Well guys, it's about that time again.

I'm so freaking excited! Looks like Ferrari might have sorted their KERS issues. Brawn GP is saved and freaking quick! McLaren is off the pace, but that could just be practice throwing us for a loop.

Toyota is betting it all, ING and RBS are looking to pull out, and America is looking to get back in.

Lets hear it guys: Who do you want to win? Who do you think will win? Will we finish this season with everyone who started? Will Alonso be a contender again? Will Hamilton?





As a Ferrari fan I really want to see them in contention again. I don't think Massa will have another shot at the championship, and I have no idea which Kimi Raikkonen will show up in Australia.

I really have high hopes for Vettel. I'm expecting to see him prove he is a top level driver again. If he does I think Ferrari might pick him up to take Raikkonen's spot next year.

I have no idea about Renault, any thoughts?

Brawn GP might be quick in the start but I doubt they can keep up with the development pace of the other teams. I would love it if they were contenders though.

If McLaren doesn't have a quick car for the first 3 races or so we will see what kind of driver Hamilton really is. I doubt he has the ability to do what Alonso did at Renault did last year. It's mean, but I would enjoy watching him self destruct out of desperation.

I think we will lose one or two teams before the season is over, maybe Williams. If Toyota doesn't win a race this year they said they will pull out. I don't know if they can pull it off, but this would be the season for it if they could.




Woo!

Who do you want to win? Ferrari

Who do you think will win? McLaren

Will we finish this season with everyone who started? Nope

Will Alonso be a contender again? Doubtful

Will Hamilton? Definitely

I think we will have a duel between Ferrari and BMW in the first few races which will develop into a mixed double by McLaren and Renault joining them. Toyota looks good and might snatch one win or two but somehow they are lacking something (can't really tell what it is).

The speed of Brawn-GP certainly is a spectacular resurrection but I doubt they can keep up the development pace of the bigger teams. And even a podium might be too hard to achieve for them.

The Red Bulls looked fast right out of the box but they have faded away a bit.

And I really, really do hope we are not going to loose Williams. Please not.

yeah i'd rather not lose williams either. the team is just so rich with heritage, which is something many teams these days are short on (short on actual history, high on cash).

i'm really looking forward to brawn's team and jenson in particular doing well. i used to be a big button fan, and of late i've still be been a closet supporter.

i think the duel between massa and hamilton should be nothing short of epic this season...and throw kubica in there for good measure.

i'm also hoping renault have a competitive car this season, and i think alonso is still by far and away the best driver on the track.

vettel showed promise last season, i'm going to enjoy watching him move up the ranks.

I have a habit of switching off for the inter-season...so I have not been paying attention. But what I hope is this.

Alonso continues to demonstrate why he is the best driver on the grid.

Raikkonen gives Alonso a run for his money and makes Ferrari proud.

Button kicks some ass.

Brawn's team shows Toyota that experience and ingenuity make more of a difference than dollars.

Vettel continues his rise to he top, or stays there, depending on your perspective.

hm.....it's sad...but....does that mean Honda Engine sucked?.....

i mean....the chassis is developed by the same ppl...with the new mclaren engine, they set some good time....so that really means that honda engine was really weak....sigh...

Heh, thought this was really interesting.

Isn't Brawn GP one of the only teams which has chosen to not implement a KERS device?

Does that factor into testing? I mean, are the other teams using their KERS systems while they test?

I have high expectations for Raikkonen.

Hopefully Kovalainen will pull some race wins under his belt, or he'll ironically be the next David Coulthard, contrary to popular Finnish stereotypes.

Alonso should shine brighter than last season, only if the new 09 regulations won't hinder the development relationship between him and the 09 car.

Vettel will be the next Schumacher. I'm expecting podiums. Lets hope their new car with the questionable Renault engine will be competitive.

Brawn GP made the car, but can the drivers bring home the wins?

Hamilton got his world championship last year, but this season may not present the perfect scenarios he received last year.

Massa will be hungrier for the championship this year, but he's still second fiddle to Raikkonen. I'd like to see what type of story unfolds.

I really hope Toyota will pull the results in to stay in F1 next season, but Jarno's getting kinda old.

Williams who?

I think Force India will see some championship points. Go Sutil!

Looks like the McLaren boss admitted that the new McLaren is 'far too slow'. Ferrari is also complaining that they spent too much time working on last years car and not enough time on this one. Renault topped the time sheets during this latest test, and everyone is saying that this new Brawn Mercedes is genuinely quick. This is going to be a strange year.

it's going to be epic.

