F109 Countdown: Williams

Williams Fact File:
2008 Results
Best Finish: 2nd (Nico Rosberg at the Singapore Grand Prix)
Points Scored: 26
Championship Position: 8th
2009 Drivers: Nico Rosberg & Kazuki Nakajima

Depending on how you look at the 2009 campaign for Williams, it can be classed a hit and miss year for the independent team. Compared to their ’08 season, they picked up an additional podium and finished five points shy of the previous year’s total. Yet, they find themselves eight the constructor’s championship, down from fourth.

The year was a perfect example of every team around them making a leap in one direction, while Williams only took a step.

Pre-season buzz was massive for the team last year and after Rosberg’s podium, people thought more of the same and even a win was on the cards. From there, the season fell away despite another podium for Rosberg in the action packed Singapore Grand Prix.

The car plainly wasn’t quick. That is evident from the fact that both drivers had two retirements each last year. It wasn’t a case like others, such as Red Bull, where positions were lost due to mechanical issues.

It was an easy decision for them to give up early and start work on this year’s car. But is it enough? According to reports after the cost cutting, it was claimed that Williams may not have survived without the cuts. The basis is still there for a good team. Even with manufacturer support, they outclassed Toyota in 2008, which they had an engine deal with.

Even with the cuts, the future is no less clear for the team. Major sponsor RBS will be pulling the plug as the banks exit Formula One. Fortunately for the team, they will honour the contract until the end of next year, giving them find to a replacement.

Like Force India, no doubt the team will be looking for those early races to set the marker down and capitalise on the mistakes of others. It will be interesting to see how well the team has adapted to the new regulations and whether a sustained season long competitively is possible for Williams.

Like many teams, they retain both drivers. Unless there is a change in fortune, I’d expect this to be Rosberg’s last with the team. I have to give credit to him sticking it out this year to learn his trade. He has shown a lot of loyalty to the team, whereas as lesser person might have jumped ship at the first opportunity. I only hope that he hasn’t missed the boat as they say and we don’t get to see what he has learned. I still rate Rosberg as a massive talent for the future.

Team-mate Nakajima has gone a long way to shaking off that ‘pay-driver’ tag that he was given on his arrival. Granted, he holds the tags for a different reason compared to the likes of Pedro Diniz or Tarso Marques did. Nakajima didn’t bring sponsorship, just lowered the engine bill.

Similar to fellow countryman, Takuma Sato, Nakajima showed some great pace with some silly errors through his first full season. Unlike Sato, it looked like Nakajima learned from it. By the end of the season, I felt like he earned his place in Formula One. He was deserving of a second year, even if it was already a certainty given his Toyota connections. He scored just short of half of the total that Rosberg did. By all accounts, not a bad first season for the Japanese.

Alonso The Shining Star

The cards fell in place for Fernando Alonso, who, starting 15th on the grid, benefitted from his team-mates accident to record his first win of the season. Alonso becomes the seventh different winner this year.

As for the championship battle, Ferrari more or less sent McLaren both titles wrapped up with a ‘please give a loving home to’ tag on them. Shocking, completely shocking is all that is can be said about Ferrari. We can assume we have seen the last of the automated system, with the lollipop back in operation evident at Raikkonen’s last stop. Of course, while ITV Sport were keen the slam Ferrari for it, they didn’t attack the Red Bull mishap that could easily have ended up in similar circumstances.

As for Raikkonen, I do hope Ferrari have some get-out clause. Crashing that late in the race is a joke for a world champion to do. Four non-scoring races for the Finn is completely unacceptable at this level. Even Heikki Kovalainen, who is looking more second-rate with each passing race, has provided more points for his team than the current champion.

Ferrari should’ve easily walked Singapore. Lewis Hamilton was nothing but ordinary, showing none of the racers quality that ITV vault on about. As per usual, I found myself cursing at the television as Allen lauded his ‘magnificent’ move on Coulthard – even though everyone had been doing pretty much the same thing throughout the race. The so-called ‘racer’ who never settles did a great job at settling for third. Don’t get me wrong, it is a smart game he is playing, but, don’t go telling the world your are the bees knees if you aren’t going to back that up.

