One thing we have to be realistic about: Winning the title in 03 was more of a present from fate than anything. If it had not rained in Indianapolis AND Suzuka, Kimi would have clinched the title. Just look at how far down the field Schumi qualified in Indy to get a sense on the performance towards the end of the year. If trends are any indications, the Ferraris are on the way down and the Williams and Mc Larens on the way up.
Andreas; i hate to say you are correct but i will have to agree with yourself at this point in the game it is not looking great right now. Rob
I'll be very happy if the season will proove me wrong, trust me. There is one factor, which might become decisive though and about which we won't know until the curtain drops: Engine reliability Remember this is the year, where they have to use the engine for the entire weekend. And Ferrari engines have been fairly reliable in the past, more reliable (if leaking memory serves me right) than BMW and Merc. So there is some hope, that we might win some races that way. At least it is an unknown at this stage. Tirewise, I think the answer is in the test results.
I Agree this will be Ferrari's strong point for this season. If memory serves myself correctly the last Ferrari engine to melt down in the heat of competition was Rubens at the USGP in 2001.
Thursday Jerez F1 testing times (unofficial): 1 Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams/BMW, 1:16.712, 85 2 Marc Gene Williams/BMW, 1:17.197, 102 3 Franck Montagny, Renault, 1:17.878, 76 4 Jarno Trulli, Renault, 1:17.894, 132 5 Ricardo Zonta, Toyota, 1:17.974, 106 6 Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren, 1:18.224, 63 7 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:18.460, 77 8 Olivier Panis, Toyota, 1:18.467, 88 9 Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 1:18.864, 74 10 David Coulthard, McLaren, 1:19.197, 18
All the way through 2003 I thought that the 2004 McLaren would be an awesome car. Luckily they only have one good driver and he makes mistakes! JPM hasn't been as impressive in F1 as I expected and Ralf has never been consistant. Therefore Ferrari do stand a chance. It's certainly going to be a close thing though. I heard a while ago that If Michael is not satisfied with the new Bridgestones he won't take part in the 2004 season. Not sure if I believe it though. I think Michael is one of those drivers that will carry on even when he isn't winning because he can't do anything else.
Here are the times for Fridays test session. Of note Gene was driving the FW25B. kimi and Sato Had engine melt downs in the test. Jerez Friday F1 testing times (unofficial): 1 Marc Gene, Williams/BMW, 1:17.401, 68 laps 2 Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams/BMW, 1:17.500, 54 3 Jarno Trulli Renault, 1:17.683, 87 4 David Coulthard, McLaren, 1:17.998, 73 5 Franck Montagny, Renault, 1:18.320, 73 6 Olivier Panis, Toyota, 1:18.513, 93 7 Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 1:18.576, 84 8 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:18.896, 80 9 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, 1:18.914, 32 10 Takuma Sato, BAR/Honda, 1:18.996, 82 11 Cristiano da Matta, Toyota, 1:19.589, 44 12 Anthony Davidson, BAR/Honda, 1:19.724, 22
Next week we'll have the Saubers running with the rest and get a better idea of where Ferrari stands. It might not be a Ferrari year, but it certainly looks like an interesting year.
The Williams may not be a beautiful car, but if works...who cares?? Ferrari will be hard pressed to keep their titles this year. Too early to tell by mere testing times.There is still plenty of development work left to be done by all the teams.
With a radical design like that, my guess is it will either be flop or a breakthrough. Either way I cant wait to see it on the track.
Jerez Formula 1 Saturday test times (unofficial): 1 Ralf Schumacher, Williams/BMW, 1:16.359, 82 laps 2 David Coulthard, McLaren/Mercedes, 1:17.014, 104 3 Takuma Sato, BAR/Honda, 1:17.945, 103 4 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren/Mercedes, 1:18.054, 87 5 Marc Gene, Williams/BMW, 1:18.175, 3* 6 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:18.681, 62 7 Anthony Davidson, BAR/Honda, 1:18.830, 95 8 Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 1:18.841, 79 9 Marc Gene, Williams/BMW, 1:18.864, 90** * FW25 ** FW25B
Jerez Formula 1 Sunday test times (unofficial): 1 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren/Mercedes, 1:16.074, 87 2 Ralf Schumacher, Williams/BMW, 1:16.110, 82 3 Marc Gene, Williams/BMW, 1:16.245, 24* 4 Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren/Mercedes, 1:17.237, 104 5 Marc Gene, Williams/BMW, 1:17.240, 39** 6 Ryan Briscoe, Toyota, 1:18.422, 103 7 Jenson Button, BAR/Honda, 1:18.563, 95 8 Takuma Sato, BAR/Honda, 1:19.837, 103
Can't wait for the Saubers. That'll give us some good ideas of what to expect this year from Ferrari. They had their unveiling this weekend.
Thank you Rob. I read Forza magazine frequently, and have seen the FerrariChat advertisements in there a lot. Finally got around to checking it out. I didn't realize it was such a big community.