McLaren and Ferrari struggling for speed? That's a change of pace (pardon the pun).

It's probably just to throw everyone else off. I bet they're quick as ever.

i guess KERS is really adding weight to the car?....battery is not exactly light, you know....

Just throwing this out there to spark discussion, but weren't these new rules put into place to cut costs?

Does anyone think that maybe what we're seeing is engineering brains vs engineering dollars?

If so, I expect Williams to be brilliant, since Nick Fry (I think that's his name) is an engineering god.

KERS does add weight to the car yes, however if you're deciding not to run KERS you have the additional weight in ballast, which means you can place it where you like, hence better weight distribution. That's the advantage no-KERS teams have over those with KERS who have to locate their equipment in close proximity to the engine.
Here's an interesting article on the BGP-001.


Nick Fry is the CEO at Brawn GP.

I think they have a very good chance of getting some good points and Barrichello certainly has the experience of race wins. I think you might see him have the measure over Button this season, if the car maintains form. There's no reason why they shouldn't be able to develop as well as the other teams, what with cost-cutting the playing field should be levelled and they are already in a very good position by the looks of things. The thing for Brawn is to be able to convert that speed into consistency in a race situation.

I think what we have seen in testing is a fairly accurate representation of where the teams are; I just don't believe that teams 'sandbag' anymore.

My predictions are:
Ferrari will be strong at the start and the main title contender and if McLaren don't pick up the pace pretty soon, they'll be too far ahead to catch later in the season. It's too early to say who will be the better driver between Massa and Raikkonen. I really think Massa developed a lot last year and is easily on a par with Raikkonen - if Raikkonen can be bothered, I think it'll be between these 2 for the drivers title.

I think we'll see Toyota step up like BMW stepped up last season and I think if things go there way (ala Canada last season) they will snatch a win. Trulli has a lot of experience and is consistent and Glock shined in a few races last year.

BMW could be in with good chances in the first half of the season to bag a race win or 2 and will be giving McLaren a good run for their money most of the season, unless they sort their issues out. Their driver line up is very good and to me 2nd only to Ferrari.

I think Force India will be scoring low end points fairly regularly if they finish races and probably get their best ever finish that they deserved at Monaco last season; with the Merc engine/gearbox they should do well. I've never really been convinced with Fisichella and Sutil still makes some mistakes, hopefully he'll grow this year and put in more Monaco-esque performances.

Williams have looked quite good in testing and I'd like to think that they will be regularly in the points - the issue of the past few seasons has been reliability and we'll have to see if they can improve that. I don't doubt Rosberg's ability and Nakajima did better than I expected - I think I'd like to see Hulkenberg get a race seat though.

McLaren are in trouble, they know it and we know it. I think by Australia they'll have bucked their ideas up, but at the moment I can't see Hamilton cruising to victory and Ferrari flailing like last year. I think Hamilton has got the skills and ability, maybe not the best driver on the grid, but he'll show it by outperforming Kovalainen even if the car is a bit of a dog. Sometimes teams do just go backwards, like Williams have done.

Renault look fairly good in testing and I think Alonso will drive the wheels off his car all season. I'm not sure if they have a Ferrari beater, but Alonso will be the man to make it a Ferrari beater, if he has a good car all season I expect him to be fighting for 3rd in the drivers title, maybe 2nd. Piquet Jr picked it up last year, but I'm not sure he'll last the season if he starts like last year.

Red Bull. I'm not sure. Vettel certainly showed he is very talented and Webber had some good drives, but it just never seems to happen for them, with every good thing there's a bad thing to go with it. Webber gets some bad luck too. I'd like to see Vettel do really well and outperform the car, if that makes sense.

Bourdais was unlucky last year in some races and just a bit inexperienced in others. The Toro Rosso was a good runner last year with the Ferrari engine and should be again this year. I don't know alot, well anything about Buemi, so I'll wait and see.

And Brawn. Well I'll be supporting them all season and hoping they can convert their speed in testing into great results. Both drivers have experience and are smooth drivers, they both seem happy with the new car, something that hasn't been apparent for 2 years. If they are genuinly quick I think they'll be challenging for the mid-points in Australia and we'll have to see how it goes for the rest of the season. I don't want to say too much about what they can achieve, as I don't want to curse it!

^Sorry, I was thinking of Patrick Head, not Nick Fry.

Fuck my head has been somewhere else the past few days.

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