After qualifying, Alonso was cursing his bad luck. How things can change in the space of a few minutes. The decision to go on aggressive strategy paid off, putting him in pole position for the victory. Alonso then showed why he is one of the best drivers in the sport still, commanding the race from the front.

Nico Rosberg finished in a career best second, despite a stop and go for pitting under a closed pitlane. Aided by a Force India chicane in the form of Fisichella, Rosberg pulled some blinding laps out, allowing him to take his penalty and come out in front of the Coulthard/Hamilton scrap.

Three races left. All Hamilton has to do is follow Massa home at each of the races to secure the championship. That is of course, if Ferrari don’t feel the urge to give McLaren more free points.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Fernando Alonso. A fuel pressure problem left him 15th on the grid. At a street circuit, the going norm would say there is probably no point in showing up for the race. An aggressive strategy didn’t work out until his team-mate found the wall. Once out front, he was unstoppable.

Massa Wins Under A Cloud

Felipe Massa got his championship challenge back on track with a dominant victory at Valencia. Of course, it wouldn’t be Formula One without controversy and we got that too with Massa’s final pit stop.

I can just imagine that the Ferrari hater/McLaren fan boys are already feverishly typing away at how Ferrari are getting preferential treatment, lead by James Allen’s ignorant commentary no doubt. At least Brundle took the objective view and is waiting for all the facts to become apparent.

Was it dangerous? Well it looked dodgy. But, as said in an interview with the Ferrari press officer, this isn’t the first time this year that such a close call has happened. Yet none of them were even shown up as been investigated. Of course, Allen tried to gloss that over – but then again, this is the same guy who tried to justify Hamilton failing to see a red light at Canada so, as you can see, there is only so much you can take from a commentator who is bankrupt of any credibility. (By the way, anyone watching the ITV preview show notice that they edited out Allen’s gasp of ‘NO’ that he shouted when Massa crossed the line to take pole. Funny stuff that.)

Will they take the win away? I think if he is penalised, it will be a grid penalty at Belgium. It’s been a while, at least in my recollection, since there has been a time penalty. But we will have to wait and see. If there was to be a time penalty, they had enough time in the race to enforce. Either way, nobody will be happy. Like I said, I can already hear the rants now.

Going back to the race, Massa was supreme. For the sake of the championship, we have two great drivers fighting for it. Kimi’s dwindling hopes took a hit with an engine blow, but to be fair the world champion was nowhere today. He looks ever more like a driver just waiting it out for his retirement. Unfortunately for Ferrari, which is still a year away. If he doesn’t buck up and start earning his wage, serious conversations need to happen with Ferrari.

His race pace was sluggish for the most part, except near the end of a stint. His race went from bad to worse when he dragged his fuel rig with him on the second stop, injuring his fuel man. More questions of the Ferrari computer system, according to our resident clown James Allen. Again, Martin had to play the save in saying that there was no green light on the system. What would we do without you Martin?!

Lewis Hamilton finished second, doing the best the car allowed him. Had to laugh hard at the petty excuses Allen made about McLaren going conservative even before half-way. The chap just looks for excuses – this been the same guy who only a few races ago buffed his chest and shouted aloud that McLaren had overtaken Ferrari. Hey, guess what? Yet another James Allen mess up to report! On the podium, when Hamilton took his trophy, whistles rang out amongst the crowd. Obviously Spanish fans don't forget last year. Of course, Allen tried to play it off as cheers. Seriously, anyone could tell they were negative cheers. Once more, Brundle brought some sense to the situation. I wonder if he gets paid extra for such saves?

