looks like its shaping up to be a good one. fernando is back at renault teaming up with Nelson P Jr, heiki is now hamiltons teammate at mclaren. sebastian bourdais (champ car phenom) will be joining the other sebastian at torro rosso, and god only knows who will be driving for force india. we may have a year without the lesser of the two schumachers, i for one will be happy about that.

seems to me mclaren and Ferrari will be strong again. BMW hopefully will retain if not better their form from 2007, renault could be a potent contender if they dont eff up their car again, and little old torro rosso i think will be the surprise competitors of 2008.

but thats just my .02. whats yours?

Alonso and Brav WILL make Renault a contender. A lot of testing still needs to be done, but they are very comfortable and familiar with eachother.

"the lesser" Schumacher will likely goto Force India. Getting M.Schuy would be awesome, but I don't think he'll get a seat anywhere. He's dedicated to Ferrari, and Ferrari has already sealed their two driver seats. More testing is likely the path.

I dunno should be very exciting. Before this season, everyone probably expected Alonso v Kimi. So many new contenders.

Getting M.Schuy would be awesome, but I don't think he'll get a seat anywhere. He's dedicated to Ferrari, and Ferrari has already sealed their two driver seats. More testing is likely the path.

MS is retired and doesnt want to go back to racing at the moment. so dont even dream.

Alonso and Brav WILL make Renault a contender. A lot of testing still needs to be done, but they are very comfortable and familiar with eachother.

"the lesser" Schumacher will likely goto Force India. Getting M.Schuy would be awesome, but I don't think he'll get a seat anywhere. He's dedicated to Ferrari, and Ferrari has already sealed their two driver seats. More testing is likely the path.

I dunno should be very exciting. Before this season, everyone probably expected Alonso v Kimi. So many new contenders.

No way Force India takes Ralf. Even he admitted the other day it is likely over.

Well, given the fact that he tested in the car along with a few other drivers like Christian Klein, and he was the slowest out of 3 or 4, I think that spoke very well of his... skill... Ralf Sch. seems to have only had a drive as long as he has in F1 because of his big brother. He just hasn't done ANYTHING special with any car he's been given, and some of the cars like the Williams from '05 I think weren't that bad.

sounds intense.

The best thing IMO is that there will be no traction control on the '08 cars. I have a feeling this will really help passing in the midpack/back of the pack with guys making more mistakes coming out of slower corners.

The best thing IMO is that there will be no traction control on the '08 cars. I have a feeling this will really help passing in the midpack/back of the pack with guys making more mistakes coming out of slower corners.

agreed, the FIA has been trying to make things more entertaining, and i think this will be a big step forward. also, drivers like hamilton and heiki will likely have a big advantage since they are only one year out of GP2 which, correct me if im wrong, didnt have TC when they were there.

I don't think you get to F1 without being able to modulate the throttle to keep the rear wheels at the limit of traction... It's not like these guys don't drive other stuff like shifter carts and the like for fun too.

granted, but my point still holds water. its not like these guys are going out there driving a shifter kart with a 2:1 power to weight ratio around a track like spa. these guys can obviously drive very well without traction control, but they are not used to doing it in the circumstances F1 provides.

I would say your analysis is pretty accurate OP. Expect Heikki to give Lewis a run for his money. I also suspect Honda might be stepping up their pace a bit.

No Schumachers, no TC, slicks, and a handful of potential contenders.

What more could a jaded F1 fan ask for?

No Schumachers, no TC, slicks, and a handful of potential contenders.

What more could a jaded F1 fan ask for?

They will still have grooved tires for next year.

Yep, no change to the existing tire rules.

truth, slick tyres wont be till 2009(?). honda will most definitely step up, but i dont expect a top contention from them.

They will still have grooved tires for next year.

Yep, no change to the existing tire rules.

truth, slick tyres wont be till 2009(?).

That sucks. I thought it was slated for 2008.

^^ It might not even be for '09 :/

I think Alonso will help make the Renault more of a contender then last year, but I don't even think its all that bold to say that he won't finish higher then 3rd or 4th. I think McLaren and Ferrari will still be faster. I think the BMW's will compete with Renault more. I really hope they can give the front a run for their money though...I'd love to see that.

i'm interested in seeing how heiki does...

I don't think Merc will be where they were last season. I truly think that a lot of development was from Alonso(even if you hate him he is an awesome driver and excellent at relaying info to engineers) and I don't see Hamilton and Heikki doing the same.

Merc and BMW will challenge each other for 2nd and 3rd. Renault will be in there a couple times during the season.

Heiki will more than likely steal 1 podium during the season but regularly run behind BMW and Ferrari. Hamilton will be up there most races. Because of this BMW can take 2nd in manufacturer.

Because of this BMW can take 2nd in manufacturer.

...again, lol.

not sure i agree with your ideas on merc. i think they could do just as well as they did last year. but thats IMHO

That's awesome.

They lost their better driver and are getting a midpack driver in return. They are in trouble with the FIA and had stolen information and now have a freeze...

We shall see but Merc and BMW will be battling for 2nd.

I don't think Kov is that slow. He was doing pretty well towards the end of the year. I wouldn't say he's one of the fastest guys on the grid now, but I don't think I'd classify him as midpack.

I guess we'll find out next year...

I don't think Kov is that slow. He was doing pretty well towards the end of the year. I wouldn't say he's one of the fastest guys on the grid now, but I don't think I'd classify him as midpack.

keep in mind that everything heiki accomplished was done in a not so good car. his performance compared to his "proven" teammate was, i think, astounding. i wouldn't call him a mid-pack driver as M3Alpine99 does. i would say he's right up there with BMW's drivers and could be very dangerous in the right car.

We shall see but Merc and BMW will be battling for 2nd.

i hope you are right only because i would love to see BMW score a legit second place in constructors.

I didn't say he was slow...

And IIRC Heikki scored high when the attrition level was high...

And IIRC Heikki scored high when the attrition level was high...

for the most part that was true, but he was usually in contention for points or fairly close behind. i just think he did show some good promise for a rookie. of course that all relative with somebody like hamilton running around...

With the design freezes in place, I'm predicting that it will be a repeat of last year ... Mumbles and Hammy duking it out. If Todt manages to keep the car from self-imploding more than once next season ... I see Kimi repeating. Massa will compete, but his wet weather skills will really be put to the test this year. And now that they are in different rides, I also suspect Hammy will DNF at least once or twice trying to upend Alonso in a "I've got bigger balls than you do" contest.:stickoutt

hammy will mostly have a view of alonso in his mirrors... and maybe not even that (teh mirrors are small!)

i see an McMerc/Ferrari battle brewing, and a BMW/Renault battle as well. If alonso can put Renault back fighting for the championship i'll be quite surprised.