2007 Preview - [Part Two]

After the big three teams, the 2007 season promises to have a tightly packed midfield battle.

Honda

Jenson Button enters the third year with the Honda works team and still only has the single grand prix win to his name. One has to be careful when listening to commentary about just how good Jenson really is. I have always thought he was overrated beyond belief and still stand by that. Apart from being a ‘smooth’ driver, he hasn’t shown anything that puts him in the leagues of the great. His first win came at a rain affected grand prix and wouldn’t of happened if Mother Nature hadn’t of intervened, so he is still out searching for his first ‘proper’ grand prix victory.

Last year I expected Barrichello to provide Button with good competition but that quickly went down the drain. Rubens suffered from having to deal with a car that was built to suit his team-mate; such was the case he had at Ferrari. At this stage in his career Rubens is quickly becoming a journeyman and I don’t expect to see anything special like last year.

Honda as a team is quickly approaching a crossroads. After years of expectations and show-boating in pre-season which quickly drained away during the year they have struggled so far this year. Whether it’s a case they are sand-bagging to hide their pace or deciding not to show their one lap pace as has been the case in past winters remains to be seen. Their line-up whilst experience is hardly world class. They will have a fight on their hands to hold back BMW.


BMW

Heidfeld had a penchant for being in the right team at the wrong time throughout his career. After promising results early in the career he found himself in the likes of Prost, Jordan and Williams as they fell from grace. Now at BMW he has a car of showcasing his talents. He must deliver however. As was the case with Villeneuve there is another youngster snapping at his heels for his race seat. A failure to perform could see his seat in threat.

The rise of Kubica in the past 12 months is as astonishing at the improvements seen in Massa. He was unknown to the majority of the racing world up until he was chosen as BMW’s reserve driver and it took him only half a season to oust a former world champion out of this race seat. As is the case with all the Friday drivers there performances have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Kubica showed that there is talent behind the raw speed with a podium inside his first three races.

Towards the end of last year BMW were easily the fourth best team. If they carry their testing pace over to the season I expect them to be giving Renault a run for their money, if not McLaren and Ferrari. BMW have always produced a class engine and combined with Sauber’s knowledge in how to put the rest together and a driver partnership that will push each other – expect fireworks.


Toyota

2007 will mark the first year that Ralf will be driving out of his brother’s shadow – at least on the track. Having promised so much earlier in the career, Ralf’s career is on the slide as of late. He is in need of a challenge to bring his top game back much in the way Montoya did when he joined Williams.

Jarno Trulli suffers much like Fisichella. We never know which one we will see on the track. Will it be the racer or the Sunday driver? By raw speed he’s one of the quickest on a single lap. It’s a shame Trulli never realised a race is more than a single lap. I’m sure Toyota wish he could qualify the car and let someone race it.

Toyota entered this season again promising much. Their car was one of the first out and after early promise they have again fallen into the midfield back in testing. As is the case with their NASCAR venture they need to realise that throwing money at the problem wouldn’t solve the problem. Dumping Gascoigne was a mistake. If Toyota is to succeed they need to stop letting the big wigs that have no knowledge of the sport to stop making the decisions.


Red Bull

With Schumacher’s retirement, Coulthard is now the old man of the F1 grid. While he doesn’t show any intention of letting up, I’m sure he will be looking over his shoulder at the abundance of talent that Red Bull has. The talent remains within him to drag that Red Bull up the field if the right car is given to him.

Like Button I think that Mark Webber is overrated. I’ve yet to see anything from him that merits the praise he often gets. He’s also got a big mouth. Webber needs to be more focused on establishing his racing career than taking pot shots at other teams. Interesting how he defines Williams as no more than a Toyota B squad when his own team have attained the label of a Renault B squad. He would do well to check up on things before talking.

The strongest part of the Red Bull package is the arrival of Adrian Newey to the team. In him they might have found the missing link that had denied them success so far. Red Bull must be willing to invest in the car however. In the past two years they have taken the stance to kerb car development in favour of working on next year’s car. If they can set the wheels in motion then they could be a surprise package and move up closer to the top ten.