Kubica drove a solid race to finish third, again proving his talent above the car. BMW have the focus switched and for him to outdrive Raikkonen and Kovalainen goes further to show the Pole’s raw talent. Trulli and Vettel backed up impressive qualifying performances with fifth and sixth. A one-stopping Glock picked up a couple of points with seventh and eight went to Rosberg. A good day for the second tier teams.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Felipe Massa. A close one between Massa and Vettel. I give it to Massa, given that for the second time this year, he has shown the mental capacity to come back from some pretty depressing results. The wind is in his sails and for his sake, hopefully the full support of Ferrari.

Playing Catch-Up

Apologises for the lack of updates here as of late. Even writers have vacations from time to time! So, to get back up to speed with all that has happened in the past few weeks.
• Heikki Kovalainen is confirmed at McLaren for 2009. I suppose it helps when you willingly let your team-mate by to go on to win a race is a big plus at the talks table! While Heikki has had some bad luck this year, chucking him out after a single season would be harsh; especially that he’s proved he is happy to be Hamilton’s underling.

• Heikki wins his first race! Luck played a part with Massa’s engine going up, but let’s not forget the Finn had to get himself into second in the first place. He’s had some terrible luck this year that eventually, it was going to balance out.

• Rosberg says he is staying with Williams. Not like there is much better options out there. In 2010, it will be crunch time to for Rosberg if he is to make good on his talent.

• Force India looking to retain drivers. For a team that is anything but consistent, it would be a good move. I don’t think either driver is stellar, but for a growing team, stability is good. Again, not like there is much better options out there.

• Calls for refuelling ban. I’m on the fence with this one. Differing fuel strategy is often the only way some teams can be somewhat competitive – or for a team with a poor car to play themselves back into contention. Banning them could lead to another avenue of strategy thrown out the window.

• Observers calling for Heidfeld change. Mainly Stuck, a former grand prix driver. Why the hate on Quick Nick. So he hasn’t been as stand-out as Robert Kubica. Only EIGHT points separate them in the championship. The German is taking allot of heat despite hauling himself back onto the rear wing of his young team-mate.

• Across the pond, Nascar had its first ever wet race in the Nationwide series. The race in Montreal started dry, but after a few laps the rain fell. The decision was made to put wet weather tires and wipers on for a historic moment. Despite a lack of experience, the drivers acquitted themselves well and produced a great race, until poor visibility called an end to it before full distance.

• Pundits claimed Kyle Busch was in a slump. I think any driver would love a slump that meant you only got a top-15. How did Wild Thing respond? Running away with Watkins Glen after a strategic mistake saw Junior taking out of contention. This is the second time this season that he has answered critics like this. Think some people would learn by now eh?

From here on out, updates should be back to some regularity! Stay tuned for Nascar from Michigan and F1 from Valencia next weekend!

Hamilton penalised for brain fade moment

Late into the night it’s been announced that Hamilton will take a ten place drop for his Montreal blunder.

I expected a reprimand of some sort for him. He didn’t survive long enough to get a penalty. At the rate he was going he would’ve overshot the red light and thus given a disqualification for that. Nico Rosberg, who was also involved in the incident receives the same penalty.

In Another World

That’s exactly where Lewis Hamilton was today. He was untouchable throughout the three qualifying sections and took a dominant pole position.

Judging by the timings, Lewis is making a killing in that last sector. Over the course of qualifying the Ferrari’s, Kubica and Kovalainen could match him in sectors one and two. But Lewis in sector three was something to behold. You can’t see it, but it’s there.

Sector three consists of a hairpin, the long back straight, a chicane and a short sprint to the line. By most tracks, that is nothing of a sector. So for Hamilton to pull off on average three tenths of a second advantage is something to behold. He said beforehand that he could take that chicane better than anyone else.
He proved that today. The gap he has over the rest of the field is something we haven’t seen since the days of Schumacher.

Kubica popped up out of nowhere to join him on the front row. Raikkonen and Alonso take up row two, a great effort from the Spaniard. Be interesting to see how he is on fuel tomorrow. Another star man of the day was Rosberg with fifth , with Massa beside him. Kovalainen ended up a disappointing seventh with Heidfeld eight. Barrichello kept his nose down and snuck in unawares to secure ninth whilst Webber finished out the top ten. The Aussie didn’t run in Q3 due to damage on his in-lap.

