Teams of the world... It's Showtime...

A new season, a new beginning and a whole new look... Teams of the world... It's Showtime...

2006 promises to bring one of the most closely fought battles on the F1 circuits with Alonso all set to defend his crown and Kimi n Schumi fired up to challenge him. While everyone was away from all the action, there have been a few changes in the rules, teams and circuits as well.

Major rule changes this year include:

1. Teams now have to use 2.4 L V8 engines instead of 3.0 L V10s last year. This theoretically means lesser power, lesser speed and eventually a safer race. Some teams like Toro Rosso have been allowed to use last years V10s with a limit on their Revs which I'm sure is going to raise some eyebrows. For engine manufacturers, this change means that they'll have to work harder to make their new V8s stable and extract as much power from them as possible.

2. Last year's most controversial rule has now been taken back by FIA. So teams can now use 7 sets of dry-weather tires, 4 sets of wet-weather tires and 3 sets of extreme-weather tires. Does this mean that Bridgestones are back in the race? Only time will this but racing is surely going to get more interesting as drivers can draw out that extra bit of performance from cars without worrying about the tire ware.

3. Following its tradition, FIA has yet again introduced a new Qualifying format. It seems complex and promises to lessen advantage for front-runners. It consists of 2 mini-qualifying sessions of 15 minutes in which 6 slowest cars drop out. These are followed by a 20 minute session for top 10 positions. These first 10 cars have to start the race with the same fuel load as they had in the 20 minute qualifying session. The remaining 12 cars can change their fuel strategy as they wish. This means that teams at the end of the grid can be more flexible with their fuel strategy as compared to their counterparts starting at the head of the grid.

Teams for Formula1 Season 2006:

There have been loads of changes in the teams this year. Narain couldn't bag a race driver's seat in any team but managed to clinch a test driver's assignment at Williams. There have been a few additions in the F1 Family and a few divorces and marriages between engine and chassis manufacturers. Different teams and their drivers this year are:

Team name: BMW Sauber
Engine: BMW
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Jacques Villeneuve, Nick Heidfeld

Team name: Ferrari
Engine: Ferrari
Tires: Bridgestone
Drivers: Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa

Team name: Honda
Engine: Honda
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button

Team name: Midland F1 (Earlier Jordan)
Engine: Toyota
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Tiago Monteiro, Christijan Albers

Team name: Mclaren
Engine: Mercedes-Benz
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya

Team name: Red Bull (Earlier Jaguar)
Engine: Ferrari
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: David Coulthard, Christian Klien

Team name: Renault
Engine: Renault
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Giancarlo Fisichella, Fernando Alonso

Team name: Super Aguri (New Entry)
Engine: Honda
Tires: Bridgestone
Drivers: Takuma Sato, Yuji Ide

Team name: Toro Rosso (Earlier Minardi)
Engine: Crossworth
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed

Team name: Toyota
Engine: Toyota
Tyres: Bridgestone
Drivers: Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli

Team name: Williams (Earlier Williams BMW)
Engine: Crossworth
Tires: Michelin
Drivers: Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg

My Predictions:

Now the most interesting part... My predictions for the season. I think Renault have done good enough to maintain their Drivers’ Championship. Constructors’ Championship however is a tough one to predict. It is going to be a cut throat competition between Mclaren and Renault but I think in the end Mclaren will have a slight edge on Renault in Constructors' as their Kimi-Montoya duo seems to be more promising than Alonso-Fisichella pair. All in all, good teams, good venues and good competition... What else can you ask for?

What a come back....

Imola was really one of the best races I have ever seen. Raikkonen finally had something to cheer about with a pole just ahead of to-be-crowned champion Fernando Alonso. Even with the launch of new F-2005, Ferrari seemed to have lost the glory of those old golden days. The car looked good last time but didn't show anything that can compete with in form Renault, Toyota and Mclaren. Ferraris finished in the 6th and 7th rows (mostly) in the second qualifying. All satrted well with Kimi having a good start ahead of Alonso and maintaining the lead for a first few laps. I couldn't believe that everything was so normal and so not unlucky in Kimi's life again. But it was not to be, as the race leader started slowing down and let all the others pass by him. Mclaren said It was a Mechanical failure yet again. After that it was something that we are getting very much used to this season; Alonso leading the race comfortably. When it looked as if Alonso will again be the star of the race, Schumi had some other plans.

Everything seemed so perfect for Schumi suddenly. The car showed that Ferrari challenge is still not over. It had speed, good handling and Bridgestones also worked extremely well with it. Schumi was racing in the third position after half of the distance covered, thanks to some great pit-stops carefully planned by the team. His car looked better than the car in front, Jenson Button's BAR-Honda. Under continuous pressure from Schumi, Jenson made a slight mistake near one of the shikanes and Schumi immediately took the opportunity to move to the second spot. Everything looked dramatic and hard to believe but what followed was a few laps of even more dramatic, skillful, aggressive and determined racing. The last ten laps showed how a perfect race should be. Alonso and Schumi, two great drivers in good cars finally reached the Chequered flag within fraction of seconds of one another.

Schumacher again looked to have a better car of the two with a better speed at the straights and carrying more speed through the corners. He put Alonso under a lot of pressure and managed to get a glimpse of Alonso's nose one or two times when he almost overtook the young veteran. Alonso however, kept his cool and brilliantly controlled the pace of the race by making use of better handling of the Renault. He drove very slowly out of every corner so that Schumi could never come out of any corner with full throtle. The brilliant strategy not only kept him ahead of Schumi but also kept him behind two backmarkers, a few hundread metres away.

All in all, a great race. Really fun to watch. Only thing not good in the race was the absence of Montoya. Who knows he would have made the race even more interesting to watch. I hear that he is probably not racing in the next race also. I wish he makes a good come back as soon as possible.

Renewed Renault

Sundays Sepang GP was another 'Renault dominant Race' as Fernando Alonso made it to the Top of Podium. Ex-Renault driver Jarno Trulli was second driving impressively throughout hinting at the bright future for this year's TF105. Nick Hedfield ensured a BMW-Williams podium place in third position. Ferrari once again failed to impress with Schumacher in 7th position and Baricehllo out of the race.

Renault really seems strong at this moment of time in F1. Looking at the performances till date in the new season, we are forced to think that 'Days of Ferrari dominance are over'. At the same time I think these are the days of Renault dominance. I have little doubt in my mind about Alonso n Renault being on top this year. This car seems to have a very powerful engine as compared to earlier Renault cars with as always great aerodynamics giving it an edge in handling over the other cars( At least this is what I hear from other people and I haven't driven the new car, Hehe).

However, there was one disappointing thing for me so far as this new season is concerned and that is "New Montoya" that we see on the track. No aggression, no bolt overtaking, no amitious rash starts, no heated word-exchanges. This is not the Montoya we've been used to looking at. This is a very sad thing if Montoya has changed his attitude towards driving. He said to a press conference that he has absolutely no problem with him being second driver in the team and that even he thinks that Kimi is a better driver. If Montoya really thinks that way, I think this is the end of a great driver which F1 once had. Perhaps, he is waiting and watching at the start of the new season, getting used to the new rules and his new team( I hope so..). I think even in 2005, he has had better results compared to Kimi and he is as good as any other driver (i am talking about the front-runners) in F1.

Talking of Kimi, he drove a good race and in the process I think he tried a bit too hard ending in a tyre failure. The new Mclaren is not as impressive as it should have been after 'very poor performance not suitable to Mclaren reputation last year'.

All in all a good demanding race. Not a bad result for Montoya. Excellent performance by Alonso and Renault.