two dominant wins at Turkey and Brazil. His improvement no doubt caused Ferrari driver selection headaches as they waited for Schumacher to decide on his future. He starts 2007 as strong favourite for the title. Unlike Raikkonen and Alonso who are settling in to new environments, Massa has the advantage of continuity on his side. If Ferrari carry on their end of season form it could offer Massa the springboard to the world title.

Kimi Raikkonen is finally in a team that should be ability he could only show the odd time in the misfiring McLaren. Since he first graced a Formula car back in 2002 with Sauber, I've tipped him to be world champion. The Iceman's patience has been thoroughly tested with McLaren, who despite collecting a number of wins failed to bring home the ultimate prize because of reliability issues. Now that he has a team around him that is more than capable of delivering him the championship it is up to Kimi to do it on the track come March.

2007 brings major changes to Ferrari. There has been a major upheaval with Ross Brawn going on a sabbatical, leading to a number of internal changes within the Ferrari company. On the driver front they have lost Michael Schumacher which is an immense loss for the team. Despite the changes, Ferrari start as favourites to capture both titles. In Massa and Raikkonen they have the strongest driver line-up and whilst rivals teams have to adjust to Bridgestone tires, Ferrari have a close understanding with the Japanese tire manufacture.
As always it is difficult to judge how competitive they will be come Melbourne as Ferrari conduct most of their tests at Mugello and Fiorano.


That's it for the first part of this 2007 season preview. Keep a look out for the next post as I look at the battle for midfield supremacy.