The condition of the track could be a major concern tomorrow. While track break-up is not abnormal, it is during a qualifying session. Trulli and Webber saw the track fall away from them and on some of the on-board shots we saw around the hair-pin, drivers were taking it very tight. All eyes will be on the organisers to see how to sort it. The last thing F1 needs is another track scandal in North America. It might not come to that severity but drivers were taking it extremely easy out there today.

Three-peat for Massa at Istanbul

Massa well and truly got his title challenge back on track with victory at Turkey.

For a time it looked like Hamilton would challenge the Brazilian for victory but the Brit’s need to use a three stop strategy always left him having to play catch up. According to ITV’s ‘commentator’ James Allen – Hamilton was out doing Senna-esque laps after he stuck it down the inside of Massa.

However Hamilton failed to actually finish the job which the likes of Senna and Schumacher have in the past as he failed to capitalize on his low fuel during his middle stint. It was a spirited drive from Hamilton who had to make the best of a bad situation due to tire issues. I find his issues with the Bridgestone’s extremely strange. Why was he the single one person who had to go on a three stop? According to reports it has something to do with his driving style.

But that fails to answer out of twenty drivers he is the only one and out of eighteen tracks that we visit, this is the only one. It baffles me. If more people had to go that route, it would be more acceptable. I find it easier to believe that the traditionally boring and predictable McLaren actually tried something different and exciting.

Regardless, Hamilton drove well and second place was his reward. It chops two points off Raikkonen’s lead. Funny how the ITV boys consider Hamilton to be Raikkonen’s only championship contender, especially now that Massa leapfrogs their boy for second on the basis of having more wins.

BMW’s had a lacklustre afternoon by recent standards. The Anglo-Swiss outfit struggled from day one but were still comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. Heidfeld again showed his wily race craft by moving from ninth on the grid to eventually finish fifth. Alonso nipped Webber despite running lower on fuel on the first stint while Nico Rosberg turned his season around after snatching eight.

Heikki Kovalainen probably had more of a chance of spoiling the Ferrari party than Hamilton but a puncture put paid to his hopes. He was set for a point but the need for a splash and dash and mandatory tire change out paid to his hopes. Otherwise it was a fantastic weekend for the Finn who only two weeks ago was shoved under the tire wall at Barcelona.

The race was again without first lap incident, with Fisichella failing to make it past the first lap for the third year. Obviously he is not a fan of the Istanbul circuit.
Heading into Monaco we have a real championship on our hands. McLaren appear to be closing the gap in and the next pair of circuits will suit the team. It is a real chance for Hamilton to reel in the Ferrari’s at the front.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Felipe Massa. Say what you want about Hamilton and his sterling drive, but he didn’t get the job done. Allen yet again tried to compare him to the greats – a position Hamilton isn’t at – yet. He would have gotten it if he pulled it off. Massa kept his head and stayed in touch with Hamilton when it counted.

Iceman Cools Spanish Hearts

Kimi picked up his first pole position of the year with Alonso plopping his car into second. The Spaniard is obviously on a lighter fuel load but it will be interesting to see just how light he is come tomorrow.

McLaren endured a poor last section. I think they could have run light in an attempt to jump the BMW’s. If they have then they are in serious problems considering how things turned out. The third row is not what they expected. Kubica kept up his great form as of late with a second row start alongside Massa.

Major surprises of the day came from Rosberg and Vettel being beaten by their lesser experienced team-mates. Both will be looking for a good race day to save face. Barrichello, on his record equalling 256^th Grand Prix start, depending on whose statistics you read, almost made the top ten. That Honda looks horrid with the ‘Dumbo Ears’ on it. They must look like a crosshair reticule in the cockpit.

Tomorrow’s race day will be one to watch. Can the McLaren’s recover anything? How will Kubica go in relation to the two McLarens? What can Alonso do? What is Ferrari’s race pace going to be like? So many questions that will be answered tomorrow at lunch time. It’s going to be worth watching for sure!

On another note - How long did it take ITV to use the Spygate excuse for McLaren and Hamilton’s poor showing? Just four races. For any of you who saw the ITV pre-show you would’ve seen it. Why am I mentioning this? Well just to prove a point really. I stated a while back this excuse would be brought up when McLaren season took a turn and there we have it. Credit to McLaren for not actually saying it when they could have though.

Let's Go Racing!

A 3.30am start, a race filled with thrills and spills and a number of curse-filled rants at the ineptitude of the commentary of James Allen. It only means one thing, Formula One is back!

I hate Melbourne starts. The time was supposedly changed to suit people getting up but I didn’t feel it all. The start been mired in the middle of the night calls on fans to make a difficult decision – whether to stay up or to catch a couple of hours and wake up for it. I chose the latter and paid for it later on in the evening with falling asleep trying to watch NASCAR.

Was it worth the hardship? Definitely. We were treated to a race that had everything with the exception of a rain shower. The race drew many parallels to Montreal last year. Hamilton avoids all the mayhem and produces a mature assured display that saw him pick up the win. The McLaren driver controlled the race and rarely found himself under pressure. Heidfeld again drove a steady race whilst all the talk was about his front-row winning team-mate Kubica to collect second, followed by a stellar drive from Rosberg. Behind that we got treated to crashes, passes and blow-ups.
Ferrari once more find themselves on the back foot and with the exception of Raikkonen’s win last year, they have not been impressive at the Albert Park circuit over the past few years. There is no point having a fast car if it won’t last the race distance. With only a week between Melbourne and Sepang there is little opportunity to rectify the problem. However Raikkonen did pick up a point following the disqualification of Barrichello and if last year is anything to go by, every point counts. Massa’s performance will be of more concern. We saw the Felipe of old out on track leading to suggestions that the loss of traction control will affect him most.

Toro Rosso looks like a team capable of springing a surprise or two. While Bourdais was quiet, he showed the maturity of a champion to keep himself out of trouble and was on the way to 4^th when his car broke down. The abnormal amount of retirements meant he picked up two points allowing the Frenchman some reward for his drive. We can only speculate what Vettel could’ve of done had he not been eliminated in the first corner scuffle.

Renault was a massive disappointment in qualifying. Piquet’s debut was the stuff of horrors, drawing some parallel’s to Kovalainen’s last year. There’s only one way up he will be thinking! Alonso drove a determined race after a poor qualifying and was involved in a great scrap with the man he traded seats with. Would’ve been interesting to see Ron’s face after Alonso re-passed the young Finn after seeing his absolute delight with Heikki getting past the former champion. Haven’t seen Ron that happy in ages!

One must feel for poor Barrichello. The most experienced driver on the grid put a torrid 2007 behind him and showed the sort of race craft that saw him drive a Ferrari. It all went wrong in the end but his performance shows a beleaguered Honda operation that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

It was great to see the embrace between Rosberg and Hamilton heading up to the podium. Usually when we are talking about emotions in Formula One, the positive stuff remains within the team and any emotions showed to another competitor is negative. For a change it’s great to see two of the sports brightest young talents so happy for each other. The result for Rosberg is the accumulation of two years of hard work by the starlet and the first of many. Of course, many can say that when you put the Ferrari’s into the equation he wouldn’t get there, but Rosberg more than had the pace to stick with the BMW’s who themselves were hardly shabby on pace.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Nico Rosberg. The young German drove flawlessly all day keeping the BMW of the vastly experienced Heidfeld honest. With the Williams lacking the financial clout of the works team it only goes to put his performance into perspective. His reward was his first podium.

2008 Season Preview - Part II

Renault

Will the return of the prodigal son returns the French team to victory lane?
It should, even if pre-season testing and words coming out of the camp say otherwise. Renault has no real excuses. They abandoned the development of their '07 car to focus work on this year’s challenger after the half way mark. The idea that they haven’t been able to put together a car that will be in some way decent would be a massive failure for the team. They could be sandbagging during testing to lull teams into a false sense of security. If they truly are five tenths off the top then someone surely will have their head rolled.

Of course if the car is the five tenths off the top, then Alonso will be asked to provide those tenths that he claimed he brought to McLaren last year. After a torrid year in McLaren he takes the step back into his comfort zone. I mirror it to moving out of home, not having it work and coming back to live with your parents. Not the best move, but the best of a bad situation. His reputation is tarnished and needs to get his head down and do what he is good at – racing. Last year is in the past and he would do well to just get on with it.

Nelson Piquet Junior – well I told you he was going to be here last year and I was spot on! It could be a case of déjà vu for Alonso because Piquet is by no means a slouchier. This is the man who finished second to Hamilton in the GP2 series. Flavio can talk all he wants about having team hierarchy but the son of the former world champion is hardly going to pass up an opportunity to highlight the show. If he can get off to good start there is no stopping him making the same sort of impact that Kovalainen produced last year. A year out of competitive racing may hamper him at the start of the year similar to Heikki but I would expect him to give Alonso a couple of scares during the year.

Williams

High expectations but can they deliver?
I’m sure that’s what Williams’s fans are thinking going into this season. People tend to forget that twelve months ago they were coming off the back of a terrible season and now people are predicting them to fight for podiums! That’s a pretty big step to take and I’m sure they would be happy to just improve on last year. Led by Frank Williams and Patrick Head there was never any doubt in my mind that Williams would eventually turn the boat around. Their biggest enemy this year will be the aforementioned high expectations of the outfit. To the media, anything short of scoring a few podiums is going to be considered a failure for the team.

Getting Rosberg to sign a new contract is probably the signing of the year for me. With McLaren flying like vultures looking for a replacement for Alonso it would’ve been easy for Rosberg to up sticks and move to the Woking outfit. His decision to stick it out with Williams and continue to work on a project he started with them two years ago shows class to me. Sure some people are saying he might have blown his chances but for me, this is a fantastic education for Rosberg for the time when he will be in a top car. There are no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ about that fact. He matured greatly last year and with the aid of the experienced Wurz alongside him, looked like a more accomplished driver. This year he will be the out and out team leader in terms of experience as well as talent.

Nakajima had a whacky début at Brazil at the end of last season. The latest export from Japan showed raw pace marred by youthful exuberance. His pre-season testing has shown he is not to be taken lightly so far. Then again, it is only pre-season so his current runs have to be taken with a pinch of salt. When the lights go out and the real racing begins is when we will see what Nakajima is really like. Much like Sato he appears to be a rough diamond and there are few better teams than Williams to help hone his skill. He will have to show his worth if he is to shed the tag that he is simply there on Toyota’s request in an attempt to keep engine costs down at the privateer team.

Red Bull

Will this be the year that Red Bull finally gets their wiings?
Last year’s Red Bull showed great pace at times however their season was undone by poor reliability. As the old adage ‘to finish first, first you must finish’ or in Red Bull’s eyes to ‘finish at all, build a car capable of finishing!’ Towards the end of 2007 they were mixing it up regularly for points and if they can solve the problems any Adrian Newey designed car is going to be competitive. Red Bull have been moving forward each year but the aim this year has to be score points more regularly and pick up a few podiums.

David Coulthard is the grand daddy of the grid and shows no signs of stopping. Always there or thereabouts he’s the perfect driver to help build what still is a growing team. He’s seen off a number of team-mates in the course of his Red Bull career.

I’ve never been a fan of Mark Webber. Often he’s had a mouth bigger than his talents. Many pundits talk him up but the results show that he isn’t really all that. He was pretty even with Coulthard last year and his pokes at Williams for been on the downturn left him red faced as Williams are on the up since his departure. In my books he’s yet to justify the hype surrounding him and I doubt we’ll ever see him achieve anything more than point’s finishes and the odd podium.

Toyota

A new year and a raft of new promises. Haven’t we heard all this before?
Toyota continues to spend big and deliver zero. No wonder the Toyota head chiefs are considering change at the highest level or even abandoning the failed Formula One project. Their main problem is that they believe they can apply the exact same method that works in other sports to F1. The team seems to be run by a committee as opposed to have one man in charge as is seen in most F1 teams. I could rattle off nearly every Formula One boss, except for the Toyota boss. One would think after years of shovelling money into the team and hoping for the best that a lesson would be learned. According to reports the management team has only a few years to turn it around although many people read that statement as one of Toyota’s desire to pull the plug on this money draining operation.

Unless Trulli overcomes his career long problem of switching off during races, I would expect this to be his last year. His saving grace for the seat this year is similar to Fisichella last year at Renault. Having two new young drivers isn’t ideal in a team trying to push forward. So they have gone for the tried and trusted rookie-experienced line-up. If Toyota could just have Jarno qualify the car he would be great. However points aren’t awarded for qualifying and his inability to throw together consistent race pace has always been his downfall. I honestly don’t expect him to step up to the plate his late in his career. He will achieve point’s finishes but nothing more before he heads off into the sunset like Ralf Schumacher did this winter.

Timo Glock has endured a meandering path to his full time Formula One drive. He’s already had his debut with Jordan in 2004. He then headed stateside to race in Champ Cars before a return to Europe and the GP2 series which accumulated with him winning the championship last season. A tug of war between BMW and Toyota ended up in front of the Contracts Recognition Board before he was cleared to sign for Toyota. Over the past few years the GP2 drivers making the step up have shown that they can handle the top level. His ability to shine this year will depend on what sort of car Toyota gives him. Give him half a season to adapt proper and during the second part of the season I would expect him to be putting Trulli to bed if he wants to ensure he’ll be around long term. Similar to Sutil at Force India, failure to beat a team-mate that many consider washed up and past their prime will bring the curtain down early on his Formula One career.

2007 Preview - [Part Three]

Now on to the final teams that will take part this season.

Williams

In Nico Rosberg, Williams have one of the stars of the future. At the beginning of last season he showed good promise before the failing car brought him back down to earth. If Williams can give him a good car then expect him to bring home points.

Alexander Wurz has not raced since the 2000 season. That is a long time out of the cockpit. In the meantime he's been testing for McLaren and Williams. To make a comeback after this long and be successful will be quite a story if Wurz can pull it off. The Austrian is highly talented and his return to the cockpit is richly deserved.

After the worst season in their history, Williams have worked hard during the winter to improve - the most notable been the change to Toyota power. The 2007 package so far appears to have made strides and the team sits comfortable in mid-table after the winter tests. Lack of funds and the inability to make the Bahrain test show the limitations the team are already under for the coming year.


Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso remain with an unchanged line-up but 2007 is likely to be the last chance Liuzzi and Speed have to impress. This years car looks like a modified version of the A team car, powered by the Ferrari engine. There is no excuses for STR not to make strides up the field. With a number of Red Bull backed drivers waiting for their chance, both drivers must deliver.


Spyker

Another new owner for the former Jordan team this year with the Dutch Spyker team. As was the case with the Midland guise there is a lot of optimism. Albers goes into his third year of Formula One now, his seat security helped by his Dutch ties. In Adrian Sutil they bring a young albeit unknown talent to the table. Despite the hype I expect Spyker to struggle at the tail end of the grid as has become the case from the former race-winning team.


Super Aguri

The Japanese team was one of the highlights of the last season. They went from 5 seconds off the pace in an aged car to hauling themselves up onto the tail end of the grid. With the aid of Honda and their status as a B team will undoubtedly help them make strides in terms of development. Taku Sato has improved from been erratic to a team leader to add to his pace. In Anthony Davidson they have another, like Button who has been overly hyped by the media and must earn his place on the grid. It will be difficult to properly judge Aguri as like STR, they are expected to run a modified customer chassis from their parent company.


Who wins, who loses will soon be decided. All the smokes and mirrors of winter testing will be removed come March 18th at Melbourne. The first race in the post-Schumacher era promises to be interesting.